People of Michigan v. Stanley G Duncan

*717Young, C.J.

While hearsay is generally inadmissible,1 the Michigan Rules of Evidence permit certain prior out-of-court statements to be admitted into evidence when a witness is unavailable.2 MRE 804(a) enumerates five situations when a witness is unavailable, including when the witness is unable to testify because of a then existing physical or mental illness or infirmity.3 We hold that when a child attempts to testify but, because of her youth, is unable to do so because she lacks the mental ability to overcome her distress, the child has a “then existing. . . mental. . . infirmity” within…