People v. Burton

The majority errs in hold*306ing that the complainant’s statements to the police officer were inadmissible under the excited utterance exception because there was no independent evidence of a forcible criminal sexual assault.

The requirement of forced sexual relations, bruising, signs of force, ripped or torn undergarments, or other witness corroboration, as proof that something out of the ordinary occurred evokes the long discredited notion that a person must be injured in order to be a rape victim. The issue is not whether there was "independent” evidence of a startling event. Properly…