Russell v. State

Robert H. Dudley, Justice.

At trial, the appellant was convicted of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree. The victim was a nine year old girl. The single point of appeal concerns a question asked of the State’s first witness, Dr. Donna Van Kirk, a licensed psychologist. The Deputy Prosecuting Attorney first asked Dr. Van Kirk if in her opinion the victim had been sexually abused. The appellant objected, and the trial court correctly ruled that the witness could not give her opinion about whether sexual abuse had, in fact, occurred. Shortly afterward, the…