Opinion ID: 2454527
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: admission of hearsay statement of unavailable witness

Text: During questioning at the Little Rock police station on May 19, 1993, appellant's girlfriend, Tracy Brooks, gave an unsworn statement to two Little Rock Police Department officers. In the statement, Brooks repeated statements that she asserted were made to her by appellant shortly after the May 15 shooting. Brooks's statement corroborated appellant's May 19 statement in many respects but also differed significantly by implicating appellant as the shootist. On the day before appellant's trial was to commence, Brooks was declared an unavailable witness under A.R.E. Rule 804(a)(2) and Rule 804(a)(5) pursuant to the state's motion. Her statement was ruled admissible under Rule 804(b)(3) as a statement against interest and under Rule 804(b)(5) as a statement not specifically covered by a hearsay rule exception but having equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness (the so-called residual hearsay exception). Brooks's statement was admitted at trial over appellant's objection. Appellant argues Brooks was not an unavailable witness and her statement did not qualify for admission under Rule 804(b)(3) or Rule 804(b)(5). We conclude that, although the trial court did not err in ruling Brooks was an unavailable witness, it did err in ruling her statement was admissible under Rule 804(b)(3) or Rule 804(b)(5).