{"id":643,"date":"2021-01-13T09:14:56","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T14:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sarasotacriminalattorneyblog.com\/?p=643"},"modified":"2024-08-29T15:27:39","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T19:27:39","slug":"florida-court-explains-exceptions-to-rule-against-hearsay-in-sex-crime-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sarasotadefenseattorney.com\/blog\/florida-court-explains-exceptions-to-rule-against-hearsay-in-sex-crime-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Court Explains Exceptions to Rule Against Hearsay in Sex Crime Cases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In many cases in which a person is charged with a sex offense involving a child, the State will have little if any direct evidence that a crime was committed. As such, the prosecution will often seek to admit circumstantial evidence to prove the defendant\u2019s guilt, which may include hearsay testimony. Under the Florida Rules of Evidence, hearsay is generally inadmissible, but there are exceptions, as discussed in a <a href=\"https:\/\/law.justia.com\/cases\/florida\/fourth-district-court-of-appeal\/2020\/19-1555.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent ruling<\/a> in which a Florida court affirmed a defendant\u2019s conviction for sexual battery of a minor. If you are accused of committing a sex crime against a minor, it is advisable to meet with an experienced Sarasota criminal defense attorney to discuss your options.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Charges Against the Defendant<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is alleged that the defendant was charged with sexual battery on an individual under the age of twelve. The charge arose from the allegation that he assaulted his former girlfriend\u2019s daughter over the course of four years when he lived with the girlfriend. Prior to trial, the State filed a notice that it intended to admit hearsay evidence in the form of a handwritten note in which the victim described her sexual abuse. Following a hearing, the trial court deemed the note admissible. The defendant was convicted as charged, after which he appealed, arguing, in part, that the court erred in publishing the note.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hearsay Testimony in Florida Criminal Trials<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On appeal, the court held that the admission of the victim\u2019s note into evidence was proper under the Florida Statute Section 90.803(23), which establishes the standard for allowing hearsay statements of child sex abuse victims into evidence at criminal trials. Specifically, the Statute states that the statement must meet certain requirements with regards to reliability. First, it must come from a source that indicates trustworthiness. Second, the content, circumstances, and time of the statement must reflect that it provides adequate safeguards of reliability.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sarasotadefenseattorney.com\/blog\/florida-court-explains-exceptions-to-rule-against-hearsay-in-sex-crime-cases\/#more-643\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In many cases in which a person is charged with a sex offense involving a child, the State will have little if any direct evidence that a crime was committed. As such, the prosecution will often seek to admit circumstantial evidence to prove the defendant\u2019s guilt, which may include hearsay testimony. Under the Florida Rules [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sex-crimes","category-sexual-battery"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Florida Court Explains Exceptions to Rule Against Hearsay in Sex Crime Cases &#8212; Sarasota Criminal Attorney Blog &#8212; January 13, 2021<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In many cases in which a person is charged with a sex offense involving a child, the State will have little if any direct evidence that a crime was &#8212; January 13, 2021\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sarasotadefenseattorney.com\/blog\/florida-court-explains-exceptions-to-rule-against-hearsay-in-sex-crime-cases\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Florida Court Explains Exceptions to Rule Against Hearsay in Sex Crime Cases &#8212; 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