People v. Hampton
| Citation | 728 P.2d 345 |
| Decision Date | 05 June 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 85CA0019,85CA0019 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Russell Millard HAMPTON, Defendant-Appellant. . III |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Colorado |
Duane Woodard, Atty. Gen., Charles B. Howe, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Richard H. Forman, Sol. Gen., Curt P. Kriksciun, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for plaintiff-appellee.
Steven J. Barr, Colorado Springs, for defendant-appellant.
Defendant, Russell Millard Hampton, appeals from the judgment of conviction entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of first degree sexual assault and two habitual criminal counts. We reverse and remand for a new trial.
On January 16, 1984, the district court received defendant's request for final disposition of all charges pending against him. Pursuant to the request, defendant was removed from a federal penitentiary in Mississippi and brought to Colorado. Before trial, defendant sought a dismissal for failure to bring him to trial within 180 days of his request for final disposition as required by the Interstate Agreement on Detainers. The motion was denied.
The victim testified at trial to the following events. She first met the defendant in July of 1983 when he opened an account at the bank where she worked. She agreed to a first date with the defendant on August 9. After drinks at a local bar, the two of them returned to the victim's apartment where she was beaten and sexually assaulted by the defendant.
On cross-examination, the victim admitted that 89 days had elapsed between the alleged crime and her formal report to the police.
The prosecution then introduced evidence through a victim services employee who was qualified as an expert in "victimology," specifically the behavioral and emotional responses of the typical sexual assault victim, often referred to as the "rape trauma syndrome." Although the expert had not examined the victim, she was permitted to testify over defendant's objection. The expert described the stages of rape trauma syndrome and some of the characteristics exhibited by a typical sexual assault victim. The expert explained why the typical sexual assault victim may delay or fail to report the crime.
Several friends and acquaintances of the victim then testified, describing the victim's behavior after the incident as consistent with the rape trauma syndrome symptoms the expert had described. The prosecution also introduced similar transaction evidence concerning the events surrounding a prior third degree assault by the defendant. The victim of that assault testified that the defendant had assaulted her when she resisted his sexual advances.
Defendant presented three witnesses who testified that he was with them at a business meeting on the evening in question. Defendant did not testify.
After his conviction, defendant filed a motion for new trial which included an affidavit from one of the jurors. The affidavit stated that during jury deliberations, the fact that defendant did not take the stand was discussed and some of the jurors appeared to use defendant's failure to testify as a factor in their decisions to find him guilty. The trial court denied the motion.
Defendant first contends that the trial court erred when it admitted the expert testimony concerning "rape trauma syndrome." We agree.
The term "rape trauma syndrome" refers to a group of what seem to be common behavioral symptoms or characteristics observed in women who have been subjected to the trauma of sexual assault. Colorado courts have not ruled directly on the admissibility of rape trauma syndrome evidence. However, in People v. Farley, 712 P.2d 1116 (Colo.App.1985) (cert. granted January 31, 1986), Judge Smith, in his dissent, discussed the unreliability and possible prejudice which may arise from the admission of such testimony.
Other state courts which have addressed the admissibility of rape trauma syndrome evidence are divided on the issue. See Annot., 42 A.L.R. 4th 879 (1985). Those courts which admit the evidence have generally limited it to those instances in which the act of sexual intercourse is not an issue and the defense of consent is raised. See State v. Marks, 231 Kan. 645, 647 P.2d 1292 (1982); State v. Liddell, 685 P.2d 918 (Mont.1984); see also State v. Bressman, 236 Kan. 296, 689 P.2d 901 (1984) () However, the general trend is to find rape trauma syndrome evidence inadmissible when it is offered to prove that a sexual assault, in fact, occurred. See People v. Bledsoe, 36 Cal.3d 236, 203 Cal.Rptr. 450, 681 P.2d 291 (1984); State v. Saldana, 324 N.W.2d 227 (Minn.1982); State v. Taylor, 663 S.W.2d 235 (Mo.1984) ().
We believe the rule holding rape trauma syndrome evidence inadmissible is the better reasoned one, and adopt it for the following reasons.
To be admissible at trial, expert scientific testimony must have reached a general standard of acceptance within the scientific community. Frye v. United States, 54 App.D.C. 46, 293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir.1923). This test has been adopted in Colorado to insure the reliability of scientific testimony. People v. Anderson, 637 P.2d 354 (Colo.1981); People v. Quintanar, 659 P.2d 710 (Colo.App.1982). The courts which have rejected rape trauma syndrome evidence have applied the "Frye" test, and have found such evidence unreliable to prove that a sexual assault occurred in a particular case. See People v. Bledsoe, supra; State v. Taylor, supra; State v. Saldana, supra.
The concept of a rape trauma syndrome, unlike fingerprints or blood tests, was not developed to determine the truth or accuracy of whether a particular event has occurred. Instead, it was devised to assist counselors to identify, predict, and treat the emotional problems of sexual assault victims. See People v. Bledsoe, supra. Many of the symptoms characteristic of the syndrome may follow any psychologically traumatic event, and are not limited to sexual assault victims. American Psychiatric Ass'n, Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders § 236 (3rd Ed.1980). Given the purpose for which the syndrome was developed and the broadly defined symptoms which could result from other traumatic events, we conclude that rape trauma syndrome evidence does not meet the "Frye" test and, therefore, does not have sufficient indicia of reliability to be admissible on the issue of whether a sexual assault in fact has occurred.
The People contend that here the rape trauma syndrome testimony was offered only to provide an explanation for the victim's failure to report the crime promptly, after the defense had highlighted that fact during its cross-examination of the victim. They rely on People v. Bledsoe, supra, which implies in dictum that expert testimony may be appropriate in rebuttal to aid the jury by explaining possible misconceptions or myths about sexual assault, and to explain why a sexual assault victim might delay in reporting the crime. See also People v. Roscoe, 168 Cal.App.3d 1093, 215 Cal.Reptr. 45 (1985); see generally Lizotte, The Uniqueness of Rape: Reporting Assaultive Violence to the Police, 31 Crime & Delinquency 169 (1985). They assert that the evidence was not introduced to show that a sexual assault had occurred but, instead, was offered to rebut the defendant's use of the victim's reporting delay to suggest that no sexual assault had occurred.
We reject this contention. Because of its unreliability, we hold that rape trauma syndrome evidence is per se inadmissible in sexual assault trials. See People v. Anderson, supra.
Defendant also contends that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to dismiss based on the speedy trial requirement of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers. We disagree.
A prisoner who has a detainer lodged against him:
"shall be brought to trial within one hundred eighty...
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People v. Hampton
...cert. denied, 469 U.S. 845, 105 S.Ct. 154, 83 L.Ed.2d 91 (1984). In the instant case, the court of appeals held in People v. Hampton, 728 P.2d 345 (Colo.App.1986), that evidence of rape trauma syndrome does not meet the test for admission of expert scientific testimony developed in Frye v. ......
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People v. Hampton
...On direct appeal, the court of appeals reversed Hampton's conviction on an issue unrelated to those now being raised. People v. Hampton, 728 P.2d 345 (Colo.App.1986). In People v. Hampton, 746 P.2d 947 (Colo.1987), this court reversed the court of appeals and ordered that the conviction be ......
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People v. Hampton
...his conviction raising issues related to his sexual assault conviction. This court's reversal of his conviction, People v. Hampton, 728 P.2d 345 (Colo.App.1986), was subsequently reversed by the supreme court, 746 P.2d 947 (Colo.1987), and we issued a mandate affirming the 1984 conviction o......
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People v. Jackson, 86CA0379
...of a crime, the underlying transaction cannot be used as evidence against him in a later proceeding. In contrast, in People v. Hampton, 728 P.2d 345 (Colo.App.1986) we held that collateral estoppel did not bar evidence of charges dismissed with prejudice before trial when the victim failed ......
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Rape Trauma Syndrome in Sexual Assault Cases
...standard is named after the case in which it originated---Frye v. U.S., 54 App. B.C. 46,293 F. 1013 (D.C.Cir. 1923). 7. People v. Hampton, 728 P.2d 345,347-48 (Colo.App. 1986). 8. Hampton, supra, note 1 at 951. 9. Id. at 952. 10. See, State v. Allewalt, 517 A.2d 741 (Md. 1986); State v. Hue......
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Hearsay as a Basis for Opinion Testimony
...Products, supra, note 27 at 277. 31. Id. at 276. 32. People v. Hampton, supra, note 13. 33. Id. at 948. 34. Id. 35. People v. Hampton, 728 P.2d 345 (Colo.App. 1986). 36. Hampton, supra, note 13. 37. Id. at 949. 38. Id. at 952 (emphasis added). 39. The content of Rule 403 is set forth in not......