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the jury, that the statement is reliable based on the time, content, and circumstances
of the statement” (emphasis added).
29. This shows the importance of trying to get discovery through any ongoing
civil case. As a result of the tape-recording, the outcries were suppressed
and the cases dismissed.
30. These are the facts underlying the writ of actual innocence in Ex parte
Harmon, 116 S.W.3d 778 (Tex. Crim. App. 2002).
31. See Endnote 14, above.
32. Fielder v. State, 756 S.W.2d 309 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988), Pierini v. State,
804 S.W.2d 258 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1991, review refused), Lane v.
State, 957 S.W.2d 584 (Tex. App.—Dallas 1997, no writ).
33. Werner v. State, 711 S.W.2d 639 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986).
34. Zani v. State, 758 S.W.2d 233 (Tex. Crim. App. 1988), Vester v. State, 713
S.W.2d 920 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986, en banc), Spence v. State, 795 S.W.2d 743
(Tex. Crim. App. 1990, en banc), Burnett v. State, 642 S.W.2d 765 (Tex. Crim.
App. 1982, en banc).
35. Barley v. State, 906 S.W.2d 27 (Tex. Crim. App. 1995, en banc); Manson
v. Brathwaite, 432 U.S. 98 (1977) (regarding the corrupting effect of unreliable
identification testimony); Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263 (1967).
36. See Gail S. Goodman and Vicki Helgreson, Child Sexual Assault: Children’s
Memory and the Law, 40 U. Miami Law Review, 191, 195 (1985).
37. John E. B. Myers, The Child Witness: Techniques for Direct Examination,
Cross-Examination and Impeachment, 18 Pac. L.J. 801, 899 (1987).
38. See Debra A. Poole and Lawrence T. White, Effects of Question Repetition
on Eyewitness Testimony of Children and Adults, 27 Developmental Psychology,
November (1991) at 975.
39. Goodman and Helgeson, supra, 40 U. Miami L. Rev. at 184–187.
40. See William Bernet, M.D., Case Study: Allegations of Abuse Created in
a Single Interview, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, 36:7, July 1997, pp. 966–970.
41. See State v. Wright, 775 P.2d 1124, 1128 (1989), aff’d sub nom Idaho
v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990). (“Once this
tainting of memory has occurred, the problem is irremediable. That memory,
is from then on, as real to the child as any other.”). See also Stephen J. Ceci and
Maggie Bruck, Jeopardy in the Courtroom, 1995, pp. 218–220.
42. See Stephen J. Ceci, PhD, and Mary Lynn Crotteau Huffman, PhD, “How
Suggestible are Preschool Children Cognitive and Social Factors,” Journal of
the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36:7, July 1997,
pp. 948–958, as well as Maryann King and John C. Yuille, Suggestibility and the
Child Witness in Children’s Eyewitness Memory, 29 (Stephen J. Ceci et al., eds.
1987) and Age Difference in Suggestibility in Children’s Eyewitness Memory 82
(Stephen J. Ceci et al., ed. 1987).
43. American Prosecutors; Research Institute, National Center for Prosecution
of Child Abuse, Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse at p. II-7 (1987).
44. Id. at II-8.
45. Id. at II-9.
46. Id. at II-5.
47. See Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990).
48. The right to make a bill of exception is absolute. Kipp v. State, 876 S.W.2d
330 (Tex. Crim. App. 1994). Being refused the right to make a bill of exceptions
may build in reversible error.
Leonard Martinez, a native of San Antonio,
moved to Austin in 1978 and attended the
University of Texas Law School, graduating
in 1981. Board certified in criminal law,
Leonard has been licensed since 1981, practicing
exclusively criminal law.
L. T. “Butch” Bradt is a general practitioner in Houston. Licensed
for 36 years and in 23 different courts, he has handled
cases throughout the country. Recognized as an experienced
trial and appellate attorney, he handles tax, civil, corporate,
criminal, and family law matters. On the criminal side, he has
successfully defended everything from speeding tickets to capital
murder.
Kim Hart is a licensed private investigator and trial consultant
in Toledo, Ohio. She first became involved in defending
allegations of abuse in the mid ’80s, appalled by the dearth of
knowledge and experience in the legal and professional communities.
In 1990, Kim and others formed the National Child
Abuse Defense and Resource Center, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt
educational foundation, in an attempt to educate attorneys,
doctors, mental health professionals, and others about the
science involved in dealing with allegations of abuse. She has
been the prime mover in the biannual seminars put on by the
center, bringing world-renowned experts from around the globe
to present the science of dealing with allegations of abuse to
lawyers, caseworkers, police, judges, and others interested in
separating real cases of abuse from false allegations of abuse.
In addition to serving as the Executive Director of the Resource
Center, Kim maintains an active practice as a trial consultant,
assisting attorneys throughout the country in defending cases
involving allegations of abuse.
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