Chaupette v. State

Summary

The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed Troy Chaupette’s conviction for child molestation and fifteen-year sentence. The court held that any improper expert testimony by the victim’s pediatrician and therapist was harmless, that the therapist’s testimony concerning the victim’s susceptibility to suggestion was permissible in context, and that the admission of multiple hearsay statements under the tender-years exception was not unfairly prejudicial.

Holdings

1. An opinion based on scientific, technical, or specialized knowledge must be admitted under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 702 through a qualified, tendered, and accepted expert; however, the admission of Dr. Dupont's diagnosis and Banano's isolated specialized-knowledge comment was harmless because it did not substantially prejudice Chaupette.
2. The psychotherapist's testimony that she did not believe the child had been brainwashed or improperly influenced was permissible because it responded to an attack on the child's credibility and did not directly state that the child was truthful or credible.
3. Hearsay testimony from multiple witnesses was properly admitted under the tender-years exception and was not unfairly prejudicial because each witness discussed the child's allegations in connection with that witness's role in the case.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court improperly allowed a pediatrician and psychotherapist who were not tendered as experts to provide testimony based on specialized knowledge.
2. Whether the psychotherapist improperly commented on the truthfulness or credibility of the child-abuse victim.
3. Whether cumulative hearsay testimony from multiple witnesses was improperly admitted under Mississippi's tender-years exception and should have been excluded as unfairly prejudicial.

Disposition

affirmed