Opinion
SC: 159422 COA: 339426
01-24-2020
PEOPLE of the State of Michigan, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Saul Arturo MEJIA, Defendant-Appellant.
Order
On order of the Court, the application for leave to appeal the February 14, 2019 judgment of the Court of Appeals is considered, and it is DENIED, because we are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.
McCormack, C.J. (dissenting.)
I respectfully dissent from the Court’s decision to deny leave to appeal. I would grant leave to appeal to further review the defendant’s argument that both the question of the admissibility of child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome (CSAAS) under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms. , 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993), and this Court’s decision allowing the admission of such evidence, People v. Peterson , 450 Mich. 349, 537 N.W.2d 857 (1995), are ripe for reconsideration. While I recognize that the majority of courts currently admit such evidence, recently courts around the country nonetheless have been grappling with troubling questions about the validity and reliability of such evidence. See, e.g., State v. J.L.G. , 234 N.J. 265, 272, 190 A.3d 442 (2018) (concluding that, for the most part, "it is no longer possible to conclude that CSAAS has a sufficiently reliable basis in science to be the subject of expert testimony" and therefore holding that "expert testimony about CSAAS in general, and its component behaviors other than delayed disclosure, may no longer be admitted at criminal trials"); see also King v. Commonwealth , 472 S.W.3d 523, 530 (Ky. 2015) (concluding that "[t]he validity of the theory was not self-evident in 1985 and it is not self-evident today"). And as the New Jersey Supreme Court noted in J.L.G. , 234 N.J. at 291-292, 190 A.3d 442, "CSAAS is not recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and has not been accepted by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, or the American Psychological Society." I think it is important for this Court to join that conversation.
Bernstein and Cavanagh, JJ., join the statement of McCormack, C.J.