United States v. Alphonso Houser

36 M.J. 392 (1993)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D was alleged to have committed a rape of his 15-year-old babysitter that he and his wife had known for 6 years. D denied the act, but the issue before the court was why the alleged victim did not say anything about D's activities when D's wife got home but waited until the next day. The prosecution then offered evidence of a Dr. Remer, who explained rape trauma syndrome. D objected to the admission of that evidence on the grounds that the Dr. had not seen nor diagnosed the alleged victim and that the Dr.'s testimony would only confuse and mislead the panel. That was overruled, and the Dr. proceeded to educate the court on rape trauma syndrome. On cross-examination, the Dr. admitted her model was different from the original rape trauma model set up by Burgess and Holmstrom and that the Dr. never even met the victim. The Dr. also admitted that a number of symptoms she had mentioned were caused by other disorders or the results of normal adolescent problems.