THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY PARKER, HARPER, ADOLPH, BEYER, BISHOP, BOYLE, BRADFORD, BRENNAN, BRIGGS, BROWN, CARROLL, CLYMER, CREIGHTON, DiGIROLAMO, DONATUCCI, FARRY, FLECK, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GALLOWAY, GEIST, GINGRICH, GOODMAN, HARHART, HENNESSEY, HESS, HORNAMAN, JOHNSON, JOSEPHS, KOTIK, KULA, LENTZ, McGEEHAN, MELIO, MICOZZIE, MILLER, MIRABITO, MOUL, MURT, MYERS, M. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PHILLIPS, QUINN, RAPP, READSHAW, ROCK, ROSS, SANTONI, SIPTROTH, K. SMITH, VEREB, VULAKOVICH, WATSON, WHEATLEY, WILLIAMS AND YOUNGBLOOD, FEBRUARY 18, 2010

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, FEBRUARY 18, 2010  

AN ACT

Amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the

Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for expert

testimony in certain criminal proceedings.

The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:

(1)  Research indicates that victims of sex crimes behave

in any number of ways, but because of the prevalence and

persistence of myths regarding sex crimes, jurors often

perceive common victim behaviors as counterintuitive and

compelling evidence of a victim's lack of credibility.

(2)  To overcome these myths and misunderstandings

related to victim behavior, many courts have recognized that

expert testimony is necessary to provide jurors with the

proper context in which to evaluate a victim's behaviors.

(3)  Without an accurate context in which to evaluate

victim behaviors, it is common for jurors to fail to

recognize a victim's behavior as a common response to trauma.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Title 42 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated

Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:

§ 5920.  Expert testimony in certain criminal proceedings.

(a)  Scope.--This section applies to all of the following:

(1)  A criminal proceeding for an offense for which

registration is required under section 9795.1 (relating to

registration).

(2)  A criminal proceeding for an offense under 18

Pa.C.S. § 3122.1 (relating to statutory sexual assault).

(b)  Rule.--In an action subject to this section, testimony

by an expert qualified by the court regarding any recognized and

accepted form of post-traumatic stress disorder and any

recognized and accepted counterintuitive victim behavior shall

be admissible.

Section 2.  The addition of 42 Pa.C.S. § 5920 shall apply to

actions initiated on or after the effective date of this

section.

Section 3.  This act shall take effect in 60 days.