Opinion ID: 1501117
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: Whether Victim's Statements Were Hearsay

Text: Brown contends that the trial court erred by overruling his objection to the testimony of Vickie Noland and Anthony Brown concerning statements made by Ford because those statements were inadmissible hearsay. Noland testified that on March 5, 1985, Ford had called her and asked Noland to come and pick her up. Noland testified that Ford was speaking very fast and told her that she was afraid of Brown because she came home and found Brown on the stairway right before the entrance of her apartment. Anthony Brown also testified that Ford had told him on March 5, 1985, that she was afraid of defendant Vernon Brown because Brown had been in a place close to her apartment where he was not supposed to be. Out-of-court statements offered to prove knowledge or state of mind of the declarant are not hearsay. State v. Basile, 942 S.W.2d 342, 357 (Mo. banc 1997). Such statements are admissible if relevant. State v. Bell, 950 S.W.2d 482, 483 (Mo. banc 1997). The state offered this testimony to show Ford's state of mind regarding her fears about Brown and not to show the truth of the matter being asserted. The hearsay declarations of a victim's state of mind are particularly relevant where the defendant has put the victim's mental state at issue by claiming accident, self-defense or suicide. State v. Shurn, 866 S.W.2d 447, 458 (Mo. banc 1993). In this case the testimony's probative value also outweighs its prejudicial effect. Brown confessed that Ford allegedly attacked him and accidentally stabbed herself in the chest and in the neck. Thus, the trial court did not err in admitting the testimony.