Martinez-Arias v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseAlejandro Martinez-Arias was convicted by jury of aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, and child molestation. In his appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals, Martinez-Arias contended, among other things, that the trial court erred when it allowed the State to present opinion testimony about certain purported aspects of Mexican or Latino culture from a school counselor who had worked with M.J., the child victim. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the disputed testimony. The Georgia Supreme Court granted certiorari and asked the following question: “Did the trial court commit reversible error when it admitted opinion testimony about cultural characteristics of an ethnic group?” The Court answered, "yes," the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted this testimony, but the Court nonetheless affirmed because the error was harmless based on the record in this case.
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