Written Victim Statements in Domestic Violence Cases

What Is a Smith Affidavit?

In many domestic violence cases, there are no independent witnesses. The only two people who know what happened are the alleged victim and the person accused. That means the entire case can come down to one person's account, and jurors are often reluctant to convict on a single witness's word alone, especially when that witness later changes their story or no longer wants to testify. Because of this, police investigating a domestic violence call will often ask, and sometimes pressure, the alleged victim to give a written statement during the initial investigation. In Washington, these are known as Smith Affidavits, named for the case that established when they can be used at trial. A Smith Affidavit can sometimes be entered as evidence for the jury to weigh, even if the person who wrote it takes the stand later and tells a different story. Whether this matters much to a case depends heavily on the facts. In a lower-level case with no visible injuries, a written statement may carry little weight. In a more serious case involving real injuries, it can become one of the most important pieces of evidence either side has.

When a Written Statement Can Be Used Against You

A Smith Affidavit isn't automatically admissible just because it exists. Washington law sets specific conditions before a jury is ever allowed to see one. It has to be a sworn statement. The person has to have written or recorded it under oath, understanding at the time that there were legal consequences for lying. A statement someone was simply told to sign, without that context being explained, may not qualify. The alleged victim has to show up to trial. Under the confrontation clause, a Smith Affidavit cannot be used as evidence unless the person who wrote it actually testifies, and either tells a different story than what they wrote or says they cannot remember. If they never appear at trial, the statement cannot come in at all. The circumstances it was written under matter. It's common for police to write the statement themselves and simply have the alleged victim sign it, without fully explaining that it's a sworn legal document. It's also common for someone to be impaired at the time, or for the process to move too fast for them to understand what they were agreeing to. Each of these situations can be grounds to challenge the statement's admissibility before trial ever begins. Even when a Smith Affidavit does come in as evidence, it isn't necessarily the win for the prosecution it might seem to be. A witness who has changed their story creates real questions for a jury to sit with. The prosecution will often argue the change happened out of fear. In practice, it's just as often the opposite: someone said more than what actually happened during a stressful call to police, sometimes to protect themselves, sometimes because the situation was more complicated than a single phone call could capture. A skilled defense makes sure the jury hears that side of the story too, not just the version written down on the worst night.