Matthew D. Norwood v. United States

To rehabilitate a child witness after an allegation of coaching, a trial judge admitted a video recording of the child forensic interview of the complaining witness as a prior consistent statement. The jury watched the video in open court and took the video into deliberations as an admitted prosecution exhibit. On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces affirmed admission of the video recording under Military Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(B)(i), holding that coaching is an allegation of improper influence. The lower court’s opinion endorsed not only playing the statement in open court, but also permitting the jury to retain and review the video during deliberations. The Question Presented is: 1. Whether admission of a recorded hearsay statement as a physical exhibit, permitted to be reviewed during deliberations, is a fair application of the exclusions and exceptions to the prohibition of hearsay.