Opinion ID: 1060657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Declarant Unavailable to Testify

Text: In both Chambers and Green , the declarants, i.e., the third parties confessing to the crimes for which Green and Chambers were being tried, were unavailable to testify. Had the declarants been available to testify, the hearsay evidence would likely have been properly excluded. See Gacy, 994 F.2d at 316 (holding when direct evidence is available the constitution does not provide an accused the privilege of proffering, through hearsay, his self-serving statements....). A declarant must be unavailable to testify for the declaration against penal interest exception to be applicable. As noted in the previous section, the victim in this case was a non-party. The declarations against interest exception applies to non-parties. Accordingly, the majority should have analyzed this issue under the exception for declarations against interest. While such an analysis would have met one of the factors of Chambers and Green , the hearsay exception would not apply as the declarant was available to testify. State v. Dicks, 615 S.W.2d 126, 129 (Tenn.1981); Smith v. State, 587 S.W.2d 659, 661 (1978).