S-3261.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6107
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State of Washington 52nd Legislature 1992 Regular Session
By Senators Nelson, Rasmussen, Thorsness and Craswell
Read first time 01/15/92. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
AN ACT Relating to corroborating evidence of a child's out of court statement; and amending RCW 9A.44.120.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 9A.44.120 and 1991 c 169 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
A statement made by a child when under the age of ten describing any act of sexual contact performed with or on the child by another or describing any attempted act of sexual contact with or on the child by another, not otherwise admissible by statute or court rule, is admissible in evidence in dependency proceedings under Title 13 RCW and criminal proceedings, including juvenile offense adjudications, in the courts of the state of Washington if:
(1) The court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability; and
(2) The child either:
(a) Testifies at the proceedings; or
(b) Is
unavailable as a witness((: PROVIDED, That)). When the child is
unavailable as a witness, such statement may be admitted only if there is
corroborative evidence of the act. "Corroborative evidence" means
evidence that supports to a substantial degree a logical and reasonable
inference that the act described in the hearsay statement occurred.
A statement may not be admitted under this section unless the proponent of the statement makes known to the adverse party his intention to offer the statement and the particulars of the statement sufficiently in advance of the proceedings to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to prepare to meet the statement.