State v. Ochoa

576 So. 2d 854, 1991 WL 35278
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMarch 19, 1991
Docket89-399
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 576 So. 2d 854 (State v. Ochoa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Ochoa, 576 So. 2d 854, 1991 WL 35278 (Fla. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

576 So.2d 854 (1991)

The STATE of Florida, Appellant,
v.
Ivan OCHOA, Appellee.

No. 89-399.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.

March 19, 1991.

Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen., and Yvette Rhodes Prescott and Anita J. Gay, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellant.

Bennett H. Brummer, Public Defender, and Henry H. Harnage and Bruce A. Rosenthal, Asst. Public Defenders, for appellee.

Before BARKDULL, COPE and GERSTEN, JJ.

COPE, Judge.

The State appeals dismissal of charges against defendant Ivan Ochoa on two counts of sexual battery and one count of *855 lewd assault. The trial court ruled that the minor victims' statements to a physician were inadmissible hearsay and that therefore the State failed to show corpus delicti. We reverse.

Defendant was charged with one count of sexual battery and one count of lewd assault on a ten-year-old girl, and one count of sexual battery on her seven-year-old sister. Both children were examined by a physician at the Rape Treatment Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Defendant gave a confession to the police. The defense subpoenaed the ten-year-old for deposition but she failed to appear. Thereafter, the mother left Dade County with both children, who had not been located at the time of the hearing below.

Defendant moved in limine to exclude, as inadmissible hearsay, the victims' statements to the physician at the rape treatment center. After conducting an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the trial court concluded that the statements to the physician were inadmissible and that in the absence of the statements, the State had failed to show corpus delicti. The court also ruled, alternatively, that the statements, even if admissible, would not be sufficient to establish corpus delicti. Since, in the absence of corpus delicti, defendant's confession would not be admissible, the trial court granted defendant's ore tenus motion to dismiss all charges.

On this appeal, the State urges that the statements are admissible and that corpus delicti has been established. The defense contends that the trial court's rulings are correct and alternatively, that the statements must be excluded by reason of the Confrontation Clause.

I.

The State contends that the victims' statements to the physician, although hearsay, were admissible as statements for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment under subsection 90.803(4), Florida Statutes (1989).[1] Omitting that portion of the statements pertaining to the identity of the perpetrator, the victims' statements were in essence that they had been touched in the genitalia by an adult male and had experienced some pain when that happened.[2] The physical examination revealed conditions consistent with digital penetration and inconsistent with an accidental occurrence.

At the hearing below, the trial court ruled that the State had not laid the necessary predicate to establish that the statements were made to the physician for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment. Relying on Begley v. State, 483 So.2d 70 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986), the court excluded the statements.

The hearsay exception set forth in subsection 90.803(4) applies to "[s]tatements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment by a person seeking the diagnosis or treatment ... which statements describe medical history, past or present symptoms, pain, or sensations, or the inceptions or general character of the cause or external source thereof, insofar as reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment."[3]*856 Begley holds that for a statement to be admissible under this exception, "there must be a showing (a) that the statements were made for the purposes of diagnosis or treatment, and (b) that the individual making the statements knew the statements were being made for this purpose." 483 So.2d at 73; accord Lazarowicz v. State, 561 So.2d 392, 394 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990).

In Begley, the child declarant met with a counselor at a sexual assault treatment center. While there was a discussion between the child and the counselor, there was no showing that the statements were made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment. 483 So.2d at 73. Accordingly, the statements were excluded.

In the present case, by contrast, the victims were taken to the Rape Treatment Center, a medical facility at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The purpose for the visit was a physical examination. The doctor introduced himself as such, took a history, and conducted a physical examination. Both parts of the Begley test were satisfied.

The defense argues that the necessary predicate — specifically, the second part of the Begley test — cannot be established without the child declarant. That position is without merit. Neither the Code nor Begley require that the showing be made solely through the testimony of the declarant. Where, as here, the declarant is unavailable, the necessary predicate can be established through other evidence. In the present case, that was done by the testimony of the examining physician. The Begley test was satisfied and the evidence was admissible.

II.

The defense contends that the victims' statements to the examining physician cannot come in, even if within the exception for medical diagnosis and treatment, unless there is an additional showing that the statements made by the victims were reliable. The Evidence Code itself does not require such an additional showing. Instead, the courts have considered that the rationale underpinning the medical diagnosis and treatment exception applies to adults and minors alike,[4] and treat a child declarant's statements as admissible under this hearsay exception.[5] Questions *857 about the age of the child and circumstances under which the statement was made ordinarily go to the weight, rather than admissibility, of the testimony. If there is a particularized showing that the specific hearsay statement lacks the necessary reliability, then the court has the power to exclude it,[6] but no such particularized challenge has been made with respect to the statements in the present case.[7]

The defense contends, however, that the Confrontation Clause requires an additional showing of reliability before a child's statements may be introduced under subsection 90.803(4), and that such a showing must be made in every case as a matter of routine. For that proposition the defense relies on Idaho v. Wright, ___ U.S. ___, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990).

In Idaho v. Wright, a child victim of sexual abuse was examined by a pediatrician. During the examination, the child made statements identifying the perpetrator as her father. Because under ordinary circumstances, statements identifying a perpetrator are not admissible as statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment,[8] the prosecution could only introduce the child's statements identifying her father as the perpetrator by relying on Idaho's residual hearsay rule, the Idaho counterpart of Federal Rule of Evidence 803(24).[9] At trial, the child's *858 statements were admitted into evidence under that rule. On review, the United States Supreme Court considered whether the admission of the evidence under Rule 803(24) — which is not a firmly-rooted hearsay exception — violated the Confrontation Clause. Idaho v. Wright

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

Related

State v. Mundegerick Mitchum
227 So. 3d 697 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2017)
Hernandez v. State
946 So. 2d 1270 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2007)
RC v. Department of Children and Families
917 So. 2d 241 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2005)
Douglas v. State
913 So. 2d 1234 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2005)
Lemon v. State
767 So. 2d 620 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2000)
State v. Frazier
753 So. 2d 644 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2000)
Phillips v. State
689 So. 2d 453 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1997)
State v. Jones
625 So. 2d 821 (Supreme Court of Florida, 1993)
Jones v. State
600 So. 2d 1138 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1992)
Pagan v. State
599 So. 2d 744 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1992)
Flanagan v. State
586 So. 2d 1085 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1991)
State v. Pardo
582 So. 2d 1225 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1991)
Reyes v. State
580 So. 2d 309 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
576 So. 2d 854, 1991 WL 35278, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ochoa-fladistctapp-1991.