State v. Holt

The respondent was convicted of rape and sentenced to serve ninety-nine years in the State Penitentiary. Upon appeal the Criminal Court of Appeals reversed this judgment and remanded the cause for a new trial. We granted certiorari.

This case presents the issue of the admissibility of testimony by an expert medical witness, a psychiatrist, when asked to express an opinion in regard to the sanity of a defendant in a criminal case based on subjective symptoms. The point raised here appears to be of first impression in this State.

The facts necessary to note are as follows:

*723This crime was committed…