State v. Storch

In State v. Storch (1993), 66 Ohio St.3d 280, 291, 1993 Ohio 38, 612 N.E.2d 305, however, the Supreme Court of Ohio stated that the admission of an out-of-court statement may violate the Ohio Confrontation Clause even though no federal confrontation violation exists. The court explained: We construe the right to confrontation contained in Section 10, Article I to require live testimony where reasonably possible. However, circumstances may exist where the evidence clearly indicates that a child may suffer significant emotional harm by being forced to testify in the actual presence of a person he or she is accusing of abuse. In such circumstances, the child may be considered unavailable for purposes of the Rules of Evidence and the out-of-court statements admitted without doing violence to Section 10, Article I. Storch at 293. The court in Storch also stated that a trial court should hold a pre-trial hearing to determine whether a child can provide live testimony. Id. at 293-294.