US v. Smith, No. 09-1036
Defendant's conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a child is affirmed where: 1) the district court was not required to make a finding on the record as to each of the Fed. R. Evid. 807 requirements and the Thunder Horse factors as long as the record demonstrated that the district court considered the relevant factors; 2) because defendant did not show that playing the entire DVD recording of the forensic interview with the victim had a substantial influence on the jury's verdict, any error in admitting it was harmless; and 3) a witness was qualified to give her lay opinion based on her personal knowledge and perception of the victim and her experience performing forensic interviews of allegedly abused children.
Appellate Information
Submitted: October 22, 2009
Filed: January 5, 2010
Judges
Opinion by Judge Gruender