Foreman v. State (1999)

In Foreman v. State, 995 S.W.2d 854 (Tex. App.--Austin 1999, pet. ref'd), the Austin Court of Appeals, in addressing the meaning of Tex. Code Crim. Proc. article 38.072, determined that the "'first person' refers to the first adult who can remember and relate at trial the child's statement that in some discernable manner describes the alleged offense." In that case, the child victim first told her mother and stepfather that she had been sexually abused by her "Uncle Rodney" during a vacation. Id. at 855-57. At a hearing, however, the victim's mother and stepfather told the trial court that they did not have any memory of the victim telling them about the abuse. Id. The trial court determined that the proper outcry witness under article 38.072 was a counselor and not the victim's mother and stepfather because the counselor was the first person to remember and relate the conversation. Id. at 857, 859.