State v. Kinney

Steven Kinney (defendant) was drinking and using drugs with friends when he carried the victim out of a house over his shoulder; he claimed she woke up, agreed to help him buy drugs, and went willingly, while she testified he pulled her from bed against her will and that she repeatedly asked to be let out of the car and later drank and smoked to avoid seeming scared. Kinney and the victim later had sex, which he called consensual and she called rape; she fell asleep afterward and was driven home the next morning. At trial, the prosecution's expert, Dr. Jan Tyler, testified that rape trauma syndrome explains behaviors like verbal rather than physical resistance and falling asleep after an assault, and also testified -- over objection -- that only about two percent of rape reports are false. Kinney was convicted and appealed both aspects of Tyler's testimony.