U.S. justices OK teachers' testimony in child-abuse case
By Lawrence Hurley
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously reinstated an Ohio man's convictions for beating his girlfriend's children after he sent her hundreds of miles away to engage in prostitution.
The nine justices rejected the argument made by defendant Darius Clark that testimony given during the trial by preschool teachers who talked to one of the victims, his girlfriend's 3-year-old son, should have been disallowed.
The testimony in question, in which the teachers pressed the boy on injuries they had noticed, did not violate Clark's right under the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment to confront his accusers, the court held.
Clark was convicted of abusing the 3-year-old and the boy's 18-month-old sister. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison. But appeals courts threw out the convictions, saying impermissible evidence - the teachers' testimony - was used at trial.
The investigation began in Cleveland in March 2010 when Clark's girlfriend was in Washington working as a prostitute at Clark's request, according to court papers.
Teachers at the boy's preschool noticed what appeared to be injuries. After he was asked who caused the injuries, the boy identified the perpetrator as "Dee," Clark's nickname.
The teachers testified about the conversations at trial.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing on behalf of the court, wrote that the statements were admissible at trial because the teachers were not soliciting the information with the intention of using it as evidence. Instead, the teachers were seeking to resolve an emergency situation, which, under Supreme Court precedent, is the type of testimony that is allowed to be admitted at trial.
"It is irrelevant that the teachers' questions and their duty to report the matter had the natural tendency to result in Clark's prosecution," Alito wrote.
The children's mother, who was not identified in court papers, pleaded guilty to separate charges, including child endangerment.
Local media reported last month that Clark is facing new charges for allegedly running a prostitution ring from the county jail.
The case is Ohio v. Clark, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 13-1352.
(Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Will Dunham)
