United States v. Iron Shell
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
633 F.2d 77 (1980)
John Iron Shell (defendant) was charged with assault with intent to rape a nine-year-old girl. The examining doctor asked the girl what happened and whether the man had removed her clothes, and she answered that a man dragged her into the bushes and took her clothes off; the doctor used her answers to decide where on her body to examine more closely. At trial, the doctor testified to the girl's statements over Iron Shell's objection, and the trial court admitted the testimony under the medical-diagnosis hearsay exception. Iron Shell was convicted and appealed the admission of the doctor's testimony.
Whether a child victim's out-of-court statement to an examining doctor describing what happened and how her clothes were removed, given to guide the physical examination, is reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment so as to fall within the medical-diagnosis hearsay exception.