State v. Jesse

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree, ORS 163.427. Defendant assigns error to the trial court’s pretrial exclusion of expert testimony that defendant offered to support his contention that his admissions to touching the victim were a product of an adjustment disorder and were misunderstood as confessions of abuse. We conclude that the trial court erred in excluding that testimony regarding diagnoses of defendant’s mental health issues, and we further conclude that the error was not harmless. We therefore reverse and remand.

I. BACKGROUND

Defendant and…