Opinion ID: 1470596
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Exclusion of Defense Witness Testimony

Text: [¶ 36] Roberts called Jaime Bolduc, a friend of Roberts's family for almost twenty years, who testified that Mendoza had stated shortly before her death that if Mendoza had a gun, she would shoot Roberts. Bolduc testified that she did not initially tell police of this statement because she felt she would have been betraying her friendship with Mendoza, but did eventually inform police of the statement in November 2005. [¶ 37] In its cross-examination of Bolduc, the State sought to raise the inference that Bolduc had fabricated Mendoza's statement to protect Roberts from being arrested and prosecuted for murder. In an effort to rebut the State's charge of fabrication, Roberts sought to elicit the testimony of Michelle Booth and Jeri Wade that Bolduc had repeated the statement to both witnesses prior to her interview with police in November 2005, but after Mendoza's death. The State objected, arguing that Bolduc's motive to fabricate the statement arose at the time of Mendoza's death, and that her statements to both witnesses were therefore inadmissible pursuant to M.R. Evid. 801(d)(1). The court agreed, excluding the testimony. [¶ 38] Maine Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1) provides that [a] prior consistent statement by the declarant, whether or not under oath, is admissible only to rebut an express or implied charge against the declarant of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive. The proponent of such a prior consistent statement has the burden of establishing that the statement was (1) consistent with the in-court statement of the witness, (2) offered to rebut an express or implied charge of recent fabrication or improper influence, and (3) made prior to the time the supposed motive to falsify arose. State v. Weisbrode, 653 A.2d 411, 415 (Me.1995). The trial court is accorded discretion in its determination of when the motive to fabricate arose. Id. [¶ 39] In the present case, the court found that Roberts failed to establish that Bolduc's motive to fabricate Mendoza's statement  her desire to protect Roberts  arose at any time other than at the time of the shooting. This finding is not clearly erroneous as Bolduc herself testified that she had been a friend of Roberts's family for almost twenty years and had only recently become close to Mendoza at the time of Mendoza's death. Because the court found that Bolduc's statements to both Booth and Wade occurred after the motive to falsify arose, the statements do not qualify as prior consistent statements under Rule 801(d)(1). Accordingly, we find no error in the court's exclusion of Booth's and Wade's testimony.