The state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case over whether a young girl’s out-of-court statements under the Tender Years Act were properly admitted in her father’s child rape case when the girl had previously been determined incompetent to testify.
A split state Superior Court panel granted a new trial to Jay Lee Walter Sr., who had been facing an effective life sentence following a Franklin County jury trial. The state filed for an appeal and the justices granted review late last month. All three of the judges on the Superior Court panel wrote separate memorandum opinions.
