Court Opinion

ID: 9723108
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 10:02:35.233803+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:24:44.860534
License: Public Domain

HENDERSON, Justice
(specially concurring).
An appreciation of distinctions, in the admission of identifying statements in intrafamily sexual abuse prosecutions, can only result from a deep and thorough study of authorities and cases on this subject. Intrafamily dynamics create a special consideration of the rules of evidence and how to apply them. For openers, it is suggested that a greater understanding of the difficulties in decisions to admit evidence, or not admit evidence, will result by reading United States v. Shaw, 824 F.2d 601 (8th Cir.1987), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 108 S.Ct. 1033, 98 L.Ed.2d 997 (1988), and, U.S. v. Renville, 779 F.2d 430 (8th Cir.1985). See also, Graham, The Confrontation Clause, The Hearsay Rule, and Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions: The State of the Relationship, 72 Minn.L.Rev. 523, 529 n. 22 (1988); Note, United States v. Ren-ville: Admission of an Identification Made to a Physician under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(4), 31 S.D.L.Rev. 726 (1986); Note, A Comprehensive Approach to Child Hearsay Statements in Sex Abuse Cases, 83 Col.L.Rev. 1745, 1749-53 (1983).
Before launching into any further legal discussion, I wish to point out that after a grand jury proceeding in this case, and at the referral request,of a Haakon County social worker, and also pursuant to an oral stipulation between the state’s attorney and defense counsel, Dr. Willis Sutliff, a pediatrician in Rapid City, South Dakota, examined two very young girls involved in this case.
To further appreciate the justification of the trial judge’s evidentiary ruling, South Dakota’s statutory scheme on child sexual abuse should be mentioned. South Dakota has an overall policy to protect both male and female children from child sexual abuse. Upon receiving a report of child abuse, several public offices are commanded, by state law, to notify the Department of Social Services of the alleged child abuse. These public offices include the state’s attorney, county sheriff and police department. Then, the Department of Social Services must notify public officials of having received the report. SDCL 26-10-12. Thereupon, an investigation must be conducted by the Department of Social Services with other law enforcement officials cooperating. SDCL 26-10-12.1; SDCL 26-10-12.2.
Our consideration should now turn to the duties of various officials and public servants who owe vital responsibilities towards suspected child abuse victims in this state. The statutory scheme unfolds with greater particularity in SDCL 26-10-10. A physician is absolutely encharged with the responsibility of deciding if a child has received abusive or intentional neglect or has been starved or had physical injury inflicted. Failing this, a physician (as well as other public officials who have become aware of the abuse) may be held criminally responsible for a Class I misdemeanor and placed in confinement. The intent is clear: Keep the assailant away from the abused child.
Next, let us examine SDCL 19-16-8 which is identical to Fed.R.Evid. 803(4). Notice the word “or” before “statements of hearsay evidence are admissible which have been made for the purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment and describing medical history.’’ As the statute plainly *11expresses, this includes past or present symptoms, pain or sensation, or the inception" that are “reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment
In Renville, the Eighth Circuit held, inter alia, that “sexual abuse of children at home presents a totally different situation from that normally encountered in Rule 803(4) cases and this situation requires great caution in excluding highly pertinent evidence.” Renville, at 437. The Renville Court expressed further that “we believe that a statement by a child [sexual] victim that the abuser is a member of the immediate household presents a sufficiently different case from that envisioned by the drafters of Rule 803(4) such that it should not fall under the general rule.” According to the Renville court, the identity of a victim’s assailant and other statements attributing fault are, per the general rule, ordinarily inadmissible under Fed.Rule Evid. 803(4) because identity and fault are not usually relevant to diagnosis or treatment.
If we apply the Renville analysis to the facts of this case, the doctor’s testimony reveals that he asked a five year old girl pertinent questions to assist him in his diagnosis and treatment of the child. Here, this doctor did not attempt to inculpate the little girl’s father; rather, the record reveals, as specified in the majority writing, that the little girl inceptually identified her father as the abuser. The doctor inquired about pain in his questioning of the little girl and past symptoms, exactly coinciding with language in SDCL 19-16-8. This same doctor testified that, based upon his examination, the cause of the enlarged vaginal area and scarred vaginal ring was sexual abuse. Note that SDCL 19-16-8 also refers to “describing medical history”. This experienced doctor/pediatrician was qualified as an expert in child abuse and owed a duty, under state law, to obtain the medical facts and reasons behind his conclusion of child neglect which he was required to do or face criminal prosecution. Appellant vigorously assails the entire physical examination by the pediatrician advocating that its basic pujóse was to secure evidence against appellant. A county social worker of the State of South Dakota, encharged with a statutory obligation, initiated the referral to the pediatrician for possible child abuse; the pediatrician, likewise encharged with a statutory obligation, conducted an examination for diagnosis and treatment (including a recommendation for mental treatment, if necessary). Prevention of the repetition of child abuse by removing the accused from the home is often a type of recommended treatment.
Prosecutions are extremely difficult in these types of cases, as, by their very nature, a child is the victim and the only witness. These children, who are victims of abuse, are extremely fearful to testify and particularly if a family member is the perpetrator. Needless to say, the South Dakota Legislature has attempted to respond to child abuse by enacting a general overall policy towards protecting child abuse victims and, furthermore, to provide for immediate physical or mental treatment shortly after the abuse. When the abuse is within the family, an examining physician must observe the psychological effects of the abuse. More importantly, that physician and all public officials in connection therewith, must act responsibly towards prevention in the future. In the family setting, not only is the fact of the abuse very relevant, but the identity of the perpetrator becomes directly germane. See, State v. Vosika, 83 Or.App. 298, 305, 731 P.2d 449, 453 (1987), aff'd, on rehearing, 85 Or.App. 148, 735 P.2d 1273 (1987).
Finally, in spirit with this special concurrence, I would adopt the two-part test for the admissibility of statements made for the purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment under the hearsay exception in SDCL 19-6-8, which is the same as Fed.R.Evid. 803(4): (1) “The declarant’s motive in making the statements must be consistent with the purposes of promoting treatment”; and, (2) “the content of the statement must be such as is reasonably relied on by a physician in treatment or diagnosis.” Ren-ville, at 436.