Opinion ID: 458618
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Other Indicia of Reliability

Text: 31 (a) Adoptive Admission 32 The state alternatively argues that under Parker v. Randolph, 442 U.S. 62, 99 S.Ct. 2132, 60 L.Ed.2d 713 (1979) and Poole v. Perini, 659 F.2d 730 (6th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 910, 102 S.Ct. 1259, 71 L.Ed.2d 450 (1982), the petitioner adopted Martin's confession by shrugging his shoulders when asked to confirm Martin's statements. We find no merit to this contention. In Parker the Supreme Court held that Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), does not require reversal of a defendant's conviction by joint trial when the defendant's confession interlocks with and supports the confession of a nontestifying codefendant. 442 U.S. at 64, 99 S.Ct. at 2134. As the petitioner was tried alone and never made a confession, Parker is not applicable to this case. Moreover, we decline to find on this record that the petitioner's non-commital shrug constituted an adoption of Martin's statements to Officer Lee. As noted in Poole v. Perini, a defendant cannot adopt an out-of-court statement as his own without some affirmative action on his part. 659 F.2d at 733. The petitioner did not verbally assent to Martin's statements and in fact strongly denied to police any involvement in the burglary. Nor would the petitioner be expected to refute Martin's statements after twice being advised of his right to remain silent. United States v. Brinson, 411 F.2d 1057, 1060 (6th Cir.1969). 33 (b) Particularized Guarantees of Trustworthiness 34 As noted above, in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), the Supreme Court acknowledged the inherently suspect trustworthiness of an unavailable codefendant's confession which implicates the other defendant. Id. at 136, 88 S.Ct. at 1628. In the confession at issue here, the declarant made no spontaneous utterance; his oral confession was made in response to custodial interrogation, without oath or support of a signed statement. Nor did the petitioner corroborate Martin's statements with a subsequent confession. We conclude that Martin's confession was not admissible under an exception to the rule against hearsay and did not otherwise afford adequate indicia of reliability. The admission of the confession, therefore, violated the petitioner's right to confrontation.