Opinion ID: 1402588
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Statement of Johnny Lucero

Text: {39} Coffin also sought to introduce a statement made to a defense investigator by Johnny Lucero, a witness to part of the incident who died approximately a month before trial. Lucero told the investigator that he was with Leo Gonzales at Sal's, that he saw Ronnie Contreras with Coffin and the Martinezes, and that he heard shots fired after driving away from the parking lot with Leo Gonzales. Coffin offered the out-of-court statement as an exception to the hearsay rule under Rule 11-804(B)(5) NMRA 1999. Coffin claims that the trial court erred in excluding this statement. {40} If a declarant is unavailable as a witness, the hearsay rule does not exclude [a] statement not specifically covered by any of the [other] exceptions [in Rule 11-804] but having circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness, if the court determines that (a) the statement is offered as evidence of a material fact; (b) the statement is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable efforts; and (c) the general purposes of these rules and the interests of justice will best be served by admission of the statement into evidence. Rule 11-804(B)(5). In determining whether a statement contains circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness under Rule 11-804(B)(5), trial courts should consider the following four factors: (1) Ambiguitythe danger that the meaning intended by the declarant will be misinterpreted by the witness and hence the jury; (2) Lack of candorthe danger the declarant will consciously lie; (3) Faulty memorythe danger that the declarant simply forgets key material; and (4) Misperceptionthe danger that the declarant misjudged, misinterpreted, or misunderstood what he saw. State v. Taylor, 103 N.M. 189, 197, 704 P.2d 443, 451 (Ct.App.1985). {41} The third and fourth factors articulated in Taylor are relevant in this case. The trial court found that the statement was unreliable because Lucero told the investigator numerous times that he had been very drunk at the time of the incident. In addition, Lucero remembered seeing two women in Coffin's van, one light-haired and one dark-haired, even though every other witness involved in this case testified that Deanda Montoya was the only female occupant in the van during that evening. These facts call into question Lucero's memory of the event at the time of making the statement and his perception of the event at the time of the altercation. Additionally, the trial court noted that Lucero stated that he was several blocks away at the time of the shooting, making his statement less probative on many material facts than other evidence available to Coffin. See Rule 11-804(B)(5)(b). Reviewing the trial court's ruling on this hearsay issue for an abuse of discretion, see State v. Ross, 1996-NMSC-031, 122 N.M. 15, 20, 919 P.2d 1080, 1085, we conclude that the trial court did not err in excluding the statement.