278 Ga. App. 168 - Patterson v. State’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

17 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 19 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “[I]n no circumstance may a witness’ credibility be bolstered by the opinion of another, even an expert, as to whether the witness is telling the truth. An expert witness may not testify as to his opinion of an ultimate issue of fact unless the inference to be drawn from the evidence is beyond the ken of the jurors. Credibility of a witness is not beyond the ken of the jurors but, to the contrary, is a matter solely within the province of the jury. An expert witness may not testify as to his opinion of the victim’s truthfulness. An expert witness may testify generally about the ability of children of a certain age to distinguish truth from falsity. The witness may also express an opinion as to whether medical or other objective evidence in the case is consistent with the victim’s story. However, an expert witness may not put his or her stamp of believability on the victim’s story. 3”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. 279 Ga. App. 570 - Harris v. State

2. “Clearly, given the expert witness’s knowledge and training, testimony that the expert believes the victim is “particularly compelling to ... jurors. [Thus, i]t is for this reason that our courts have consistently held that expert witnesses may not testify regarding truthfulness or credibility. [Cits.]” [Cit.] And we have recognized that this testimony may be given particular weight when the credibility of the witness is a key issue in the case. . . . [S]uch error [can] not be deemed harmless [where] the evidence of guilt [i]s not overwhelming, and [where] the credibility of the witnesses [i]s a key issue in the case.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. Bly v. State