82 Wash. App. 674 - State v. Rohrich’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

13 state decisions

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 13 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “is satisfied when the child witness is both competent and physically available to testify. . . . Actual testimony is not required as a condition of admission of the out-of-court statements.” 57 Wn. App. at 13 . In the Court of Appeals decision in Rohrich, Division Three disagreed with Borland and held that the statutory meaning of”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Rohrich · State v. Rohrich

2. “[B]y limiting the child's `testimony' to incidental or irrelevant details, or by not calling the child victim as a witness, the prosecutor forces the defendant into a no-win situation. The defendant must attempt a cross-examination bearing no resemblance to and far exceeding the scope of the direct examination, or call the child as his own witness, or waive his right of confrontation. The prosecutor's tactic defeats the constitutional protection incorporated in the child victim hearsay exception and eviscerates the statutory requirement that corroborative evidence be produced when the defendant does not have the opportunity for full and effective cross-examination of the complaining child.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Clark

3. “A statement made by a child when under the age of ten describing any act of sexual contact performed with or on the child by another ... not otherwise admissible by statute or court rule, is admissible in evidence ... in the courts of the state of Washington if: (1) The court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability; and (2) The child either: (a) Testifies at the proceedings; or (b) Is unavailable as a witness: PROVIDED, That when the child is unavailable as a witness, such statement may be admitted only if there is corroborative evidence of the act.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage
   e.g. State v. Rohrich