Opinion ID: 6928543
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Spontaneity

Text: We turn next to the other reliability findings. In particular, the Swans dispute that the statements were spontaneous. They say that the day-care workers prompted the girls’ initial remarks. According to her preliminary testimony, Conradi told B.A. that no-one should touch her private parts and the girl responded “Mommy and Daddy do.” Although this statement did not come out of the blue, it was not made in response to any question posed by Conradi. Other statements made by B.A. at that time seemed impulsive, such as when, while playing a game of peekaboo, the girl said that “My daddy puts his penis in my mouth and icky milk comes out.” Similarly, R.T.’s statements were made in response to Bratvold’s open-ended questions, such as “What kinds of games do you play with Bill [Swan]?” This contrasts with the leading questions the Supreme Court criticized in Wright. See 497 U.S. at 810, 110 5.Ct. at 3144 (“Do you play with daddy? Does daddy play with you? Does daddy touch you with his pee-pee? Do you touch his pee-pee?”). 6 We find no clear error in the state and district courts’ spontaneity determinations.