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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document398 _ Filed 10/29/21 Page 46 of 52
speculating that the accusers have already been found credible by someone, or that their decision
is a foregone conclusion. On the other side of the probative-prejudicial scale, the government
simultaneously fails to articulate any probative value in use of the term "victim," either in its jury
address or otherwise. Cf State v. Wigg, 889 A.2d 233, 236 (Vt. 2005) ("the use of the term
‘victim’ had no inherent probative value").
Second, the government improperly suggests in response that the stricture on vouching
should not apply to the witnesses themselves. Resp. at 79. As explained by numerous cases,
having any witness refer to themselves or another witness as a "victim" is the very height of
improper vouching. Sena, supra; State v. Sperou, 365 Or. 121, 131, 442 P.3d 581, 590 (2019)
("another witness’s description of the complaining witness as a 'victim' conveys an opinion that
the complaining witness is telling the truth. That is what the vouching rule is intended to
prevent."); Wigg, supra.
Finally, the government contends that Dr. Rocchio can use the word "victim" in reference
to "victims of sexual abuse generally," but her use of the term is even more problematic. For the
reasons articulated in our Daubert motion and reply, Dr. Rocchio bases her expertise on her
therapeutic number of individuals who have self-identified as sexual abuse victims, without any
research or investigation as to whether the individuals' self-reports are true. She then intends to
draw from her anecdotal and experiential treatment to generalize about all "victims" without their
ever having been a finding that any of the persons she has provided treatment to were, in fact,
"victims." If she is permitted to testify, there is no reason for her to vouch for the credibility of
her patients, unless she clarifies each time that she is taking the individual at their word that they
were in fact a victim. The danger of confusion to a jury is that anyone treated by Dr. Rochio
must have been a victim. As the Wigg court recognized, there will be a "danger of unfair
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Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00006001.jpg |
| File Size | 718.6 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 94.4% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,157 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 17:06:19.332976 |