Bowker

A jury convicted Leroy Anthony Bowker of seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under fourteen years of age (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and two counts of oral copulation with a child under fourteen years of age (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (c)). We decide the court erred in allowing a psychologist to testify on the “child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome.” As we shall explain, Supreme Court precedent requires that expert testimony related to the syndrome be narrowly confined, subject to a proper foundational showing that such evidence is necessary to rebut popular misconceptions which would challenge the victim’s credibility. After the testimony has been received, the jury must be *388 admonished so that it understands the limited purpose for admitting such evidence. Here the expert’s testimony exceeded the permissible limits without the necessary safeguards. We decide the error was harmless, however, and accordingly affirm the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

Ten-year-old Tonya B. and her nine-year-old brother Byron B. lived with their mother in National City. Their immediate neighbors for about six years were Bowker and his…

Concurring in result. I agree an affirmance is compelled in this case. However, I believe my colleagues have unnecessarily, and I re *396 spectfully submit incorrectly, restricted the use of expert testimony offered on the “child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome” (CSAAS).

I

The majority opinion concludes Kelly-Frye 1 and People v. Bledsoe (1984) 36 Cal.3d 236 [ 203 Cal.Rptr. 450 , 681 P.2d 291 ], when read together serve to exclude general evidence concerning CSAAS. It concludes that only where introduction of a specific element of the syndrome is necessary in order to disabuse a myth or misconception concerning sexual abuse does the syndrome become admissible and then only the specific element may be presented to the jury.

Underlying the majority’s holding is its conclusion expert testimony is not admissible unless it is “necessary” and, where “necessity” does not appear, such testimony is irrelevant and thus inadmissible.

While academic debate may exist on the issue (see 1 Witkin, Cal. Evidence (3d ed. 1986) The Opinion Rule, § 475, p. 447), the test employed to determine admissibility of expert testimony is not, as the majority suggests in this case, whether the evidence…

WIENER, Acting P.J.

A jury convicted Leroy Anthony Bowker of seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under fourteen years of age (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and two counts of oral copulation with a child under fourteen years of age (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (c)). We decide the court erred in allowing a psychologist to testify on the "child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome." As we shall explain, Supreme Court precedent requires that expert testimony related to the syndrome be narrowly confined, subject to a proper foundational showing that such evidence is necessary to rebut popular misconceptions which would challenge the victim's credibility. After the testimony has been received, the jury must be admonished so that it understands the limited purpose for admitting such evidence. Here the expert's testimony exceeded the permissible limits without the necessary safeguards. We decide the error was harmless, however, and accordingly affirm the judgment.

Ten-year-old Tonya B. and her nine-year-old brother Byron B. lived with their mother in National City. Their immediate neighbors for about six years were Bowker and his seventy-eight-year-old mother. In…