People v. Katt
Michigan Supreme Court
662 N.W.2d 12 (2003)
- Written by Angela Patrick, JD
Facts
Experienced social worker Angela Bowman interviewed DD, an elementary-school child, about possible physical abuse by his mother. In response to a question about who was living in his household, DD spontaneously told Bowman that Terry Katt (defendant), a relative living in the house, had been doing nasty things to him. DD then told Bowman about Katt sexually abusing him. Katt was charged with several counts of sexual abuse. At trial, the court found that DD’s hearsay statements detailing Katt’s abuse failed to meet one of the requirements for the tender-years hearsay exception, a specific exception for hearsay statements made by sexually abused children. However, the strongest available evidence of Katt’s abusive acts was DD’s interview statements, and the trial court allowed Bowman to testify about the hearsay statements under the residual exception. Katt was convicted and appealed. On appeal, Katt argued that because DD’s out-of-court statements to Bowman failed to meet the requirements for the tender-years exception, the statements were not eligible for the residual exception and should have been excluded.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Kelly, J.)
Dissent (Young, J.)
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