Florida Senate - 2013                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1114
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 392522                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/01/2013           .                                
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       The Committee on Criminal Justice (Bradley) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 88 and 89
    4  insert:
    5         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (23) of section
    6  90.803, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
    7         90.803 Hearsay exceptions; availability of declarant
    8  immaterial.—The provision of s. 90.802 to the contrary
    9  notwithstanding, the following are not inadmissible as evidence,
   10  even though the declarant is available as a witness:
   11         (23) HEARSAY EXCEPTION; STATEMENT OF CHILD VICTIM.—
   12         (a) Unless the source of information or the method or
   13  circumstances by which the statement is reported indicates a
   14  lack of trustworthiness, an out-of-court statement made by a
   15  child victim with a physical, mental, emotional, or
   16  developmental age of 16 11 or less describing any act of child
   17  abuse or neglect, any act of sexual abuse against a child, the
   18  offense of child abuse, the offense of aggravated child abuse,
   19  or any offense involving an unlawful sexual act, contact,
   20  intrusion, or penetration performed in the presence of, with,
   21  by, or on the declarant child, not otherwise admissible, is
   22  admissible in evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding if:
   23         1. The court finds in a hearing conducted outside the
   24  presence of the jury that the time, content, and circumstances
   25  of the statement provide sufficient safeguards of reliability.
   26  In making its determination, the court may consider the mental
   27  and physical age and maturity of the child, the nature and
   28  duration of the abuse or offense, the relationship of the child
   29  to the offender, the reliability of the assertion, the
   30  reliability of the child victim, and any other factor deemed
   31  appropriate; and
   32         2. The child either:
   33         a. Testifies; or
   34         b. Is unavailable as a witness, provided that there is
   35  other corroborative evidence of the abuse or offense.
   36  Unavailability shall include a finding by the court that the
   37  child’s participation in the trial or proceeding would result in
   38  a substantial likelihood of severe emotional or mental harm, in
   39  addition to findings pursuant to s. 90.804(1).
   40  
   41  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   42         And the title is amended as follows:
   43         Delete line 2
   44  and insert:
   45         An act relating to sex offenses; amending s. 90.803,
   46         F.S.; providing that an out-of-court statement by a
   47         child victim with a physical, mental, emotional, or
   48         developmental age of 16 or less rather than 11 or less
   49         describing specified criminal acts is admissible in
   50         evidence in certain instances; amending s. 775.21,