Opinion ID: 2427047
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Joe Childress's testimony

Text: Tracy Brooks's statement to the police implicating Mr. Foreman as the person who shot at Officer Callanen was admitted into evidence at the first trial on the ground that she was unavailable to testify. In response, Mr. Foreman presented a statement given by Durell Childress's brother, Joe Childress, to the police. Joe Childress told the police that his brother told him he was the person who did the shooting. At the time of the first and second trials, Joe Childress was deceased. In the second trial, Mr. Foreman sought to introduce Joe Childress's statement. Mr. Foreman's counsel argued that the statement, although obviously hearsay, should be admitted under Ark. R. Evid. 803(24), which is the residual or catch-all exception for statements that have guarantees of trustworthiness equivalent to those supporting the other exceptions to the hearsay rule. In colloquy between counsel for Mr. Foreman and the prosecutor, the law of the case doctrine was mentioned. Mr. Foreman's counsel pointed out that the statement had been admitted in the first trial and asserted that the prior Judge's ruling as to the statement's admissibility was binding in the second trial. There is some authority for Mr. Foreman's position. See, e.g., Commonwealth v. Starr, 541 Pa. 564, 664 A.2d 1326 (1995). Other authority suggests that the argument is meritless. See, e.g., United States v. Riley, 684 F.2d 542, 545 n. 5 (8th Cir.1982). Although Mr. Foreman presents an interesting legal question, we decline to address it further because the issue is not preserved for review. Although Mr. Foreman's abstract suggests that his counsel made an objection based on the law-of-the-case doctrine to the Trial Court, our review of the record shows that defense counsel only discussed the point with the prosecutor. There is no indication that a law-of-the-case argument was made to the Trial Court or that the Judge even heard the colloquy between counsel. The Trial Court's sole remark concerning Joe Childress's statement was his ruling on Rule 803(24). Because the Trial Court was not presented with an argument on this point concerning the law of the case, and made no ruling on it, the issue is barred. Terry v. State, supra .