In what circumstances will a court allow a police officer to determine whether a child is telling the truth?

The court in People v. Sergill (1982) 138 Cal.App.3d 34 (Sergill), considered a situation in which the defendant was charged with committing a sexual offense against his niece, who was eight years old at the time of trial. The prosecutor asked one of the investigating officers his opinion of whether the child was telling the truth. (Id. at p. 38.) The officer testified that in his opinion the girl was truthful, and explained that as a result of his dealings with many children he could usually determine with a high degree of accuracy whether their statements were true. The trial court overruled the defense's objection to this testimony saying, " 'this officer has had ... seven years of experience, and has written ... a thousand or more reports, ... and I think [in] the course of that he would be normally expected to judge whether a person, in his opinion, is telling the truth or not.' " (Ibid.) Additionally, the court allowed another police officer, who had also

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