Com. v. Williams, G.

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2022 PA Super 50COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA IN THE SUPERIOR COURT
OF PENNSYLVANIA
Appellee
v.
GEORGE WILLIAMS
Appellant No. 1311 EDA 2020
Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence December 2, 2019
In the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County
Criminal Division at No: CP-51-CR-0009727-2017
BEFORE: STABILE, J., DUBOW, J., and MCCAFFERY, J.
OPINION BY STABILE, J.: FILED MARCH 28, 2022
Appellant, George Williams, appeals from his judgment of sentence of
thirty to sixty years’ imprisonment for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse
with a child, aggravated indecent assault of a person under thirteen years of
age, indecent assault of a person under thirteen years of age and unlawful
contact with a minor.1 We hold that the trial court abused its discretion by
permitting a supervisor from Philadelphia Children’s Alliance (“PCA”) to give
expert testimony that it is common for child victims to “under-disclose” sexual
abuse to PCA interviewers, where the PCA witness was not qualified as an
expert to provide such testimony. We uphold the trial court’s discretion not
to provide a “prompt complaint” instruction to the jury. Accordingly, we
vacate the judgment of sentence and remand for a new trial.
____________________________________________
1 18 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 3123(b), 3125(a)(7), 3126(a)(7), and 6318, respectively.
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In September 2017, Appellant was charged with the above offenses. On
October 3, 2019, following trial and several days of deliberations, the jury
found Appellant guilty of all charges. On December 2, 2019, the court
imposed sentence. Appellant filed timely post-sentence motions, which were
denied by operation of law on June 24, 2020. This timely appeal followed.
Both Appellant and the trial court complied with Pa.R.A.P. 1925.
The trial court summarized the evidence adduced during trial as follows:
The victim was twelve years old when she testified at Appellant’s
jury trial. In August 2016, the victim, her mother, and her
brother, who is five years older than the victim, moved into
Appellant’s apartment on Emlen Street in Philadelphia. The victim
testified that she loved Appellant “like he was family.” He was
“like a father figure” and her mother’s best friend.
The victim described an incident where she was lying on a couch
in the apartment’s living room when Appellant was positioned
behind her on the sofa and started to touch her. Appellant
touched the victim’s buttocks, breasts, and “private area” as he
reached his hands into her pants and rubbed her skin. She was
ten years old when Appellant began to touch her inappropriately.
The victim testified about another incident, which occurred in her
bedroom. On this occasion, when the victim woke up, Appellant
was in bed with her and touching her. Appellant touched the skin
of the victim’s breasts and buttocks. She also stated that, on
more than one occasion, when she was in her bedroom, Appellant
“made [her] suck on his penis.”
The victim also told the jury about a different episode when the
victim sat on the couch in the apartment’s living room, and
Appellant pulled off her shorts and underwear. Then, Appellant
licked the victim’s vagina with his tongue and touched her vagina
with his fingers. At the time, her mother and brother were not in
the apartment because they were at a laundromat.
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Later, the victim, her mother, and her brother moved out of
Appellant’s apartment and lived at Appellant’s mother’s house
along with Appellant’s sister and her children. While there, the
victim told another child that Appellant “molested” her. Then, she
told her mother about what Appellant did. Upon hearing about
the incidents, the victim’s mother cried and vomited. Her brother
“sat there in shock,” and someone called the police.
Philadelphia Police Officer Charles Durham testified that he met
with the victim on May 24, [2017]. The officer testified,
[S]he said that she was touched inappropriately ...
underneath her dress on her vagina, and ... that she
was being asked to perform oral sex as well.... [A]ll of
the things that she was telling me ... happened about
a month prior to me being called out to the residence
and that it was a continuous action for approximately
three months.
Colleen Getz, a manager of the forensic interview unit at the
[PCA], testified for the Commonwealth. PCA is an independent,
nonprofit child advocacy service which works with a team of
individuals from the Department of Human Services, the police,
local children’s hospitals, and mental health services in
Philadelphia. PCA brings all those organizations together to
provide a joint response to allegations of child abuse. When she
testified, Ms. Getz had been employed with PCA for nine years.
She had conducted more than 2,300 forensic interviews, which
are fact-finding, unbiased methods of questioning children. The
forensic interview provides a “child with an opportunity to provide
as [] cohesive a statement as possible without having to be
questioned multiple times.”
Ms. Getz confirmed that the victim was interviewed at PCA on June
6, 2017. Takeisha Allen conducted the interview but was no
longer working at PCA on the date of Appellant’s trial. When she
interviewed the victim, Ms. Allen had worked at PCA for two years
and had conducted about five hundred interviews. After Ms.
Getz’s testimony, the Commonwealth played a video recording of
the victim’s forensic interview at PCA.
The victim’s brother, K.G., was seventeen years old when he
testified at Appellant’s trial. K.G. described the victim’s
relationship with Appellant as “creepy.” K.G. explained, “[M]y
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little sister was always laying on him in some form or shape. Just
either laying on his side or laying next to him ....” The victim’s
brother stated that the interactions between Appellant and the
victim “felt wrong.”
Tamika Weaver, the victim’s mother, confirmed that she and her
children lived with Appellant in his apartment on Emlen Street.
Ms. Weaver stated that Appellant’s behavior never troubled her.
After moving out of his apartment, Ms. Weaver learned of the
incidents involving Appellant and her daughter.
Appellant’s wife, Vivian Williams, testified that she never saw any
inappropriate contact between the victim and Appellant.
Appellant testified on his own behalf and claimed that he did not
molest, sexually assault, or inappropriately touch the victim.
Trial Court Opinion, 4/30/21, at 3-5 (record citations omitted).
We note several other important facts from the record. The alleged
assaults took place between August 2016, when the victim and her family
moved into Appellant’s apartment, and April 2017, when the victim and her
family moved out. According to the victim, Appellant began sexually abusing
her shortly after her tenth birthday, December 22, 2016, and after he
impregnated the victim’s mother. N.T. 9/26/19, at 55. By that time, the
victim had come to “love him like he was family” and view him as her “god-
dad” and “father figure.” N.T. 9/26/19, at 49-50. She did not report the
assaults while she lived with Appellant because he had been hitting the
victim’s brother, and she did not want to get hit herself. Id. at 65. She also
did not want to tell her mother, explaining, “She was pregnant and she . . .
might not have been in the right state of mind for me to say anything to her.”
Id.
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In April 2017, the victim moved with her family into Appellant’s mother’s
residence. One month later, in May 2017, the victim reported the assaults to
Appellant’s niece. Id. at 70-71; N.T. 9/27/19, at 77-78. Even then, she was
scared to report the incidents to her mother, because she was afraid that her
mother “would lose her mind and hurt [Appellant] or get hurt.” N.T. 9/26/19,
at 72.
The victim gave markedly incomplete stories about Appellant’s alleged
sex acts during her interviews. She told the responding police officer only that
Appellant had touched her inappropriately. Id. at 119-121. She described
six specific incidents to a PCA investigator. N.T. 9/27/19, at 16-17. The victim
claimed at trial that Appellant made her perform oral sex on him, N.T.
9/26/19, 51-64, but she did not make this claim to investigators in multiple
pretrial interviews. Id. at 95. Moreover, she testified at a preliminary hearing
in a manner that showed that she simply did not understand the requirement
that she tell the truth in court. Id. at 83. She in fact testified that she would
lie under oath if someone else told her to do so. Id.
Against this factual background, we describe the testimony by the PCA
supervisor, Getz, in greater detail. On direct examination, Getz, a
Commonwealth witness, testified about services provided by PCA, her training
and responsibilities at PCA, the type and manner of questioning involved in a
forensic interview of a minor victim of sexual abuse, the identity of the person
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who interviewed the victim in the present case, and the date of the interview.
The Commonwealth asked no other questions of Getz on direct examination.
On cross-examination, in response to questions from defense counsel,
Getz testified that the person who interviewed the victim later obtained a new
job, and that Getz had reviewed the report of the interview and the incidents
described by the victim during the interview. Defense counsel asked Getz
whether any of the “six specific incidents” that the victim described, “were
[regarding Appellant] actually putting his penis in her mouth.” N.T., 9/27/19,
at 16-17. Getz answered, “To my understanding, no.” Id. at 17.
On re-direct examination, the prosecutor asked, “[I]n your nine years
of experience, is it unusual for a child to under-disclose at the PCA?” Id. at
21. Getz answered, “It is not.” Id. The prosecutor asked, “Why?” Id.
Defense counsel objected on the grounds that the question called for irrelevant
and expert testimony. Id. at 21-22. The court overruled the objection. Id.
at 22. Getz testified:
Disclosure is a process, not a one-time event, and it can sort of
run a full range of the spectrum. There are times when children
are ready to disclose. This is what we call active disclosure, when
something happens and the child makes an outcry and is ready to
describe everything that has happened. There are times when
children are in tentative disclosure. These are children who
present where they may talk a little bit about something and wait
and see what happens. Then they talk more and wait and see
what happens and talk more. It’s also not uncommon for these
children to take something back that they already stated and then
come back and say that was really true when they feel more
comfortable. It’s also very common for these children to deny
that certain things happened. So children in this spectrum will
talk about, yes, this piece happened but this piece didn’t happen
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and then later on down the line say, well, this did happen I just
didn’t want to talk about it at the time for a number of reasons.
So it’s very common that we see children who will disclose a little
bit and then a little bit more and then a little bit more.
Id. at 22.
The Commonwealth rested, and the following re-cross examination took
place:
[Defense counsel]: So what you’re saying is that children’s stories
frequently change, right?
[Getz]: Details of disclosure can change.
[Defense counsel]: Sometimes they come in with one story, right?
[Getz]: Yes.
[Defense counsel]: Then maybe a few months later they have a
different story, right?
[Getz]: Yes.
[Defense counsel]: Maybe a few months later they’ve got some
different details, right?
[Getz]: Yes.
[Defense counsel]: You don’t always know if they’re telling the
truth?
[Getz]: That’s not something the forensic interviewer decides.
Id. at 23.
At no time during Getz’s testimony did the Commonwealth attempt to
qualify her as an expert. Nor did the trial court qualify Getz as an expert or
instruct the jury that she was an expert. Id. at 16-23; N.T. 10/1/19 (closing
instructions and questions from jury); N.T. 10/2/19 (questions from jury).
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Appellant raises the following issues in this appeal:
1. Whether the trial court erred in allowing testimony from a social
worker about typical sexual assault victim responses and
behaviors where that social worker had not been qualified as an
expert witness, thereby violating Pa.R.E. 701, Pa.R.E. 702, and
the Supreme Court’s holding in Commonwealth v. Jones, 240
A.3d 881 (Pa. 2020)[?]
2. Whether the trial court erred in denying Appellant’s request for
a prompt complaint jury instruction despite the complainant’s
failure to disclose the allegations of sexual abuse for months even
though she had moved out of Appellant’s house for at least a
month prior to the disclosure?
Appellant’s Brief at 7.
In his first argument, relying principally on Jones, Appellant contends
that the trial court erroneously permitted Getz, a lay witness employed by
PCA, to give expert testimony about whether child victims of sexual assault
under-disclose sexual abuse. The trial court and the Commonwealth contend
that Getz’s testimony was admissible lay testimony, defense counsel opened
the door for Getz’s testimony, and the admission of Getz’s testimony was at
most harmless error. After careful review, we conclude that Appellant is
entitled to relief.
An appellate court generally reviews a trial court’s decisions regarding
the admissibility of evidence for an abuse of discretion. Jones, 240 A.3d at
889. “An abuse of discretion may not be found merely because an appellate
court might have reached a different conclusion, but requires a result of
manifest unreasonableness, or partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill-will, or such a
lack of support so as to be clearly erroneous.” Id.
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Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 702, entitled “Testimony By Expert
Witnesses,” provides:
A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill,
experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an
opinion or otherwise if:
(a) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other
specialized knowledge is beyond that possessed by
the average layperson;
(b) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other
specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to
understand the evidence or to determine a fact in
issue; and
(c) the expert’s methodology is generally accepted in
the relevant field.
Pa.R.E. 702. Expert testimony “is permitted only as an aid to the jury when
the subject matter is distinctly related to a science, skill, or occupation beyond
the knowledge or experience of the average layman.” Commonwealth v.
Duffey, 548 A.2d 1178, 1186 (Pa. 1988). The standard for qualifying as an
expert is a liberal one and the witness need only have “any reasonable
pretension to specialized knowledge on the subject matter under
investigation,” and the weight to be given to the expert’s testimony is for the
factfinder. Commonwealth v. Gonzalez, 546 A.2d 26, 31 (Pa. 1988).
“Expertise, whether acquired as a result of formal education or by experience,
is expertise.” Commonwealth v. Auker, 681 A.2d 1305, 1317 (Pa. 1996).
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In addition to Rule 702, the legislature has enacted a statute, 42
Pa.C.S.A. § 5920, which governs expert testimony in criminal cases where the
defendant is charged with sexual offenses. Section 5920 provides:
(b) Qualifications and use of experts.
(1) In a criminal proceeding subject to this section, a witness may
be qualified by the court as an expert if the witness has specialized
knowledge beyond that possessed by the average layperson
based on the witness’s experience with, or specialized training or
education in, criminal justice, behavioral sciences or victim
services issues, related to sexual violence, that will assist the trier
of fact in understanding the dynamics of sexual violence, victim
responses to sexual violence and the impact of sexual violence on
victims during and after being assaulted.
(2) If qualified as an expert, the witness may testify to facts and
opinions regarding specific types of victim responses and victim
behaviors.
(3) The witness’s opinion regarding the credibility of any other
witness, including the victim, shall not be admissible.
(4) A witness qualified by the court as an expert under this section
may be called by the attorney for the Commonwealth or the
defendant to provide the expert testimony.
Id.
Our Supreme Court has observed that Section 5920
explicitly provides that a properly qualified expert may testify to
facts and opinions regarding specific types of victim responses and
behaviors in certain criminal proceedings involving sexual
assaults, provided experts do not offer opinions regarding the
credibility of any witness, including the victim.
Jones, 240 A.3d at 897. Moreover, Section 5920 prohibits lay opinion
testimony concerning victim behaviors and responses to sexual abuse. Id. at
896 (“We disagree with the Commonwealth’s assertion that Section 5920 does
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not preclude lay opinion testimony on [victim behavior in response to sexual
abuse], but merely created an avenue for expert testimony when appropriate.
To conclude that some lay testimony on this subject matter is permissible
would undermine our conclusion that the behavior of child sexual assault
victims is beyond that generally understood by the average layperson”).
In Jones, the defendant was convicted of sexual assault crimes against
his stepdaughter (“Stepdaughter”) following her allegations of sexual abuse
over a period of several years. Throughout trial, defense counsel attempted
to undermine Stepdaughter’s credibility by focusing on discrepancies in her
recounting of the timing and location of certain assaults. Detective Holzwarth,
who investigated the case and interviewed Stepdaughter, testified for the
Commonwealth. The detective stated that he had investigated hundreds of
child sexual assault cases during his ten years as a detective. The following
exchange occurred concerning Stepdaughter:
[The Commonwealth]: Did [Stepdaughter] indicate whether or not
this had been going on multiple times?
[Detective Holzwarth]: Yes.
[The Commonwealth]: And in your training and experience,
Detective, do kids often have trouble remembering each and
every time when this is an ongoing incident?
[Detective Holzwarth]: Yes, they do. As a matter of fact, in our
criminal complaints we normally put a little blurb in there that
explains that victims–
[Defense Counsel]: Your Honor, I would object to this as expert
testimony. This is an opinion.
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The Court: I’m going to overrule.
[The Commonwealth]: Please continue, Detective.
[Detective Holzwarth]: That explains that victims sometimes have
trouble remembering exact dates when events have happened.
[The Commonwealth]: And have you also found in your training
and experience with your specific cases whether or not victims will
have trouble recalling in each incident that they’re assaulted every
single detail of the assault?
[Detective Holzwarth]: Yes.
[The Commonwealth]: And do they often times get the times that
those things happened confused with other times that they discuss
with you?
[Detective Holzwarth]: Yes. Very often.
Id., 240 A.3d at 885. On cross examination, defense counsel asked Detective
Holzwarth if it was possible that a victim’s delay in reporting or inability to
provide details about sexual assault incidents could mean that no abuse
occurred in the first instance, to which the detective agreed. Id.
Our Supreme Court held that the detective’s testimony on the inability
of child victims to recall specific dates or details was “opinion testimony” that
“was based upon scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge within
the scope of Rule 702,” specifically, “[the detective’s] training and experience
investigating sexual assaults.” Id. at 890. The Court elaborated:
Detective Holzwarth primarily functioned as a fact witness but was
also called upon to offer general opinion testimony concerning
whether or not it was common for child victims of sexual assault
to have trouble remembering dates and details of ongoing sexual
assaults. Detective Holzwarth was asked to provide insights
gained through specialized occupational training and experience
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not within the average layperson’s knowledge base as required by
the plain language of Rule 702(a). Detective Holzwarth called
upon the wealth of his knowledge and training as a detective with
extensive experience investigating sexual assaults and made
connections for the jury based on that specialized knowledge.
While some laypersons may be aware of common behaviors and
responses to sexual abuse, it would be a generalization to assume
that the average juror is privy to the complex psychological
dynamics surrounding sexual abuse. Accordingly, we hold that
testimony from a law enforcement officer concerning child victims’
typical behaviors and responses to sexual abuse, when based on
that officer’s training and experience, falls within the realm of
expert testimony.
Id. at 891. In addition, the Court held that (1) “Section 5920 specifically
provides that [Detective Holzwarth’s] testimony is an appropriate topic for
expert analysis,” and (2) “whether expert testimony on this topic is admissible
is subject to all other admissibility concerns, such as proper qualification as
an expert.” Id. at 891.
The Court also observed:
The Commonwealth’s framing of its questions in terms of training
and experience significantly impacts our decision in this case. By
doing so, the Commonwealth signaled the imprimatur of the
detective to provide generalized expert testimony regarding
behavior patterns of child victims of sexual abuse. We note,
however, that testimony from the detective based solely on
factual observations, without extrapolation to victim behavior
generally, would arguably be admissible as lay opinion testimony,
as it does not signal any type of specialized knowledge.
Id. at 891 n.4.
The admission of the detective’s testimony, the Court concluded, was
not harmless error and required a new trial:
This case involved competing narratives about whether or not
various sexual assaults occurred, making credibility a central
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issue. Whether intentional or unintentional, the Commonwealth’s
emphasis on Detective Holzwarth’s training and experience prior
to eliciting testimony concerning common victim behavior in
response to sexual abuse likely signaled to the jury that he was
qualified to offer such a response. As a result, the jury was able
to draw an inference that [Stepdaughter’s] behavior in this case
was consistent with similarly situated victims, without any of the
heightened reliability concerns that accompany expert testimony.
We therefore cannot say with certainty that the jury did not place
undue weight on the testimony, despite defense counsel’s attempt
to neutralize the effect of the testimony on cross-examination by
eliciting a concession from the detective that an inability to recall
dates and times of assaults could mean no assault occurred.
Id. at 892.
Pursuant to Jones, we review Getz’s testimony under both Rule 702
and Section 5920. Getz initially gave fact-based testimony relating to her
training and responsibilities at PCA and the procedures used during forensic
interviews of minor victims of sexual abuse. On redirect examination,
however, Getz testified, based on her nine years of experience, that it is
common for child victims to under-disclose, either by denying that abuse
occurred or by disclosing a “little bit” at a time. N.T., 9/27/19, at 22. Getz’s
redirect testimony was an expert opinion under Rule 702, because (1) it
pertained to child victims’ disclosure of sexual abuse, a subject outside of the
average layperson’s ken, (2) its purpose was to assist the trier of fact in
understanding this subject, and (3) it was grounded on specialized knowledge
gained through her occupational training and experience. Pa.R.E. 702(a), (b).
Getz’s testimony also was expert opinion under Section 5920, because it was
“specialized knowledge beyond that possessed by the average layperson . . .
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related to sexual violence[] that will assist the trier of fact in understanding .
. . victim responses to sexual violence.” 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5920(a). The trial
court abused its discretion by overruling Appellant’s objection to Getz’s expert
testimony on redirect and by failing to qualify Getz as an expert before
permitting this testimony.
The trial court and the Commonwealth both submit that Getz did not
give expert testimony but present different rationales in support of their
positions. We begin by analyzing the Commonwealth’s reasoning.
The Commonwealth insists that the present case shares only two
“superficial” similarities with Jones: the witness in question was a layperson
and the victim of sex crimes was a minor. Commonwealth’s Petition For Post-
Submission Communication, at ¶ 6. Otherwise, the Commonwealth claims,
the present case is different from Jones, because
[the] witness-investigator [in Jones] who had not been qualified
as an expert testified to the ‘complex psychological dynamics’ of
respondents, to wit: the ‘specialized knowledge’ of a child victim’s
capacity for ‘recall’ and susceptibility to mental ‘confusion’ by
affirming that ‘kids often have trouble remembering each and
every time when this is an ongoing incident’ and explicitly
testifying that ‘victims sometimes have trouble remembering
exact dates . . . very often.’
Id. at ¶ 7 (citing Jones, 240 A.3d at 885, 891). The present case, the
Commonwealth contends, “does not share this error,” because Getz testified
only that child victims provide information to investigators “in three amounts,
large, medium and small, which [Getz] characterized as ‘active disclosure,’
‘reticent disclosure’ and ‘deny[ing] that certain things happened.’” Id. at ¶ 8
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(citing N.T. 9/27/19, at 22). The Commonwealth argues this testimony was
not an “opinion” founded on “scientific, technical or other specialized
knowledge” but merely was Getz’s “perceptions based on her experience in
multiple interviews.” Commonwealth’s Brief at 13, 14.
The Commonwealth’s argument fails because this case in fact resembles
Jones in several important respects. In Jones, without first qualifying the
detective as an expert, the Commonwealth elicited his expert testimony that
child victims often have trouble remembering details of sexual assaults.
Similarly, without first qualifying Getz as an expert, the Commonwealth
obtained expert testimony from her concerning the behavior patterns of child
victims in disclosing sexual abuse. The Commonwealth’s labeling of Getz’s
testimony as “perceptions” instead of opinion testimony is unconvincing. If
Getz’s testimony was mere “perception,” then the detective’s testimony in
Jones that child victims frequently have memory lapses was mere
“perception” as well—but the Court’s opinion makes abundantly clear that the
detective’s testimony constituted more than “perception.” Furthermore, in
Jones, the Commonwealth framed its questions in terms of the detective’s
knowledge and experience, a detail the Court found “significant” because it
“signaled the imprimatur of the detective to provide generalized expert
testimony regarding behavior patterns of child victims of sexual abuse.” Id.
at 891 n.4. Similarly, in the present case, the Commonwealth asked Getz to
testify about under-disclosure based on her “nine years of experience” at PCA,
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N.T. 9/27/19, thus signaling the imprimatur of Getz to give expert testimony
on sexual abuse of children.
Unlike the Commonwealth, the trial court did not have the opportunity
to address Jones, because it entered its opinion one month before Jones’
issuance. The trial court asserted that Getz did not give expert testimony on
the basis of a decision from this Court, Commonwealth v. T.B., 232 A.3d
915 (Pa. Super. 2020). Trial Ct. Op. at 18. T.B., however, is distinguishable
from both Jones and the present case. The defendant in T.B. was charged
with sexual crimes against a minor victim. A forensic interview specialist for
PCA (the same entity that employs Getz) conducted a videotaped forensic
interview with the victim and prepared a report concerning the interview. The
interviewer checked off a box that the victim “provided sensory details” of the
incident. Id., 232 A.3d at 918. The videotape was played for the jury, and
then the interviewer testified about her report. Without being formally
qualified as an expert, the interviewer testified, in response to questioning by
the trial court, that she had performed over 1,000 forensic interviews. The
interviewer then testified that it is significant that the victim “provided sensory
detail” because “a child's ability to describe a situation, including details of
how something sounded or something tasted or something felt, speaks to an
experience having occurred.” Id. This Court held that the interviewer did not
give expert testimony:
The Commonwealth was seeking factual evidence of how the
study, or interview here, was composed. [The interviewer] was
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asked to explain what sensory detail is and why that is important
to an interview. She appropriately explained that sensory detail
speaks to an experience having occurred. She did not offer any
opinion testimony[.]
Id. at 920. The testimony in T.B. merely concerned a factual subject—how
the PCA worker gathered evidence for her report—instead of a subject
requiring expert testimony. The testimony in Jones and this case, on the
other hand, concerned the behavior of victims in response to sexual abuse, a
subject that requires expert testimony under Pa.R.E. 702 and Section 5920.
Having concluded that Getz presented expert testimony, we turn to an
alternative argument posited by both the trial court and the Commonwealth:
defense counsel “opened the door” for expert testimony on redirect by
obtaining Getz’s admission on cross-examination that the victim failed to
disclose several sexual assaults to investigators in multiple pretrial interviews.
We disagree for several reasons. In Jones, defense counsel’s strategy
“involved discrediting the victim,” id., 240 A.3d at 886, yet the Court held that
this did not justify expert testimony by the detective without him first being
qualified as an expert. Similarly, defense counsel’s strategy in the present
case was to discredit the victim by contrasting the victim’s in-court testimony
with her statement to the PCA interviewer. Under Jones, this did not justify
Getz’s expert testimony on redirect without the court qualifying her as an
expert. Furthermore, the Commonwealth fails to provide any authority, nor
can we find any, for the proposition that impeachment of a fact witness such
as Getz permits her to give expert testimony on redirect without being
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qualified as an expert. The cases cited by the Commonwealth merely teach
that in certain situations, impeachment of a fact witness opens the door for
otherwise inadmissible factual testimony. See Commonwealth v. Lewis,
885 A.2d 51, 54-55 (Pa. Super. 2005) (defense counsel opened door to
testimony about defendant’s prior bad acts by questioning police witness
about drug-related encounters with defendant); Commonwealth v. Bey, 439
A.2d 1175, 1178 (Pa. Super. 1982) (counsel opened door to evidence of
defendant’s post-arrest silence by questioning detective about what defendant
told him); Commonwealth v. Stakley, 365 A.2d 1298, 1299-1300 (Pa.
Super. 1976) (defense counsel’s suggestion that defendant had been
honorably discharged from military opened door to rebuttal testimony that he
had not); see also United States v. Daniels, 617 F.2d 146, 150-51 (5th Cir.
1980) (under doctrine of fair response, government could argue during closing
that defendant had not been cooperative with the IRS after defense counsel
argued that defendant had cooperated).
Had Appellant’s counsel asked Getz for her opinion why a victim would
give testimony during trial about events she failed to disclose prior to trial,
the door might have opened for Getz’s expert testimony on redirect. Defense
counsel however, did not request Getz’s opinion; counsel merely pointed out
factual inconsistencies in the victim’s testimony. This did not entitle Getz to
present expert testimony on redirect absent her being qualified as an expert.
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Finally, the trial court stated that any prejudice caused by Getz’s redirect
testimony was “remedied on recross examination,” because Getz “conceded
that an alternative reason the allegations by child victims change was that
they are untruthful.”2 Trial Ct. Op. at 18. Our review of the record reveals
Getz did not make any such concession. Although she admitted that children
change their accounts over time, whether they are telling the truth is “not
something the forensic interviewer decides.” N.T. 9/27/19 at 23.
Furthermore, the admission of Getz’s redirect testimony was not
harmless error. The harmless error doctrine requires us to vacate the order
on review to correct the error unless we are “convinced beyond a reasonable
doubt that the error is harmless.” Commonwealth v. Story, 383 A.2d 155,
162 (Pa. 1978). We may consider error harmless only where:
(1) the error did not prejudice the defendant or the prejudice was
de minimis; or (2) the erroneously admitted evidence was merely
cumulative of other, untainted evidence which was substantially
similar to the erroneously admitted evidence; or (3) the properly
admitted and uncontradicted evidence of guilt was so
overwhelming and the prejudicial effect of the error was so
insignificant by comparison that the error could not have
contributed to the verdict.
Commonwealth v. Taylor, 209 A.3d 444, 450 (Pa. Super. 2019). “Harmless
error exists where the appellate court is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt
that the erroneously admitted evidence could not have contributed to the
____________________________________________
2 The Commonwealth does not raise the harmless error doctrine.
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verdict. If there is a reasonable probability that an error may have contributed
to the verdict, the error is not harmless.” Id.Here, the evidence against Appellant was not overwhelming, and the
jury deliberated several days before reaching its verdict. As in Jones, the
present case “involved competing narratives about whether or not various
sexual assaults occurred, making credibility a central issue.” Id., 240 A.3d at
892. The victim gave multiple incomplete versions of events and testified that
she would lie under oath if told to do so. There was no physical evidence or
forensic evidence to support her claims. Appellant denied any wrongdoing,
and other fact witnesses testified that they did not observe any inappropriate
conduct. In this context, Getz’s testimony about under-disclosure could have
had a material impact on the verdict. The Commonwealth’s emphasis on
Getz’s experience on direct and redirect examination likely signaled to the jury
that she was an expert on this subject and influenced the jury to place undue
weight on her testimony. It also is possible that the prosecutor influenced the
jury by referring to Getz’s testimony during closing argument to explain away
the inconsistencies in the victim’s testimony. N.T. 9/30/19, at 102 (“with
disclosures, with talking about something that happened to you, it doesn't
always also come out all at once. You heard about the process of under-
disclosing and how that is not unusual”). Further prejudice may have occurred
due to the Commonwealth’s failure to designate Getz as an expert in advance
of trial, thus depriving Appellant of any opportunity to prepare expert
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testimony of his own or search for any studies or research that refuted Getz’s
opinions or conclusions.
For the above reasons, we conclude that the improper admission of
Getz’s redirect testimony entitles Appellant to a new trial.
In his second argument, Appellant objects to the trial court’s refusal to
issue a “prompt complaint” instruction to the jury, an objection he preserved
for appeal by raising it at a charging conference and again following the jury
charge. Appellant points out that the victim failed to report his conduct during
late 2016 and 2017, when she lived in Appellant’s apartment, and did not
report it until May 2017, one month after moving out of the apartment. Since
we are remanding this case for a new trial, we will address this issue, as it
likely may arise again on retrial. Upon review, we conclude that the trial court
did not abuse its discretion by refusing to give a prompt complaint instruction.
“[O]ur standard of review when considering the denial of jury
instructions is one of deference—an appellate court will reverse a court’s
decision only when it abused its discretion or committed an error of law.”
Commonwealth v. Snyder, 251 A.3d 782, 790 (Pa. Super. 2021). “A charge
is considered adequate unless the jury was palpably misled by what the trial
judge said or there is an omission which is tantamount to fundamental error.
Consequently, the trial court has wide discretion in fashioning jury
instructions.” Id.- 22 -
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Our legislature has prescribed with regard to prompt complaints from
victims of crime:
Prompt reporting to public authority is not required in a
prosecution under this chapter: Provided, however, [t]hat nothing
in this section shall be construed to prohibit a defendant from
introducing evidence of the complainant's failure to promptly
report the crime if such evidence would be admissible pursuant to
the rules of evidence.
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 3105. If a crime victim promptly reports the crime, the law
presumes that she has not had time to fabricate the story, lending her account
more credibility. Commonwealth v. Jones, 672 A.2d 1353, 1356 (Pa.
1990). Conversely, where a victim delays reporting the crime “substantially”
and “without any reasonable explanation,” the factfinder may draw inferences
regarding the credibility of the complaint “and against whether the incident
has occurred.” Id.Consistent with these principles, a prompt complaint instruction rests
upon “a belief that a victim of a violent assault would reveal the assault
occurred at the first available opportunity.” Snyder, 251 A.3d at 791. The
instruction permits a jury to call into question a complainant’s credibility when
she did not complain at the first available opportunity. Commonwealth v.
Sandusky, 77 A.3d 663, 667 (Pa. Super. 2013). The propriety of a prompt
complaint instruction
is determined on a case-by-case basis pursuant to a subjective
standard based upon the age and condition of the victim. For
example, where the victim of a sexual assault is a minor who may
not have appreciated the offensive nature of the conduct, the lack
of a prompt complaint would not necessarily justify an inference
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of fabrication. This is especially true where the perpetrator is one
with authority or custodial control over the victim.
Snyder, 251 A.3d at 791.
The trial court and the Commonwealth take the position that a prompt
complaint was not proper under Commonwealth v. Snoke, 580 A.2d 295(Pa. 1990), and Snyder. In Snoke, the defendant committed a sexual assault
against his five-year-old daughter and told her afterward that it would be
“their little secret.” Id., 580 A.2d at 299. The child revealed the incident five
months later after viewing a film at her elementary school concerning sexual
assault that explained the difference between “good touching” and “bad
touching.” Id. Our Supreme Court observed:
Where no physical force is used to accomplish the reprehensible
assault, a child victim would have no reason to promptly complain
of the wrong-doing, particularly where the person involved is in a
position of confidence. Where such an encounter is of a nature
that a minor victim may not appreciate the offensive nature of the
conduct, the lack of a complaint would not necessarily justify an
inference of a fabrication. . . . [T]he child had no reason to
question the character of the conduct until her subsequent viewing
of a film depicting this type of conduct. It is also significant that
the party involved in the behavior was her father whom she would
naturally trust and accept his judgment as to the propriety of the
act. The encouragement by the father to maintain the confidence
as to this incident also dilutes any inference drawn merely from a
delayed complaint. In this setting the absence of an immediate
outcry would not in and of itself warrant an inference that the
event was a recent fabrication and, therefore, a charge to that
effect was properly denied by the trial court.
Id. The Court further noted that the trial judge “instruct[ed] the jury
thoroughly upon the general subject of credibility in accordance with the
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suggested instruction for witness credibility, PA Suggested Standard Jury
Instructions (Crim.) § 4.17.” Id.
In Snyder, the defendant lived in the same house as the twelve-year-
old victim and her family. He also was a close friend of the family who often
supervised the victim and her brother. The defendant visited the victim’s
bedroom one night and awoke her by rubbing her inner leg and vaginal area.
The victim asked, “What are you doing?” and the defendant left the room.
The victim testified that she was scared and confused, and she delayed
disclosing the assault for four months. This Court held that the trial court
properly denied a prompt complaint instruction due to the victim’s disposition,
the nature of the defendant’s relationship with the victim’s family, and the
non-violent nature of the assault. Id., 251 A.3d at 791.
The present case shares some similarities with, but is not identical to,
Snoke and Snyder. Similar to the victims in Snoke and Snyder, the victim
herein was only ten years old at the time of the alleged assaults. In addition,
Appellant had a close relationship with the victim’s family and a supervisory
role over the victim and her brother. The victim was afraid to report the
alleged assaults, because Appellant had hit her brother, so she was afraid
Appellant might hit her. The victim also was afraid about how her pregnant
mother might react to news of the alleged assaults. Appellant’s alleged sexual
encounters with the victim do not appear to have been violent. These details
counsel against a prompt complaint instruction. On the other hand, two
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features in this case that were not present in Snoke or Snyder arguably
support a prompt complaint instruction: the victim’s inconsistent accounts of
the events and her admission that she would lie under oath if told to do so.
From this, it might be contended that a prompt complaint instruction was
proper because the victim displayed dishonest tendencies, and her delay in
disclosure was further evidence of her dishonesty.
Nevertheless, we conclude that the trial court properly overruled
Appellant’s request for a prompt complaint instruction. The court had wide
discretion in fashioning its instructions, Snyder, 251 A.3d at 790, and in a
case such as this, where some evidence favored a prompt complaint
instruction and some did not, it fell within the court’s discretion to deny this
instruction. Furthermore, as in Snoke, the trial court thoroughly instructed
the jury on the general subject of credibility and on how to evaluate
inconsistent statements made by the victim. N.T. 10/1/19, at 14-20. These
instructions were “sufficient to permit the jury to ascertain the truthfulness of
the testimony offered by the minor complaining witness as well as of others
who testified in this matter.” Snoke, 580 A.2d at 299-300.
In summary, we vacate and remand for a new trial because the trial
court abused its discretion by permitting Getz to provide expert testimony on
redirect on “under-disclosure” by child victims without first qualifying Getz as
an expert. We discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s denial of
Appellant’s request for a prompt complaint charge.
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Judgment of sentence vacated. Case remanded for a new trial.
Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judgment Entered.
Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
Prothonotary
Date: 3/28/2022
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