A teacher, her aide and a school nurse will be allowed to testify about how a 4-year-old girl told them that a man she knew as "Big Man" or "Big Boy" hurt her and that she had seen him naked, a Pulaski County circuit judge ruled Friday.
Judge Leon Johnson ruled that prosecutors can present testimony from Chicot Early Childhood Center teacher Holly Richards, aide Thessie Brown and nurse Rebecca Melton about what the girl, now 6, told them had happened to her three days before Halloween 2013.
Devonta Martin, 22, of Little Rock was charged with rape based on the girl's accusations and the presence of his DNA on her underwear. He's scheduled to stand trial Wednesday and faces a possible life sentence.
Typically, hearsay -- a statement made outside the presence of the jury -- is not allowed as evidence. But there's an exception possible for young children, which the judge agreed to apply after a 21/2-hour hearing that featured testimony from the school officials and the girl's mother.
Deputy prosecutor Jayme Butts-Hall argued that prosecutors should be allowed to use hearsay evidence because the girl does not remember what happened to her.
Brown said the girl told her that Big Man had hurt her while giving her a bath.
"She said, 'Ms. Brown, can I tell you something? Big Man put a towel over my eyes and bathed me,'" Brown said, telling the judge the girl also described seeing the man's bare buttocks and genitals.
Richards testified that she overheard a bit of the conversation between Brown and the girl, describing how she heard Brown gasp, "Oh, my" while the child was talking.
"I could tell from her tone, it was unusual," Richards told the judge.
Both women said the girl was calm and did not seem upset.
"It was just like she was telling me anything else," Richards said.
The girl said the man "put his thing in there, pointing to her private area," Melton testified, describing the girl's demeanor as "typical 4-year-old."
Melton and Richards also described hearing the girl's mother question whether the girl was telling the truth, but they testified that they knew her to be honest.
Questioned by defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, the 26-year-old mother acknowledged that her daughter, a week after the accusation, denied Martin had done anything.
That recantation showed that the girl's statements were unreliable, so the women should not be allowed to testify about them, the attorney told the judge.
The woman said her daughter knows Martin as "Big Boy." She said Martin told her the girl might have been confused from seeing a sex scene when she walked in on him and a friend watching a movie.
Metro on 08/08/2015