Fear Based Compliance Expert Witnesses

Los Angeles, California

Behavioral and Social Sciences, Psychology - coercive control, human trafficking, domestic violence, abuse dynamics, psychological coercion, undue influence, grooming, witness credibility, victim behavior, inconsistent statements, return to abuser, compliance under threat, exploitation, false confession, pressured statements, intimidation, fear-based compliance, manipulation

Dr. Felicia Rosario provides behavioral analysis in trafficking and abuse cases involving coercive control, psychological pressure, fear, dependency, and power imbalance. Attorneys retain her to explain how these dynamics shape disclosure, decision-making, communication, and testimony in legal settings. Her work clarifies behavior that courts and juries often misread—such as inconsistent statements, return to abusers, compliance under threat, and apparent passivity or emotional flatness—by situating it within coercive environments rather than individual pathology. She has been retained in criminal, family law, and domestic violence matters in state and federal proceedings. Dr. Rosario holds an MD from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed a psychiatry internship at LAC+USC Medical Center, one of the nation's busiest public psychiatric emergency systems. She is a member of Harvard Medical School's Program in Psychiatry and the Law (PIPATL), an interdis...