Opinion ID: 1909218
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admissible Hearsay

Text: When the testimony of a child who alleges sexual abuse is unavailable, the child's initial or otherwise trustworthy complaints are not excluded by the hearsay rule. LA.CODE EVID. art. 804(B)(5). [8] A child's initial complaint often consists of responses to adult questioning, because a child may have no clear understanding of what has been done to her. State v. Garay, 453 So.2d 1003 (La.App. 4 Cir.1984). The responses fall within the rubric of initial complaint even if the report is made some time after the incident. State v. Prestridge, 399 So.2d 564, 572 (La.1981); State v. Adams, 394 So.2d 1204, 1212 (La.1981). C.F. first reported the sexual abuse in response to her mother's questions made after she observed C.F.'s uncharacteristic sexual display. The trial court correctly admitted that evidence as an initial complaint pursuant to LA.CODE EVID. art. 804(B)(5). Other hearsay evidence is admissible when a witness is unavailable if the statements bear an adequate indicia of reliability based on a showing of particularized guarantees of trustworthiness. Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). In analyzing reliability, the court must examine the probative value of out-of-court statements. White v. Illinois, 502 U.S. 346, 355-58, 112 S.Ct. 736, 116 L.Ed.2d 848 (1992). Decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis, and must be gleaned from the totality of the circumstances. Maryland v. Craig, 497 U.S. 836, 857-58, 110 S.Ct. 3157, 111 L.Ed.2d 666 (1990); Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 821-22, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990). In this case, the issue of admissibility concerns hearsay statements made by C.F. to adults concerning her being the victim of sexual abuse. With respect to the reliability of evidence regarding sexual abuse, important consideration must be given to whether the child's statement discloses an embarrassing event that a child would not normally relate unless true, ... or describes a sexual act beyond a child's normal experience. Michael H. Graham, The Confrontation Clause, the Hearsay Rule, and Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions: The State of the Relationship, 72 MINN. L. REV. 523, 532 (1988). Factors relating to reliability also include the spontaneity and consistent repetition, mental state of the declarant, use of terminology unexpected of a child of similar age, and lack of motivation to fabricate. Wright, 497 U.S. at 821-22, 110 S.Ct. 3139. In the case sub judice, C.F. was only four years of age at the time she reported the sexual abuse. On the same day, July 15, 1995, C.F. reported the sexual abuse to her mother, her grandmother, and Nicole. The child's reports were consistent. In her reporting, C.F. displayed familiarity with fellatio and cunnilingus inconsistent with the experience of children of similar age. There has been no showing of a motive to fabricate; the trial court strongly expressed its finding that the father's allegations of motive were bankrupt. The court utilized the special evidentiary rules to admit the probative evidence only upon finding the statements reliable and necessary for a just result premised on the child's unavailability to testify. The procedure used by the trial court in admitting the hearsay statements of the child comports with the admonition in Coy v. Iowa that there must be individualized findings necessitating deviation from the general rules. 487 U.S. 1012, 108 S.Ct. 2798, 101 L.Ed.2d 857 (1988). In reading LA.CODE EVID. art. 804(B)(5) in conjunction with LA.CODE EVID. art. 1101(B) and the PSFVRA, it is clear that the Legislature has expressed an overriding interest in protecting child victims of sexual abuse by encouraging the admission of reliable hearsay evidence for the trial judge to weigh. That interest is not subject to being second-guessed. Craig, 497 U.S. 836, 855, 110 S.Ct. 3157, 111 L.Ed.2d 666 (1990). Under the totality of the circumstances in the case sub judice, the admission of the hearsay statements is warranted. Therefore, the appellate court erred in excluding the hearsay testimony properly considered by the trial judge.