Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/507

 502us2$25H 01-22-99 08:28:07 PAGES OPINPGT

Cite as: 502 U. S. 346 (1992)

349

Opinion of the Court

the prosecution must either produce the declarant at trial or the trial court must find that the declarant is unavailable. The Illinois Appellate Court concluded that such procedures are not constitutionally required. We agree with that conclusion. Petitioner was convicted by a jury of aggravated criminal sexual assault, residential burglary, and unlawful restraint. Ill. Rev. Stat., ch. 38, ¶¶ 12–14, 19–3, 10–3 (1989). The events giving rise to the charges related to the sexual assault of S. G., then four years old. Testimony at the trial established that in the early morning hours of April 16, 1988, S. G.’s babysitter, Tony DeVore, was awakened by S. G.’s scream. DeVore went to S. G.’s bedroom and witnessed petitioner leaving the room, and petitioner then left the house. 6 Tr. 10–11. DeVore knew petitioner because petitioner was a friend of S. G.’s mother, Tammy Grigsby. Id., at 27. DeVore asked S. G. what had happened. According to DeVore’s trial testimony, S. G. stated that petitioner had put his hand over her mouth, choked her, threatened to whip her if she screamed and had “touch[ed] her in the wrong places.” Asked by DeVore to point to where she had been touched, S. G. identified the vaginal area. Id., at 12–17. Tammy Grigsby, S. G.’s mother, returned home about 30 minutes later. Grigsby testified that her daughter appeared “scared” and a “little hyper.” Id., at 77–78. Grigsby proceeded to question her daughter about what had happened. At trial, Grigsby testified that S. G. repeated her claims that petitioner had choked and threatened her. Grigsby also testified that S. G. stated that petitioner had “put his mouth on her front part.” Id., at 79. Grigsby also noticed that S. G. had bruises and red marks on her neck that had not been there previously. Id., at 81. Grigsby called the police. Officer Terry Lewis arrived a few minutes later, roughly 45 minutes after S. G.’s scream had first awakened DeVore. Lewis questioned S. G. alone in the kitchen. At trial, Lewis’