Monday, November 18, 2013

How to Cross-Examine the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS) Expert for the Prosecution.



This Blog was written and published for the People by the Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr.

Often in an alleged sexual assault case of a minor the State prosecutor will offer a CSAAS expert (Child Sexual Abuse Accomodation Syndrome witness) who will testify that the child’s delayed reporting of the abuse is normal in children.  They will use this testimony not only to explain why the delayed reporting is common, but more deceitfully to falsely plant the seed with the jury with the idea that in fact the child is actually telling the truth because he or she delayed in said reporting.
One form of effective cross-examination goes like this.

1.   So, doctor, you’re not saying the child is necessarily telling the truth, correct?
2.   Or that this incident actually happened?
3.   Sometimes children delay in reporting sexual abuse because it never happened, correct?
4.   And other times the delay reporting happens at some future time, due to family influences or the stories of other children, and they make up the claims, correct?
5.   The fact that the child’s allegation came so much later in no way enhances the child’s credibility, correct?

Note, any real cross would be much better structured and somewhat longer, but only somewhat longer. Get in, quickly make your point, and get out. The brevity of the cross implies to the jury your outright dismissal, almost contempt, of the weight of such testimony, and the doctor has said that the child is not necessarily telling the truth, and that some children make up stories. Their expert says that. The jury instruction helps cement the point. Incorporate the language used in the charge into your questions to make it seem to the jury that the judge agrees with you by using the same words in his final charge and the same cautionary instructions.  
Lastly, it is important that you read the jury charge first. It offers a wealth of topics for cross-examination, and with just a few questions you can turn that witness into your best summation argument. You do not want to undermine the witness.  Most importantly you want to use his/her credentials to prove your point.

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Dated: November 18, 2013

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