State v. Fontenot
Annotate this Case
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction and sentence for two counts of indecent contact with a child, holding the trial court did not err by allowing the jury to see a video recording of a child's forensic interview where the child discussed Defendant's sexual abuse of her.
Long before the time the child reported the abuse and long before criminal charges were brought, the video interview at issue was recorded. During trial, the State filed a notice of intent to present the video interview. The video was shown the the jury after defense counsel cross-examined the child victim and suggested that she had fabricated her criminal trial testimony. After showing the jury the video the district court instructed the jury that the video could only be used as a tool to assess the child's credibility. Defendant appealed, arguing that the court's admission of the interview was in error. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the video was admissible as a prior consistent statement.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.