Minnesota Session Laws - 1986, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1986 

                        CHAPTER 361-H.F.No. 2017 
           An act relating to crimes; opening juvenile court 
          hearings to the public in certain circumstances; 
          making certain videotaped statements admissible in 
          proceedings involving physical or sexual abuse against 
          a child; amending Minnesota Statutes 1984, sections 
          260.155, subdivision 1; and 595.02, by adding a 
          subdivision; Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, 
          sections 260.156; and 595.02, subdivision 3. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 260.155, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] Except for hearings arising 
under section 260.261, hearings on any matter shall be without a 
jury and may be conducted in an informal manner.  The rules of 
evidence promulgated pursuant to section 480.0591 and the law of 
evidence shall apply in adjudicatory proceedings involving a 
child alleged to be delinquent, a habitual truant, a runaway, a 
juvenile petty offender, or a juvenile alcohol or controlled 
substance offender, and hearings conducted pursuant to section 
260.125 except to the extent that the rules themselves provide 
that they do not apply.  Hearings may be continued or adjourned 
from time to time and, in the interim, the court may make any 
orders as it deems in the best interests of the minor in 
accordance with the provisions of sections 260.011 to 260.301.  
The court shall exclude the general public from these hearings 
and shall admit only those persons who, in the discretion of the 
court, have a direct interest in the case or in the work of the 
court; except that, the court shall open the hearings to the 
public in delinquency proceedings where the child is alleged to 
have committed an offense that would be a felony if committed by 
an adult and the child was at least 16 years of age at the time 
of the hearing.  In all delinquency cases a person named in the 
charging clause of the petition as a person directly damaged in 
person or property shall be entitled, upon request, to be 
notified by the clerk of court in writing, at his last known 
address, of (1) the date of the reference or adjudicatory 
hearings, and (2) the disposition of the case.  Adoption 
hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of 
laws relating to adoptions. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
260.156, is amended to read: 
    260.156 [CERTAIN OUT-OF-COURT STATEMENTS ADMISSIBLE.] 
    An out-of-court statement made by a child under the age of 
ten years, or a child over the age of ten years who is mentally 
impaired, as defined under section 609.341, subdivision 6, 
alleging, explaining, denying, or describing any act of sexual 
contact or penetration performed with or on the child or any act 
of physical abuse or neglect of the child by another, not 
otherwise admissible by statute or rule of evidence, is 
admissible in evidence in any dependency or neglect proceeding 
or any proceeding for termination of parental rights if:  
    (a) the court finds that the time, content, and 
circumstances of the statement and the reliability of the person 
to whom the statement is made provide sufficient indicia of 
reliability; and 
    (b) the proponent of the statement notifies other parties 
of his intention to offer the statement and the particulars of 
the statement sufficiently in advance of the proceeding at which 
he intends to offer the statement into evidence, to provide the 
parties with a fair opportunity to meet the statement.  
    For purposes of this section, an out-of-court statement 
includes a video, audio, or other recorded statement. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1985 Supplement, section 
595.02, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [CERTAIN OUT-OF-COURT STATEMENTS ADMISSIBLE.] An 
out-of-court statement made by a child under the age of ten 
years or a person who is mentally impaired as defined in section 
609.341, subdivision 6, alleging, explaining, denying, or 
describing any act of sexual contact or penetration performed 
with or on the child or any act of physical abuse of the child 
or the person who is mentally impaired by another, not otherwise 
admissible by statute or rule of evidence, is admissible in as 
substantive evidence if:  
    (a) the court or person authorized to receive evidence 
finds, in a hearing conducted outside of the presence of the 
jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement 
and the reliability of the person to whom the statement is made 
provide sufficient indicia of reliability; and 
    (b) the child or person mentally impaired as defined in 
section 609.341, subdivision 6, either:  
    (i) testifies at the proceedings; or 
    (ii) is unavailable as a witness and there is corroborative 
evidence of the act; and 
    (c) the proponent of the statement notifies the adverse 
party of his intention to offer the statement and the 
particulars of the statement sufficiently in advance of the 
proceeding at which he intends to offer the statement into 
evidence to provide the adverse party with a fair opportunity to 
prepare to meet the statement.  
    For purposes of this subdivision, an out-of-court statement 
includes video, audio, or other recorded statements.  An 
unavailable witness includes an incompetent witness.  
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 595.02, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read:  
    Subd. 4.  [COURT ORDER.] (a) In a proceeding in which a 
child less than ten years of age is alleging, denying, or 
describing an act of physical abuse or an act of sexual contact 
or penetration performed with or on the child by another, the 
court may, upon its own motion or upon the motion of any party, 
order that the testimony of the child be taken in a room other 
than the courtroom or in the courtroom and televised at the same 
time by closed-circuit equipment, or recorded for later showing 
to be viewed by the jury in the proceeding.  
    (b) At the taking of testimony under this subdivision, only 
the judge, the attorneys for the defendant and for the state, 
any person whose presence would contribute to the welfare and 
well-being of the child, and persons necessary to operate the 
recording or closed-circuit equipment may be present with the 
child during the child's testimony.  
    (c) The court shall permit the defendant to observe and 
hear the testimony of the child in person.  If the court, upon 
its own motion or the motion of any party, determines that the 
presence of the defendant during testimony taken pursuant to 
this subdivision would psychologically traumatize the witness so 
as to render the witness unavailable to testify, the court may 
order that the testimony be taken in a manner that:  
    (1) the defendant can see and hear the testimony of the 
child in person and communicate with counsel, but the child 
cannot see or hear the defendant; or 
    (2) the defendant and child can view each other by video or 
television monitor from separate rooms. 
    Approved March 19, 1986