Opinion ID: 1951481
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statements to Victims' Parents

Text: Defendant first challenges the court's finding that the victims' statements to their parents were trustworthy. The sole basis of the claim is the trial court's observation that the statements provide circumstances which are largely similar. They interlock in some respects. Defendant contends it was error to use the statements to cross-corroborate each other. See Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 822-24, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990) (hearsay evidence used to convict must possess inherent indicia of reliability, not gain it by reference to other evidence). Although the court referred to the similarity of the statements, the bulk of its analysis focused on other factors including their freshness, spontaneity, internal consistency, and accuracy with respect to surrounding detail. As the court explained, the timing, the content and the circumstances of the statements provide strong indicia of trust-worthiness.... [T]here was much precision in the statements ..., much detail and they were fresh. As we observed in State v. Lawton, 164 Vt. 179, 190, 667 A.2d 50, 59 (1995), [w]e do not deem mere mention of corroboration clearly erroneous.