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EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY ADMITTED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAS ABUSED, CONVICTIONS REVERSED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction in the interest of justice, determined the expert evidence on child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome (CSAAS) was improperly admitted to prove the crime took place, depriving defendant of a fair trial:

… [W]e acknowledge that expert testimony concerning CSAAS and similar psychological syndromes has long been admissible to explain the behavior of a victim that might be puzzling to a jury … . Here, however, the expert witness did not confine her testimony to “educat[ing] the jury on a scientifically recognized pattern of secrecy, helplessness, entrapment [and] accommodation’ experienced by a child victim” … . Instead, the expert explained “grooming” and other behaviors associated with perpetrators of child sexual abuse. Her detailed description of a typical perpetrator’s modus operandi, moreover, closely tracked the victim’s testimony concerning defendant’s conduct, and the prosecutor on summation urged the jury to conclude that defendant’s interactions with the victim fit the description of a typical perpetrator’s conduct as described by the expert. In sum, that part of the testimony of the expert describing the conduct of a typical perpetrator was not directed at explaining the victim’s behavior. Rather, it was presented “for the purpose of proving that the [victim] was sexually abused” … , which purpose was reinforced by the prosecutor’s summation. People v Ruiz, 2018 NY Slip Op 01722, Fourth Dept 3-16-18

CRIMINAL LAW (EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY ADMITTED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAS ABUSED, CONVICTIONS REVERSED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT))/EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY ADMITTED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAS ABUSED, CONVICTIONS REVERSED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT))/APPEALS (CRIMINAL LAW, EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY ADMITTED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAS ABUSED, CONVICTIONS REVERSED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT))/CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) (EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY ADMITTED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAS ABUSED, CONVICTIONS REVERSED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT))/EXPERT OPINION (CRIMINAL LAW, (EXPERT EVIDENCE ON CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME (CSAAS) WAS IMPROPERLY ADMITTED TO SHOW THE VICTIM WAS ABUSED, CONVICTIONS REVERSED IN THE INTEREST OF JUSTICE (FOURTH DEPT))

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