State v. Weeks

The principal issue in this appeal from a conviction

for sexual assault is whether allowing an expert witness to comment on the child victim’s credibility and to identify the perpetrator was plain error. We hold that it was and reverse and remand for a new trial.

I

After a bitter divorce, defendant and his ex-wife continued to struggle over his visitation with their daughter and only child. When the child resisted the visits and defendant insisted on them, the mother, on advice of counsel, sought out a psychologist, Dr. Cunningham, to determine whether the child had been sexually abused. Dr.…