State v. Batangan

71 Haw. 552 (1990)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was accused of having sexual contact with his daughter. The complainant alleged that when she was 6 or 7 years old, on four or five occasions, D performed sexual acts on her. She could not provide any specific dates or reference points in time. Nor were the acts described specific as to one incident or another. There was no evidence of physical injury and no third-party witnesses to these incidents. She did not report these incidents until several months after the occurrences. She first reported to school authorities. When no injuries were found, she admitted that she had lied about the physical abuse, but instead accused D of sexually abusing her. She subsequently recanted her allegations of sexual abuse. At trial, she testified that she had been sexually abused by D. D was acquitted of the rape charge, and a mistrial (due to a hung jury) was declared on the sexual abuse charge. At the second trial, the State presented Dr. John Bond as an expert witness in the field of clinical psychology with a subspecialty in the treatment of sexually abused children. Dr. Bond had evaluated Complainant on one occasion three weeks prior to the second trial. Dr. Bond testified as to how he evaluates whether a child is telling the truth about being sexually abused. He then implicitly testified that Complainant was believable and that she had been abused by D. D objected to the admission of Dr. Bond's testimony. It was admitted, and D was convicted of first-degree sexual abuse. D appealed.