State v. Calloway

Defendant appeals from two convictions of lewd and lascivious conduct, 13 V.S.A. § 2602, on grounds that the court improperly excused five prospective jury panel members and that an expert witness improperly testified that in his opinion child sexual abuse victims generally tell the truth. We affirm.

Defendant was charged with one count of sexual assault on his juvenile nephew and two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with the same child. Before trial, the state’s attorney moved for an individual voir dire of prospective jurors to be held in the judge’s chambers to ask them “whether they…