Court Opinion

ID: 9777606
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:16:36.833898+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:57.301965
License: Public Domain

MANSFIELD, Judge,
concurring.
I have strong doubts as to whether a social worker or a psychologist has the expertise to give a reliable opinion as to whether any witness—much less a child witness—is fantasizing or being manipulated. Given that such opinion testimony is essentially educated guesswork rather than based on quantifiable true science, I believe that we need to place strict limitations on the use of such testimony at criminal trials in Texas. See Tex.R.Crim. Evid. 702, 703. I also believe that any testimony relating to so-called “repressed memory syndrome” is inherently suspect and should not be admissible in Texas courtrooms.
With these comments, I join the opinion of the Court.
PRICE, J., joins.