Minnesota Session Laws - 1985, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1985 

                         CHAPTER 24-S.F.No. 177 
           An act relating to crime; allowing the admission of 
          certain out-of-court statements of mentally impaired 
          persons; defining "mentally impaired"; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1984, sections 260.156; 595.02, 
          subdivision 3; 609.341, subdivisions 6 and 11; 
          609.342; 609.343; 609.344; and 609.345. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, 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 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.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, 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 the person who is mentally impaired by 
another, not otherwise admissible by statute or rule of 
evidence, is admissible in 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.  
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 609.341, 
subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 6.  "Mentally defective impaired" means that a person 
suffers from a mental disease or defect which renders that 
person temporarily or permanently incapable of appraising the 
nature of his conduct, as a result of inadequately developed or 
impaired intelligence or a substantial psychiatric disorder of 
thought or mood, lacks the judgment to give a reasoned consent 
to sexual contact or to sexual penetration. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 609.341, 
subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 11.  "Sexual contact" includes any of the following 
acts committed without the complainant's consent, for the 
purpose of satisfying the actor's sexual or aggressive impulses, 
except in those cases where consent is not a defense: 
    (i) The intentional touching by the actor of the 
complainant's intimate parts, or 
    (ii) The touching by the complainant of the actor's, the 
complainant's, or another's intimate parts effected by coercion 
or the use of a position of authority, or by inducement if the 
complainant is under 13 years of age or mentally defective 
impaired, or 
    (iii) The touching by another of the complainant's intimate 
parts effected by coercion or the use of a position of 
authority, or 
    (iv) In any of the cases above, of the clothing covering 
the immediate area of the intimate parts. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 609.342, is 
amended to read: 
    609.342 [CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT IN THE FIRST DEGREE.] 
    A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the first 
degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 20 
years or to payment of a fine of not more than $35,000, or both, 
if he engages in sexual penetration with another person and if 
any of the following circumstances exists: 
    (a) The complainant is under 13 years of age and the actor 
is more than 36 months older than the complainant.  Neither 
mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the act by 
the complainant is a defense; or 
    (b) The complainant is at least 13 but less than 16 years 
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the 
complainant and in a position of authority over the complainant, 
and uses this authority to cause the complainant to submit.  
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the 
act by the complainant is a defense; or 
    (c) Circumstances existing at the time of the act cause the 
complainant to have a reasonable fear of imminent great bodily 
harm to the complainant or another; or 
    (d) The actor is armed with a dangerous weapon or any 
article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the complainant to 
reasonably believe it to be a dangerous weapon and uses or 
threatens to use the weapon or article to cause the complainant 
to submit; or 
    (e) The actor causes personal injury to the complainant, 
and either of the following circumstances exist: 
    (i) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish sexual 
penetration; or 
    (ii) The actor knows or has reason to know that the 
complainant is mentally defective impaired, mentally 
incapacitated, or physically helpless; or 
    (f) The actor is aided or abetted by one or more 
accomplices within the meaning of section 609.05, and either of 
the following circumstances exists: 
    (i) An accomplice uses force or coercion to cause the 
complainant to submit; or 
    (ii) An accomplice is armed with a dangerous weapon or any 
article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the complainant 
reasonably to believe it to be a dangerous weapon and uses or 
threatens to use the weapon or article to cause the complainant 
to submit. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 609.343, is 
amended to read: 
    609.343 [CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT IN THE SECOND DEGREE.] 
    A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the second 
degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 15 
years or to payment of a fine of not more than $30,000, or both, 
if he engages in sexual contact with another person and if any 
of the following circumstances exists: 
    (a) The complainant is under 13 years of age and the actor 
is more than 36 months older than the complainant.  Neither 
mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the act by 
the complainant is a defense.  In a prosecution under this 
clause, the state is not required to prove that the sexual 
contact was coerced; or 
    (b) The complainant is at least 13 but less than 16 years 
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the 
complainant and in a position of authority over the complainant, 
and uses this authority to cause the complainant to submit.  
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the 
act by the complainant is a defense; or 
    (c) Circumstances existing at the time of the act cause the 
complainant to have a reasonable fear of imminent great bodily 
harm to the complainant or another; or 
    (d) The actor is armed with a dangerous weapon or any 
article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the complainant to 
reasonably believe it to be a dangerous weapon and uses or 
threatens to use the dangerous weapon to cause the complainant 
to submit; or 
    (e) The actor causes personal injury to the complainant, 
and either of the following circumstances exist: 
    (i) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the 
sexual contact; or 
    (ii) The actor knows or has reason to know that the 
complainant is mentally defective impaired, mentally 
incapacitated, or physically helpless; or 
    (f) The actor is aided or abetted by one or more 
accomplices within the meaning of section 609.05, and either of 
the following circumstances exists: 
    (i) An accomplice uses force or coercion to cause the 
complainant to submit; or 
    (ii) An accomplice is armed with a dangerous weapon or any 
article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the complainant to 
reasonably believe it to be a dangerous weapon and uses or 
threatens to use the weapon or article to cause the complainant 
to submit. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 609.344, is 
amended to read: 
    609.344 [CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT IN THE THIRD DEGREE.] 
    A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third 
degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 
ten years, or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or 
both, if he engages in sexual penetration with another person 
and any of the following circumstances exists:  
    (a) The complainant is under 13 years of age and the actor 
is no more than 36 months older than the complainant.  Neither 
mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the act by 
the complainant shall be a defense; or 
    (b) The complainant is at least 13 but less than 16 years 
of age and the actor is more than 24 months older than the 
complainant.  In any such case it shall be an affirmative 
defense, which must be proved by a preponderance of the 
evidence, that the actor believes the complainant to be 16 years 
of age or older.  If the actor in such a case is no more than 48 
months but more than 24 months older than the complainant, he 
may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years.  
Consent by the complainant is not a defense; or 
    (c) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the 
penetration; or 
    (d) The actor knows or has reason to know that the 
complainant is mentally defective impaired, mentally 
incapacitated, or physically helpless; or 
    (e) The complainant is at least 16 but less than 18 years 
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the 
complainant and in a position of authority over the complainant, 
and uses this authority to cause the complainant to submit. 
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the 
act by the complainant is a defense. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1984, section 609.345, is 
amended to read: 
    609.345 [CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT IN THE FOURTH DEGREE.] 
    A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the fourth 
degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 
five years, or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or 
both, if he engages in sexual contact with another person and if 
any of the following circumstances exists: 
    (a) The complainant is under 13 years of age and the actor 
is no more than 36 months older than the complainant.  Neither 
mistake as to the complainant's age or consent to the act by the 
complainant is a defense.  In a prosecution under this clause, 
the state is not required to prove that the sexual contact was 
coerced; or 
    (b) The complainant is at least 13 but less than 16 years 
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the 
complainant or in a position of authority over the complainant 
and uses this authority to cause the complainant to submit.  In 
any such case, it shall be an affirmative defense which must be 
proved by a preponderance of the evidence that the actor 
believes the complainant to be 16 years of age or older; or 
    (c) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the 
sexual contact; or 
    (d) The actor knows or has reason to know that the 
complainant is mentally defective impaired, mentally 
incapacitated, or physically helpless; or 
    (e) The complainant is at least 16 but less than 18 years 
of age and the actor is more than 48 months older than the 
complainant and in a position of authority over the complainant, 
and uses this authority to cause the complainant to submit. 
Neither mistake as to the complainant's age nor consent to the 
act by the complainant is a defense. 
    Sec. 9.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Sections 1 to 8 are effective August 1, 1985, and apply to 
crimes committed on or after that date. 
    Approved April 19, 1985