People v. Reid
| Decision Date | 09 April 1984 |
| Citation | 123 Misc.2d 1084,475 N.Y.S.2d 741 |
| Parties | PEOPLE of the State of New York v. Anthony REID. |
| Court | New York Supreme Court |
This is a motion by the People for an order allowing the People to introduce expert testimony on the psychological response of rape victims known as "Rape Trauma Syndrome."
This case arises out of an alleged rape of an 11-year-old girl. The complainant and defendant, age 38, are neighbors in the same apartment building. Complainant lives with her family. Defendant shares an apartment with his girlfriend. The complainant would often visit the defendant's apartment to babysit or play with the girlfriend's children. It is alleged that on one of these visits, while the girlfriend was not home, the defendant raped the complainant. The complainant did not immediately report the incident. Two months later, the defendant allegedly kissed the girl on the mouth while fondling her breasts and buttocks. The complainant then reported both incidents to her mother. The girl was taken to the hospital, and an examination revealed that her hymen was torn. While the case was awaiting trial, the complainant wrote letters to the defendant recanting the incidents.
The People contend that defendant will attempt to impeach the complainant through these letters. To refute that attempt the People seek permission, in this pretrial application, to call an expert who will describe to the jury the symptoms of rape trauma syndrome and testify that in her opinion the complainant suffers from rape trauma syndrome, and that one of the symptoms of that trauma, due to the feelings of guilt and apprehension about the trial, is to make false recantations in an effort to avoid public embarassment.
The defendant objects to the introduction of this expert testimony on the ground that:
(1) Rape trauma syndrome has not been sufficiently recognized in the scientific community to be accepted as a reliable scientific body of knowledge.
(2) Such testimony invades the traditional province of the jury since the testimony bears directly on the issue of the victim's credibility.
(3) The distress and emotional upset that rape victims undergo is not such a unique phenomenon that people of ordinary intelligence and experience may not analyze those reactions in deciding whether the victim is telling the truth.
Expert testimony is admissible where the conclusion to be drawn by the jury is dependent on facts not within the common knowledge of people of ordinary intelligence, but rather, is dependent on facts contained within a body of knowledge recognized by the scientific or professional community (Richardson, On Evidence, 10th Ed. § 367).
The term "rape trauma syndrome" was first introduced into the scientific literature in 1974 in an article in the American Journal of Psychiatry entitled "Rape Trauma Syndrome," by Burgess and Holmstrum, and is used to describe the rape victim's unique response to the violence of rape which is different from the response of those who experience other forms of violent attacks. Since that term first appeared, the reaction of rape victims has been the subject of numerous scientific research efforts (see, e.g., Calhoun, et al., "Victim Emotional Response: Effects on Social Reaction to Victims of Rape," 20 British Journal of Social Psychology (1981) at 17; Williams, J. and K. Holmes, The Second Assault (1981) at 82-86; "Special Features: Assessment and Treatment of Rape Victims," 36 The Clinical Psychologist, 88 (Summer 1983); Ferris, "Long Term Consequences of Adult Rape," Response, A Publication of the Center for Women's Policy Studies (Jan.-Feb., 1983, at 5-6); also seeState v. Marks, 647 Kan. 645, 647 P.2d 1292, 1298-1300 (1982) citing other scientific studies). 1
These studies do not suggest that all rape victims react the same way, but rather that because of the feelings of shame or guilt or fear of public embarassment, the reaction of the rape victim is unique and different from the reaction to other forms of violent assault. Since the reaction to rape is unique and so complex as to warrant scientific investigation, it follows that an understanding of those reactions is not within the common understanding or experience of persons of ordinary intelligence and experience who may be expected to sit on a jury. That logical conclusion, that people do not understand either the cause or reaction to rape, is universally confirmed in scientific studies in this area (see, e.g., Burt, "Cultural Myths and Supports for Rape, 38 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology," (1980) at 217, 229).
Since rape and the victim's reaction are not within the common knowledge of jurors, and since the subject is pervaded by myth, emotion and prejudice, virtually every reported case has approved the admission into evidence of expert testimony to describe the psychological response to rape (Divisions of Correction, State of Florida v. Wynn, 438 So.2d 446 (Fla.App....
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