Abstract
The holding of Crawford, a "bombshell" case, affects many hearsay exceptions upon which prosecutors previously relied to admit child victim statements into evidence. It is no longer sufficient for a hearsay statement to fall within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or to contain guarantees of trustworthiness. Testimonial, out-of-court statements of unavailable declarants will be excluded unless the declarant was previously subjected to crossexamination. This new approach invalidates part of Utah's statutory exception for the admissibility of out-of-court statements from child sexual abuse victims. And, although some statements from children that would previously have been admissible under well-established hearsay exceptions will likely be deemed nontestimonial and escape Confrontation Clause analysis, the categorical approach to hearsay exceptions no longer applies. Thus, if Utah courts consider the format in which child forensic interviews in Salt Lake County are conducted to be testimonial, child abuse professionals need to use other means to minimize the negative impact of testifying on child victims. Possibilities that have proven successful include closed-circuit testifying and extended intervention programs that prepare child witnesses for trial.
Recommended Citation
2005 ULR 1101 (2005)