Citation

Ring S. Int. J. Evid. Proof 2012; 16(1): 66-92.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, SAGE Publications)

DOI

10.1350/ijep.2012.16.1.392

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article reviews the decisions of the US state courts on the admissibility of expert testimony on recovered memory in historic child sexual abuse prosecutions. Unlike their English and Irish counterparts, most US courts scrutinise the reliability of expert evidence on recovered memory. In examining the US decisions the article explores the challenges posed to the criminal process by the contested scientific status of recovered memory theory. It sets out due process arguments why expert evidence on the topic should not be admitted in a criminal trial.