Cody L. Pitts a/k/a Cody Lee Pitts v. State of Mississippi, 291 So.3d 751

Victim (pseudonym "Billy"), born 2006, alleged sexual abuse by stepfather Cody L. Pitts beginning when victim was in kindergarten (family lived in Pass Christian) and continuing through family moves until parents separated in 2014.
Victim disclosed the abuse first to his mother (Janice) in January 2015; disclosures developed over months; Janice reported to police and victim received therapy; a forensic interview was conducted in June 2016 and recorded.
Pitts was indicted in February 2017 for touching a child for lustful purposes (Miss. Code § 97-5-23(1)), tried March 2018; the victim testified at trial and was cross-examined.
The court held Rule 803(25) hearings outside the jury, found the victim competent, and admitted the victim’s out-of-court statements (mother’s testimony and the forensic-interview video) as having substantial indicia of reliability under the tender-years exception.
A jury convicted Pitts; he was sentenced to 10 years day-for-day without parole and ordered to register as a sex offender. Pitts appealed, raising (1) improper admission under M.R.E. 803(25) and (2) error in giving jury instruction S-6 about uncorroborated sex-crime testimony.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Pitts)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Admissibility under M.R.E. 803(25) (tender-years hearsay)	Victim’s out-of-court statements lacked substantial indicia of reliability (not spontaneous, risk of fabrication, improper bolstering).	Court properly conducted Rule 803(25) hearing, addressed reliability factors on the record; victim testified and was cross-examined, so Confrontation Clause not implicated.	Admission affirmed: trial court did not abuse its discretion; statements had substantial indicia of reliability.
Jury instruction S-6 (uncorroborated sex-victim testimony sufficient)	Instruction was peremptory, argumentative, an improper comment on evidence, and incomplete (omitted qualifying language limiting conviction where testimony is not contradicted/discredited).	Instruction is an accurate statement of Mississippi law; jury instructions read as a whole protected due-process and reasonable-doubt requirements.	Instruction affirmed: not reversible error; S-6 accurately stated law and, with other instructions, did not unduly comment on evidence.

Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004) (Confrontation Clause bars admission of testimonial hearsay unless declarant unavailable and defendant had prior opportunity for cross-examination)
Miley v. State, 935 So. 2d 998 (Miss. 2006) (the unsupported word of a sex-crime victim may suffice for conviction where not discredited or contradicted)
Marquis v. State, 242 So. 3d 86 (Miss. 2018) (admission of victim recordings can be proper and need not be excluded as improper bolstering when they provide context)
Blake v. State, 256 So. 3d 1161 (Miss. 2018) (standard of review for hearsay admission is abuse of discretion)
Tubbs v. State, 185 So. 3d 363 (Miss. 2016) (appellate review will affirm evidentiary rulings absent abuse of discretion)
Jackson v. State, 423 So. 2d 129 (Miss. 1982) (rules on preservation of issues and when post-trial motions are required)
Collier v. State, 711 So. 2d 458 (Miss. 1998) (uncorroborated testimony of a sex-crime victim can be sufficient to support conviction)