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State v. Alberico9/26/1991
Opinion
Once again we confront the issue of the admissibility of expert testimony relating to rape trauma syndrome (RTS). In ), we assumed, but did not decide, that expert testimony on RTS is admissible. We affirmed the trial judge's exercise of his discretion in refusing to permit the testimony in the circumstances of that case. In ), we affirmed a conviction in which testimony regarding RTS was admitted, but we did not address various challenges to the testimony raised on appeal because they had not been preserved at trial. In this case we hold that the expert testimony was improperly admitted. Because we reverse defendant's conviction on this ground, we need not address the other issues raised by defendant on appeal, although we note our concern as to the relevance of the prior statement by defendant's girlfriend.
I. FACTS
Defendant was convicted of two counts of criminal sexual penetration (CSP) and one count of kidnapping. The alleged victim was fifteen years old at the time of the incident. Defendant did not dispute that he had intercourse with her. The issue at trial was whether the intercourse was consensual.
The complainant's testimony was as follows: She knew defendant prior to the incident. On the night in question she entered his car after he invited her to come in out of the cold. Defendant told her he would drive her home, but instead drove out of Santa Fe, saying that they were going for a ride. Somewhere in the Tesuque area defendant stopped the car and forced her to touch his penis with her mouth. He then forcibly lowered her pants and raped her. She was able to escape after the rape by jumping out of the car when he slowed the vehicle upon re-entering Santa Fe. She immediately went to a friend's house and told the friend what had happened. The police and the rape crisis center were contacted and she went to the hospital for an examination.
The complainant's version of the events occurring after she returned to Santa Fe was corroborated by her friend, the examining physician at the hospital, an investigating officer from the Santa Fe police department, and two officers from the Santa Fe County sheriff's office. The complainant, her mother, and a psychologist, Dr. Barbara Lenssen, who saw the complainant several times after the incident, testified concerning the deleterious effects of the incident on the complainant's psychological health. She experienced behavioral changes, including withdrawal from her normal activities, inability to sleep, increased anger, loss of weight, and excessive nervousness.
Defendant testified that the intercourse was consensual. He stated that after he had intercourse with the complainant, she asked him for cocaine or money and he
gave her $25. The defense theory, as developed in the closing argument, was that the complainant fabricated the rape story to cover up for the fact that she had left her younger brother alone while she was out late at night with defendant. The defense attributed her behavior after the incident to feelings of guilt arising from the consensual intercourse and to her involvement with alcohol and drugs.
The evidence that we find to have been inadmissible was opinion testimony by Dr. Lenssen. Her opinions were based on two sessions with the complainant (the first of which was approximately five weeks after the incident) and an interview with the complainant's mother. Dr. Lenssen had substantial experience and training with respect to rape and sexual abuse; her expertise is not challenged on appeal. The gist of defendant's objecti
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