in the Matter of C.B.L., a Juvenile, 11-15-00227-CV

Juvenile appellant (age 14) was found by a jury to have committed aggravated sexual assault of a child (victim C.A., age 4); trial court committed him to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department until his 19th birthday.
Witnesses saw the appellant and C.A. alone in a classroom; C.A.’s sister observed appellant adjusting C.A.’s pants and was told to keep it secret.
C.A. told her mother that appellant pulled down her pants, exposed his penis, and penetrated her; a sexual assault nurse examiner found a healed cut consistent with sexual assault.
C.A. also disclosed the assault during counseling with Maura Jarldane, a licensed professional counselor; Jarldane testified to C.A.’s statements over defense hearsay objection.
Appellant testified and denied the assault. The trial court admitted Jarldane’s testimony; on appeal the court addressed whether that testimony was admissible under the medical diagnosis/treatment hearsay exception and whether any error was harmless.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether counselor Jarldane could testify to out-of-court statements by C.A. under the medical diagnosis/treatment exception to hearsay (Tex. R. Evid. 803(4))	State: counselor is a qualified provider and C.A.’s statements were made in counseling for treatment, so admissible	Appellant: record lacks foundation showing statements were reasonably pertinent to diagnosis/treatment, that identity of perpetrator was necessary for treatment, or that child understood importance of truthfulness	Reversed admission as an abuse of discretion: statements did not meet Taylor factors for 803(4) foundation
Whether the erroneous admission of the counselor’s testimony required reversal	State: error was nonconstitutional and harmless because same statements were admitted elsewhere (C.A. and mother testified)	Appellant: admission prejudiced substantial rights	Affirmed judgment: error was nonconstitutional and harmless because testimony was cumulative of admissible evidence

Martin v. State, 173 S.W.3d 463 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) (abuse-of-discretion standard for evidentiary rulings)
Johnson v. State, 490 S.W.3d 895 (Tex. Crim. App. 2016) (trial-court rulings upheld if correct under any theory and abuse-of-discretion explained)
Taylor v. State, 268 S.W.3d 571 (Tex. Crim. App. 2008) (requirements for admitting child statements to mental-health providers under Rule 803(4))
Anderson v. State, 182 S.W.3d 914 (Tex. Crim. App. 2006) (harmless-error analysis for nonconstitutional errors)