California Welfare and Institutions Code 16519.62 – (a) The out-of-court statements of a child under 12 years of age …
(a) The out-of-court statements of a child under 12 years of age who is the subject or victim of an allegation at issue constitutes admissible evidence at an administrative hearing conducted pursuant to this article. The out-of-court statement may provide the sole basis for a finding of fact if the proponent of the statement provided the statement to all parties prior to the hearing and the adjudicator finds that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide sufficient indicia of reliability. However, the out-of-court statement shall not be admissible if an objecting party establishes that the statement is unreliable because it was the product of fraud, deceit, or undue influence.
(b) This section shall not be construed to limit the right of any party to the administrative hearing to subpoena a witness whose statement is admitted as evidence or to introduce admissible evidence relevant to the weight of the hearsay evidence or the credibility of the hearsay declarant.
Terms Used In California Welfare and Institutions Code 16519.62
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Hearsay: Statements by a witness who did not see or hear the incident in question but heard about it from someone else. Hearsay is usually not admissible as evidence in court.
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 612, Sec. 125. (AB 1997) Effective January 1, 2017.)