Respondent's Brief - Washington State Courts

the credibility of the child's statement," but "to provide the jury with
some context to the statements that C[.D.] gave to Cornelia Thomas" so
that it could properly assess the credibility of those statements. RP 244-
46. See CP 94-98. The defendant argued that admission of this portion of
the interview would be "a comment on [C.D.' s] credibility." RP 246-47,
See RP 70-71. The court ruled that the entire video was admissible to
provide the jury with the "context" in which the statements were made. RP
248.
The State moved to exclude evidence of Rachel McCutcheon's
alleged drug use at any time other than that ofC.D.' s disclosure to her of
sexual abuse in this case. RP 253-54, 259-60, 281-82; CP 94-98. The
defendant argued that evidence of McCutcheon's alleged drug use,
employment as a stripper, and prior CPS investigation was relevant to
why this child[. i.e., C.D.] tells this story." RP 257-58, 261-62, 283-87.
Although the court initially deferred judgment, RP 258 -59, it ultimately
held that such evidence was not relevant and therefore, not admissible. RP
287-303, 305-09, 313-25.
The parties then selected a jury, RP 276-80, 304-05, and gave their
opening statements. RP 305.
The State called C.D., RP 326-45, Rachel McCutcheon, RP 345-
96, S.D., RP 396-419, Maria Del-Carmen, RP 419-41, Teresa Russell, RP
448-82, Detective Gretchen Aguirre, RP 510-21, Cassandra Ellsworth, RP
5 - optest-prosm imptrial m- cdanie Noc