Bunn v. State

The Supreme Court overruled Division 3 of Woodard v. State, 269 Ga. 317 1998, holding that it was inconsistent, the legislature had a rational basis for creating the Child Hearsay Statute and the statute represented the proper sort of line-drawing and balancing of rights.

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We granted certiorari to consider whether the Court of Appeals improperly limited this Court’s holding in Division 3 of Woodard v. State, 269 Ga. 317 496 SE2d 896 1998. Woodard struck down, as a violation of the equal protection of the law, a 1995 amendment to the Child Hearsay Statute, OCGA § 24-3-16, that expanded the scope of the hearsay exception to allow the admission of out-of-court statements by all children under age 14 who witnessed sexual contact or physical abuse, as opposed to only children who were themselves the victims of such abuse. Having carefully re-examined Woodard’s Division 3, we conclude that its reasoning cannot be sustained. Thus, while it clearly should not be extended to the circumstances of this case, we think it is more appropriate simply to overrule Division 3.1 Accordingly, there is no reversible error, and we affirm the Court of Appeals’ judgment.

1. Appellant Michael Shane Bunn moved in with his step-sister sometime in 2005, becoming the primary after-school care provider for his two nieces, who were ages seven and nine at the time of trial. On January 20, 2006, the girls told their mother that Appellant had put his hand down their pants; they later said that Appellant also licked their private parts and touched his penis to their vaginal areas. The mother contacted law enforcement, and the children were separately interviewed by a forensic therapist at a child advocacy center. The interviews were video recorded.

Bunn v. State

The Supreme Court overruled Division 3 of Woodard v. State, 269 Ga. 317 1998, holding that it was inconsistent, the legislature had a rational basis for creating the Child Hearsay Statute and the statute represented the proper sort of line-drawing and balancing of rights.

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