State v. Green

CourtSuperior Court of Delaware
DecidedFebruary 13, 2026
Docket2403006496
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Green (State v. Green) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Green, (Del. Ct. App. 2026).

Opinion

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

STATE OF DELAWARE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) I.D. No. 2403006496 v. ) ) BRADLEY GREEN, ) ) Defendant. Submitted: January 23, 2026 Decided: February 13, 2026

In this criminal case with allegations of child sexual abuse, the State of

Delaware has moved to exclude testimony of Mr. Green’s proposed expert forensic

psychologist at trial. In their moving papers, the parties addressed whether Dr.

Byrnes would offer impermissible commentary on the credibility of the witnesses.1

During the hearing, additional questions arose which implicate this Court’s

gatekeeping function as to relevance and reliability.

The Court was provided with a 21-page report from the proffered expert.

During the hearing, the defense submitted a revised expert disclosure, indicating it

1 See State v. Floray, 715 A.2d 855, 862–63 (Del. 1997) (discussing general prohibition on expert testimony that pertains to witness credibility). In part, the focus on impermissible opinion related to the credibility of witnesses stemmed from portions of Dr. Byrnes’ report; for example, “[i]t would be difficult to definitely affirm Mr. Green engaged her in this behavior.” Report of Dr. Byrnes, State’s Mot. in Limine, Ex. A, at 18. “The investigation process in the current case has deviated markedly and in several ways from best practices, giving rise to significant concerns as to how statements provided by Harmoni and Hannah can be interpreted.” Report of Dr. Byrnes, State’s Mot. in Limine, Ex. A. at 21. comprised the sum and substance of the testimony expected from Dr. Byrnes. That

revised disclosure states Mr. Green proffers Dr. Byrnes to testify regarding:

general empirical findings regarding factors that increase or decrease the reliability of children’s reports of prior events. She will educate the [] jury about general scientific findings regarding the reliability of children’s reports so that can use the information in weighing the evidence. Dr. Byrnes will discuss memory formation, as well as factors that may affect memory.

Dr. Byrnes may review various factors that are known to influence a child’s reporting of physical or sexual abuse. These factors may include the circumstances of the child and family, the specific characteristics of the child [], the nature of the allegations, and the circumstances surrounding statements made by the child. Dr. Byrnes will discuss the psychological research literature as it relates to the timing and reliability of child abuse reports made by children and the factors that contribute to that reliability, such as repeated interviewing and the reactions of persons to whom the child makes statements.

Dr. Byrnes will discuss the importance of proper child forensic interviewing techniques, and the effect that the proper or improper use of such techniques is likely to have on the quality of a child interview. These topics may include the impact of leading questions, developmentally inappropriate language, and forced choice or yes/no questions, as well as confirmatory bias on the part of the interviewer.

Dr. Byrnes will discuss the issues related to a child’s participation in psychotherapy or counseling, the impact of exposure of a child to reports by other persons (particularly parents) or alleged abusive experiences, and the potential for the development of source misattribution errors (a specific type of memory error based on such experiences).

Dr. Byrnes will apply these factors to the case in question, and may also discuss the extent to which the child interviews in this specific case adhered to best practice standards. Dr. Byrnes will discuss the research area of juror knowledge and awareness of the above factors as well. Dr. Byrnes will not opine on the issue of credibility (believability) of the child, as that issue is solely the province of the trier of fact.

Dr. Byrnes provided testimony to this Court to assist in making its

determination. She testified memory develops across our life span, including during

middle age and within the geriatric population. She cited familiarity with studies

regarding memory and malleability.

Dr. Byrnes has experience with the Finding Words/ChildFirst course, which

was employed by the interviewers in this case; first as an observer, then as a

participant, and most recently with a refresher course. She testified protocols have

been established to limit suggestibility in interviews with children—specifically

citing concerns with questions that are (1) repeated, (2) leading, (3) problematically

phrased, (4) force choice responses, and (5) limit exposure to information.

Less clear, though, was Dr. Byrnes’ testimony regarding methodology for

assessing the integrity of a forensic interview. She testified regarding a Martindale

rubric, the specifics of which were not provided to the Court. Although she was

unsure if this rubric was utilized under the ChildFirst protocol, she testified that it

was akin to the ChildFirst protocol. She was also unsure if the work of Dr.

Martindale was peer-reviewed. When asked during cross-examination if her opinion

as to whether a deviation or contamination is subjective, Dr. Byrnes explained forensic interviewers are provided training and feedback on videotaped interviews.

She stated specific scores are not part of the rubric.

Within the context of forensic interviewing, Dr. Byrnes explained that

contamination is anything that can contribute to inaccuracies in the account.

Contamination can come from within the interview or outside the interview, but the

protocols are designed to limit contamination. However, according to Dr. Byrnes,

there is no methodology available to determine if an interview has been

contaminated.

Dr. Byrnes also spoke about a study which measured the amount of influence

caregivers can have on children’s memories, finding 20% of the participants were

influenced. She testified source monitoring is weaker in children than adults and

thus the forensic interviewer’s intent is to maximize reliable information. However,

she did not necessarily equate reliability with honesty. She noted “[t]here is no such

thing as a perfect interview.” Dr. Byrnes has testified previously;2 however, she has

never testified in a criminal case regarding forensic interviewing protocols.

Dr. Byrnes’ Opinions on this Case

As for Mr. Green’s case, Dr. Byrnes opined the interviews lacked fidelity to

the protocols and those deviations caused significant concern. In her work on this

2 Her prior testimony was on divorce and custody. She also testified on specific clinical matters related to her work at the Audrey Hepburn Children’s House. case, Dr. Byrnes only reviewed four of the seven total interviews of the child-

witnesses. She also reviewed one of two surveillance videos taken from inside the

home. Dr. Byrnes was aware of the existence of additional interviews.3 The fact

that her materials were limited did not prevent her from providing an analysis

including “[t]here are clear concerns that forensic interviews conducted with the []

girls did not adhere to best practices in forensic interviewing.”4 Dr. Byrnes is

critical the interviewer “did not sufficiently explain ground rules pertaining to the

interaction…”5

One criticism by Dr. Byrnes of the interviews of the child-witnesses in this

case relates to multiple interviews of the children. Hannah was interviewed four

times. Her first interview, in June of 2023, was prompted by statements Hannah

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Green, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-green-delsuperct-2026.