Florida Senate - 2014                       CS for CS for SB 764
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Rules; and Judiciary; and Senator Detert
       
       
       
       
       
       595-04150A-14                                          2014764c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to hearsay; amending s. 90.803, F.S.;
    3         providing that certain statements are an exception to
    4         the hearsay rule and thus admissible; providing an
    5         effective date.
    6          
    7  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    8  
    9         Section 1. Subsection (25) is added to section 90.803,
   10  Florida Statutes, to read:
   11         90.803 Hearsay exceptions; availability of declarant
   12  immaterial.—The provision of s. 90.802 to the contrary
   13  notwithstanding, the following are not inadmissible as evidence,
   14  even though the declarant is available as a witness:
   15         (25) HEARSAY EXCEPTION; STATEMENT OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
   16  VICTIM.—
   17         (a) A statement that purports to narrate, describe, report,
   18  or explain an act of domestic violence as defined in s. 741.28
   19  made by a victim of the domestic violence if the statement was
   20  recorded, electronically or in writing, or was made to a law
   21  enforcement officer to enable the law enforcement agency to
   22  respond to an ongoing emergency, and has sufficient indicia of
   23  reliability.
   24         (b) In determining whether a statement has sufficient
   25  indicia of reliability under paragraph (a), the court shall
   26  consider all circumstances surrounding the statement, including,
   27  but not limited to:
   28         1. Whether the statement is corroborated by evidence other
   29  than statements that are subject to admission only pursuant to
   30  this subsection;
   31         2. The timing of the statement;
   32         3. Whether the statement was elicited by leading questions;
   33  and
   34         4. Subsequent statements made by the victim. The victim’s
   35  recantation alone is not sufficient reason for denying admission
   36  of a statement under this subsection unless there are other
   37  factors also indicating unreliability.
   38         Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.