Opinion ID: 1250738
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Victim's Statements to LuEllen Brown

Text: We analyze the victim's statements to Brown and Brady separately. The victim's account of the assault was made to Brown about two hours after the victim was found and probably less than three hours after the assault. She was only six years old, and when describing the events that had transpired, she was bleeding, in pain, and described as being in a state of psychic shock as evidenced by her emotional withdrawal and detachment  indeed, an almost dissociative state. Her physical injuries were serious enough to require an hour in surgery to repair. Given the overpowering emotional trauma and the significant physical injuries caused by the assault, the victim's statements to LuEllen Brown, notwithstanding the two-to three-hour time lapse, clearly evidenced a spontaneity prompted by a continuing aroused mental state that precluded the likelihood of intentional fabrication and made highly unlikely any unintentional distortion, especially in view of her age. Moreover, her statements were made by free recall in response to very open-ended questions. In addition, the facts she stated were corroborated in every essential respect. In sum, her statements had every indicium of being an accurate representation of her recall of events occurring shortly before. The trial judge was clearly correct in admitting these statements. Smith argues that the victim's withdrawn demeanor indicates that she was not in a state of excitement. In a narrow meaning of the word excitement, that may be true. But the word excitement should not be so narrowly construed. As indicated, what is critical is a mental state that tends to block reflection and the reasoning process. That surely occurred here. The victim's emotional withdrawal into an almost dissociative state was likely caused by overwhelming feelings of pain, guilt, fear, anxiety, and other powerful emotions. In this instance, her emotional withdrawal evidenced an even greater warrant of reliability than a short and temporary excitement giving rise to manifest physical agitation, such as has been held sufficient in many cases. Certainly one need not be hysterical for the exception to apply. State v. Kaytso, 684 P.2d 63, 64 (Utah 1984).