The Long Road to Telling: Psychological Perspectives on the Reliability of Delayed Outcries

Delayed outcries of sexual assault can be difficult to prosecute, as well as difficult to defend, because of the typical absence of forensic evidence. Prosecution cases often conflate witness credibility with witness reliability, arguing that the accounts of trustworthy witnesses must be viewed as factual. This seminar reviews the reconstructive nature of human memory, laying out a pathway for refuting delayed outcries of abuse by arguing that credible witnesses can experience false memories. Pertinent memory research, along with common prosecution arguments and logical defense rebuttals, will be discussed along with several real-world case examples.

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00:00 Introduction
11:06 Reconstructive Nature of Memory
20:03 Delayed Outcry and Memory Reliability
26:24 False Memories and Suggestibility Studies
33:19 Challenges in Assessing Memory in Legal Cases

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Agenda

Introductory Overview
About Dr. Terrell and his approach to cases
What we’ll cover today

What Memory Is, and What It Isn’t
Common misunderstandings about memory
Succinct explanations for juries

Research on False Memory Creation
Suggestions by adults
Suggestions by parents
Suggestions by other family members
Rumors in school settings
Other basic concepts

A Checklist for Your Case, With Trial Anecdotes
Latency
Documented sources of suggestion
Repressed memories
Logical and self-contradictions
Experiential details
Age-appropriate language

Making This Palatable for Jurors
How to communicate these concepts to laypersons

Q&A as time permits

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Speaker



Trent Terrell
Ph.D.
https://connect.justia.com/webinars/s...

Since 2010, Dr. Terrell has consulted and testified in criminal cases involving memory. Today he is a nationwide expert focusing on eyewitness identification cases, cases involving delayed outcries of sexual assault, and other cases in which a witness’ recollection of events is in question. As of May 2025, he has consulted in over 300 cases and testified in over 50, including death penalty murder cases and appeals overseen by the Innocence Project of Texas.

Dr. Terrell has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX since 2008. He has a B.A. in Psychology, a M.A. in Neuroscience, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology, all from Baylor University in Waco, TX.

Dr. Terrell has given numerous CLE presentations, including ones to the State Bar of Texas Advanced Criminal Law Seminar, the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the National Association of District Attorneys in Houston, the Center for American and International Law, and numerous national CLE companies online.

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