Opinion ID: 1758374
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Constitutional Confrontation Clause Requirements

Text: Townsend argues that, even if we answer the certified question in the affirmative, he is still entitled to a new trial because the admission of the child's statements violated his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article I, section 16, of the Florida Constitution. Essentially two issues arise in this case under the confrontation clause: (1) whether the requirements of section 90.803(23) are sufficient to comply with the confrontation clause requirements of the federal and Florida constitutions; and (2) whether the trial court properly adhered to those requirements in ruling on the admissibility of the child's hearsay statements. The first issue was addressed by this Court in Perez, and we reaffirm that decision here. In Perez, we specifically held that section 90.803(23) complied with the requirements of the confrontation clauses of both the federal and Florida constitutions. In rendering that decision, we noted that the United States Supreme Court, in Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980), found that when a declarant is unavailable and the hearsay does not fall within a firmly rooted hearsay exception, the hearsay must be marked with particularized guarantees of trustworthiness in order to be admissible. In applying that holding in the Perez case, we determined that the specific reliability requirements in section 90.803(23) provided sufficient safeguards of reliability to meet the particularized guarantees of trustworthiness standard set forth in Roberts. Perez, however, was rendered before the United States Supreme Court issued its ruling in Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990), under which Townsend now contends that section 90.803(23) is unconstitutional. In Wright, the United States Supreme Court determined that, in evaluating whether a hearsay statement contains sufficient guarantees of trustworthiness, a court must look to the totality of the circumstances surrounding the making of the statement. The Court noted, however, that in determining the reliability of such a statement, a court cannot look to corroborating evidence to show the truth of the statement to be admitted. Section 90.803(23)(a)(2)b. requires that other corroborating evidence must exist before the hearsay evidence of an unavailable witness can be admitted. Because of these apparently inconsistent requirements, Townsend maintains that section 90.803(23) violates Wright's mandate that a court not look to corroborating evidence to show the truth of the statement to be admitted. Although section 90.803(23)(a)(2)b. does require that other corroborating evidence must exist before hearsay evidence can be admitted, this requirement is in addition to the requirement that the hearsay evidence, in and of itself, must be reliable. See § 90.803(23)(a)(1) (the trial judge must determine that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient safeguards of reliability). Essentially, the other corroborating evidence requirement assures that a defendant will not be convicted solely on the basis of the hearsay testimony. This acts as a safeguard to protect the interests of the accused, which traditionally has been one of the basic underlying reasons for not allowing hearsay testimony in criminal trials. To clarify, however, any possible inconsistencies between the United States Supreme Court's decision in Wright and the requirements of section 90.803(23), we hold that under section 90.803(23), the trial judge must adhere to the following procedure: First, the trial judge must determine whether the hearsay statement is reliable and from a trustworthy source without regard to corroborating evidence. If the answer is yes, then the trial judge must determine whether other corroborating evidence is present. If the answer to either question is no, then the hearsay statements are inadmissible. Under this procedure, we specifically find that the procedural requisites of section 90.803(23) are sufficient to meet the constitutional requirements of both the federal and Florida Constitutions. The failure of a trial judge to follow this procedure would render this exception to the hearsay rule unconstitutional under the dictates of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Wright. Having determined that the procedural requisites of section 90.803(23) properly protect the constitutional rights of an accused, we address the second portion of Townsend's confrontation clause argument, i.e., whether in this case the trial judge properly adhered to the reliability requirements of that section in ruling on the admissibility of this child's hearsay statements. Clearly, both Roberts and Wright stand for the proposition that the reliability determination as to the admissibility of hearsay evidence is critical to the protection of an accused's rights under the confrontation clause. Accordingly, it is essential that the trustworthiness and reliability requirements of section 90.803(23) be strictly followed. In recognizing the importance of adhering to those requirements, this Court and a majority of the Florida district courts of appeal have consistently found trial courts to have committed reversible error when those courts have failed to place on the record specific findings indicating the basis for determining the reliability of a child's statements introduced as hearsay under that section. See, e.g., Leggett v. State, 565 So.2d 315 (Fla. 1990); State v. Romanez, 543 So.2d 323 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989); Jaggers v. State, 536 So.2d 321 (Fla. 2d DCA 1988); Griffin v. State, 526 So.2d 752 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988). A mere conclusion that a child's statements are reliable or a mere restatement of the statute in a boilerplate fashion is insufficient to meet the requirements of the confrontation clause. Leggett (the requirements of the statute must be met); Jaggers (a court must specifically set forth reasons indicating the reliability of the statements); see also Hopkins v. State, 632 So.2d 1372 (Fla. 1994) (failure to make specific findings of fact under section 92.54, Florida Statutes (1989), which section impacts the same constitutional guarantees as those at issue here, constitutes reversible error). Section 90.803(23)(a)(1) mandates that the trial judge, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, determine whether a hearsay statement is trustworthy and reliable by examining the time, content, and circumstances of the statement. Specifically, in examining the time, content, and circumstances of the hearsay statement, the court may consider the mental and physical age and maturity of the child, the nature and duration of the abuse or offense, the relationship of the child to the offender, the reliability of the assertion, the reliability of the child victim, and any other factor deemed appropriate. § 90.803(23)(a)(1). Other factors may include, but are not limited to, a consideration of the statement's spontaneity; whether the statement was made at the first available opportunity following the alleged incident; whether the statement was elicited in response to questions from adults; the mental state of the child when the abuse was reported; whether the statement consisted of a child-like description of the act; whether the child used terminology unexpected of a child of similar age; the motive or lack thereof to fabricate the statement; the ability of the child to distinguish between reality and fantasy; the vagueness of the accusations; the possibility of any improper influence on the child by participants involved in a domestic dispute; and contradictions in the accusation. Wright; Perez; Romanez; Griffin. In sum, as noted by the United States Supreme Court in Wright, a court is to use a totality of the circumstances evaluation in determining reliability. As previously noted, however, a court should not consider other corroborating evidence to determine the reliability of the child's statement. Wright. In this case, the trial judge merely listed each of the statements to be considered and summarily concluded, without explanation or factual findings, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statements to be admitted at trial were sufficient to reflect that the statements were reliable. This finding is clearly insufficient under both the statute and the constitutional requirements of Wright, and, consequently, constitutes reversible error.