NCJ Number
102058
Journal
Harvard Law Review Volume: 98 Issue: 4 Dated: (February 1985) Pages: 806-827
Editor(s)
M Goodheart,
R Stulberg
Date Published
1985
Length
22 pages
Annotation
The proposed integrated legislative scheme would remedy the constitutional shortcomings of current hearsay and videotaping statutes without compromising their aims of facilitating the prosecution of child sexual abuse cases and relieving stress on the child witness.
Abstract
Hearsay statutes create an exception to the hearsay rule for out-of-court statements by child sexual abuse victims. Videotaping statutes permit the videotaping of a child's testimony for presentation to the jury. Current hearsay and videotaping statutes do not adequately protect the defendants' right to confront witnesses against them. Hearsay statutes do not provide a clear test for ruling a child 'unavailable' for testifying, and they do not adequately guide the trial judge in weighing the sufficiency of evidence to corroborate the hearsay statement. Videotaping statutes grant the prosecutor advantages not enjoyed in other trials and fail to set standards for videotape technical quality. The proposed integrated statutory scheme would require children to testify on videotape or in person unless prevented by sickness or demonstrated incapacity, in which case hearsay statements would be permitted when corroborative evidence ensures reliability. Videotaped testimony would be permitted if face-to-face confrontation with the defendant would cause substantial emotional trauma for the child. Statutory standards should specify taping procedures and the technical quality for the tape. 118 footnotes.