State of Vermont v. Peter S. Catsam

Summary

The court reversed the sexual-assault conviction and remanded for a new trial because the State’s expert improperly vouched for the complainant’s truthfulness, and the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt in a case resting largely on the child’s testimony. The court held that excluding cross-examination about the complainant’s prior sexual assault did not violate the confrontation right because the defense fully explored the proposed alternative cause of PTSD through the expert. It also held that evidence of the defendant’s prior sexual acts with the complainant was admissible to show a plan of ongoing molestation and was not an abuse of discretion under the applicable balancing test.