A three year-old rape victim's statements to her mother made minutes after a painful event could still properly be considered "excited utterances." The Tennessee Supreme Court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing these statements into evidence.

The victim, along with her sister, visited the home of her maternal grandparents. Her uncle, the victim's mother's brother, the defendant, was also present. While the grandparents and the victim's sister watched television in the living room, the defendant watched television in the bedroom. The victim spent time in both rooms. Later in the day, the victim screamed in pain while urinating. Her mother, upon inspecting the victim, found "bits and tears and dried blood" on the inside of the victim's vaginal area. The mother asked the victim who had injured her, and after some reassurance, the victim stated that it was the defendant.

At trial, the judge allowed the victim's statements to her mother implicating the defendant into evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule, finding the statements to qualify as excited utterances. The defendant was convicted of aggravated rape, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court of Tennessee granted an appeal and affirmed, finding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.

The defendant argued that when the victim made the statements to her mother, she was no longer "under the stress or strain of the event," which in this case was her pain during urination, because her statements came minutes later, after reassurance from her parents. The court rejected this argument, finding that the time after the event was short, and that despite the reassurances of the parents, the stress of the event had not yet diminished.