Opinion ID: 1982402
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Prompt Complaint

Text: The majority holds that the statements were admissible as evidence of a prompt complaint of a sexual assault under the complaint of rape exception. I cannot agree. First, in cases such as this, I find the exception analytically inapplicable. Second, even if the exception were applicable, I would find that the detail of the statements exceeded the scope of the exception. The prompt complaint rule was cogently explained by Judge Cavanaugh in Commonwealth v. Freeman, 295 Pa. Super. 467, 441 A.2d 1327 (1982), as follows: Evidence of the alleged victim's `hue and cry' following rape has long been admissible at common law. Hue and cry is thought to follow rape like smoke follows fire. Proof of the former is circumstantial evidence of the latter. Conversely, unexplained lack of evidence of hue and cry that one might expect to ensue from rape casts doubts on the existence of the rape itself. Fresh complaints of rape, undetailed, are a particular form of hue and cry that provides significant circumstantial support for the alleged victim's subsequent testimony that she was raped. Such fresh complaints are classified evidentially as prior consistent statements. 295 Pa.Superior Ct. at 476, 441 A.2d at 1332. (Emphasis added). [5] In Commonwealth v. Rodriguez, 343 Pa.Super. 486, 491-92, 495 A.2d 569, 571-72 (1985), this Court extended the prompt complaint exception to include prompt complaints of sodomy. In Commonwealth v. Bailey, supra , the exception was applied to a case involving charges of indecent assault and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. 353 Pa.Superior Ct. at 395, 510 A.2d at 369 (Hoffman, J., concurring). The trend has been to recognize the exception in sexual assault cases in general. See McCormick, supra, § 297 at 859 & n. 45; see also IV Wigmore, supra, § 1135(2) at 303 (noting the applicability of the rule to other sex crimes). However, I would find that the underlying basis for the prompt complaint exception does not exist in cases involving a non-violent sexual assault upon a child of tender years by a parent, relative or similar authority figure. The underlying basis for the rule is the presumed fact that absence of hue and cry following a sexual assault is circumstantial evidence that no assault occurred (because hue and cry follows such assaults like smoke follows fire). See Commonwealth v. Freeman, supra, 295 Pa.Superior Ct. at 468, 441 A.2d at 1327. However, hue and cry by a child victim does not naturally and inevitably follow a non-violent sexual assault by a parent, relative or similar authority figure. [6] Because hue and cry cannot reasonably be expected in such cases, the absence of hue and cry should not be considered as giving rise to an inference that an assault did not occur. Thus, because no such inference can be drawn in these cases, the prompt complaint exception cannot reasonably apply. To the extent that the Commonwealth feels that a jury may, nonetheless, draw this improper inference, the Commonwealth may request that an appropriate instruction regarding this issue be included in the jury charge. Consequently, I would hold that evidence of a prompt complaint in such cases is only admissible if it is otherwise admissible under a specific hearsay exception (e.g. res gestae ) or under the general rules for the admission of prior consistent statements. Assuming, arguendo, that the prompt complaint rule applied in the instant case, I would still find that the detail of the statements exceeded even the broadest construction of the rule. It is true that our Supreme Court in Commonwealth v. Green, 487 Pa. 322, 409 A.2d 371 (1979), acknowledged that there was some authority to admit, in addition to the fact of a prompt complaint, the time and date of the assault and the identity of the assailant. Commonwealth v. Green, supra, 487 Pa. at 328, 409 A.2d at 374. However, in Green, and in the cases upon which Green relied, there was a distinction drawn between the facts which identify the complaint with the offense charged, and the details of the complaint. See Commonwealth v. Green, supra, 487 Pa. at 328-329, 409 A.2d at 374-75; Commonwealth v. Krick, 164 Pa.Super. 516, 521-22, 67 A.2d 746, 749-50 (1949) (admit only so much of the complaint as will identify the occurrence complained of with the crime charged); IV Wigmore, supra, § 1136 at 307 (admit only the fact of the complaint, not the details). This distinction has been ignored by the majority. Contrary to the characterization of the testimony by the majority, the testimony of the victim's mother regarding her daughter's statements twenty-four hours after the incident went far beyond merely establishing the fact of the complaint and the identity of the assailant. The child victim's mother testified to the fact of the complaint, the time and date of the assault, the identity of the assailant, and in detail as to her daughter's statements regarding events before, during, and after the incident. (N.T. 6/9/83 at 56-70). Because the testimony went beyond the fact of a complaint and the facts necessary to identify the complaint with the offense charged, and included details of the complaint, I would find that the testimony was not admissible under the prompt complaint exception. See Commonwealth v. Green, supra, 487 Pa. at 328, 409 A.2d at 374-75; Commonwealth v. Bailey, supra, 353 Pa.Superior Ct. at 395, 510 A.2d at 369; Commonwealth v. Rodriquez, supra, 343 Pa.Superior Ct. at 492-493, 495 A.2d at 572; Commonwealth v. Freeman, supra, 295 Pa.Superior Ct. 475, 441 A.2d at 1331; Commonwealth v. Pettiford, 265 Pa.Super. 466, 468, 402 A.2d 532, 533 (1979); Commonwealth v. Sanders, 260 Pa.Super. 358, 365, 394 A.2d 591, 594 (1978).