01-3700 U.S. v. Polson

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“Mr. Polson maintains … that the evidence of the second instance is unreliable because it consists only of multiple layers of uncorroborated hearsay. It is true that the evidence is multiple hearsay; the daughter told the mother who told the police who finally testified. The mother’s interview with the police was recorded, however, and the transcript of the interview was admitted into evidence at the sentencing hearing. Mr. Polson has not suggested any reason to doubt the veracity of either the police officers or the mother. The evidence of the second incident may be suspect, however, because it consists ultimately in the four-year-old daughter’s reply to her mother’s query whether Mr. Polson had touched the daughter inappropriately on an occasion other than the one of which he was convicted. The district court recognized the weakness of this evidence and determined that, although it was reliable to the extent of establishing one additional instance of sexual assault, it was not sufficient to establish more than one. The evidence is indeed weak. However, given the district court’s selective scrutiny of the evidence, we find it difficult to say that its acceptance of the evidence to establish one additional instance amounted to an abuse of discretion.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, Shabaz, J., Ripple, J.