Court Opinion

ID: 9642630
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 18:04:54.555341+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T11:49:12.352877
License: Public Domain

REID, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the Court’s decision, and write separately only because, in my opinion, the Court should set forth some standards for determining the timeliness of an admissible fresh complaint.
The Court has adopted a new rule because, under prior law, as stated by the Court, the “potential for prejudice threatens the defendant’s right to a fair trial as guaranteed by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 9 of the Tennessee Constitution.” Stipra at 603. The rule governing the admissibility of evidence of a prior complaint announced in this decision is much stricter than prior law. The alleged victim’s prior statements, regardless of how “fresh” they may be, are not admissible for any purpose other than corroboration of the victim’s testimony, they are not admissible for the purpose of corroboration unless the victim’s credibility as a witness has been attacked, and they are not admissible even for that limited purpose unless the Court finds that, under all the relevant circumstances, the statement was made timely. If the form and circumstances of the victim’s prior complaint ensures its reliability, and the complaint tends to strengthen or confirm the victim’s in court testimony, which has been subjected to impeachment, the pri- or complaint is admissible in support of the victim’s credibility.
The Court does not, as I understand the opinion, reject the premise that, as the time between the crime and the complaint lengthens, the opportunity for invention or distortion through mistake, fading memory, fantasizing, or contrivance grows. Commonwealth v. Dion, 30 Mass.App.Ct. 406, 568 N.E.2d 1172, 1176 (1991). Nor does the Court reject the traditional criteria for determining if a prior complaint was timely made, that is, was in fact a fresh complaint.
The passage of time has always been an important consideration. Consequently, a delay without a reasonable explanation would cause the complaint to be suspect. The Court points out that a complaint, to be timely, need not be spontaneous; however, the Court does not find spontaneity irrelevant. Obviously spontaneity may be in some cases the surest indicator of reliability. The Court in this case found that the victim’s response to general, non-coercive questions asked by police officers within an hour was timely.
Other factors which may be relevant to the determination of timeliness include the age and maturity of the victim, the use of threats ■ *607or other means of intimidation by the offender, the victim’s opportunity and capacity to complain, the relationship between the victim and the offender, and the victim’s purpose in making the complaint.
These relevant circumstances, and perhaps others, determine the reliability of the prior consistent statements, which is the essential test of timeliness and therefore admissibility.