Discovery and Testimony about an Expert's Experience with Sexual Abuse Victims

The rules of thumb about expert testimony in child sexual abuse cases are (1) that an expert can’t testify that a child was, in fact, abused absent physical evidence, and (2) that an expert can testify to common characteristics or “profiles” of sexual abuse victims. A recent court of appeals case holds that even if the State doesn’t give notice of an expert’s opinion regarding victims’ characteristics, the expert has the leeway to discuss his or her own experiences with survivors of sexual abuse. The case is State v. Davis, __ N.C. App. __, __ S.E.2d __, 2015 WL 871985 (Mar. 3, 2015). The defendant was charged with sexually abusing his stepdaughter from when she was three or four until she was thirteen. She reported the events years later and testified as an adult. Multiple 404(b) witnesses testified to similar conduct by the defendant against them. The State called a psychologist and a mental health counselor to whom the victim had disclosed the abuse. The defendant apparently acknowledged their expertise and conceded that they could testify about their experience with the victim, but argued that they should not be permitted to offer opinions regarding the symptoms or profiles of victims of sexual abuse because the State had not provided discovery concerning the experts’ opinions on those issues. See generally G.S. 15A-903 (requiring that the State give notice of its experts, any examinations or tests they conducted, their CVs, their opinions, and the bases of their opinions). The trial judge ruled that [...]