Opinion ID: 3168756
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Expert Testimony on Domestic Violence

Text: The defendant next argues that the trial court erred by allowing the testimony of the State’s expert witness on domestic violence. Expert testimony is admissible under New Hampshire Rule of Evidence 702 “[i]f scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue.” N.H. R. Ev. 702. The determination of the admissibility of expert testimony “rests, in the first instance, within the sound discretion of the trial court.” State v. Searles, 141 N.H. 224, 227 (1996) (quotation omitted). We reverse its determination “only if the appealing party can demonstrate that the ruling was untenable or unreasonable and that the error prejudiced the party’s case.” Id. (quotation omitted). At trial, the State sought to introduce the testimony of Dr. Scott Hampton, an expert in the field of domestic violence. Over the defendant’s objection, the court allowed Hampton’s testimony. Hampton then generally described the nature and types of domestic violence. He testified about the progression of domestic violence in an intimate partner relationship and explained why victims often remain in a relationship despite continued abuse. He explained why victims of such violence do not report, and lie about, the abuse and why a victim of domestic violence might fail to protect his or her child in an abusive situation. He further described the effects that a victim’s child, who is a non-biological child of the perpetrator of the abuse, would have on the dynamics of a relationship involving domestic violence. Hampton stated that he had not reviewed any of the evidence in this case, and he did not give an opinion relative to this case. Relying upon Searles, the defendant argues that the court erred by allowing Hampton to testify about domestic violence because “such evidence is only admissible when a victim recants or otherwise minimizes the subject abuse during her testimony,” and, here, Linscott “never minimized or recanted any of her statements about the abuse to which she was subject.” Assuming that the defendant preserved this argument for appeal, we disagree with the defendant that Searles stands for the proposition that a victim of domestic violence must recant her statements or minimize the abuse in order for expert testimony on domestic violence to be admissible. In Searles, the defendant argued that the trial court erred by allowing the State to introduce expert testimony concerning domestic violence syndrome in his trial for second degree assault against his girlfriend and their daughter. See id. at 225-26. He maintained that the expert’s testimony was irrelevant because the victims did not minimize their injuries or the defendant’s conduct in their trial testimony. Id. at 228. We disagreed. Id. at 228-29. 8 Recognizing that courts in other jurisdictions have approved the use of expert testimony about the effects of domestic violence, we explained that domestic violence syndrome offers an explanation for particular actions and statements of domestic violence victims that may seem counterintuitive, such as a victim’s recantation or minimization of abuse at trial. Id. at 227. When this sort of behavior is at issue, the testimony of a qualified expert may aid the jury in assessing the credibility of a domestic violence victim. Id. at 228. Given the testimony by the victims in that case, we held that the trial court did not err by concluding that evidence had been presented from which a jury could reasonably find that the victims had minimized their injuries and the defendant’s actions and that this minimization would likely be puzzling to the lay observer. Id. at 228-29. In those circumstances, we concluded that expert testimony about domestic violence syndrome could provide a reasonable explanation for the victims’ changed account of their injuries and the events in question. Id. at 229. We, therefore, determined that the expert testimony was properly admitted to assist the jury in evaluating the trial testimony of the victims. Id. Our decision in Searles, however, is not as limited as the defendant suggests. Although in that case we referred to a domestic violence victim’s recantation or minimization of abuse at trial, we did not state that those were the only circumstances in which expert testimony about domestic violence syndrome may be admissible. Rather, those were simply two examples of particular actions and statements that may seem counterintuitive to a jury so as to allow for such expert testimony. See id. at 227-29. Other jurisdictions have allowed expert testimony on the nature and effect of domestic violence in circumstances other than those involving recantation or minimization at trial. See Com. v. Morris, 974 N.E.2d 1152, 1158 (Mass. App. Ct. 2012) (stating that expert testimony on domestic violence is “admissible to help jurors understand the potentially counterintuitive behavior of victims when assessing a victim’s credibility”); State v. Grecinger, 569 N.W.2d 189, 197 (Minn. 1997) (holding that expert testimony on battered woman syndrome may be admissible in State’s case-in-chief “if it is introduced after the victim’s credibility has been attacked by the defense, if it helps the jury understand the victim’s inconsistent statements or delay in seeking prosecution of the batterer, and if the expert merely describes the syndrome and its characteristics and does not offer an opinion as to whether the victim suffers from it” (citations omitted)); see also State v. Ciskie, 751 P.2d 1165, 1170-74 (Wash. 1988) (discussing usefulness of expert testimony on battered women’s syndrome to trier of fact). Thus, permissible expert testimony on domestic violence is not limited to only those cases in which a victim of domestic violence recants her statements or minimizes the abuse at trial. Accordingly, we reject the defendant’s argument because it is based upon the faulty premise that Hampton’s testimony was admissible only if Linscott recanted her statements or minimized the defendant’s conduct at trial. 9 To the extent the defendant argues that the court erred by admitting Hampton’s testimony because Linscott was a witness in this case and “not a victim of a charged crime,” this argument has been insufficiently developed for our review. We, therefore, decline to address it. See State v. Roy, 167 N.H. 276, 292 (2015) (declining to address an insufficiently developed argument). Finally, the defendant argues that admission of Hampton’s testimony unfairly prejudiced his case. He asserts that Hampton’s testimony “vilified [him] in the eyes of the jury” and “turned [Linscott] from a co-defendant/ accomplice into an uncharged victim.” We disagree. Hampton testified exclusively in general terms about domestic violence relationships and why victims of domestic violence act in certain ways. He did not present opinion testimony based upon the facts of this case, nor did he opine as to the credibility of any witness. Hampton’s testimony may have closely aligned with Linscott’s description of abuse and therefore may have aided the jury in understanding her actions. Contrary to the defendant’s suggestion, however, it did not transform his testimony into an opinion that the defendant was an abuser and Linscott a victim. See Morris, 974 N.E.2d at 1161. Moreover, during Hampton’s testimony, the court instructed the jury on several occasions that Hampton was not speaking about any of the individuals involved in this case. The court instructed the jury not to “infer in any way that because Dr. Hampton happens to refer to a he if he’s talking about the abuser he means that all abusers are [men] or that it’s in any way connected to [the defendant] in terms of his testimony.” At the close of the evidence, the court further instructed the jury that it was “not bound by the opinion of the expert” and was “free to ignore the expert’s opinion if you find that the reasons given in support of the opinion are not sound or if you find that other evidence outweighs the opinion.” The jury is presumed to follow the trial court’s instructions, thus diminishing any potential for unfair prejudice from the admission of such testimony. See Costello, 159 N.H. at 123. For these reasons, we do not agree with the defendant that Hampton’s testimony invited the jury to base its decision upon something other than the established propositions in the case. See Roy, 167 N.H. at 285. We conclude that the defendant has not demonstrated that the trial court’s decision to allow Hampton’s testimony was untenable or unreasonable to the prejudice of his case. Accordingly, we hold that the trial court did not unsustainably exercise its discretion by admitting it. Affirmed. DALIANIS, C.J., and HICKS, LYNN, and BASSETT, JJ., concurred. 10