Opinion ID: 1653372
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Admissibility of Extrajudicial Statements

Text: The defendant asserts that the trial court erred in allowing the testimony of witnesses who said that the Browns had told them Eddie sustained his injuries in a fall downstairs. Both of the witnesses who testified to this effect spoke with Evajean and Mack Brown at the same time and could not remember which one of them said that Eddie fell down the stairs. The defendant contends that this testimony was inadmissible because the witnesses could not say with certainty that Mack Brown made the statement in question. The defendant erroneously relies on Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), in contending that this evidence should have been excluded. The defendant asserts that the use of these statements at trial was akin to the use, at trial, of a co-defendant's confession containing statements tending to incriminate the non-confessing defendant. The theory for the exclusion of such confessions under Bruton is that the confrontation clause of the United States Constitution is violated when such a confession of a co-defendant (who denies the confession or does not testify) is admitted into evidence, because the inculpated non-confessing defendant is denied the opportunity to cross-examine the maker of the inculpating statements. This case is distinguishable from the problem addressed in Bruton . Although indicted together, the Browns were tried separately. The statements are not in the nature of a confession, and they do not facially indicate that at the time they were made Evajean Brown blamed Mack Brown for Eddie's death. At most, they indicate that Mack and Evajean Brown acted together to try to conceal the true source of Eddie's injuries. Mack Brown's rights under the confrontation clause were not violated, because he had the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses on the crucial issue of whether these statements were made and, if so, whether he was himself present and aware of the effort to explain Eddie's injuries. These statements were certainly relevant, not because of their specific content, but because their very existence indicates that an attempt was made to explain away the source of Eddie's injuries. Moreover, there is no hearsay problem. A statement introduced to prove only that it was made, regardless of the truth or falsity of the statement, does not violate the rule against hearsay. Cannon v. Chadwell, 25 Tenn. App. 42, 150 S.W.2d 710, 712 (1941).