Opinion ID: 901439
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Admissibility of Child's Testimony

Text: [¶10.] This case originally came before the Court in Carothers I, on the limited issue of whether Crawford v. Washington precluded the admission of the child's out of court statements to law enforcement and Brazil. 2005 SD 16, ¶6, 692 NW2d 544, 546. We concluded that under the Confrontation Clause, prior cross-examination was not required for the admission of the child's hearsay statement if the child is available and subject to cross examination at trial. Id. ¶14. We did not review the trial court's determination of competency nor did we consider Carothers' argument that the child was unavailable. Id. ¶13. Carothers now raises both of these issues, which we consider separately.