Opinion ID: 1767064
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Denial of Strong's Objection to Certain Testimony by the Nurse Practitioner

Text: During the nurse practitioner's testimony regarding her interview of K.M., she noted that K.M. had reported only the most recent occurrences of abuse. Nurse Young explained that child victims of sexual abuse often report only the most recent in a series of incidents, due to having blocked out the memories of earlier occurrences as a way of coping. Strong objected to this testimony on the basis that it was beyond Young's area of expertise, but the circuit court allowed the testimony to proceed. Arkansas Rule of Evidence 702 (2007) provides that a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. Young was qualified as an expert by virtue of her extensive education, training, and practice as a nurse practitioner specializing in sexual abuse of children. She testified that she had earned bachelor's, master's, post-master's, and doctoral degrees in nursing, that she was a college professor in the field of nursing and also taught sexual-assault nurse-examiner courses, and that she had performed over two-thousand sexual-abuse examinations on children. Young testified that she had also received a considerable amount of training in the area of interviewing child victims of sexual abuse. The specialized knowledge on which Young based her opinion would have been of assistance to the jury in their understanding of her testimony. Considering Young's extensive education and training, we cannot say that this particular testimony was beyond her expertise. Therefore, the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in overruling Strong's objection to Young's testimony about coping mechanisms exhibited by child victims of sexual abuse. This ruling does not provide a meritorious ground for reversal.