State v. Smith

148 Wash. 2d 122
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 12, 2002
DocketNo. 71787-7
StatusPublished
Cited by88 cases

This text of 148 Wash. 2d 122 (State v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Smith, 148 Wash. 2d 122 (Wash. 2002).

Opinions

Bridge, J.

Wallace Michael Smith seeks reversal of the Court of Appeals decision affirming his conviction for first degree rape of a child (RCW 9A.44.073). Smith argues that the trial court violated his state and federal confrontation clause rights when it ruled that the child victim, J.S., was unavailable to testify for the purpose of allowing hearsay under RCW 9A. 44.120 without first requiring the State to show that J.S. could not testify via closed-circuit television pursuant to RCW 9A.44.150. We hold that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the hearsay statements without determining that J.S. could not have testified via closed-circuit television where there was testimony that J.S. may have been able to testify by that method.

I

In November 1998, J.S., then five years old, told her aunt, Christine Campbell, that her mother’s boyfriend, Michael Smith, touched her “private part.”1 Campbell’s friend, Angel Reed, took J.S. into another room to further discuss the issue. J.S. eventually told Reed that Smith touched her under her clothing and that ‘White stuff came out of it.”2 J.S. repeated these accusations to other adults including a nurse practitioner, a detective, a counselor, and a physician.

The Jefferson County prosecuting attorney charged Smith with one count of first degree rape of a child. The State filed notice of its intent to introduce hearsay statements made by J.S. pursuant to RCW 9A.44.120., The court held a hearing to determine J.S.’s competency to testify and the admissibility of her hearsay statements. The State called J.S. as its first witness. Upon seeing Smith in the courtroom, J.S. became scared, began to cry and immediately “clammed up.”3 Smith refused to concede that J.S. was incompetent and unavailable to testify based on her behavior. Smith argued that he was entitled to confront the [127]*127witness against him and that he should be allowed to listen to J.S.’s testimony through other means, like closed-circuit television. The court responded that the courtroom lacked such facilities and proceeded to take testimony as to J.S.’s competency.

Jean Koester, a social worker with the Division of Child and Family Services and J.S.’s caseworker, testified that J.S. might be able to testify under certain circumstances. She stated,

I believe that she would [be able to testify], but I think that testimony would be best obtained if she could do it in a quiet reassuring environment rather than a larger courtroom such as this .... For example, if she were able to sit down with the Judge in closed Chambers with one or two people that she trusted.[4]

Koester further indicated that she did not think that J.S. would be able to go into the courtroom with the defendant present and testify, but that there may be “some things that could be tried to help her feel safe and protected” and that perhaps a different physical arrangement “might be worth exploring further.”4 5

In response to Koester’s testimony, the trial court stated that the trial was going to take place in that courtroom and therefore,

the question is whether [J.S.] is competent to present her testimony here in court to the jurors because criminal trials are tried by jurors . . . and we don’t have the option of having her testimony presented to a small group of people in a comfortable setting. The setting will be here in the Courtroom in front of the lawyers, in front of Mr. Smith, in front of the jurors, and in front of anybody else who wants to come because the courtroom isn’t a closed setting.[6]

The court then asked Koester if J.S. would be able to testify in that setting. Koester responded that she may be able to [128]*128“tolerate the courtroom setting” “if she weren’t exposed to the alleged perpetrator.”7 She also indicated that given time to prepare, “[J.S.’s] ability to testify would be improved.”8

Lisa Marks, J.S.’s therapist, testified that she did not believe that J.S. would be able to testify in open court with Smith present. She indicated that J.S. was a bright, engaging, articulate child, but that when the pressure was on, J.S. would get “overwhelmed and will just retreat and go into silence.”9 Marks also stated that video “might” work, but that it probably would not.10

The trial court ruled that J.S. was “unavailable” for the purposes of RCW 9A.44.120. In so deciding, the court relied on J.S.’s reaction upon entering the courtroom as well as the efforts made by her therapist to familiarize her with the courtroom setting. The court accepted Marks’ testimony as to J.S.’s ability to testify, but recognized Koester’s testimony as to how J.S. might be able to testify in a different setting. However, it stated that the things Koester suggested “can’t be accommodated in this court.” 11 The court continued,

And, we do not have, as I’ve mentioned before, an arrangement for the defendant to be absent from the Courtroom, or watch the proceedings by video tape, or for the defendant to be absent from the Courtroom and present her testimony by video tape. That’s not something that we have available, and it’s not required by the statute, as I understand the statute.[12]

After hearing testimony as to J.S.’s out-of-court statements, the trial court found that the statements were reliable and supported by corroborating evidence as required by RCW 9A.44.120. It therefore admitted the hear[129]*129say statements. At trial, the State introduced five of J.S.’s six hearsay statements. J.S. did not testify. The jury convicted Smith of first degree rape of a child.

Smith appealed and the Court of Appeals, Division Two, affirmed in a split decision.13 In the lead opinion, Chief Judge Armstrong held that RCW 9A.44.150 did not entitle a defendant to have closed-circuit television made available at state expense. Instead, the statute allowed the court to consider the use of closed-circuit television only upon a motion by the prosecutor. He further held that the trial court’s ruling that J.S. was unavailable did not violate either RCW 9A.44.120 or the federal confrontation clause. He found that the trial court’s decision, which was based on its own observations as well as the testimony of J.S.’s social worker and therapist, was not an abuse of discretion.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
148 Wash. 2d 122, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-smith-wash-2002.