Oregon Appellate Ct - Nov. 18, 2015

by: Abassos and Cmaloney • November 18, 2015 • no comments

OEC 702 - Mental Health Evidence - An Expert's Testimony About a Mental Health Diagnosis Assists the Trier of Fact If It Explains Behavior At Issue In The Trial

Expert testimony regarding a mental health diagnosis assists the trier of fact, and is therefore admissible under OEC 702, if it helps a jury to understand the defendant's behavior. Here, defendant was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, based partly on a "confession" he made to his wife and a blurted statement to jail deputies. Defendant offered expert testimony from a psychologist to support his defense that the touching was accidental. The psychologist would testify that his admissions to touching the victim were a product of his adjustment disorder. The trial court excluded the mental health testimony on the grounds that defendant failed to establish a nexus between the expert’s diagnosis and his defense. The Court of Appeals points out that the expert explained how defendant ruminated about his family's history of sexual abuse and whether he would turn into something he didn't want to be until he started obsessing about whether he was that person; and that the disorder could cause a person to blurt out false admissions or sign something that wasn't true. That testimony, if believed, would have helped the jury to assess defendant’s explanation for his confessions. Reversed and remanded. State v. Jesse, 275 Or App 1 (2015).