In Re Mary P.

701 P.2d 681, 237 Kan. 456, 1985 Kan. LEXIS 406
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJune 21, 1985
Docket56,875
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 701 P.2d 681 (In Re Mary P.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Mary P., 701 P.2d 681, 237 Kan. 456, 1985 Kan. LEXIS 406 (kan 1985).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Miller, J.:

This is an appeal from the order of the district court of Johnson County in a proceeding under the Kansas juvenile offenders code, K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1601 etseq. The court held that the appellant was a juvenile offender, K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1602, and that she committed two of the offenses charged, indecent liberties with a child, as defined by K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 21-3503(l)(b), and aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, as defined by K.S.A. 21-3511. The controlling issue on appeal is whether evidence was properly admitted by the trial court under the provisions of K.S.A. 60-460(dd).

The alleged victims were three and one-half and six years old at the time of the hearing. They were placed on the stand to determine if they were qualified as witnesses. At the conclusion of the questioning, the court found that the children were not qualified as witnesses. Thereafter, the court permitted the State to produce evidence of statements made by the children to their mother some five to eight months after the occurrence. The acts [457]*457allegedly occurred while the respondent was babysitting with the children, some nine or ten months prior to the court hearing. The children’s mother was the only witness presented by the State and she testified as to statements made by the children concerning the alleged sexual abuse.

Hearsay evidence is ordinarily inadmissible, but certain exceptions to that rule are fixed by statute. K.S.A. 60-460(dd) is the statutory exception here involved. It reads as follows:

“Evidence of a statement which is made other than by a witness while testifying at the hearing offered to prove the truth of the matter stated is hearsay evidence and inadmissible except:
“(dd) In a criminal proceeding or in a proceeding to determine if a child is a deprived child under the Kansas juvenile code or a child in need of care under the Kansas code for care of children, a statement made by a child, to prove the crime or that the child is a deprived child or a child in need of care, if
“(1) The child is alleged to be a victim of the crime, a deprived child or a child in need of care; and
“(2) the trial judge finds, after a hearing on the matter, that the child is disqualified or unavailable as a witness, the statement is apparently reliable and the child was not induced to make the statement falsely by use of threats or promises.”

This provision was added in 1982. See L. 1982, ch. 246, § 1. The same session of the Kansas Legislature enacted the present Kansas juvenile offenders code. See L. 1982, ch. 182, § 59 et seq.

K.S.A. 60-460(dd) states an exception to the rule against the use of hearsay testimony, applicable in three types of proceedings: in a criminal proceeding; in a proceeding to determine if a child is a deprived child (K.S.A. 38-802[g], repealed L. 1982, ch. 182); and in a proceeding to determine if a child is a child in need of care, K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1501 et seq. We note that the statutes specifically make the rules of evidence of the Code of Civil Procedure, K.S.A. 60-401 et seq., applicable in all adjudicatory hearings under the Kansas juvenile offenders code, K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1653, and in all proceedings under the Kansas code for care of children, K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1554. All proceedings under the Kansas code for care of children are specifically declared to be civil in nature, K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1501, and in no case brought under the Kansas juvenile offenders code shall any order, judgment, decree, or proceedings “be deemed or held to import a criminal act on the part of any juvenile.” K.S.A. 1984 Supp. 38-1601.

[458]*458The Court of Appeals held that, by virtue of the quasi-criminal nature of juvenile offenders proceedings, juvenile offenders are accorded certain constitutional rights to which a criminal defendant is entitled, including the right to counsel, the privilege against self-incrimination, and the requirement that guilt be established beyond a reasonable doubt. See In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1, 18 L.Ed.2d 527, 87 S.Ct. 1428 (1967); Findlay v. State, 235 Kan. 462, 466, 681 P.2d 20 (1984); State v. Young, 220 Kan. 541, 552 P.2d 905 (1976); and In re Harris, 218 Kan. 625, 629, 544 P.2d 1403 (1976). The court then found that the term “criminal proceeding” as used in K.S.A. 60-460(dd) should be given a broad construction to include juvenile offenders proceedings, in order to give effect to the legislative intent evident in the enactment of -460(dd). We do not agree.

K.S.A. 60-460(dd) is clear and unambiguous. The legislature specifically enumerated three proceedings in which that exception to the hearsay rule is applicable: criminal proceedings; proceedings to determine if a child is a deprived child; and proceedings to determine if the child is one in need of care. The legislature chose not to make the exception applicable, and not to provide for the admissibility of statements thereunder, in proceedings under the Kansas juvenile offenders code. The Court of Appeals points out that the effect of the statute, if it is inapplicable to proceedings under the Kansas juvenile offenders code, would be to exclude as hearsay statements made by children and repeated by an adult, if the offender is under eighteen years of age. They would thus be admissible if the offender is over eighteen (or over sixteen years of age and is prosecuted as an adult, K.S.A. 1984 Supp.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Perry v. Board of Franklin County Comm'rs
132 P.3d 1279 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2006)
Hawley v. Kansas Department of Agriculture
132 P.3d 870 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2006)
Attorney General Opinion No.
Kansas Attorney General Reports, 2001
State v. Kaiser
918 P.2d 629 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1996)
Board of Johnson County Comm'rs v. Smith
857 P.2d 1386 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1993)
Alexander v. Adjutant General's Office
858 P.2d 1222 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1993)
State v. Schlein
854 P.2d 296 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1993)
Lawless v. Cedar Vale Regional Hospital
850 P.2d 795 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1993)
State v. Edwards
852 P.2d 98 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1993)
State v. Morse
855 P.2d 87 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1993)
In Re DV
844 P.2d 752 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1993)
In the Interest of D.V.
844 P.2d 752 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1993)
Director of Taxation v. McNabb
841 P.2d 462 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1992)
State v. Kuone
757 P.2d 289 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1988)
In Re the Adoption of Baby Girl H.
739 P.2d 1 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1987)
Omni Outdoor Advertising of Missouri, Inc. v. City of Topeka
734 P.2d 1133 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1987)
State v. Muhammad
703 P.2d 835 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1985)
In Re Mary P.
701 P.2d 681 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1985)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
701 P.2d 681, 237 Kan. 456, 1985 Kan. LEXIS 406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-mary-p-kan-1985.