Child Interviewing Technique is Proper Subject
for Expert Testimony, says Washington Appeals Court
The Washington State Court of Appeals has ruled that the proper technique for interviewing children is a fit subject for expert testimony. This is because it is beyond the knowledge of most jurors. In the case at bar, though, the court found the excluded testimony would not have been helpful to the jury. It thus affirmed the conviction in State of Washington v. Alvin Willis, No. 47118-0-I (Wn. App. Div. I, 9/16/02).
The trial court had relied on State v. Swan, a 1990 Washington case, to exclude the testimony of John Yuille, a professor and forensic psychologist who has published widely on child interviewing techniques. The trial court construed the Swan case to hold that the proper manner for interviewing children was within the common knowledge of jurors.
The appeals court said that was too broad a reading of Swan, and it came to the opposite conclusion-- that how to interview children is not a matter of common knowledge. The court cited cases from several other states and federal circuits approving the admission of expert testimony on child interviewing.
In Willis, though, Dr. Yuille had said that he could not evaluate interview techniques without a verbatim record, and none had been made of the interview about which the defense wanted him to testify. On that basis, the appeals court held that his testimony would not have been helpful to the jury. Thus the trial court had not abused its discretion in excluding his testimony.
Copyright © 2004 David S. Marshall
