Opinion ID: 2542670
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cone's Statements to Officer Swisher

Text: The facts of this case more closely resemble the facts in Hammon than the facts in Davis. Cone was contacted by police alone on the front porch, exactly like the declarant in Hammon. Cone, though upset (like the declarant in Hammon ), did not ask for help. Instead she said he's around back. There was no immediate threat to Cone's person. During the incident itself while Raile was in the trailer, and despite Cone's statements that she had been pushed, Kent did not call the police right away. Instead Kent checked around the house, and then later called the police because Cone was uncomfortable. Later, the police took separate statements from each witness, including Cone. Like the declarant in Hammon, the police also asked Cone to make a formal written statement. Cone never asked for help for herself. Rather she did what a witness would do on direct examination and what the declarant in Hammon did  she recounted how potentially criminal events began and progressed. In short, Cone was testifying to the police officer in the same way that she would have testified in court. Swisher testified that Cone said Raile came through the back door and that he had pushed her. Cone continued by telling Swisher that Raile then went into his wife's room, that he was calling them names, and that he got in her face and then threatened her with a fake punch. None of those statements were in the present tense or related to an event in progress. These statements described a past event, made in response to Swisher's questions. Swisher even had Cone demonstrate how Raile had threatened to punch her. There was nothing in either the police questions or Cone's answers that would or could resolve a then-existing problem. Cone's statements were made in response to a police interrogation whose primary purpose was to investigate possible crimes that had already been completed. Objectively considered, there was no ongoing emergency at the time that Cone spoke to Officer Swisher. Cone's statements were testimonial. Even if there were an ongoing emergency when the police arrived, like the 911 statements in Davis, the emergency ended once the police had control of the situation. Police uncertainty about whether Raile was a suspect cannot transform Cone's later statements into nontestimonial statements. As the Davis Court noted, it is the statements themselves that must be examined from the point of view of an objective observer. Therefore, we do not examine whether Officer Swisher thought there was an ongoing emergency. Rather, we look to whether a reasonable declarant would perceive an emergency when Cone made her statements and whether Cone's statements were made in response to that emergency. See Davis, 126 S.Ct. at 2273-74. At the time Cone made her statements to Swisher, Cone was not asking for help, she was not in any danger, the situation was under the control of the police, and even Raile was under control. Considered objectively, there was no emergency. Thus, Cone's statements, made in response to police interrogation, produced testimonial statements. To illustrate further that Cone's statements here were testimonial, we can contrast them to the initial statements in Davis. Unlike the 911 caller in Davis, Cone did not describe an event that was actually happening, nor were her statements made during an ongoing emergency. They were made after police had control of the situation. The caller in Davis was calling for immediate help, whereas here Cone never asked for police assistance from Swisher. Unlike the 911 caller, Cone's statements were not made in a frantic or unstable situation. By the time Cone made her statements, Raile had become polite and compliant. Raile did not even try to interject himself into Cone's interrogation. Thus, in contrast to the statements in Davis, Cone's statements cannot be classified as nontestimonial. [11] In conclusion, the primary purpose of Swisher's interrogation was to elicit statements that established, and that were potentially relevant to, a later criminal prosecution. We reach this conclusion by examining how Cone's statements were made, what the statements were used for, whether there was an ongoing emergency, the formality of the interrogation, and what the statements themselves described. It is clear from the evidence that, in light of the context and circumstances, Cone's statements to Officer Swisher were testimonial and therefore their admission violated Raile's right to confront the witnesses against him.