People v. Taylor
New York Court of Appeals
75 N.Y.2d 277 (1990)
In a consolidated appeal, a 19-year-old rape victim initially told police twice she did not know her attacker, then hours later privately told her mother, and later police and two lineups, that it was John Taylor (defendant), whom she had known for years; the trial court admitted expert testimony on rape trauma syndrome to explain her initial denial and calm demeanor, and Taylor was convicted of sodomy and attempted rape. In a separate consolidated case, an 11-year-old victim of a stranger assault was the subject of similar expert testimony, but there the prosecution used it affirmatively to prove that a rape had actually occurred, and Ronnie Banks (defendant) was convicted.
Whether expert testimony on rape trauma syndrome may be presented to a jury only when it is likely to aid the jury's understanding and is not unduly prejudicial.