California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from The People v. Wesley, D055376, No. SCD206692 (Cal. App. 2010):
"A spontaneous statement is one made without deliberation or reflection. [Citation.] 'The crucial element in determining whether a declaration is sufficiently reliable to be admissible under this exception to the hearsay rule is... the mental state of the speaker. The nature of the utterance how long it was made after the startling incident and whether the speaker blurted it out, for example may be important, but solely as an indicator of the mental state of the declarant.' " (People v. Raley (1992) 2 Cal.4th 870, 892-893.)
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