State v. Greene

• Decision Date: 30 September 1999
• Docket Number: No. 67250-4.,67250-4.
• Citation: 984 P.2d 1024,139 Wash.2d 64
• Parties: STATE of Washington, Petitioner, v. William B. GREENE, Respondent.
• Court: Washington Supreme Court

984 P.2d 1024

139 Wash.2d 64

STATE of Washington, Petitioner, v. William B. GREENE, Respondent.

No. 67250-4.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued May 27, 1999.

Decided September 30, 1999.

Sheryl G. McCloud, Seattle, Elyn Saks, Los Angeles, CA, Amicus Curiae on Behalf of Nine Concerned Law Professors.

Honorable Jim Krider, Snohomish County Prosecutor, S. Aaron Pine, Deputy, Everett, for Petitioner.

Nielsen, Broman & Associates, David B. Koch, Seattle, William B. Greene, Walla Walla, for Respondent.

JOHNSON, J.

The primary issue in this appeal is whether dissociative identity disorder (DID) is admissible under Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013, 34 A.L.R. 145 (D.C.Cir.1923) and Washington Rules of Evidence (ER) 702 to establish the defense of insanity or diminished capacity. In a pretrial hearing, the trial court concluded DID testimony was not admissible under Frye or ER 702. Following trial by jury, the defendant, William B. Greene (Greene), was convicted of indecent liberties and first degree kidnapping. On appeal, holding that DID is generally accepted in the scientific community and relevant to the defenses of insanity and diminished capacity, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial. State v. Greene, 92 Wash.App. 80, 960 P.2d 980 (1998). We accepted review and now affirm in part and reverse in part the decision of the Court of Appeals. We agree with the Court of Appeals that DID is generally accepted within the scientific community as a diagnosable psychiatric condition. Under the facts of this case, however, we find the trial court properly refused to admit the proffered expert testimony regarding the defendant's dissociative condition because it would not have been helpful to the trier of fact as required under ER 702.

FACTS

In 1988, Greene pleaded guilty to indecent liberties and was incarcerated at the Twin Rivers Correctional Center (Twin Rivers), where he was accepted into its sex offender treatment program (SOTP). While in the SOTP, Greene underwent psychiatric treatment with M.S., a psychotherapist and registered nurse specializing in psychiatric mental healthcare. Treatment included psychometric tests and hypnosis for the voices Greene complained of hearing in his head. Under hypnosis, Greene manifested 24 separate identities and several additional identity fragments, and was diagnosed with DID and major depression.

Greene was released from Twin Rivers in 1992, but voluntarily continued treatment through the SOTP, including individual sessions with M.S. In the months leading up to April 1994, Greene's condition, which had been stable, began deteriorating. On April 29, 1994, alarmed by a telephone conversation with Greene earlier in the day, M.S. arranged to visit Greene at his home. She wanted to assess if Greene required psychiatric observation in a hospital. M.S. often visited patients at their homes in her professional capacity. She had previously done so with Greene approximately 10 times without incident. On this occasion, however, Greene became aggressive, would not let M.S. leave his home, sexually assaulted her, left her bound and gagged in his home, and eventually drove off in her car. After M.S. freed herself, she contacted police and Greene was apprehended.

Greene was charged in Snohomish County Superior Court with indecent liberties and first degree kidnapping. Prior to trial, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity as a result of DID. Greene claimed that "Tyrone," one of his diagnosed alternate personalities, was the prime instigator of the incident with M.S. According to Greene, "Tyrone" was manifesting as a "child, clearly less than seven years of age, and incapable of understanding the nature and quality of his acts or the fact that they were either right or wrong." Clerk's Papers at 200. Greene also claimed at least four other of his alternate personalities exchanged executive control of his body during the incident.

The trial court judge conducted a pretrial hearing on the admissibility of DID expert testimony to establish a defense of insanity. The court concluded the proffered DID testimony was not admissible to establish a defense of insanity. Subsequent to this determination, the State made a motion in limine to exclude any DID testimony that would be used to establish a defense of diminished capacity. The trial court granted the motion and excluded the testimony.

A jury convicted Greene on both counts. Greene petitioned this court for direct review under RAP 4.2(a)(4). We declined review and transferred the case to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded. Greene, 92 Wash.App. 80, 960 P.2d 980. The State sought and we granted review.

DISSOCIATIVE IDENTITY DISORDER¹

DID is more commonly known as multiple personality disorder. American Psychiatric Ass'n, Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.1994) (hereinafter DSM-IV) recognizes five distinguishable dissociative disorders, of which DID is one. The DSM-IV provides the following diagnostic criteria for DID:

A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states (each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self).

B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person's behavior.

C. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness.

D. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., blackouts or chaotic behavior during Alcohol Intoxication) or a general medical condition (e.g., complex partial seizures).

DSM-IV at 487.

An individual suffering from DID has a nonintegrative identity nebulously divided between the primary identity (host) and at least one alternative identity or identity fragment (the alter(s)). DSM-IV at 484. This lack of integration results in debilitating ruptures in the patient's personality, behavior, thought, and memory. In Western studies, the etiology of DID is most commonly understood to be childhood traumatism (e.g., death of a parent/sibling, wartime trauma, etc.) which triggers the pathological onset of severely disrupted ego identification. Colin A. Ross, Twelve Cognitive Errors About Multiple Personality Disorder, 44 Am. J. Psychotherapy 348, 353-54 (1990).

DID functions as a pathologically repressed coping mechanism, allowing a traumatized individual to "find lifesaving retreat in an altered phenomenal state, in much the way that a hypnotized person is able — not to escape pain — but to disassociate from the experience of pain." George B. Greaves, Multiple Personality 165 Years After Mary Reynolds, 168 J. Nervous & Mental Disease 577, 590 (1980).

The heterogeneity of alters (e.g., gender, age, race, sexual orientation, etc.) and their modes of coexisting with the host (e.g., coconscious, amnestic, amnestic with "leakage") is extremely varied and defies neat categorization. See Greaves, supra, at 582. However, childlike alters are the most frequently seen type of alters. Frank W. Putman et al, The Clinical Phenomenology of Multiple Personality Disorder: Review of 100 Recent Cases, 47 J. Clinical Psychiatry 285, 288 (1986).

ANALYSIS

We determine the admissibility of scientific evidence using a two-part inquiry. State v. Janes, 121 Wash.2d 220, 232, 850 P.2d 495, 22 A.L.R.5th 921 (1993). First, the proposed testimony must meet the standard for admissibility under Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013. Janes, 121 Wash.2d at 232, 850 P.2d 495. Second, the testimony must be admissible under ER 702. Janes, 121 Wash.2d at 232, 850 P.2d 495. In this case, the trial court held the proffered testimony did not meet either standard. Our review of admissibility under Frye is de novo. State v. Copeland, 130 Wash.2d 244, 255, 922 P.2d 1304 (1996). Our review of admissibility under ER 702 is for abuse of discretion. Copeland, 130 Wash.2d at 255, 922 P.2d 1304; State v. Cauthron, 120 Wash.2d 879, 887, 846 P.2d 502 (1993). We review each in turn.

Under the Frye standard, novel scientific evidence is admissible if (1) the scientific theory or principle upon which the evidence is based has gained general acceptance in the relevant scientific community of which it is a part; and (2) there are generally accepted methods of applying the theory or principle in a manner capable of producing reliable results. State v. Riker, 123 Wash.2d 351, 359, 869 P.2d 43 (1994) (citing Cauthron, 120 Wash.2d at 888-89, 846 P.2d 502). The Frye standard recognizes that because judges do not have the expertise to assess the reliability of scientific evidence, the courts must turn to experts in the particular field to help them determine the admissibility of the proffered testimony. Copeland, 130 Wash.2d at 255, 922 P.2d 1304 (citing Cauthron, 120 Wash.2d at 887, 846 P.2d 502). In applying the test, however, "our purpose is not to second-guess the scientific community." Janes, 121 Wash.2d at 232, 850 P.2d 495. Rather, the "`inquiry turns on the level of recognition accorded to the scientific principle involved — we look for general acceptance in the appropriate scientific community.'" Janes, 121 Wash.2d at 232-33, 850 P.2d 495 (quoting Cauthron, 120 Wash.2d at 887, 846 P.2d 502). "`If there is a significant dispute between qualified experts as to the validity of scientific evidence, it may not be admitted.'" Copeland, 130 Wash.2d at 255, 922 P.2d 1304 (quoting Cauthron, 120 Wash.2d at 887, 846 P.2d 502).

In reviewing the trial court's conclusion that DID was not generally accepted within the relevant scientific community, the Court of Appeals faulted the trial court for merging the question of whether there was scientific consensus regarding DID as a psychiatric condition with the question of whether a person suffering from the condition may be considered legally "insane." Greene, 92 Wash.App. at 96-97, 960 P.2d 980...