Court Opinion

ID: 9539827
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:10:45.37582+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:59:22.903092
License: Public Domain

Justice PLEICONES,
dissenting:
I agree with the majority that the Court of Appeals erred in upholding the qualification of Herod. However, because I find that Herod’s testimony was prejudicial to the defendant, I respectfully dissent, and would remand for a new trial.
In my opinion, it was not only unnecessary but improper for the circuit court to qualify Herod as an expert witness. This Court’s jurisprudence and Rule 702 of the South Carolina Rules of Evidence emphasize the role of the trial court as the gatekeeper in determining, among other things, whether the expert’s testimony consists of scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge that will assist the trier of fact. Fields v. J. Haynes Waters Builders, Inc., 376 S.C. 545, 658 S.E.2d 80 (2008); Rule 702, SCRE. In my opinion, while much of Herod’s factual testimony was admissible, it did not assist the jury in assessing matters beyond its common knowledge and was therefore not proper expert testimony.
Herod’s testimony went to an ultimate issue for the jury: the victim’s credibility. Herod testified that in applying the RATAC method, she and the victim “talk a lot about telling the truth and telling a lie and we make an agreement with each other that I will tell her the truth and that she will tell me the truth” and “if the child agrees to do that” Herod continues the interview. Herod testified that after concluding the interview, she determined “that [the victim] needed to go to the Durant Center for a medical exam.... ” I agree with the Court of Appeals that the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn from Herod’s testimony is that, based upon her training, she believed that the victim was being truthful. Juries do not require the assistance of human “truth detectors” in assessing the credibility of testimony.
I cannot agree with the majority that qualifying Herod as an expert was harmless. As in many CSC cases, this case turned primarily on the veracity of the victim. In the instant case, while physical evidence indicated that the victim had *506been abused, no physical evidence other than the testimony of the victim connected Petitioner to the crime. Notwithstanding that expert testimony is to be assessed utilizing the same tests of credibility applied to that of non-expert witnesses, qualification as an expert clothes the witness with an air of authority that does not attach to “ordinary” witnesses. In his closing argument, counsel for the State noted “what this comes down to is believability and credibility” and contrasted his “expert” witnesses with witnesses presented by the defense.3 Given the importance of credibility in this case, Herod’s testimony in this regard was not harmless. See State v. Ellis, 345 S.C. 175, 178, 547 S.E.2d 490, 492 (2001) (“An officer’s improper opinion which goes to the heart of the case is not harmless.”).
For the reasons given above, I respectfully dissent.

. In his closing argument, counsel for the State argued: "what this comes down to is believability and credibility. What's believable, the testimony of that little girl and what she told you here in this courtroom, followed up with an expert in interviewing and followed up with an expert in medical examination and confirmed by her grandmother. That’s the evidence, not mom who gets on the stand who doesn't ever say anything about this Terry guy and the fact that she was gone to church and other places or James Wandtke, the best friend who[’s] here to help my buddy out....”