Opinion ID: 1135325
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Trial Testimony Concerning Susan Y.

Text: Susan attended the day care center for about one year between the age of two and one-half and three and one-half. Her first accusations were made two and one-half years after she last attended the day care center. On direct examination, Susan said that Ontiveros put his penis in her while Felix took pictures, that Paco put a brown knife up her crotch, that Paco put his finger in her crotch, and that Martha put her fingernail in her crotch. Susan's responses were quick, brief answers. She could not give a lot of detail about the various incidents. An example of her responses was her answer to the query about what she did not like about Martha's home. Her response was, Like Paco sticking his penis in me. She stated that it happened in Martha's bedroom, but the time, day, month, or year was not elicited by the prosecutor. Susan did not remember how Paco was clothed and initially could not remember the position she was in when she said she was accosted. Susan stated that it happened a lot of times, and on cross-examination she remembered she was standing when these incidents occurred. Susan claimed that Paco also put her in the bathtub undressed and held her head under water until she passed out. When asked what else happened to her in the bathroom, she answered: A. Paco sticking a knife up my crotch. Q. That was in the bathroom? A. Yes. Q. What did the knife look like? A. It had a brown, it was a short knife with a brown handle and a silver blade. Q. Do you remember anything else about it? A. No. Q. Did that take place on more than one time? A. Yes. Q. How often? A. Lots of times. Again, no time, day, month, or year was established by this or other witnesses. Susan stated that she bled when this happened, but Martha would wipe the blood off her leg or wash her underpants. Her mother never noticed any blood on her pants. When asked if anything else was inserted in her crotch, she answered, Martha's fingernail, and described the nail as being long and pointed with fingernail polish on it. No other details concerning this incident were elicited by the prosecutor. Susan's accusatory statements were interspersed with tales of bizarre and incredible events that she claimed occurred at the day care center. She testified that Paco and Martha killed animals in the backyard of the day care center to scare her. She remembered pigs, goats, calves, and horses being slaughtered. She had a specific recollection of a calf being killed by Paco and Martha by slitting its throat and the blood from it drained into a big container. She stated that the children were forced to drink the blood. A large hole was then dug and the calf was buried in the backyard. Susan also testified that some of the larger animals were buried on the hill outside of town. On cross-examination, she related in some detail how she went with Paco and Martha to pick up a horse and take it to this hill where it was killed. Again, she said she was forced to drink the horse's blood and the horse was then buried in a large hole. Susan testified that Martha and Paco made Adam, her brother, who was five years old at the time, stick his penis in her butt, and made her kiss her brother's penis. The children were then forced to eat dog poop ... and drink dog pee. In Susan's testimony during the proceedings, she also claimed that she was taped up and hung by her neck in the closet, that her eyebrows were plucked out, and that pictures were taken of her in the nude when she was outside. In addition to being forced to drink animals' blood, she testified to having been forced to drink chlorine and gasoline. She also testified that a family of four was at the day care center and that they were tricked into walking into the backyard, where they were killed and buried. Dorothy Y., Susan's mother, recounted Susan's first accusatory statements, which were the genesis of this case. Ms. Y. testified to the following: Two years before trial, when Susan was six years old, Susan found a doll Martha had made for Susan, and Susan said, I really hated it there. I really hated Paco. She testified that Susan said Paco would sit on her and pull her eyebrows. She took Susan back to the bedroom and asked her, Can you tell me anything else, honey? Did he ever show his penis to you? Susan said no. Some days later, when watching a swimsuit contest on television, Susan said, I guess it's okay to take pictures like that with your clothes on. Ms. Y. again took Susan to the bedroom and asked her if she had ever seen pictures like that. Susan said yes, that Felix and Ontiveros had taken pictures of her like that without her clothes on. Then Susan said, And know what else they did, Mom? He stuck his penis in me. Ms. Y. testified that when she asked Susan why she had not said anything before, Susan said Paco and Martha had told her they would kill her if she told anyone. Ms. Y. also testified that Susan made the following statements, none of which Susan testified to in court: Susan had been punished at Martha's house with a stinging stick, and Paco had put a pen up her vagina. She also recounted statements similar to Susan's statements on direct examination. Ms. Y. had testified at the preliminary hearing that Susan informed her that Paco stuck his penis in her crotch after Susan had been seeing psychologist Fisher. However, Ms. Y. recanted this testimony at trial. Ms. Y.'s preliminary hearing testimony was consistent with psychologist Fisher's testimony that Ms. Y. did not indicate Susan had been assaulted when she began treating Susan, and that Ms. Y.'s complaints were only that Susan was having nightmares and not sleeping well. Fisher testified that in her first session with Susan, Susan told her that Paco put his penis in her. Over defense objection, Fisher was permitted to state her opinion that Susan's statements were not the product of fantasy because she is more concrete and a forthright-type person. About a month and several interviews later, Fisher called the Carson City authorities, and Detective Sue Coffey began investigating. Coffey, who was not a psychologist, testified that she sat in on some of the sessions, and she remembered that Susan had recounted the basic allegations of CSA and told her that animals had been slaughtered in Martha's backyard. Samantha Payne, a board-certified psychologist, was asked by the State to interview Susan and Adam Y. in cooperation with Detective Coffey. Detective Coffey explained that she recommended Payne primarily to secure the best incriminating statements from Susan and to provide a better credentialed expert for testimony at trial. Payne's first three visits with Susan and Adam were paid for by the sheriff's office and were to secure information, not therapy. Payne testified at trial that, immediately after she videotaped the first session with Susan, Susan told her that Paco put his finger in her vagina. She interviewed Susan twenty-nine times, but only the first interview was recorded. Her videotaped interview with Susan was shown to the jury. Payne also said Susan told her that Martha had put her finger inside Susan's vagina and that Paco had put a knitting needle in her vagina. Susan was taken to Dr. Tom Scully, a pediatrician, by Detective Coffey and Ms. Y. Dr. Scully's examination disclosed a five by seven millimeter opening in the hymenal ring, and he explained that a pencil point is about a millimeter. He opined that his findings were consistent with a blunt force penetration of Susan's vagina. However, he indicated that it was not consistent with full penile penetration, nor with a knife or other sharp object. Dr. Scully found Susan reticent, but asked her, Did someone touch you? She answered, Yes, and she pointed to her vaginal area. Dr. Scully then asked if it was a man, and she again responded in the affirmative. He then asked Susan the man's name, and she said Paco. Dr. Roland Miller, head of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Pediatrics at the University of California Irvine Medical School, examined Dr. Scully's findings and said that Susan's examination was not conclusive of sexual assault or penetration. He stated that a four millimeter opening in the hymenal ring is considered normal, and that an opening three millimeters larger is not a great variation. He indicated that such an opening could be caused by several other factors.