S-1274.1 _______________________________________________
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5214
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State of Washington 54th Legislature 1995 Regular Session
By Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Smith, C. Anderson, Winsley, Haugen and Kohl)
Read first time 02/02/95.
AN ACT Relating to admissibility of children's statements; 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,
or describing any act of physical abuse of the child by another that results in
substantial bodily harm as defined by RCW 9A.04.110, 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.
A statement may not be admitted under this section unless the proponent of the statement makes known to the adverse party his or her 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.
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