Opinion ID: 1096207
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence statements made by the complainant to her mother.

Text: Baine contends that statements Susie made to her mother on the day of the alleged last incident should not have been admitted as excited utterances, especially the statements made at home later in the evening. The state contends the trial court properly admitted the statements under evidence rule 803(2), the hearsay exception for excited utterances. According to the record, Susie first began attending Bobbie's Day Care in August, 1984. On the evening of January 29, 1988, Mrs. Daley picked Susie up from the day care at 6:00 p.m. Within two blocks of the day-care center, Susie said, Mom, if I tell you something, do you promise I won't get in trouble? When Ms. Daley assured her daughter that she would not be in trouble, Susie said, Mom, Mr. Red has been playing with my bad spot. Ms. Daley asked her daughter how long this activity had been occurring; her daughter replied that the abuse had occurred throughout the duration of her attendance at the day-care center. Susie told her mother that, on this particular day, Baine had hurt her. Once Ms. Daley and Susie arrived home, Mr. and Ms. Daley asked Susie if the touching could have been an accident. Susie replied, No, not under my clothes. Susie also indicated that Baine had touched her inside her shirt, on her breasts. Later that night, when Susie went to bed, Ms. Daley lay down beside her daughter and talked. Susie related that she hated Christmas at the day-care center because every time she got near the mistletoe Baine would grab her and kiss her. When questioned by her mother, Susie said, Well, mom, it's not like we kiss. Susie further explained, It's like married people kiss. The defense raised no objection to Ms. Daley's recounting Susie's statements. Further, the Court found Susie's statements to be spontaneous and without indication of manufacture. The Court agreed that Ms. Daley could not relate other people's sides of the conversations. At trial, Susie testified. Mississippi's evidentiary rule 803(2) states that, even with the declarant available to testify, the hearsay prohibition does not apply to an excited utterance, [a] statement relating to a startling event or condition made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by the event or condition. Miss.R.Evid. 803(2) (1988). Recently, this Court observed that a child's statements made to her mother on the same day that sexual abuse occurred could arguably have been admissible as excited utterances had they not been given only in response to the mother's questions. In the Interest of C.B., 574 So.2d 1369, 1372 (Miss. 1990); see also Griffith v. State, 584 So.2d 383, 387 (Miss. 1991) (remanding for an 803(2) determination); Mitchell v. State, 539 So.2d 1366, 1369-71 (Miss. 1989) (discussion of rule in other jurisdictions). But see Sanders v. State, 586 So.2d 792, 795 (Miss. 1991) (fact that child makes statements in response to questions does not ipso facto disqualify statements from being considered excited utterances). In Morgan v. Foretich, 846 F.2d 941, 946-48 (4th Cir.1988) the court concluded that a child's description of his abuse three hours after the incident should have been admitted whether or not the child would be competent to be a witness. See also United States v. Iron Shell, 633 F.2d 77, 85-86 (8th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 1001, 101 S.Ct. 1709, 68 L.Ed.2d 203 (1981) (nine-year-old assault-with-intent-to-rape victim's declarations made 45 to 75 minutes after assault were admissible under 803(2)). According to the Advisory Committee's Note on the equivalent federal rule, for a declaration to instill the confidence required by 803(2), it must have been uttered in a condition of excitement which temporarily stills the capacity of reflection and produces utterances free of conscious fabrication. Fed.R.Evid. 803, Advisory Committee's Note (citing 6 Wigmore § 1747, p. 135) cited in S. Saltzburg & M. Martin, Federal Rules of Evidence Manual, v.1 at 374 (1990). Thus, the weight of authority supports the characterization as an excited utterance of a child's allegations of abuse volunteered within hours after the abuse allegedly occurred. While authorities do not fix a particular time period, the key indicia of trustworthiness appear to be evidence of excitement, voluntariness of statement, and closeness in time of the statement to the alleged incident. In this case, regarding preservation for review, the defense specifically stated, in chambers, that it did not object to Ms. Daley's relating Susie's declarations. At trial the defense objected only to Ms. Daley's testimony about Susie's comments unrelated to the crime or other people's comments. Thus, Baine has not preserved this point for review by this Court. Notwithstanding the defense failure to preserve the error and although the trial court did not specifically mention evidence rule 803(2), the court effectively satisfied the rule's requirements in its finding that Susie's declarations met the Williams v. State, 427 So.2d 100 (Miss. 1983) requirements of spontaneity and non-manufacture. Thus, the court properly admitted Ms. Daley's recitation of Susie's declarations, and the court made its proper ruling of admissibility plain on the record. On both procedural and substantive grounds, the appellant's allegation of error fails in this issue.