Opinion ID: 2520968
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Particular guarantees of trustworthiness

Text: The United States Supreme Court held that particular guarantees of trustworthiness should be judged by examining the totality of the circumstances surrounding each of the proffered hearsay statements. Wright, 497 U.S. at 819, 110 S.Ct. 3139. However, both this court and the United States Supreme Court have held that courts may not rely upon corroborating evidence from other parts of the trial to support a finding of trustworthiness. Wright, 497 U.S. at 822-23, 110 S.Ct. 3139; Sua, 92 Hawai'i at 72 n. 5, 987 P.2d at 970 n. 5. The United States Supreme Court rejected a mechanical test for determining whether a statement is trustworthy, instead noting that trustworthiness is inversely related to the usefulness of cross-examination: if the declarant's truthfulness is so clear from the surrounding circumstances that the test of cross-examination would be of marginal utility, then the hearsay rule does not bar admission of the statement at trial. Wright, 497 U.S. at 820-22, 110 S.Ct. 3139. Simply because evidence is admissible under the catchall rule does not mean that the evidence is trustworthy enough to satisfy the confrontation clause. United States v. Mokol, 939 F.2d 436, 439 (7th Cir.1991). However, the United States Supreme Court has sought to construe the confrontation clause pragmatically, recognizing that every jurisdiction has a strong interest in effective law enforcement. Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 64, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). See also Sua, 92 Hawai'i at 63, 74, 987 P.2d at 961, 972 (admitting hearsay testimony under the past recollection recorded exception and noting that the testimony was reliable because: (1) the declarant had given the testimony under oath; (2) as the victim, the declarant had personal knowledge of relevant facts; (3) the declarant was not reluctant to implicate the defendant during the grand jury proceedings; (4) the declarant did not have a relationship with the government, such that he would not have benefitted from fabricating testimony implicating the defendant; and (5) the declarant never recanted his testimony). Examining the totality of circumstances in the instant case does not yield a clear result. The statements appear trustworthy because Philimena never recanted her statements and made them to individuals who probably would have supported Philimena's decision to divorce Danny regardless of the existence of abuse. However, none of Philimena's statements was made under oath, and Philimena could have benefitted from these statements by garnering sympathy and support from her friends and family. We hold that the circuit court erred in admitting Philimena's statements to Akina, Lavea, and Kaonohi that Danny was threatening to kill her. The court also erred in admitting Philimena's statements to Pasco and Chong that Danny was abusing her. To be admissible, the court must have some reason to believe that the declarant's hearsay statements are particularly trustworthy. See, e.g., United States v. Doerr, 886 F.2d 944, 955-56 (7th Cir.1989) (witness's grand jury testimony sufficiently trustworthy where testimony was given under oath subject to penalty for perjury; witness had been explicitly informed that he had a constitutional right not to answer any questions and witness was not pressured to testify); Steinberg v. Obstetrics-Gynecological & Infertility Group, P.C., 260 F.Supp.2d 492, 496 (D.Conn.2003) (hearsay within hearsay statements in letter from plaintiff's former attorney to plaintiff's current attorney were admissible under residual exception to hearsay rule because there was no reason why [the former attorney] would have been motivated to fabricate or convey any inaccurate information to [the current attorney]). But because we cannot rely upon corroborating circumstances to justify admission of the testimony, we cannot consider the fact that Danny actually did kill Philimena in determining whether her recitation of threats was particularly trustworthy. Similarly, we cannot utilize the fact that Philimena told several individuals, at different times, that her life was in danger to bootstrap the admission of all these statements. Each statement must be independently trustworthy without regard to other supporting statements. In the instant case, there is nothing intrinsic to Philimena's statements to uphold the circuit court's determination that they were particularly trustworthy. The statements were not made under oath; they were not made to law enforcement personnel; they were not made to an attorney or other officer of the courts; they were not made to a domestic violence counselor; they were not made to a teacher or employer; and they were not made to a therapist or religious figure. [14] In short, the statements were not made under circumstances demonstrating particular guarantees of trustworthiness, which is a stricter standard than the trustworthiness standard for admission under the hearsay rules. Therefore, the circuit court erred in admitting the hearsay testimony.