Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080100
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Without comment, the court let stand the convictions of the Seattle-area couple, William and Kathleen Swan.
The justices turned away the Swans' argument that it is unconstitutional to convict someone exclusively on the basis of ``hearsay'' evidence. That is testimony provided by witnesses who have no personal knowledge of what happened but were told about it by someone else.
The case gained national attention when it was presented by the ``60 Minutes'' television program as an unjust result of an overzealous response to concerns about child abuse.
The Swans were convicted in 1986 of statutory rape after being charged with sexually abusing their daughter and her friend.
The couple completed 50-month prison sentences, but their lawyers said they still suffer ``substantial disabilities'' as a result of their convictions. Their daughter has been taken from them and is living in a foster home.
The children did not testify at the Swans' trial because they were judged incompetent to do so. The main evidence against the Swans was the testimony of two witnesses who worked at the girls' day-care center.
Examinations of the girls disclosed no conclusive physical evidence of abuse.
The Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that people can be convicted of child abuse without face-to-face confrontations with their young accusers.
A criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront adverse witnesses ``may be satisfied ... only where the reliability of the testimony is otherwise assured,'' the court said in that decision.
The Swans' appeal contended there was no such assurance about the day-care workers' testimony.
by CNB