Opinion ID: 1305553
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Judicial Opinions and Observations

Text: The admissibility of expert testimony on rape trauma syndrome has been considered in a number of other jurisdictions. The courts are sharply divided on the issue. Some have held such testimony inadmissible to prove that the alleged victim did not consent to intercourse and was, therefore, raped. State v. Saldana, 324 N.W.2d 227 (Minn. 1982); State v. Taylor, 663 S.W.2d 235 (Mo. 1984); People v. Bledsoe, 36 Cal.3d 236, 681 P.2d 291, 203 Cal. Rptr. 450 (1984). Others have held such testimony admissible for this purpose. State v. Marks, 647 P.2d 1292 (Kan. 1982); State v. Liddell, ___ Mont. ___, 685 P.2d 918 (1984); State v. Huey, 145 Ariz. 59, 699 P.2d 1290 (1985); State v. Allewalt, 308 Md. 89, 517 A.2d 741 (1986) (5-to-2 opinion held testimony on post-traumatic stress disorder admissible in rape case to prove lack of consent). [1] We find the opinions which exclude the testimony persuasive. The courts which have admitted rape trauma syndrome testimony believe it sufficient that the myriad of symptoms encompassed therein are generally accepted to be a common reaction to sexual assault. Marks, at 1299; Huey, at 63; Allewalt, at 107. We find, however, that this is not the relevant question. The issue is not whether rape victims may display certain symptoms; the issue is whether the presence of various symptoms, denominated together as rape trauma syndrome, is a scientifically reliable method admissible in evidence and probative of the issue of whether an alleged victim was raped. See Allewalt, at 115 (Eldridge, J., dissenting). The literature on the subject demonstrates that it is not. In Bledsoe, at 250, the California Supreme Court emphasized that rape trauma syndrome was not intended to be a forensic, fact-finding device. Rather, it is an `umbrella' concept, reflecting the broad range of emotional trauma experienced by clients of rape counselors. The court cogently points out how rape trauma syndrome differs significantly from other seemingly similar methods of proof: There is, however, a fundamental difference between rape trauma syndrome and both the battered child syndrome and the other scientific methods of proof that have in the past been evaluated against the Frye standard of reliability. Unlike fingerprints, blood tests, lie detector tests, voiceprints or the battered child syndrome, rape trauma syndrome was not devised to determine the truth or accuracy of a particular past event  i.e., whether, in fact, a rape in the legal sense occurred  but rather was developed by professional rape counselors as a therapeutic tool, to help identify, predict and treat emotional problems experienced by the counselors' clients or patients. As the professional literature makes clear  and as the expert testimony in this case also reveals  because in the past women who have brought charges of rape have traditionally had their credibility or motives questioned by the police and others, rape counselors are taught to make a conscious effort to avoid judging the credibility of their clients. As one expert in the field recently wrote: when a woman seeks services from a psychologist, she wants and deserves help for her problems, not judgment. Judgment is appropriate for courtrooms, not for psychologists' offices.... Thus, as a rule, rape counselors do not probe inconsistencies in their clients' descriptions of the facts of the incident, nor do they conduct independent investigations to determine whether other evidence corroborates or contradicts their clients' renditions. Because their function is to help their clients deal with the trauma they are experiencing, the historical accuracy of the clients' descriptions of the details of the traumatizing events is not vital in their task. (Footnotes and citation omitted.) Bledsoe, at 249-50. Likewise, Saldana and Taylor also rejected expert testimony on rape trauma syndrome. Saldana explicitly found that this syndrome is not the type of scientific test that reliably determines whether a rape has occurred, as the characteristic symptoms may follow any psychologically traumatic event. Saldana, at 229. Taylor similarly concluded that at best, the syndrome might identify persons who had been subjected to a traumatic experience  perhaps even a stressful sexual experience. But to suggest that the syndrome reliably indicates rape is indeed a chasm too wide and deep to leap. Taylor, at 241. We agree, and hold that under the Frye standard, expert testimony on rape trauma syndrome is not a scientifically reliable means of proving lack of consent in a rape case.