Court Opinion

ID: 9615733
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:40:12.66053+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:50.716394
License: Public Domain

Miller, J.,
dissenting: I respectfully dissent from the conclusion reached by the majority in this case, and I adhere to the dissent of Justice Holmes, which I joined, in State v. Washington, 229 Kan. 47, 63, 622 P.2d 986 (1981). The court’s present opinion invites the rebuttal of expert medical testimony by lay witnesses who do not have the factual information necessary to properly rebut that opinion testimony.
Here, Nurse Heston testified on direct examination that she had performed “probably up to twenty” rape kit examinations. She stated that she had never seen tears or lacerations to the genital areas of the victims, and she did not find that fact surprising. On cross-examination, she said that she found no tears, lacerations or abrasions of the victim’s vagina.
The defense called Dr. Frederick C. Baker, a pathologist who had examined some thirty victims of sexual assault. He expressed the opinion that forcible rape or forcible sodomy will be accompanied by trauma to the vaginal or rectal area of the victim. In rebuttal, the State quite properly presented the testimony of Dr. Dick Allen Geis. He had examined some twenty to twenty-five rape victims and had found injury to the vaginal area of less than half. Both physicians and the nurse had, admittedly, rather limited experience in the area.
To counter this split of professional opinion, the State presented the testimony of Joan Hamilton. Both as a rape counselor and later as an assistant district attorney, she had been present in the hospital room and had observed not twenty or thirty but 150 to 160 rape kit examinations, and she had observed trauma to the vaginal area of the victim only six times, and then on very young or very old victims. Though on cross-examination she acknowledged that she had no medical training, that she would not look for the same things that a nurse would look for and would not *449look for the same type of trauma that a doctor would look for, and that she never made an actual examination of the vaginal and rectal areas of the victims, the damage was done. The coup de grace had been administered. In only six out of 160 cases is there trauma! That was the effect of her testimony. The only purpose in calling her was to establish that “fact” in the minds of the jurors.
I do not mean that lay testimony can never be used to counter the opinions of experts. Many examples come to mind: A physician testifies that he found scratches and bruises on the arms and face; lay persons present, and having the opportunity to observe, saw no scratches or bruises. The mechanic testifies that the brakes on a vehicle worked perfectly; lay persons who tested the brake pedal found that it went clear to the floor and there was no brake pressure. Many other illustrations may be made, but in all such situations the lay persons had an opportunity to observe that which is apparent, even to the untrained. Here, however, we have a nurse and two physicians who made internal as well as external examinations and testified as to their findings. A nonprofessional person who was present, but who did not make an actual examination of the specific body areas, has no factual foundation and no scientific or educational background upon which to base testimony offered for the sole purpose of refuting or rebutting that of the trained examiners.
Following the rationale of the dissent in Washington, I would hold that the admission of this testimony was prejudicial error.
Schroeder, C.J., joins the foregoing dissenting opinion.