Section 90.803(2) the statement must only “relate” to the event causing the excitement; Section 90.803(1) is limited to statements which “describe or explain” the event.
1 C. Ehrhardt, Florida Evidence § 803.2 at 473-74 (2d ed. 1984) (footnotes omitted).
Nevertheless, the duration of time between the event and the statement remains an important consideration. In analyzing excited utterances:
Probably the most important of the many factors entering into this determination is the time factor. If the statement occurs while the exciting event is still in progress, courts have little difficulty finding that the excitement prompted the statement. But as the time between the event and the statement increases, so does the reluctance to find the statement an excited utterance. Although one court has held a statement made fourteen hours after a physical beating to be the product of the excitement caused by the beating, other courts have held statements made within minutes of the event not admissible. Perhaps an accurate rule of thumb might be that where the time interval between the event and the statement is long enough to permit reflective thought, the statement will be excluded in the absence of some proof that the declarant did not in fact engage in a reflective thought process.
E. Cleary, McCormick on Evidence § 297 at 856 (3d ed. 1984) (footnotes omitted). Cf. Carver v. State, 344 So.2d 1328, 1331 (Fla. 1st DCA) (“[a] key element in determining whether a statement is or is not a part of the res gestae is the interval of time between the principal act or main event and when the statement is made”), cert. denied, 352 So.2d 174 (1977).
In recent years, some courts have applied the excited utterance exception more liberally in child abuse cases. This latitude is premised on the belief that children of tender years are not adept at reasoned reflection and not likely to concoct false stories concerning sex abuse even if a period of time has transpired since the event.
E.g., Lancaster v. People, 200 Colo. 448, 615 P.2d 720 (1980);
In re Marriage of Theis, 121 Ill.App.3d 1092, 77 Ill.Dec. 608, 460 N.E.2d 912 (1984);
See Annotation,
Time Element as Affecting Admissibility of Statement or Complaint Made by Victim of Sex Crime as Res Gestae, Spontaneous Exclamation, or Excited Utterance, 89 A.L.R.3d 102 (1979). 2 S. Gard,
Jones on Evidence § 10:4a at 49 (6th ed. Supp. 1987) explains:
The frequency of child-abuse complaints has focused interest on the problem of making out-of-court declarations of very young children available as evidence, freed from the conventional restraints of the hearsay rule, to prove the crime charged by identifying the assailant. These cases provide a strong argument for relaxation of traditional hearsay exclusion and the broadening of the hearsay exceptions. Legislation to that end is finding its way into the books, and some courts have found ways to accomplish this result without legislation, mostly on the basis of relaxation of the requirement of spontaneity for res gestae qualification and recognizing the element of excitement or renewed or stimulated excitement as amounting to the same thing. But without legislative sanction courts have not gone so far as to adopt the principle that declarations of small children are inherently trustworthy for the lack of motive or capacity and understanding not to tell the truth, absent evidence of coaching or threats or suggestion by others to make the statements suspect. So far efforts at legislation that go the whole way have not met with success, and courts show reluctance to depart very far from well established standards of res gestae for young and old alike.
Two recent Florida decisions support the foregoing observation. Salter v. State, 500 So.2d 184 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (counsel- or’s hearsay recitation of child’s statement of child abuse made several hours after incident and without showing that the child was excited held inadmissible); Begley v. State, 483 So.2d 70 (Fla. 4th DCA 1986) (mother’s hearsay testimony of child’s