The State v. Walker, 342 Ga. App. 733

Walker was indicted in August 2015 for child molestation alleged to have occurred in 2011; the victim was born April 4, 2000.
The State sought to introduce a recorded forensic interview of the victim conducted April 2, 2015 (two days before the victim’s 15th birthday) as child hearsay.
Walker filed a motion in limine to exclude the interview; the trial court granted the motion.
The trial court held that former OCGA § 24-3-16 (governing hearsay statements by children under 14) controlled because the alleged offense occurred in 2011 (before July 1, 2013), and the new child-hearsay statute (OCGA § 24-8-820) only applies to offenses on or after July 1, 2013.
The State argued that the newer statute should apply (as a procedural rule at trial), but the court relied on the Legislature’s explicit effective-date language requiring pre-July 1, 2013 offenses to be governed by the statute in effect when the offense occurred.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Which child‑hearsay statute governs admissibility of the victim’s 2015 statement about a 2011 offense?	State: OCGA § 24-8-820 should apply; procedural rule at trial should be applied retroactively.	Walker: Former OCGA § 24-3-16 applies because offense occurred in 2011 (before July 1, 2013).	Court: Former OCGA § 24-3-16 governs; the Legislature specified the statute’s temporal application.

Jenkins v. State, 284 Ga. 642 (interpretation of statute is a question of law reviewed de novo)
Laster v. State, 340 Ga. App. 96 (pre‑July 1, 2013 offenses governed by former OCGA § 24-3-16)
Harris v. State, 340 Ga. App. 865 (citing Laster that OCGA § 24-8-820 does not apply to pre‑July 1, 2013 offenses)
Mason v. Home Depot USA, 283 Ga. 271 (procedural rules may be applied retroactively absent contrary legislative intent)
State v. Hill, 321 Ga. App. 679 (retroactive application considered only if Legislature did not express a contrary intention)