C.A. 2nd;
B271184

The Second Appellate District affirmed in part and reversed in part a judgment. In the published portion of its opinion, the court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the results of a psychological test that was not yet widely accepted in the scientific community and that several courts had deemed unreliable.

Pedro Fortin was charged with molesting two young girls. At trial, he sought to prove that he does not have a sexual interest in children through introduction of his testing results on the “Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest.” The trial court rejected Fortin's proffer of expert testimony regarding the test results, finding that the Abel test had not been adequately peer-reviewed; was not accepted in the scientific community; was designed to monitor convicted sex offenders; and was not intended for use in trials to determine a defendant's guilt or innocence. Fortin was convicted.