Opinion ID: 1749644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exclusion of Collins's Statements

Text: Cox next claims that it was error for the circuit court to exclude incriminating statements made by Kingrale Collins to two separate people. [4] The first statement that Cox desired to introduce was Collins's statement to Antonio Milam after the Strickland murder: I shot the bitch. According to Cox, at the time Collins made that statement, he had the shotgun and shotgun shells in his hand. The second statement that Cox intended to introduce involved this colloquy between Collins and Keith Rusty Ward, the Cross County Jailer: COLLINS: Rusty, do you know what I'm charged with? WARD: No. COLLINS: It's a capital murder. WARD: Man, that's a heavy charge. COLLINS: Yeah, and I did it too. The prosecutor stipulated that Collins was unavailable to testify but moved in limine that the statements be excluded as hearsay and because Cox and Collins were accomplices. The circuit court granted the motion and admonished Cox throughout the trial not to allude to these statements. Cox contends that this was error. Specifically, Cox maintains that Collins's admissions constituted an exception to the hearsay rule under Ark. R. Evid. 804(b)(3), which reads: (b) Hearsay Exceptions. The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule if the declarant is unavailable as a witness: .... (3) Statement against interest. A statement which was at the time of its making so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or proprietary interest, or so far tended to subject him to civil or criminal liability or to render invalid a claim by him against another or to make him an object of hatred, ridicule, or disgrace, that a reasonable man in his position would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true. A statement tending to expose the declarant to criminal liability and offering to exculpate the accused is not admissible unless corroborating circumstances clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement. A statement or confession offered against the accused in a criminal case, made by a codefendant or other person implicating both himself and the accused, is not within this exception. (Emphasis added.) Reading this rule, we first note that Collins was clearly unavailable. Going forward, the rule reads that a statement which exposes the declarant, in this case Collins, to criminal liability, and also exculpates the accused (Cox) is not admissible unless it is proven trustworthy by corroboration. Cox, in his arguments, focuses on the fact that the statements were against Collins's penal interests and were trustworthy, as shown by Collins's ultimate conviction. Nevertheless, we question the application of this rule when accomplices are involved. The prosecutor's theory of the case was that the two young men were accomplices, an issue that we have already discussed. The fact that Collins says he committed the murder does not exclude the fact that Cox was an accomplice and assisted in its perpetration. The jury found that Cox was culpable, after being instructed on the law of accomplice liability. Accordingly, we hold that the circumstances of these statements do not fall within the ambit of the hearsay exception set forth in Ark. R. Evid. 804(b)(3). Furthermore, we do not believe that our case of Zinger v. State, 313 Ark. 70, 852 S.W.2d 320 (1993), mandates a different conclusion, as Cox would have it. That case concerned the issue of third-party culpability and what is required, but it did not involve Rule 804(b)(3) or the issue of accomplice liability. Those matters govern our decision in the instant case. The circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying the admission of these statements into evidence.