Bunn v. State
Annotate this CaseDefendant was convicted of two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated child molestation, and child molestation. At issue was whether the court of appeals improperly limited the court's holding in Division 3 of Woodard v. State. Woodard struck down, as violation of the equal protection of the law, a 1995 amendment to the Child Hearsay Statute, OCGA 24-3-16, that expanded the scope of the hearsay exception to allow admission of out-of-court statements by all children under age 14 who witnessed sexual contact or physical abuse, as opposed to only children who were themselves the victims of such abuse. The court concluded that Woodard's reasoning could not be sustained. Thus, while it clearly should not be extended to the circumstances of the case, the court thought it was more appropriate simply to overrule Division 3. Accordingly, there was no reversible error and the court affirmed the judgment.
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