Title: McCrary v. Delaware

State: delaware

Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
TIMOTHY MCCRARY, 
 
Defendant-Below, 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
Appellee. 
§ 
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§ 
§ 
 
 
No.  406, 2021 
 
Court Below:  Superior Court  
of the State of Delaware  
 
Cr. ID No. 1906013738(K) 
 
Submitted:  October 12, 2022 
Decided:  January 13, 2023  
 
 
 
Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA, VAUGHN, TRAYNOR, Justices, and 
LASTER, Vice Chancellor,1 constituting the Court en banc. 
 
 
Upon appeal from the Superior Court.  AFFIRMED. 
 
 
Nicole M. Walker, Esquire, Office of the Public Defender, Wilmington, Delaware, 
for Appellant, Timothy McCrary. 
 
John Williams, Esquire, Department of Justice, Dover, Delaware, for Appellee. 
 
 
1 Sitting by designation under Del. Const. art. IV, § 12 and Supreme Court Rules 2(a) and 4(a) to 
complete the quorum. 
2 
 
VAUGHN, Justice, for the Majority: 
 
The Defendant-Below, Appellant, Timothy McCrary, appeals from his 
convictions in Superior Court of four counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First 
Degree.  At the time of the commission of the offenses, the defendant was an aide at 
Harrington Head Start Preschool (“Head Start”).  The four convictions involved 
three of the preschool students.  He raises three claims.  The first is that the trial 
court’s admission of two, prior, out-of-court statements of one of the victims under 
13 Del. C. § 3513 denied him his right to confront the witnesses against him in 
violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The second is 
that the Superior Court abused its discretion by admitting another victim’s prior, out-
of-court statement under 11 Del. C. § 3507 because the State failed to lay a proper 
foundation for the statement’s admission.  The third is that the prejudicial effect of 
the errors deprived him of a fair trial.  For the reasons that follow, we have concluded 
that the defendant’s convictions should be affirmed.     
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 
 
Timothy McCrary, known to students as “Mr. Tim,” was a custodian, 
classroom aide and bus monitor at Head Start.  One of his duties as a classroom aide 
was to supervise the preschool children during their naptime.  At naptime, the 
children rested in their classrooms with blankets for thirty minutes. 
3 
 
 
On the evening of May 16, 2019, J.Y.,2 a student at Head Start, was being 
bathed by her mother, Sarah Ford.  J.Y. was five years old at the time. 
During this bath, J.Y. made an initial disclosure that she had been touched 
inappropriately at school.  Ms. Ford stated in her testimony at trial: 
Um, I was giving both my children a bath, my son also.  
And I was washing [J.Y.] and the next thing I know, like 
she freaked out -- I was washing her vagina area and she 
freaked out and just said, like, don’t touch me there.  And 
I paused and she said don’t touch me there, that’s where 
Mr. Tim touches me.  And just I immediately backed off 
and said:  What did you just say?  And then she repeated 
it again, and I just literally got her out of the bathtub, soap 
and all, and ran to my mom’s house and had her tell my 
sister what she just told me, because my mom’s house is 
connected to my house.  And she told my sister the exact 
same thing and --"3 
 
After this, Ms. Ford called J.Y.’s father to come home.  When he arrived, he asked 
J.Y. a series of questions in which he had her repeat the prior disclosure.  He recorded 
this conversation.  In the recording, which is a little less than five minutes in length, 
J.Y.’s father can be heard questioning a clearly distressed J.Y. beginning with “What 
did you tell mommy today . . . when you were in the bathtub?”4  In the recording, he 
and Ms. Ford implore J.Y. to tell the truth.  Ms. Ford can be heard saying “we need 
to know” and “You’re not going to be in trouble.  I promise.  If it’s the truth, you’re 
 
2 The victims in this case are referred to by way of pseudonyms pursuant to Supr. Ct. R. 7(d). 
3 App. to Opening Br. at A19. 
4 Ct.’s Ex. 1 at 3. 
4 
 
not going to be in trouble.”5  J.Y. can then be heard insisting “[i]t is the truth.”6  After 
more back-and-forth, J.Y. again disclosed that the defendant had touched her 
inappropriately: 
[J.Y.’s father]:  What’d you tell mommy while you were 
in the bathtub? 
J:  Uh. 
[J.Y.’s father]:  Tell me. 
J:  My teacher (UI) with my gina.7 
… 
[J.Y.’s father]:  What did he do? 
J:  (UI) my gina. 
[J.Y.’s father]:  He touched your gina?  Does he touch 
anybody else’s gina? 
S:  Why does he touch your gina? 
J:  (UI) 
S:  Why did you tell me he touches your gina? 
J:  I don’t know. 
[J.Y.’s father]:  What does he do to your gina, [J.Y.]?  You 
have to be honest with us and tell us the truth. 
J:  He puts, uh, he puts, uh-- 
[J.Y.’s father]:  He puts what? 
J:  He puts lotion on his hand and when he (UI) on my 
gina.8 
 
 
After J.Y.’s father conducted this interview, J.Y.’s parents took her to the 
hospital for a physical evaluation.  The police became involved and J.Y. was 
formally interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center (“CAC”) by forensic interviewer 
 
5 Id. 
6 Id. 
7 Id. 
8 Id. at 4. 
5 
 
Courtney Sheats.  This interview was recorded.  In her CAC interview, the following 
exchange took place: 
CS: 
Oh, okay.  And you said that the school was Head 
Start, and you don’t go to school anymore.  How come you 
don’t go to school anymore? 
JY: 
It ‘cause my bus driver.  My bus driver did private 
stuff on me.9 
… 
CS: 
Ms. Linda is a girl.  Oh, okay.  Okay.  Well, and 
[J.Y.], I take notes on this page just to help me remember 
what we talk about today, okay.  Tell me about the private 
stuff Mr. Tim did on you? 
JY: 
He put lotion on my hand. 
CS: 
Put lotion on your hand. 
JY: 
And then he rubbed it. 
CS: 
Oh.  What did he rub? 
JY: 
He rubbed my gina. 
CS: 
Your gina.  Okay.  And [J.Y.], has that happened 
one time, or more than one time? 
JY: 
More than one time. 
CS: 
More than one time.  Tell me about a time that you 
remember the most. 
JY: 
I remember all of it. 
CS: 
You remember all of it. 
Tell me the first time?  Okay.  And you said that Mr. Tim 
put lotion on, was it your hand, or his hand, or something 
different? 
JY: 
His hand. 
CS: 
Oh, on his hand okay. 
And then what did he do after he put the lotion on his 
hand? 
JY: 
He rubbed it, and then he put it in my gina. 
CS: 
Oh, okay.  And put what in your gina? 
 
9 Ct.’s Ex. 2 at 4. 
6 
 
JY: 
Lotion.10 
 
These disclosures are consistent with those J.Y. initially made to her mother and 
father.   
 
As a part of the investigation that commenced after J.Y.’s disclosure, the 
police reviewed security camera footage from classrooms at Head Start.  One such 
video was introduced into evidence at trial.  In the beginning of the video,11 the 
students settled down for their daily rest time.  The defendant entered the room and 
eventually sat down next to another student, A.L., while she rested on a mat with a 
blanket over her.  A female employee is also visible in the classroom for much of 
the video.  However, for a large portion of the rest time, the female employee was 
in an area near the door of the classroom where furniture obstructed her ability to 
see A.L. and the defendant. 
 
In the video, the defendant remained seated next to A.L. for almost the entire 
rest period.  On many occasions, he placed his hand underneath A.L.’s blanket.  
While his hand is not visible underneath the blanket, the angle and location of his 
arm indicate his hand was in the area of A.L.’s buttocks and vagina.  The defendant’s 
hand visibly moved under the blanket.  Furthermore, when the female employee 
came closer to the defendant, he quickly removed his hand from underneath the 
 
10 Id. 
11 The video was just over an hour in length. 
7 
 
blanket every time.  During a good deal of the time that his hand was under A.L.’s 
blanket, the defendant can be seen looking over his shoulder in the direction of the 
female employee or adjusting A.L.’s blanket so that it covered her and his hand. 
 
The police contacted A.L.’s parents and explained what could be seen on the 
video.  A recorded interview of A.L. was conducted by Ms. Sheats at the CAC.  In 
her interview, A.L. did not disclose any inappropriate conduct on the part of the 
defendant.  However, A.L.’s mother testified that following the interview, A.L. told 
her parents that the defendant had touched her inappropriately.   
 
The Harrington Police Department published a press release concerning the 
claimed misconduct at Head Start.  After the press release was published, L.F.’s 
mother reported to the police that L.F. had been abused.  L.F. was four years old at 
the time.  She was interviewed by Ms. Sheats.  The interview included the following 
exchange: 
CS: 
Okay.  And who goes on the bus with Ms. Linda?  
Okay.  When you said that the boy teacher touches you or 
gives you touches that are not okay with you, did I get that 
right? 
LF: 
Yes. 
CS: 
Okay.  Tell me about the touches that are not okay 
with you. 
LF: 
- - on my butt. 
CS: 
On your butt.  Okay.  And does the boy teacher give 
you touches on your butt? 
LF: 
Mm-hm.12 
 
12 Ct.’s Ex. 4 at 6. 
8 
 
L. F. disclosed to Ms. Sheats that these incidents occurred in the school and on the 
school bus.  L.F. also told Ms. Sheats that the defendant instructed her to “keep it a 
secret.”13  They also discussed inappropriate touching of L.F.’s vagina: 
CS: 
Okay.  Did the boy teacher touch a different part of 
your body at that time? 
Your cuckoo?[14]  Okay.  And the time that we are talking 
about, did he touch your butt -- or I’m sorry, did he touch 
your cuckoo the same day he touched your butt or a 
different day? 
LF: 
On the same day.15 
 
 
Allegations concerning M.G., another Head Start student, were also reported 
to the Harrington police after the press release was published.  During M.G.’s CAC 
interview with Ms. Sheats, M.G. made disclosures indicating that the defendant had 
touched her inappropriately underneath her pants, underwear, and shirt. 
 
The defendant was charged by indictment with two counts of Sexual Abuse 
of a Child by a Person of Trust in the First Degree (both as to J.Y.) and six counts of 
Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First Degree (two counts each as to A.L., L.F., and 
M.G.). 
The defendant was tried by the Superior Court at a bench trial in September 
2021, more than two years after the occurrence of the offenses.  He challenged the 
 
13 Id. at 8. 
14 When discussing names for parts of the body, Ms. Sheats circled a part of the body on a diagram 
and offered L.F. the option to refer to it as a “vagina or a cuckoo.”  Id. at 4.  L.F. decided to call it 
a “cuckoo.”  Id. 
15 Id. at 8. 
9 
 
admissibility of the recorded statements J.Y. gave to her father and to Ms. Sheats.  
The State sought their admission under 13 Del. C. § 3513.  Section 3513 allows, in 
pertinent part, for the admission of an out-of-court statement made by “a child victim 
. . . who is under 11 years of age at the time of the proceeding concerning an act that 
is a material element of the offense relating to sexual abuse”16 where “[t]he child is 
found by the Court to be unavailable to testify”17 because of “[t]he child’s total 
failure of memory[,]”18 and “[t]he child’s out-of-court statement is shown to possess 
particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.”19  The statute sets forth 13 factors 
which the trial court may consider in deciding whether a statement possesses 
particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.20 
On the witness stand at trial, J.Y. was unable to recall the events relevant to 
the charges or give any meaningful testimony.  She stated that she did not recall 
where she attended preschool or a teacher named “Mr. Tim.”21  The trial judge found 
that J.Y. experienced a “total failure of memory”22 and was, therefore, 
“unavailable”23 as defined under Section 3513.  Defense counsel did not take issue 
 
16 11 Del. C. § 3513(a). 
17 11 Del. C. § 3513(b)(2)a. 
18 11 Del. C. § 3513(b)(2)a.3. 
19 11 Del. C. § 3513(b)(2)b. 
20 See 11 Del. C. § 3513(e). 
21 App. to Opening Br. at A22. 
22 Id. at A24. 
23 Id. 
10 
 
with the finding that J.Y. was “unavailable.”  Counsel argued, however, that the 
statements were inadmissible because they lacked “particularized guarantees of 
trustworthiness.”24  The trial judge overruled the defense objection and found that 
both statements did possess “particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.”25  Both 
statements, were, on that basis, admitted.  Defense counsel did not raise the 
confrontation argument the defendant now makes on appeal.   
 
The defendant also objected to the admission of L.F.’s recorded CAC 
interview.  The State sought to have that interview admitted under 11 Del. C. § 3507.  
On direct examination of L.F., after some preliminary questions, the prosecutor 
began a line of questioning which established that L.F. rode the bus to preschool, 
and that there were two grownups on the bus.  L.F. explained that one was a female 
who drove the bus.  She testified that the other was a “boy.”26  When asked whether 
the “boy” was in the courtroom, L.F. identified the defendant by pointing him out.  
L.F., however, also struggled to recall details, and her testimony was not entirely 
consistent.  She testified that she did not like the defendant, but did not know why.  
She did not remember his name.  When asked whether she had ever talked with 
anyone about the defendant, she answered “No.”27  When shown a photograph of 
 
24 Id. at A29. 
25 Id. at A31. 
26 Id. at A59. 
27 Id. at A61. 
11 
 
herself with Ms. Sheats, she testified that she did remember being in the photograph.  
When asked what she was doing when the photograph was taken, she replied that 
she did not know.  As questioning continued, she testified that she remembered 
speaking with Ms. Sheats, but did not remember what they talked about.  She did 
remember that she told Ms. Sheats the truth.  When then asked whether she had 
talked with Ms. Sheats about “bad touches”28 she said “Yes.”29  When asked whether 
she talked about a person when she talked about bad touches, she responded “Yes.”30  
When then asked who the person was, she responded “I don’t know.”31  Under 
further questioning, she repeated that she talked about bad touches, but upon being 
asked again whether she talked about bad touches, said “I don’t know.”32  The 
prosecutor was unable to elicit from L.F. a connection between the bad touches and 
the defendant.   
The State moved the admission of  L.F.’s CAC interview at the conclusion of 
the direct examination.  Defense counsel objected on the ground that the State failed 
to satisfy Section 3507’s foundation requirement that the witness’ direct examination 
should touch on the events perceived and the out-of-court statement itself.  The court 
overruled the objection and admitted the recording of the interview.  Defense 
 
28 Id. at A65. 
29 Id. 
30 Id. 
31 Id. 
32 Id. at A66. 
12 
 
counsel did not ask any questions of L.F. on cross-examination. 
The trial judge found the defendant not guilty of both counts of Sexual Abuse 
of a Child by a Person of Trust First Degree (as to J.Y.).  Under the first of those two 
counts, however, the trial judge found the defendant guilty of the lesser included 
offense of Unlawful Sexual Contact in the First Degree.  The trial judge also found 
the defendant guilty of three of the charged counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact in 
the First Degree (two counts as to A.L. and one count as to L.F.)  The trial judge 
found the defendant not guilty of one of the counts of Unlawful Sexual Contact in 
the First Degree as to L.F. and not guilty to both counts as to M.G. 
DISCUSSION 
I.  The Defendant’s Right to Confrontation Was Not Violated 
 
The defendant’s first claim is that the admission of the statements J.Y. made 
to her father and to the CAC forensic interviewer under 11 Del. C. § 3513 violated 
his right to confrontation under the United States Constitution.33  Since the 
 
33 Opening Br. at 8.  In his Opening Brief, the defendant made both a facial challenge to 11 Del. 
C. § 3513 under the Confrontation Clause as well as a challenge to the application of the 
Confrontation Clause to the relevant facts.  Id. at 14, 18.  At oral argument en banc, this Court 
asked the defendant’s counsel: 
 
So . . . let’s turn to facial unconstitutionality . . . why isn’t the fact 
that the statute could be applied to nontestimonial evidence enough 
to save the facial invalidity of the statute, and, if we agree, as the 
State I think has conceded, that, that there is a testimonial piece of 
this that as applied it might be unconstitutional, why do we even 
need to reach the facial challenge?  Oral Argument 17:08-17:37. 
 
13 
 
Confrontation Clause argument the defendant makes here was not made in the trial 
court, we review this claim for plain error.  “Under the plain error standard of review, 
the error complained of must be so clearly prejudicial to substantial rights as to 
jeopardize the fairness and integrity of the trial process.”34  “[T]he doctrine of plain 
error is limited to material defects which are apparent on the face of the record; 
which are basic, serious and fundamental in their character, and which clearly 
deprive an accused of a substantial right, or which clearly show manifest injustice.”35   
 
Section 3513, known as Delaware’s “tender years statute,”36 is a hearsay 
exception specially crafted to allow into evidence out-of-court statements of child 
witnesses or victims pertaining to abuse.37  The statute provides, in relevant part: 
(a) An out-of-court statement made by a child victim or 
witness who is under 11 years of age at the time of the 
proceeding concerning an act that is a material element of 
the offense relating to sexual abuse . . . that is not 
otherwise admissible in evidence is admissible in any 
judicial proceeding if the requirements of subsections (b) 
through (f) of this section are met. 
(b) An out-of-court statement may be admitted as provided 
in subsection (a) of this section if: 
 
In response, defendant’s counsel conceded that reaching the facial challenge was unnecessary, 
stating:  “Your honor . . . I know that was argued in the brief and I do think that, uh, at this point, 
we don’t need to reach the facial unconstitutionality. . . of the . . . argument[.]”  Id. at 17:37-17:47.  
In light of this, we consider the defendant’s constitutional challenge to the application of Section 
3513 to these facts, but need not address the facial unconstitutionality argument. 
34 Wainwright v. State, 504 A.2d 1096, 1100 (Del. 1986) (en banc).  
35 Id.  
36 McGriff v. State, 781 A.2d 534, 537 (Del. 2001) (en banc), abrogated by Crawford v. 
Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004). 
37 See 11 Del. C. § 3513. 
14 
 
(1) The child is present and the child's testimony 
touches upon the event and is subject to cross-
examination rendering such prior statement admissible 
under § 3507 of this title; or 
(2)a. The child is found by the court to be unavailable 
to testify on any of these grounds: 
. . . 
3. The child's total failure of memory; 
. . . 
    b. The child's out-of-court statement is shown to 
possess particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.38 
 
 
In short, Section 3513 requires (1) that the witness be unavailable and (2) that 
the statement contain “particularized guarantees of trustworthiness” unless 
otherwise admissible on the grounds of Section 3507.39  In this case, the State’s 
argument that J.Y. was unavailable rested solely on the statutory ground that she 
showed a total failure of memory.  The defendant argues that admitting J.Y.’s prior, 
out-of-court statements violated the Confrontation Clause because he “did not have 
an opportunity to cross-examine J.Y. during either recorded out-of-court 
 
38 11 Del. C. § 3513. 
39 11 Del. C. § 3513(b)(2)a., b.  The defendant compares the requirement of “particularized 
guarantees of trustworthiness” factors outlined in 11 Del. C. § 3513 to the “reliability test” set 
forth by the United States Supreme Court in Ohio v. Roberts, which was eventually abrogated by 
Crawford v. Washington.  Opening Br. at 15-17; see Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 65-66 (1980), 
abrogated by Crawford, 541 U.S. at 60, 68-69.  This argument is without merit for two reasons.  
First, the defendant has not asserted that the admission of J.Y.’s CAC interview and her statement 
recorded by her father failed to comply with Section 3513; the defendant argues that the admission 
of those statements in compliance with Section 3513 violated the Confrontation Clause.  Second, 
the defendant’s arguments pertaining to the statute’s similarity to Roberts are irrelevant to whether 
the admission of J.Y.’s statements satisfy the requirements of Crawford. Therefore, we need not 
address the “particularized guarantees of trustworthiness” factors reviewed by the Superior Court 
in consideration of the admission of J.Y.’s statements under Section 3513.  See 11 Del. C. § 3513. 
15 
 
statement.”40  
 
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides for the right 
to confrontation:  “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . 
to be confronted with the witnesses against him[.]”41  The United States Supreme 
Court has referred to this right as a “bedrock procedural guarantee”42 and defined its 
purpose:  “the principal evil at which the Confrontation Clause was directed was the 
civil-law mode of criminal procedure, and particularly its use of ex parte 
examinations as evidence against the accused.43 
 
The United States Supreme Court in Crawford v. Washington addressed the 
issue of admission of out-of-court statements and their intersection with the right to 
confrontation.44  In that case, the Court established two requirements for the 
admission of such statements:  “the Framers would not have allowed admission of 
testimonial statements of a witness who did not appear at trial unless he was 
unavailable to testify, and the defendant had had a prior opportunity for cross-
examination.”45  The Court elaborated in a footnote, explaining:  
[W]hen the declarant appears for cross-examination at 
trial, the Confrontation Clause places no constraints at all 
on the use of his prior testimonial statements . . . .  The 
 
40 Opening Br. at 9, 25. 
41 U.S. Const. amend. VI. 
42 Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 42 (2004). 
43 Id. at 50 (emphasis in original). 
44 Id. at 40, 42. 
45 Id. at 53-54. 
16 
 
Clause does not bar admission of a statement so long as 
the declarant is present at trial to defend or explain it.46 
 
 
The Court further explained that the Confrontation Clause applies only when 
a statement is testimonial in nature.47  As the Court stated, “[w]here testimonial 
evidence is at issue, however, the Sixth Amendment demands what the common law 
required:  unavailability and a prior opportunity for cross-examination.”48  In Davis 
v. Washington, the United States Supreme Court explained what it means for a 
statement to be testimonial: 
Statements are nontestimonial when made in the course of 
police interrogation under circumstances objectively 
indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is 
to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency.  
They are testimonial when the circumstances objectively 
indicate that there is no such ongoing emergency, and that 
the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or 
prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal 
prosecution.49 
 
 
In Ohio v. Clark, the United States Supreme Court addressed the possible 
testimonial nature of out-of-court statements that were made to persons other than 
law enforcement officers.50  While asserting that statements such as these are “much 
less likely to be testimonial,”51 the Court applied the “primary purpose test,”52 a 
 
46 Id. at 60 n.9 
47 Id. at 68; Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 821 (2006). 
48 Crawford, 541 U.S. at 68. 
49 547 U.S. at 822.   
50 Clark, 576 U.S. at 246. 
51 Id. 
52 Id. at 246-48. 
17 
 
standard which it called “a necessary, but not always sufficient, condition for the 
exclusion of out-of-court statements under the Confrontation Clause.”53  In this case, 
the State concedes that J.Y.’s CAC statement was testimonial.54  We accept this 
concession, and therefore have no further need to discuss when a statement is or is 
not testimonial.  Since the CAC statement is testimonial, Confrontation Clause 
concerns must be addressed.55 
 
 The defendant’s Confrontation Clause claim must fail because J.Y. was 
available for cross-examination by defense counsel.  The defendant claims that the 
Superior Court “denied McCrary the opportunity to cross examine [J.Y.].”56  The 
record, however, does not support this claim. In fact, J.Y. was cross-examined by 
defense counsel at trial.   
At trial, J.Y. took the stand and was placed under oath. After her direct 
examination, the witness was passed to the defendant’s trial counsel.  The following 
exchange occurred between the defendant’s trial counsel and J.Y.: 
BY MR. BARBER: 
Q. 
Hi, [J.Y.]. 
 
How are you today? 
A. 
Good. 
Q. 
A little bit nervous? 
 
53 Id. at 246-47. 
54 Answering Br. at 21. 
55 Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 823-24 (2006).  Since we ultimately hold that the 
defendant’s confrontation rights were not violated by the admission of J.Y.’s testimonial CAC 
statements, we need not consider the issue of J.Y.’s statements, testimonial or non-testimonial, in 
her father’s recorded interview. 
56 Opening Br. at 18. 
18 
 
A. 
(Nodded head.) 
Q. 
Yeah. 
 
MR. BARBER:  I don’t have any other 
questions, Your Honor.57 
 
While this cross-examination was brief, and although defendant’s trial counsel asked 
no questions specifically pertaining to an inappropriate touching, that was the 
tactical choice that counsel made.  J.Y. was on the stand and available for cross-
examination.  Defense counsel could have asked J.Y. a series of questions designed 
to demonstrate her failure of memory, whether about the inappropriate touching or 
about other relevant matters.  Defense counsel elected not to pursue any lines of 
inquiry.  He chose to end the questioning when he did. 
 
The United States Supreme Court has held that “the Confrontation Clause 
guarantees an opportunity for effective cross-examination, not cross-examination 
that is effective in whatever way, and to whatever extent, the defense might wish.”58  
In United States v. Owens, the Court explained that “[o]rdinarily, a witness is 
regarded as ‘subject to cross-examination’ when he is placed on the stand, under 
oath, and responds willingly to questions.”59   
To be sure, “limitations on the scope of examination by the trial court or 
assertions of privilege by the witness” may prevent cross-examination from being 
 
57 Id. 
58 Delaware v. Fensterer, 474 U.S. 15, 20 (1985) (emphasis in original) (citing Ohio v. Roberts, 
448 U.S. 56, 72 n.12 (1980), abrogated by Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004)). 
59 484 U.S. 554, 561-62 (1988). 
19 
 
meaningful.60  The same reasoning does not apply to a failure of memory, which the 
United States Supreme Court has held does not render cross-examination 
ineffective.61  The Court provided the reasoning for the distinction in Delaware v. 
Fensterer: 
The Confrontation Clause includes no guarantee that every 
witness called by the prosecution will refrain from giving 
testimony that is marred by forgetfulness . . . .  To the 
contrary, the Confrontation Clause is generally satisfied 
when the defense is given a full and fair opportunity to 
probe and expose these infirmities through cross-
examination, thereby calling to the attention of the 
factfinder the reasons for giving scant weight to the 
witness’s testimony.62 
 
In other words, the cross-examiner has had the opportunity to cross-examine if the 
cross-examiner can ask questions that illustrate the witness’s lack of memory.  
 
In Randolph v. State, this Court applied these principles when evaluating 
whether a defendant had an opportunity to cross-examine a witness under 
Crawford.63  The defendant in Randolph appealed a juvenile delinquency 
proceeding, in part, on grounds that admission of the victim’s out-of-court 
statements under 11 Del. C. § 3507 violated his confrontation rights.64  In support of 
a Confrontation Clause argument, the defendant claimed that the victim, who 
 
60 Id. 
61 Fensterer, 474 U.S. at 21-22.  
62 Id. 
63 See 878 A.2d 461, 2005 WL 1653635, at *2-3 (Del. June 30, 2005) (ORDER). 
64 Randolph, 2005 WL 1653635 at *1-2. 
20 
 
testified at trial, “was unavailable and not subject to cross-examination because she 
had difficulty answering questions and most of her responses on direct examination 
were nonsensical.”65  In affirming the Family Court’s decision below in admitting 
the statements, this court reasoned: 
In Crawford, the United States Supreme Court did “not 
expressly require any specific quality of cross-
examination….”[66]  All that is required is that a defendant 
have the opportunity for effective cross-examination of the 
declarant, not effective cross-examination in whatever 
way and in whatever manner a defendant may wish.  In the 
present case, [the victim] was available for cross-
examination and defense counsel made a strategic decision 
not to pursue cross-examination.  Moreover, the mere fact 
that [the victim] had difficulty answering questions and 
provided nonsensical responses on direct examination 
does not make her unavailable for confrontation clause 
purposes.67 
 
This Court also has found that memory problems do not result in a witness being 
unavailable for cross-examination, stating in Johnson v. State “[t]he mere fact that 
[the witness]’s recollection was limited does not make her unavailable for cross-
examination for Confrontation Clause purposes.”68  Instead, this Court held that 
“when a witness takes the stand at trial, and is subject to cross-examination, the 
 
65 Id. at *2. 
66 Id. at *3 (quoting Burke v. State, 484 A.2d 490, 494 (Del. 1984), abrogated by Crawford v. 
Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004) (quoting Johnson v. State, 338 A.2d 124, 127 (Del. 1975))) 
(footnote omitted). 
67 Randolph, 2005 WL 1653635 at * 3 (footnote omitted). 
68 878 A.2d 422, 429 (Del. 2005). 
21 
 
traditional protections afforded under the Confrontation Clause are satisfied.”69   
 
Like the testimony of the victim in Randolph, J.Y.’s in-court testimony was 
unhelpful to the defendant, but that does not mean that the defendant was denied the 
right to confront her.  The defendant’s trial counsel had the opportunity to question 
J.Y. The record shows that J.Y. had failures of memory regarding the events at issue, 
but under the decisions of the United States Supreme Court and this Court, a failure 
of memory does not prevent effective cross-examination.  The defendant’s trial 
counsel could have questioned J.Y. in a manner that emphasized her lack of 
recollection.  The defendant’s trial counsel chose not to question J.Y.  A decision 
not to question is not the same as a denial of the opportunity for cross-examination.   
 
We find that the defendant was not denied the right to cross-examine J.Y.  
Accordingly, we find that no violation of the Confrontation Clause with respect to 
the admission of J.Y.’s out-of-court statements. 
II.  Admission of L.F.’s Statements Under 11 Del. C. § 3507 Was Proper 
 
The defendant’s second claim is that the Superior Court erred by admitting 
L.F.’s prior, out-of-court, CAC statement under 11 Del. C. § 3507 without requiring 
the State to satisfy one of the foundational requirements.70  This Court reviews “a 
trial court’s ruling admitting or excluding evidence for abuse of discretion.”71  “An 
 
69 Id. at 428-29. 
70 Opening Br. at 27. 
71 Milligan v. State, 116 A.3d 1232, 1235 (Del. 2015).  
22 
 
abuse of discretion occurs when a court has exceeded the bounds of reason in light 
of the circumstances, or so ignored recognized rules of law or practice so as to 
produce injustice.”72 
 
11 Del. C. § 3507 provides, in pertinent part, as follows: 
(a) 
 In a criminal prosecution, the voluntary out-of-
court prior statement of a witness who is present and 
subject to cross-examination may be used as affirmative 
evidence with substantive independent testimonial value. 
(b) 
 The rule in subsection (a) of this section shall apply 
regardless of whether the witness’ in-court testimony is 
consistent with the prior statement or not.  The rule shall 
likewise apply with or without a showing of surprise by 
the introducing party.73 
 
The defendant contends that “the State failed to elicit any testimony from L.F. 
[on direct examination] about the events she allegedly perceived.”74  This, the 
defendant contends, violates the statutory foundational requirement that there should 
be a direct examination of the witness who made the statement and that the direct 
examination should touch upon the events perceived by the witness and the out-of-
court statement itself.75  
The requirement that in order to use a Section 3507 statement at trial, there 
should be a direct examination of the witness who made the statement that “touch[es] 
 
72 Thompson v. State,  205 A.3d 827, 834 (Del. 2019) (quoting McNail v. State, 990 A.2d 398, 401 
(Del. 2010)). 
73 11 Del. C. § 3507(a), (b). 
74 Opening Br. at 28. 
75 Id. at 27 (quoting Keys v. State, 337 A.2d 18, 20 n.1 (Del. 1975)). 
23 
 
both on the events perceived and the out-of-court statement itself” was articulated 
by this Court in Keys v. State.76  That case describes itself as “giv[ing] rise to the 
first interpretation by this Court of” Section 3507, which at that time was a relatively 
new statute.77 
The defendant in that case, David M. Keys, was convicted of kidnapping, 
burglary and related offenses.78  At trial, the State introduced two prior, out-of-court 
statements made by Mr. Floyd Wells.79  They were introduced through the testimony 
of a City of Dover police detective and through the testimony of a deputy attorney 
general.80  The statements implicated the defendant in the crime.81  Mr. Wells was 
present in the courtroom when his statements were introduced, but he was not called 
to the witness stand by the State.82  The defendant was offered the opportunity to 
call Mr. Wells to the stand but declined to do so.83  Defense counsel objected to the 
admission of the out-of-court statements on the grounds that their admission violated 
both his constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him and the statutory 
protection of Section 3507.84   
 
76 337 A.2d 18, 23 (Del. 1975). 
77 Id. at 20. 
78 Id.  
79 Id. at 20-21. 
80 Id. at 21. 
81 Id. 
82 Id. 
83 Id. 
84 Id. 
24 
 
On appeal, this Court found it necessary to address only the objection that was 
based on the language of the statute itself.85  It found that the admission of the out-
of-court statements violated the statute for two reasons:  “the statutory language used 
by the General Assembly and the practicalities of a fair trial.”86 
The Court reasoned that since prior out-of-court statements were generally not 
admissible at trial, subject to certain exceptions, and the new statute departed from 
that rule, “strict construction [was] applicable”87 and “[t]here should be a preference 
toward a narrow interpretation of the language in order to avoid overturning 
established procedures by implication not necessary from the statutory language.”88  
The Court construed the statute’s use of the word “witness” as indicating one who 
testifies at trial.89  It construed the phrase “subject to cross-examination” as requiring 
that there be a direct examination of the witness,90 noting that “[i]n this country 
cross-examination has been tied to the content or at least the occurrence of direct 
examination.”91  It noted that subsection (b) of the statute, which refers to “the 
witness’[s] in-court testimony,”92 “clearly implie[d] a requirement of in-court 
 
85 Id. 
86 Id. 
87 Id. at 21-22. 
88 Id. at 22. 
89 Id. 
90 Id. at 23. 
91 Id. at 22. 
92 Id. at 23, quoting 11 Del. C. § 3507(b). 
25 
 
testimony by the witness.”93  It also noted that “[t]he same implication rises from a 
fourth statutory phrase which says that the Statute shall apply ‘with or without a 
showing of surprise by the introducing party.’”94   
The Court concluded from these parts of the statute that “in order to use the 
out-of-court statements of Wells, in the situation presented by this case, the 
legislative language required the production and direct examination of the witness 
Wells by the prosecution.”95  The Court then set forth the following foundational 
rule that continues to apply to Section 3507 statements:  “We do not mean to suggest 
any precise form of direct examination except that it should touch both on the events 
perceived and the out-of-court statement itself.”96 
After setting forth this rule, the Court discussed “the practical ebb and flow of 
the criminal drama.”97  In the Keys case, the trial court permitted the State to offer 
Wells’ out-of-court statements “through an officer of the law and an officer of the 
Court,” and “shifted [the burden] to the defendant to call the witness,” thus making 
it appear to the jury that the defense was “sponsoring the witness or refusing to 
sponsor him.”98  This Court rejected that approach, stating bluntly:  “That burden is 
 
93 Keys, 337 A.2d at 23. 
94 Id. quoting 11 Del. C. § 3507(b). 
95 Keys, 337 A.2d at 23. 
96 Id. 
97 Id. 
98 Id. at 23-24. 
26 
 
not fair.”99  
Just one month later, the Court had the first occasion to apply the rule that 
Section 3507 requires a direct examination of the witness that touches on both the 
events perceived by the witness and the out-of-court statement itself in the case of 
Johnson v. State.100  In that case, the defendant, Marion E. Johnson, was charged 
with raping and assaulting a 75-year-old victim, Mrs. Florence Glass.101  Four out-
of-court statements made by Mrs. Glass were admitted at trial.102  One was given to 
a doctor who treated Mrs. Glass shortly after the crime, and three were given to 
police officers who interviewed her shortly after the crime.103  Mrs. Glass testified 
at trial that she was “grabbed by a gloved hand from the rear” and that “after the 
attack, she staggered up the street where she passed out.”104  She testified that 
“except for the one brief interval when she remember[ed] somebody doing 
something to her head . . . she remember[ed] nothing until late in the evening when 
she was offered medicine.”105  She had no memory of the time period when she made 
the first three statements.106   
 
99 Id. at 24.  
100 See 338 A.2d 124 (Del. 1975).  This case is unrelated to the previously cited case Johnson v. 
State, 878 A.2d 422 (Del. 2005). 
101 Johnson, 338 A.2d at 125. 
102 Id. at 125-26. 
103 Id. at 126. 
104 Id. at 126-27. 
105 Id. at 127. 
106 Id. 
27 
 
The Court discussed both aspects of the touching-on requirements.  First, the 
Court found that “[t]he requirement that the direct examination touch on the events 
perceived was satisfied, although there was limited recall.”107  The Court then turned 
to the requirement that the direct examination touch on the out-of-court statement 
itself, finding that it was sufficient for Mrs. Glass to have said that she did not recall 
anything about them: 
The requirement that the direct examination touch on the 
out-of-court statements was not expressly satisfied but 
Mrs. Glass did indicate that she did not recall anything 
during a time which includes the first three out-of-court 
statements noted above.  She was not asked a single 
question about any of the statements by the defense.  Thus, 
in effect, Keys was fully satisfied as to the first three out-
of-court statements.108 
 
In other words, the Court found that Mrs. Glass’s testimony that she could not 
remember making the first three out-of-court statements touched on those statements 
and fully satisfied Keys.109 
In Johnson, the Court also addressed the defendant’s claim that his right to 
confront witnesses was violated because Mrs. Glass was not subject to cross-
examination because of her limited recall.110  The Court rejected that claim as 
follows: 
 
107 Id. 
108 Id. 
109 See id. 
110 Id. 
28 
 
While the Statute does require that the out-of-court 
declarant be subject to cross examination, it does not 
expressly require any specific quality of cross examination 
or key the admission of the out-of-court statement to any 
particular recall in court on the part of the witness.  To the 
contrary, the draftsmen of the Statute expressly 
contemplated that the in-court testimony might be 
inconsistent with the prior out-of-court statement.  One of 
the problems to which the Statute is obviously directed is 
the turncoat witness who cannot recall events on the 
witness stand after having previously described them out-
of-court.  We conclude that there is nothing in the Statute 
or its intent which prohibits the admission of the 
statements on the basis of limited courtroom recall.111 
    
The Court’s reference to a turncoat witness is telling.  The Court was concerned 
about a situation where a witness might claim not to remember or might even deny 
having perceived an event or having made a prior statement about an event.  The 
Court’s reasoning indicates that if a prosecutor asks a witness about an event or a 
prior statement and the witness cannot testify due to a lack of recall, that testimony 
satisfies Keys’ requirements that the witness’s testimony touch on the events 
perceived and the prior statement. 
In 1991, the Court returned to the touching-on requirements in Ray v. State.112  
The case involved a sexual offense against a victim who was five years old when the 
offense occurred.113  At trial, “the victim declined to respond to the prosecutor’s 
 
111 Id. 
112 587 A.2d 439, 443 (Del. 1991). 
113 Id. at 439-40. 
29 
 
request that she tell the jury what [the defendant] did to her.  The victim testified that 
she told her aunt and [a detective] what happened to her, but she declined to testify 
about what she told them.”114  The prior out-of-court statements that she had made 
to the aunt and the detective were then admitted under Section 3507.115  The Court 
held that her testimony did not “touch on the event perceived” and it was, therefore, 
error to admit the prior statements.116  The Court “recognized[d] the difficulty 
involved in the presentation of the testimony of small children, particularly in sexual 
abuse cases[,]”117 but explained that 
the use of hearsay statements under section 3507 must be 
carefully circumscribed in order to avoid, as occurred 
here, the only direct evidence concerning the commission 
of the offense against a child being presented through the 
testimony of third parties relating what the victim stated 
on a prior occasion.  The statute becomes meaningless if 
there is no opportunity to test the truth of the statements 
offered.118 
 
 
Ray differs from this case in that the issue was not a failure of memory; the 
witness declined to answer questions.119  A refusal to testify is more akin to the 
invocation of privilege or a court-imposed limitation on examination, which have 
 
114 Id. at 443. 
115 Id. 
116 Id. at 443-44. 
117 Id. at 444. 
118 Id. at 444. 
119 Id. at 443. 
30 
 
been held to interfere with the constitutional right to confront witnesses120 and 
should operate similarly under Section 3507.  L.F. answered all questions that were 
asked, but with limited recall.  In addition, this case does not involve third parties 
giving uncorroborated testimony about what L.F. said to them.  The court saw L.F. 
herself speaking in the audio/video recording of the CAC interview. 
 
The Court most recently addressed the touching-on requirements in Woodlin 
v. State, where we reaffirmed the holdings of Keys, Johnson, and Ray.121  In that 
case, the defendant, Howard E. Woodlin, was convicted of Rape in the First Degree 
and other crimes for sexual assaults he committed against his daughter, Sarah, and 
incidents of sexual contact between Mr. Woodlin and Sarah’s mother committed in 
Sarah’s presence.122  At trial, Sarah, then eight years old, testified that her father “did 
something wrong to me” and she did not want to describe it “[b]ecause it’s nasty.”123  
The trial court had concluded that this testimony touched upon the events described 
in her earlier CAC interview.124  On appeal, Mr. Woodlin argued that no foundation 
had been laid about the perceived events.125  On plain error review, this Court found 
that the record supported the trial court’s finding.126  His convictions were 
 
120 See, e.g., Owens, 484 U.S. at 561-62. 
121 Woodlin v. State, 3 A.3d 1084, 1087-88 (Del. 2010) (en banc). 
122 Id. at 1084-85. 
123 Id. at 1088. 
124 Id. at 1086. 
125 Id. at 1089. 
126 Id. 
31 
 
affirmed.127 
Our review of our jurisprudence under Keys and its progeny, and the differing 
view taken by our dissenting colleagues, shows that our cases have not fully clarified 
what the “touching on” requirements demand.  Some of our decisions indicate that 
the “touching on” requirements are satisfied by the prosecutor calling the witness to 
the stand and asking questions on direct examination about those topics, regardless 
of whether the witness can provide substantive testimony about them, so that the 
defendant can confront and cross examine the witness on those topics without 
appearing to sponsor the witness.  Other decisions imply that the “touching on” 
requirements mandate at least some level of substantive testimony from the witness 
about the events perceived and the out-of-court statement itself. 
The original Keys decision seems to have intended the former framework.  
The Keys Court specifically noted that it was “not fair” 128 to require the defendant 
to call the witness and appear to sponsor their testimony rather than being able to 
cross-examine a witness called by the prosecutor.  The Keys Court also specifically 
noted that “[i]n this country cross-examination has been tied to the content or at least 
the occurrence of direct examination,”129 indicating that the intent of specifying the 
“touching on” requirements as necessary topics of direct examination was to ensure 
 
127 Id. 
128 337 A.2d at 24.  
129 Id. at 22. 
32 
 
that the prosecutor opened the door to cross examination on those subjects.  
We agree with our dissenting colleagues that some of our decisions after Keys 
can be read as requiring more.  Most notably, in Blake v. State,130 we noted that the 
fact-finder must have the ability to assess the declarant’s credibility on the witness 
stand “‘in light of all the circumstances presented . . . .’”131  Continuing, the Blake 
Court stated, “[t]his Court has consistently and unequivocally held “a witness’ 
statement may be introduced only if the two-part foundation is first established: the 
witness testifies about both the events and whether or not they are true.”132  The 
Blake Court explained that this level of testimony is necessary “in order to conform 
to the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an accused’s right to confront witnesses 
against him, the [witness] must also be subject to cross-examination on the content 
of the statement as well as its truthfulness.”133   
The Blake Court’s reference to “an accused’s right to confront witnesses 
against him” reinforces that the “touching on” requirements are manifestations of 
the Confrontation Clause and should be informed by Confrontation Clause 
 
130 3 A.3d 1077 (Del. 2010). 
131 Blake, 3 A3d at 1082 (quoting Johnson v. State, 338 A. 2d 124, 128 (Del. 1975)). 
132 Id. at 1083 (alteration in original) (quoting Ray, 587 A.2d at 443).  In this case, L.F. did testify 
on the witness stand as to the truth of her out-of-court statements made to Ms. Sheats at the CAC.  
The prosecutor asked L.F.:  “Do you know if you told the truth when you talked to that person in 
the photograph?”  App. to Opening Br. at A63.  L.F. responded by nodding her head and verbally 
affirming “Yes.”  Id. 
133 Blake, 3 A3d at 1083 (alteration in original) (quoting Ray, 587 A.2d at 443). 
33 
 
jurisprudence.  As we have shown in our discussion of Confrontation Clause cases, 
a witness need not provide substantive testimony on a topic to be subject to cross-
examination on those topics or to have the truthfulness of their testimony assessed.  
A factfinder can evaluate the truthfulness of a witness who gives limited testimony 
about or even says that they cannot recall anything about a statement or a series of 
events.134Our decision in Johnson and our discussion of the turncoat-witness 
problem confirms that a particular level of testimony is not required to lay a 
foundation for introducing a prior statement under Section 3507.  To reiterate, we 
said in Johnson that “[o]ne of the problems to which the Statute is obviously directed 
is the turncoat witness who cannot recall events on the witness stand after having 
previously described them out-of-court.135  A turncoat witness claims not to recall 
the prior statement (and sometimes not to recall the underlying events).  Having 
taken that stance, the turncoat witness claims not to be able to give any substantive 
testimony about the topic.  If the “touching on” requirements necessitated 
substantive testimony, then a prosecutor could not introduce a prior statement of a 
turncoat witness under Section 3507, contrary to what we described in Johnson as 
“[o]ne of the problems to which the Statute is obviously directed.136  We believe that 
 
134 See, e.g., Owens, 484 U.S. at 561-62; Fensterer, 474 U.S. at 21-22; Johnson, 878 A.2d at 429; 
Randolph, 878 A.2d 461, 2005 WL 1653635, at *1-2. 
135 Johnson, 338 A.2d at 125. 
136 Johnson, 338 A.2d at 127. 
34 
 
Section 3507 permits the introduction of a prior statement by a turncoat witness 
because, once the prosecutor has asked the questions and the witness has claimed 
not to recall, the factfinder can evaluate the truthfulness of the testimony of the 
turncoat witness, and the defendant can cross examine on those same topics without 
having to call the witness and seeming to sponsor their testimony.  Those principles 
apply not only to a turncoat witness but to witnesses generally. 
To the extent our decisions have migrated from referring to the factfinder’s 
ability to evaluate the truthfulness of the witness’s testimony to implying that the 
witness must testify substantively that the statement was true, we now clarify that 
our later decisions should not be interpreted as imposing the latter requirement.  A 
turncoat witness purportedly cannot—and by definition will not—testify that a prior 
statement was true, because the turncoat witness claims not to recall the statement.  
What matters is that the factfinder be able to evaluate the truthfulness of the 
witnesses’ testimony and that the defendant be able to question the witness on both 
the prior statement and the underlying events without having to call the witness to 
the stand and appear to sponsor their testimony.  
We acknowledge the dissent’s concern that disturbing facts about sexual 
abuse involving young children could lead to a results-driven outcome.  We fully 
agree with the dissent’s observation that the rules we lay down must govern how 
Section 3507 applies in all cases and not just to troubling cases involving the sexual 
35 
 
abuse of young children.  Our concern for how Section 3507 applies across all cases, 
and particularly cases involving turncoat witnesses, drives our clarification of the 
“touching on” requirements.  The dissent points out that Section 3513 is available as 
an alternative in cases involving child witnesses, and that point makes the 
implications of our jurisprudence particularly important for other types of cases, 
such as prosecutions involving turncoat witnesses.  We also believe that our 
clarification will provide a more fair and predictable set of rules of the road for future 
cases.  
Our dissenting colleagues mention three ways in which they believe that the 
trial court abused its discretion by finding that L.F.’s testimony sufficiently touched 
on the events perceived and L.F.’s out-of-court statement to the CAC interviewer.  
The first is that L.F.’s identification of the defendant as a “grownup” “boy” who 
would ride on her school bus was unaccompanied by any direct examination about 
how that related to the alleged sexual assault at the preschool.  However, as we have 
explained above, the touching-on requirements do not require that any particular 
item of testimony be linked or connected to another item of evidence. 
The second is that L.F. did not adequately explain bad touches.  The dissenters 
argue that the prosecutor never asked L.F. what she meant by, or whether she had 
ever been the victim of bad touches.  Nor, they argue, did the direct examination 
attempt to connect the “boy” on the bus to the bad touches.  The touching-on 
36 
 
requirements do not require that a witness “explain” what she means by her 
testimony or require that one element of testimony be connected by the witness to 
another element of testimony.  As we explain above and as we explained in Keys, no 
“precise form of direct examination” is required.137 
The third is that the record does not support the conclusion that when L.F. 
testified that she had spoken to a “lady” about the bad touches, that the lady spoken 
to was the CAC interviewer.  The dissenters do acknowledge the photograph 
showing L.F. and Ms. Sheats together, but contend that no one ever identified who 
the other person (the “lady”) was or the circumstances under which the photograph 
was taken.  However, both the photograph and Ms. Sheats were in the courtroom for 
all to see.  After Ms. Sheats entered the courtroom to help lay a foundation for the 
prior out-of-court statement, and before the court ruled on the admissibility of the 
Section 3507 statement, it was clear for all to see that Ms. Sheats was the “lady” L.F. 
spoke to about bad touches. 
In this case, the issue before us is whether the trial judge could, in the exercise 
of his discretion, have found that L.F.’s direct examination touched on the events 
perceived and the prior statement itself.  Because L.F’s testimony went beyond 
statements to the effect that she could not recall the events or the statement and 
instead provided substantive testimony that related to those topics, we conclude that 
 
137 Keys v. State, 337 A.2d 18, 23 (Del. 1975). 
37 
 
the trial judge was well within his discretion to admit the prior statement under 
Section 3507.  
The trial judge found that the questions asked on direct examination did touch 
on the events perceived by L.F. and on the out-of-court statement.  In making his 
rulings, the trial judge specifically mentioned the questions asked and L.F.’s answers 
about the man on the bus, L.F.’s identification of the defendant, and testimony 
regarding bad touches.   
The prosecutor’s line of questioning about L.F. riding on the school bus was 
clearly relevant and could be viewed as touching on the events perceived because in 
her CAC statement, when asked “[w]ho gives you touches that are not okay with 
you at school[,]”138  L.F. identified the person as the “boy”139 “teacher”140 who “goes 
on the bus with Ms. Linda.”141   Throughout the rest of the CAC statement, the 
defendant was always referred to as the “boy teacher” and was never identified by 
name. 
All of the questions asked on direct examination appear to have been a good 
faith effort on the part of the prosecutor to draw relevant testimony from L.F. in open 
court to the extent her inconsistency and limited recall would permit.  L.F. identified 
 
138 Ct.’s Ex. 4 at 5. 
139 Id. 
140 Id. 
141 Id. at 6. 
38 
 
the defendant by pointing him out, identified him as a person she did not like, and 
confirmed that she had spoken with Ms. Sheats about bad touches after being shown 
a photograph taken when she was interviewed.  In addition, during the course of 
L.F.’s testimony, L.F. gave the following responses to questions posed by the 
prosecutor: 
• She saw the “grownup” “boy” from the bus in the 
courtroom.142 
• She had not “talked to anybody about” the boy 
grownup.143 
• She saw herself in a photograph and “remember[ed] 
being in that photograph or where that photograph 
was taken[.]”144 
• She did not know what she was “doing when that 
photograph was taken[.]”145 
• She did not know or remember what she talked to 
the “person in that photograph” about.146 
• She “talk[ed] to the lady in that photograph about 
touches[.]”147 
• She did not know “what touches” she told “that 
lady.”148 
• She “talk[ed] about bad touches” with “that 
lady.”149 
• She did not know what she told “that lady about bad 
touches[.]”150 
 
142 App. to Opening Br. at A59-60. 
143 Id. at A61. 
144 Id. at A62. 
145 Id. 
146 Id. at A63. 
147 Id. at A64. 
148 Id. 
149 Id. at A64-65. 
150 Id. at A65. 
39 
 
• She did not “talk about anyone who gave [her] bad 
touches” with “that lady.”151 
• She told “that lady” “about a person” “[w]hen [she] 
talked about bad touches[.]”152 
• She did not know “who was that person” that she 
“told the lady about[.]”153 
• She did not know whether she and “that lady in the 
photograph” “talk[ed] about school.”154 
• She did not “remember anything else [she] talked to 
that lady about[.]”155 
• She “talked about touches” and “bad touches” with 
“that lady.”156 
• She did not “talk about who gave [her] bad touches” 
with “that lady.”157 
• She did not know whether she had “talk[ed] about 
any bad touches [she] had received” with “that 
lady.”158 
 
These responses given by L.F. on direct examination can be viewed as touching on 
both the events perceived and on the out-of-court statement itself.159  L.F. testified 
about (1) being interviewed by Ms. Sheats; and (2) in the course of that interview, 
making statements about bad touches.  By her statements, it can be understood that 
L.F. knew who the defendant was; did not like him; had discussed bad touches with 
 
151 Id. 
152 Id. 
153 Id. 
154 Id. at A66. 
155 Id. 
156 Id. 
157 Id. 
158 Id. 
159 See Keys v. State, 337 A.2d 18, 23 (Del. 1975). 
40 
 
Ms. Sheats; and associated those bad touches with a person.   
Based on this testimony, the factfinder could evaluate L.F.’s truthfulness.  
More importantly, the defendant could cross examine L.F. about the events and the 
statement to further explore her recollection and capacity for truthfulness.  That is 
what the “touching on” requirements demand.  
L.F. had limited recall, but the Johnson decision shows that limited recall is 
not an impediment.  L.F. also gave simplistic answers, but that is to be expected 
given L.F.’s age and maturity.  The requirements that the direct examination “touch 
both on the events perceived and the out-of-court statement itself” does not require 
that the questions posed and the answers given be in any precise form.160  Johnson 
confirms that Section 3507 does not require that the witness’s in-court testimony 
include any minimum substantive content, and the testimony of one who is unable 
to recall an event or a prior statement can satisfy the touching-on requirements.  
Under these facts and circumstances, the trial judge did not “exceed[] the 
bounds of reason in light of the circumstances, or so ignore[] recognized rules of law 
or practice so as to produce injustice.”161  The admission of L.F.’s CAC statement 
was not an abuse of discretion. 
 
 
160 Id. 
161 Thompson v. State, 205 A.3d 827, 834 (Del. 2019) (quoting McNail v. State, 990 A.2d 398, 
401 (Del. 2010)) (internal quotation marks omitted). 
41 
 
III.  No Cumulative Error Occurred 
In light of our findings that no plain error or abuse of discretion occurred with 
respect to J.Y. and L.F.’s admitted out-of-court testimony, no cumulative error exists 
here. 
CONCLUSION 
 
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed. 
 
 
42 
 
TRAYNOR, Justice, concurring in part, dissenting in part, with SEITZ, Chief 
Justice joining:    
 
 
We concur in the Majority’s conclusion that the admission of J.Y.’s out-of-
court statement did not violate McCrary’s confrontation rights under the Sixth 
Amendment and that McCrary’s cumulative-error claim lacks merit.  We disagree, 
however, with the Majority’s determination that the prosecution laid an adequate 
foundation for the admission, under 11 Del. C. § 3507, of L.F.’s out-of-court 
statement. In our view, the trial court exceeded its discretion when it admitted the 
statement over McCrary’s objection. We would therefore reverse McCrary’s 
conviction under Count 6—the count charging him with having unlawful sexual 
contact with L.F.— of the indictment. 
I 
As the Majority observes, in Keys v. State, this Court established that a 
witness’s out-of-court statement may be introduced under section 3507 only after 
the direct examination of the witness “touch[es] both on the events perceived and 
the out-of-court statement itself.”162  In 1991, in Ray v. State,163 we recognized a 
further foundational requirement:  the witness must offer testimony about the truth 
 
162 337 A.2d 18, 23 (Del. 1975). 
163 587 A.2d 439 (Del. 1991). 
43 
 
or falsity of the out-of-court statement.  The witness need not affirm the truthfulness 
of the statement but must say “whether or not [it is] true.”164  
 
As later explained in Blake v. State,165 this two-part foundation is grounded in 
the defendant’s confrontation rights under the Sixth Amendment.  Harkening back 
to Johnson v. State,166 the Blake Court recognized the importance of the fact-finder’s 
ability to assess the declarant’s credibility on the witness stand “in light of all the 
circumstances presented . . . .”167  The Court then summarized: 
The Sixth Amendment requires an entirely proper foundation, if the 
prior statement of a witness is to be admitted under section 3507 as 
independent substantive evidence against an accused.  This Court has 
consistently and unequivocally held “a witness’ statement may be 
introduced only if the two-part foundation is first established: the 
witness testifies about both the events and whether or not they are 
true.”  Accordingly, in Ray we held that “in order to conform to the 
Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an accused’s right to confront 
witnesses against him, the [witness] must also be subject to cross-
examination on the content of the statement as well as its 
truthfulness.”168 
 
The trial court found that the prosecution adequately laid this foundation, 
citing L.F.’s testimony about a “grownup[] . . . boy”169 who rode her bus and who 
she identified as McCrary and her testimony about “bad touches.”  For the trial court 
 
164 Id. at 443. 
165 3 A.3d 1077 (Del. 2010). 
166 338 A. 2d 124 (Del. 1975). 
167 Blake, 3 A3d at 1082 (quoting Johnson, 338 A.2d at 128). 
168 Id. at 1083 (alteration in original) (quoting Ray, 587 A.2d at 443). 
169 App. to Opening Br. at A59–60. 
44 
 
and the Majority, this testimony sufficiently touched on the events perceived and 
L.F.’s out-of-court statement to the CAC interviewer.  We disagree. 
 
First, L.F.’s identification of McCrary as a “grownup[] . . . boy” who would 
ride on her school bus was unaccompanied by any direct examination about how that 
related to the alleged sexual assault at the daycare center.  The Majority is not 
troubled by this omission because, in the CAC interview, L.F. identified her assailant 
as the “boy . . . on the bus.”170  But this seems like “bootstrapping” to us; in our view, 
the Court should not consult the evidence, the adequacy of whose foundation is 
under consideration, to determine whether the foundation is adequate.  Our cases are 
clear: the appropriate foundation for the admission of a section 3507 must be laid 
during direct examination.171  The Majority’s treatment of the examination of L.F. 
about the boy on the bus and, in particular,  its reliance on the substance of L.F.’s 
section 3507 statement undermines that requirement. 
 
Second, the direct examination—both the questions asked and the answers 
given—regarding “bad touches” also falls short of the mark.  To be sure, L.F. was 
asked whether she had talked to a “lady” depicted in a photograph about “bad 
touches.”172  Yet the prosecutor never asked L.F. what she meant by, or whether she 
had ever been the victim of “bad touches.”  Nor did the direct examination attempt 
 
170 Ct. Ex. 4 at 6. 
171 See, e.g., Blake, 3 A.3d at 1081; Keys, 337 A.2d at 23. 
172 App. to Opening Br. at A64–66. 
45 
 
to connect the “boy” on the bus to the “bad touches.”  Once again, one must consult 
the CAC interview—the evidence whose foundation is supposedly being laid—to 
make that connection. 
 
Third, the State, the trial court, and the Majority are satisfied that L.F.’s direct-
examination testimony that she had spoken with a “lady” about the “bad touches” 
refer to statements to Ms. Sheats during the CAC interview.  But the record173 does 
not support that conclusion, that is, if the record is confined to L.F.’s direct 
examination and other evidence other than the CAC interview itself.  During the 
direct examination, L.F. was shown a photograph that was marked as State’s Exhibit 
for Identification Q.  L.F. identified herself in the photograph and acknowledged that 
she had talked to “another person”174 in the photograph who was later referred to as 
a “lady.”175  But no one ever identified who the other person (the “lady”) was or the 
circumstances under which the photograph was taken.176  Thus, the single thread that 
might have otherwise held the minimal evidentiary foundation together and support 
the admission of L.F.’s section 3507 statement appears to be missing.177 
 
173 App. to Opening Br. at A59–65. 
174 Id. at 63. 
175 Id. 
176 The only reference to the photograph’s connection to the CAC interview was by the prosecutor 
when she asked the court: “[c]ould I have the officer take a photo of the CAC and mark it for 
identification to show the witness?”  App. to Opening Br. at A62. 
177 The Majority is not troubled by this perceived gap in the record because “both the photograph 
and Ms. Sheats were in the courtroom for all to see” and because “after Ms. Sheats entered the 
courtroom to help lay a foundation for the prior out-of-court statement, it was clear for all to see 
46 
 
II 
 
In addressing the scantiness of L.F.’s direct-examination testimony 
concerning the events that occurred at her school and her out-of-court statement, the 
Majority relies on the statement in Johnson v. State178 that a witness’s “limited 
courtroom recall” is not an obstacle to the admission of the witness’s prior out-of-
court statement under section 3507.  To be sure, in Woodlin v. State, this Court 
explicitly “reaffirmed the 1975 holdings in Keys, Hatcher, and Johnson.”179  But, as 
we understand Woodlin, the “holding” to which it referred, found in the paragraph 
preceding this reaffirmation of Johnson, which quotes Ray—not Johnson—is that 
“a witness’[s] statement may be introduced [under section 3507] only if the two-part 
foundation [identified in Keys] is first established:  [by having] the witness testif[y] 
about both the events and whether or not they are true.”180 
 
Besides that, the direct examination that preceded the admission of L.F.’s 
section 3507 statement was plagued by more than limited recall.  She recalled 
nothing of the events that formed the basis of the charges leveled against McCrary 
 
that Ms. Sheats was the lady L.F. spoke to about bad touches.”  Majority Op. at 36.  We concede 
that the events might have transpired in this fashion, but that it is not clear on the record we have.  
The record does not show that the trial judge reviewed the photograph or that L.F. 
“acknowledge[d] . . . that she participated in the CAC interview” as found by the court.  App. to 
Opening Br. at A74.   
178 338 A.2d 124, 127 (Del. 1975). 
179 3 A.3d 1084, 1088 (Del. 2010). 
180 Id. (brackets in original) (quoting Ray v. State, 587 A.2d at 443). 
47 
 
and nothing about—or whether she had even participated in—the CAC interview.  
She was not even asked whether she recalled the events that transpired at her school 
or whether she had ever interacted with McCrary.  This testimony stands in contrast 
to the witness’s testimony in Woodlin.  There, the child victim remembered talking 
to a specifically identified CAC interviewer about “My daddy”181 and why she had 
talked to the interviewer:  “Because he did something wrong to me.”182 And when 
she was asked on direct examination why she was reluctant to explain what her father 
had done, she replied:  “Because it’s nasty.”183  Thus, the direct-examination 
testimony of the victim in Woodlin touched upon both the events surrounding the 
defendant’s alleged criminal conduct and her out-of-court statement.  Here, L.F.’s 
direct-examination testimony touched on neither.   
 
But the Majority would excuse the absence of direct-examination testimony 
from L.F. as to the events at the preschool facility or the CAC interview by drawing 
an analogy between L.F. and a “turncoat” witness.  This analogy is, in our view, 
inapt. 
 
Admittedly, Johnson discusses the role section 3507 can play in the case of a 
“turncoat” witness, a classification that includes, in the words of Johnson, a “witness 
who cannot recall events on the witness stand after having previously described them 
 
181 Woodlin, 3 A.3d at 1088. 
182 Id. 
183 Id. 
48 
 
out-of-court.”184  The Majority seizes on this description but then expands it to 
include a witness who “claims not to recall the prior statement (and sometimes not 
to recall the underlying events).”185  And going one step further, the Majority writes 
that “[h]aving taken that stance, the turncoat witness claims not to be able to give 
any substantive testimony about the topic.”186  We respectfully submit that this takes 
Johnson’s “turncoat witness” remark out of context and ignores the traditional 
definition of “turncoat witness” and the experiential understanding of the problems 
such a witness creates. 
 
First of all, Johnson’s reference to a “turncoat” as one “who cannot recall 
events on the witness stand,”187 which by itself does not suggest total memory 
failure, feigned or actual, is sandwiched between two sentences that inform its 
meaning.  Immediately before the reference, Johnson observes that “the draftsmen 
of [section 3507] expressly contemplated that the in-court testimony might be 
inconsistent with the prior out-of-court statement.”188  And immediately following 
the reference, the Court concludes that “there is nothing in the Statute or its intent 
which prohibits the admission of the statements on the basis of limited courtroom 
 
184 Johnson, 338 A.2d at 127. 
185 Majority Op. at 33. 
186 Id.   
187 Id. 
188 Johnson, 338 A.2d at 127.  (emphasis added). 
49 
 
recall.”189  Thus, from our perspective, Johnson’s hypothetical “turncoat witness” 
might change her story on the stand or suffer from limited—even materially 
deficient—recall.  But that does not come close to describing L.F.’s direct 
examination during which she was not asked about what happened at the preschool 
facility or during the CAC interview. 
 
To be clear, we readily acknowledge that section 3507 is appropriately used 
to counter a witness whose recollection of events takes an unfortunate turn from the 
perspective of the party who called the witness to the stand.  But the turncoat does 
not typically suffer from a total lack of recall about both the underlying events and 
her out-of-court statement as happened here.  Instead, the run-of-the-mill turncoat is 
“[a] witness whose testimony was expected to be favorable but who becomes 
(usually during trial) a hostile witness.”190  Even the forgetful turncoat witness 
referred to in the Johnson passage quoted by the Majority has some ability, albeit 
“limited,”191 to recollect the events, even if it is to deny that they occurred as 
originally reported.  In any event, in this case, L.F. was not a turncoat witness and 
was not even asked questions on direct examination sufficient to test her memory of 
the underlying events and her out-of-court statement. 
 
189 Id. (emphasis added). 
190 BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY 1921 (11th ed. 2019). 
191 Johnson, 338 A.2d at 127. 
50 
 
III 
 
Our partial dissent echoes the concern this Court expressed over 30 years 
ago in Ray: 
We recognize the difficulty involved in the presentation of the 
testimony of small children, particularly in sexual abuse cases.  
Wheat v. State, Del. Supr., 527 A.2d 269, 275 (1987).  We have also 
ruled that there need not be consistency between the in-court 
testimony of the witness and the prior out-of-court statement.  
Johnson v. State, Del. Supr., 338 A.2d 124, 127 (1975).  But the use 
of hearsay statements under section 3507 must be carefully 
circumscribed in order to avoid, as occurred here, the only direct 
evidence concerning the commission of the offense against a child 
being presented through the testimony of third parties relating what 
the victim stated on a prior occasion.  The statute becomes 
meaningless if there is no opportunity to test the truth of the 
statements offered.192 
 
This is not to say that the out-of-court statements of a child victim, who suffers 
a memory loss or whose ability to testify is otherwise impaired, should not be 
admissible.  Indeed, this case itself demonstrates that 11 Del. C. §3513(b)(2)—a 
statute explicitly designed to facilitate the use of the out-of-court statements of 
youthful abuse victims—can be effectively employed under certain circumstances 
to meet the difficulty identified in Ray.193  
 
192 Ray, 587 A.2d at 444. 
193 We note that, when the State offered L.F.’s out-of-court statement under section 3507 and 
McCrary objected, the State argued that “if the Defense’s argument is that [L.F.] has not touched 
upon the actual event, the defendant touching her, the State would argue that there is a complete - 
- a total failure of memory of that part.”  App. to Opening Br. at A71.  This, according to the State, 
made the statement admissible under section 3513(b)(2).  The trial court, however, did not make 
51 
 
Oddly enough, however, the Majority’s treatment of section 3507’s “touching 
upon” requirement, which is incorporated in section 3513(b)(1), renders section 
3512 (b)(2) superfluous. Why, after all, would a party avail itself of section 
3513(b)(2) if its child witness’s total failure of memory creates no impediment to 
the admission of her out-of-court statement under section 3507 or section 
3513(b)(1), a result apparently countenanced by the Majority?  
 
Leaving that curious result aside,  section 3507, would ordinarily be available 
so long as the trial court “carefully circumscribe[s]” its use by requiring that the 
prosecution lay a proper foundation on direct examination of the child witness before 
the section 3507 statement is received in evidence.  This is particularly important 
because section 3507, unlike section 3513, is a statute of general application; it 
applies to all criminal prosecutions, not just those involving victims of tender years.  
Relaxing the foundational burden— and we fear that the trial court’s and the 
Majority’s decisions could have that effect—may seem beneficial in the context of 
this case in which, because of their youth, the victims were helpless and, at best, only 
marginally capable of testifying in court.  But the rules we lay down will apply to 
the next case in which section 3507 is invoked and the next one after that.  It is that 
potential consequence that has prompted our dissent. 
 
the factual findings required under section 3513(b) to support admission of the statement under 
section 3513(b)(2).