Court Opinion

ID: 9735738
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 18:29:06.792079+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:27:01.148646
License: Public Domain

LANSING, Judge,
dissenting.
The threshold issue is whether the trial court’s pretrial ruling has a sufficiently critical impact on the outcome of the trial to warrant appellate review. State v. Kim, 398 N.W.2d 544 (Minn.1987). In resolving this issue, the defense investigator’s report should be considered even though the appellate rules do not provide a specific mechanism for receiving post-hearing information on purely appellate issues. Cf Minn. R.Civ.App.P. 110.05. The nature of the proceeding and the relevancy of the material warrant an order permitting the state to supplement the record.
Even without the additional report, respondent’s confession would have critical impact. The child was only three years old at the time of the offense alleged in Count I and four years old at the time of the offense charged in Count II. Her memory of events was already quite limited when she saw the examining physician. It is now two years since one of the incidents and it is likely that her memory has further deteriorated, which may undermine a determination of her competency. See Minn. Stat. § 595.02, subd. 1(1) (1988). The child is the only witness, other than respondent, who can provide direct evidence that respondent committed the crimes.
The report confirms further erosion of the child’s memory. In an interview on July 12, 1989 the child indicated to the defense investigator that the defendant had never touched her where she should not have been touched, had never hurt her, and had never made her touch his “potty” with her mouth. The victim stated respondent has never done anything “wrong” to her.
Inherent problems of child sexual abuse testimony have been considered sufficiently serious to warrant the admission of sexual abuse syndrome testimony. State v. Myers, 359 N.W.2d 604, 610 (Minn.1984); State v. Saldana, 324 N.W.2d 227, 231 (Minn.1982). These problems are not dispelled by the corroborative evidence cited by the majority, and are sufficient to lend critical impact to the suppression of confession.
*703Finally, I believe the trial court erred in suppressing the confession. Both interviews were clearly noncustodial, requiring no Miranda warning. State v. Palm, 299 N.W.2d 740, 741 (Minn.1980); State v. Sickels, 275 N.W.2d 809, 813 (Minn.1979). The issue of voluntariness of the confession was not raised in the trial court, but the apparent lack of coercive police activity defeats a claim on this basis. Colorado v. Connelly, 479 U.S. 157, 107 S.Ct. 515, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986).