Opinion ID: 2599712
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statement Content

Text: ¶ 41 Young finally argues that in addition to the three commonly recognized elements of the excited utterance exception, the proponent of excited utterance evidence must establish what the statement actually was. Pet. for Review at 3. Young characterizes the testimony of Johnson, Barnes, and Lomax regarding K.L.'s statements as inconsistent. Id. at 11, 826 P.2d 194. As a result, Young argues that the State failed to prove the content of the excited utterance statements, making them inadmissible. We disagree. ¶ 42 There is no authority to support the proposition that the proponent of excited utterance evidence must prove the exact content of an excited utterance for the statement to be admissible. As the Court of Appeals noted in the unpublished portion of its opinion, the trier of fact should resolve conflicting testimony and evaluate the credibility of witnesses. State v. Young, 123 Wash.App. 854, 99 P.3d 1244, 2004 WL 2429452,  (Wash.2004) (citing State v. Walton, 64 Wash.App. 410, 415-16, 824 P.2d 533 (1992)). The accounts of K.L.'s statements given by Johnson, Barnes, and Lomax were extremely similar and nothing in the record indicates that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the three statements despite small discrepancies. If anything, those discrepancies would affect the weight the jury should give the evidence, rather than its admissibility. Therefore, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the hearsay statements despite inconsistencies in the witnesses' testimony about the content of the statements.