NCJ Number
143433
Date Published
1992
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This document lists State statutes, current through 1991, regarding the admissibility of videotaped interviews and/or statements in criminal child abuse proceedings.
Abstract
Each statute (military and tribal laws are excluded) is annotated, including descriptions of the crimes specifically listed within the statute, age of the victim as specified, applicability, criteria for admissibility, criteria for unavailability, and special issues. The annotation also notes whether an appropriate court has ruled on the statute's constitutionality. State legislation authorizing the use of videotaped statements and interviews in criminal trials must be read in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Idaho v. Wright, in which it ruled that a child's hearsay statements cannot be deemed to be per se unreliable and inadmissible as evidence. The court basically followed the two-prong test for hearsay established in Ohio v. Roberts, which requires the prosecution to either produce or demonstrate the unavailability of the declarant whose statement it wishes to use against the defendant, and requires the statement to bear adequate "indicia of reliability." Since child hearsay is not a firmly rooted hearsay exception, the prosecution must show that the statement has "particularized guarantees of trustworthiness."