Opinion ID: 779707
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: somerville's custodial confession

Text: At the trial Detective Jorge Duran testified that Somerville had told him that he took Gorka into the alley with the intent to rob him, that when he resisted Somerville pulled out a revolver, that he accidentally dropped the gun causing it to fire and shoot Gorka in the head, that money was taken from Gorka, and that he subsequently buried the gun at the beach. No reference was made to Padilla. Somerville was not available for cross-examination at trial. The California Court of Appeal held that the admission of Somerville's confession was not error, first, because it was voluntary, and, second, because it was a declaration against penal interest. The court held that [t]he exception for declarations against penal interest is a `firmly rooted' exception which satisfies the `indicia of reliability' required by the confrontation clause. Ct.App. (Cal.) Op. at 21, (citing People v. Wilson, 17 Cal.App.4th 271, 21 Cal.Rptr.2d 420 (1993)). The court did not have the benefit of the Supreme Court's decision in Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U.S. 116, 119 S.Ct. 1887, 144 L.Ed.2d 117 (1999), handed down approximately a year later. In Lilly, the Court held that a confession by an accomplice which incriminates a criminal defendant does not come within a firmly rooted hearsay exception. Id. at 134, n. 5, 119 S.Ct. 1887. The district court, relying on Lilly, held Somerville's confession did not fall within a firmly-rooted hearsay exception and did not bear any particularized guarantees of trustworthiness. Cf. Hernandez v. Small, 282 F.3d 1132, 1142-43 (9th Cir.2002) (stating that under Lilly, admission of statements that inculpate only the declarant and do not shift or spread blame does not violate Confrontation Clause). It went on to hold that its admission was harmless error. On this appeal, the state does not challenge the district court's finding of error. Padilla, however, attacks the harmless error finding. The only issue before us, therefore, is whether admission of the confession was harmless error, which we address in section IV of this opinion.