Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-637_10n2.pdf
Page Number: 6.0

Cite as:  595 U. S. ____ (2022) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

to criminal possession of a weapon.  But rather than having 
Morris  plead  to  the  charge  in  the  existing  indictment  for
possession of a 9-millimeter handgun, the State filed a new 
charge alleging that Morris had possessed a .357-magnum
revolver, a different type of firearm than the one used to kill 
the victim.  In exchange for this plea, the prosecution rec-
ommended a sentence of time served.  The State and Mor-
ris’ counsel agreed that there was insufficient evidence of
Morris’ possession of a .357-magnum revolver to obtain an 
indictment absent Morris’ willingness to admit to the alle-
gations.  Morris did so, against his attorney’s advice, to se-
cure his release that day.

In 2011, the State learned that Hemphill’s DNA matched 
a sample from a blue sweater that police had recovered in a 
search of Gilliam’s apartment shortly after the crime.  Eye-
witnesses had described the shooter as wearing a blue shirt 
or sweater.  In 2013, Hemphill was arrested and indicted 
for the murder. 

B 
At trial, Hemphill pursued a third-party  culpability de-
fense  by  blaming  Morris  for  the shooting.    In  his  opening 
statement,  Hemphill’s  counsel  noted  that  officers  had  re-
covered 9-millimeter ammunition from Morris’ nightstand 
hours  after  a  9-millimeter  bullet  killed  the  victim.  The 
State did not object, but later contended that Hemphill’s ar-
gument  had  been  misleading  because  officers  also  had
found  .357-caliber  bullets  on  the  nightstand  and  because 
Morris  ultimately  pleaded  guilty  to  possessing  a  .357  re-
volver. 

Morris, however, was unavailable to testify at Hemphill’s
trial.  As  a  result,  the  State  sought  to  introduce  the  tran-
script of Morris’ plea allocution to suggest that he had pos-
sessed  only  a  .357  revolver.    Hemphill’s  counsel  objected, 
arguing that the plea allocution was “clearly hearsay” and 
that Hemphill was being “deprived of an opportunity [for]