Louisiana Children’s Code 326 – Competent evidence; procedures for making videotape
Terms Used In Louisiana Children's Code 326
- 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.
A. A videotape of the statements of a protected person who is alleged to be the victim of or witness to a crime may be offered in evidence for or against such crime. To render such a videotape competent evidence, all of the following must be satisfactorily proved:
(1) Such electronic recording was voluntarily made by the protected person.
(2) No relative of the protected person was present in the room in which the recording was made.
(3) No attorney for either party was present when the statement was made.
(4) Such recording was not made of answers to questions calculated to lead the protected person to make any particular statement.
(5) Such recording is both visual and oral and is recorded on film or videotape or by other electronic means.
(6) Such recording is accurate, has not been altered, and reflects what the protected person said.
(7) The taking of the protected person’s statement was supervised by a physician, a social worker, a law enforcement officer, a licensed psychologist, a medical psychologist, a licensed professional counselor, a civilian investigator, or an authorized representative of the department.
(8) Every voice on the recording is identified.
B. The department shall develop and promulgate regulations regarding training requirements and certification for department personnel who are authorized to supervise the taking of the protected person’s statement.
C. The provisions of this Article relative to a civilian investigator’s ability to render a videotape as competent evidence shall only apply to a civilian investigator within a parish with a population of not less than three hundred eighty-three thousand and not more than four hundred forty thousand as provided in the most recent federal decennial census.
Acts 1991, No. 235, §3, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1999, No. 1309, §9, eff. Jan. 1, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 486, §5, eff. June 21, 2001; Acts 2004, No. 241, §2; Acts 2009, No. 251, §13; Acts 2024, No. 548, §2.