Opinion of the Court by
Appellant, Malcolm Blount, appeals as a matter of right, Ky. Const. § 110, from a judgment of the Graves Circuit Court convicting him of two counts of first-degree sodomy and two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and sentencing him to twenty years’ imprisonment. The victim of Appellant’s alleged crimes is his stеp-granddaughter, “Sally,”
The sole issue Appellant raises on appeal is that the trial court erred by allowing testimony from Sally’s mother, and to a lesser extent her father, regarding changes in Sally’s behavior, which thе mother implied were symptomatic of child sexual abuse based upon discussions she had with Lori Brown, a clinical psychologist who counseled Sally and her family. Appellant alleges that this testimony amounted to inadmissible evidence of “child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome” (CSAAS).
Appellant was indicted and charged with two counts of first-degree sodomy and five counts of first-degree sexual abuse committed against Sally. The same indictment also charged Appellant with several similar crimes allegedly committed against two other young girls. Because Appellant was acquitted at trial on those charges, no issues relating to them are now before this Court.
At Appellant’s trial, Sally’s mother, Brandi, testified that she was surprised when she first learned that her daughter may have been a victim of sexual abuse. Brandi testified that shе had not recognized the significance of her daughter’s behavioral changes around the time of the alleged abuse until going through counseling with Lori Brown for families of sex abuse victims, and that “surely [Sally] would have told us something ... anything. We would have seen the signs.” The prosecutor then asked Brandi, “Did you even know the signs [of sexual abuse] to look for?” Brandi responded, “No, sir, not until after we’ve been to counseling and we, you know, we look back to after, about [Sally] was six and her attitude started changing. You know, she started not letting me fix her hair.” Appellant objected and the triаl court sustained the objection, allowing Brandi to testify to what she personally observed, but not to the “signs” that the counselors told her to look for.
As the testimony continued, Brandi said, “People’s [sic] always saying there’s signs [of sexual abuse], well then, looking back, until she was 5 or 6, [Sally] was the haрpiest kid. Then around first grade, six-years old, she started ... she didn’t really care about herself ... she went from being the best dressed in school to wearing basketball shorts, t-shirts[.]” Brandi continued “[Sally’s hair] was always really cute, and then she was like, ‘don’t touch my hair ... I don’t want you touching me, don’t look at me.’ I didn’t know that was a sympt ... sign.” Appellant again objected, and asked for a mistrial.
Sally’s father, Kevin, also testified. The prosecutor asked him whether he had noticed any changes in Sally when she was around six or seven years old, the time of the alleged abuse. He responded that Sally had аlways been small for her age but she began gaining weight around that time. Kevin added that he did not know if this was abnormal, that he did not know “what to look for” at the time, implying that later, through counseling, he learned that Sally had exhibited the “signs” of sexual abuse.
The clear import of this testimony was to imply that Sally had displayed the signs of CSAAS that Sally’s parents had learned about through counseling with Brown. Since Bussey v. Commonwealth,
After further discussiоns about the propriety of Brandi’s testimony, the trial court admonished the jury to disregard Brandi’s testimony insofar as it referred to the symptoms or signs of sexual abuse that Brown had told her to look for. The judge instructed the jury not to give that testimony “any evidentiary value.”
Appellant denied committing the crimes and presented his defense that the charges were a total fabrication. He argues that the prosecution was clearly trying to evade the prohibition against CSAAS evidence by insinuating that Sally’s behavioral changes were recognized as symptoms of sexual abuse. In Bussey, Lantrip and several subsequent cases
In Hellstrom v. Commonwealth,
Most recently, in Sanderson v. Commonwealth,
The trial court incorrectly assumed that testimony regarding the child’s changed demeanor was permissible so long as it is not presented as expert testimony linking it to the sexual abuse alleged in the indictment.
We see no sound reason, nor has one been presented to us in this case, to deviate from the well-settled precedent reflected in the foregoing case law. We have been shown no academic or scientific studies, or any other evidence, to indiсate that the concept of CSAAS has attained the kind of validity that would enable one to accurately identify victims of sexual abuse from the behaviors depicted here. An examination of the authorities cited above discloses that an expert would not have, in this cаse, been permitted to take the stand and testify that Sally’s changes of behavior near the time of the alleged abuse (changes in “attitude,” her hairstyle, clothing preferences, and weight) were singly or cumulatively indicative of sexual abuse. It follows that a lay witness may not testify abоut these same behaviors by implying that an expert had told her that these changes were indicators of sexual abuse. Brandi’s lay testimony listing Sally’s behavioral signs, or symptoms, with unexplained significance is essentially what we condemned in Hellstrom. Avoiding a term such as “child abuse accommodation syndrome” does not cure the evidentiary defect; it does not cloak the “signs” with the scientific validity needed to make them meaningful and relevant. Thus, the evidence was not admissible under our CSAAS line of cases for the purpose of proving that the victim was sexually abused.
To the extеnt the evidence was introduced for some other, unspecified, pur
Nevertheless, though the evidence was improper, Appellant is not entitled to a reversal of his convictions. When Appellant first objected to Brandi’s implication that Sally had “signs” of sexual abuse, the trial court at least partially addressed Appellant’s concern by not permitting the witnesses, or the Commonwealth, to link the unusual (and as noted above, irrelevant) behaviors to advice given by counsel- or Brown. Then, Appellant moved for a mistrial. Before the trial court could rule upon that requеst, Appellant’s counsel, after consulting with Appellant, withdrew the motion for a mistrial offering the reason that “my client wants to get this over with.” Instead, Appellant requested an admonition, and the trial court admonished the jury to disregard the testimony altogether. Appellant requested no other relief. As it apрears that he “agreed with the trial court’s approach and did not request any further curative measures, he received all the relief that he requested; thus there is no error to review.” Rankin v. Commonwealth,
With regard to Kevin’s testimony concerning Sally’s behavioral changes, we note that while Appellant made a continuing objection, he did not move for a mistrial as a result of Kevin’s testimony, and he did not request any other relief, such as an admonition. RCr 9.22 imposes upon a party the duty to make “known to the court the action which that party desires the court to take or аny objection to the action of the court....” Failure to comply with this rule renders an error unpreserved. Bowers v. Commonwealth,
From the foregoing it is clear that a party must timely inform the court of the error and request the relief to which he considers himself entitled. Otherwise, the issue may not be raised on appeal. Id. Because Appellant withdrew his motion for a mistrial with regard to Brandi’s testimony and failed to move for a mistrial as a result of Kevin’s testimony, his present argument to the effect that he should have received a mistrial as a consequence of the evidence is not properly preserved. Accordingly, we do not reverse his convictions.
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Graves Circuit Court is affirmed.
Notes
. “Sally” is a pseudonym employed in this opinion to protect the child’s true idеntity.
. These cases include Hellstrom v. Commonwealth,
. By way of clarification, we emphasize that behavior or conduct that is within the understanding of ordinary personal experience remains admissible when it is probative of a fact in issue. For example, in Dickerson v. Commonwealth,
Our holding in this case in no way effects admissibility of behaviors, such as those exemplified above, that are within the common experience of ordinary people and have nearly-universally recognized significance.