Opinion ID: 1234310
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: admission of inculpatory hearsay statements

Text: The prosecution established that despite a good faith effort, it was impossible to obtain Barbara Campbell's presence. Thereafter the trial court permitted Sexton and Fisher to relate the inculpatory statements made to them by Campbell. They were deemed admissible under ER 804(b)(3). [1] First, Valladares urges this court to hold that hearsay statements made against penal interest which inculpate an accused are per se inadmissible. This position is not well taken. In State v. Parris, 98 Wn.2d 140, 654 P.2d 77 (1982) this court aligned itself with the weight of federal case authority holding that inculpatory statements are admissible under the same standard ER 804(b)(3) sets for exculpatory statements. United States v. Alvarez, 584 F.2d 694 (5th Cir.1978); see also United States v. Riley, 657 F.2d 1377 (8th Cir.1981); United States v. Palumbo, 639 F.2d 123 (3d Cir.1981); United States v. Garris, 616 F.2d 626 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 447 U.S. 926 (1980). In adopting the ER 804(b)(3) standard three basic prerequisites were delineated. First, the declarant must be unavailable despite good faith efforts to locate him or her. Second, the declarant's statement must so far tend to subject him or her to criminal liability that a reasonable person would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true. Finally, the statement must be accompanied by corroborating circumstances indicating its trustworthiness. [2] United States v. Sarmiento-Perez, 633 F.2d 1092, 1098 (5th Cir.1981). The first of the three requirements has been met. Clearly Campbell was the declarant. Further, there is no serious contention that she was available despite a good faith effort to locate her. Valladares asserts, however, that the second prerequisite has not been met. It is urged Campbell's statements are not reliable because they were made under custodial circumstances and were not sufficiently against her penal interest. We do not agree. [2] Campbell was not in custody. Rather, she was a self-admitted patient in a hospital at the time she summoned Detective Fisher. Far from being given in a coercive atmosphere, Campbell's statement to Fisher was wholly voluntary. Later, she willingly repeated it to Agent Sexton. There is little question that, based on her own statement, Campbell could have been tried on any of several narcotic-related charges. In addition, there is no evidence either officer sought to offer immunity or some other reward for the statements. Under the attendant circumstances she had more to gain by telling the truth and any inaccuracy in her statement could easily have been discovered. Further, Sexton's offer to pay her debt to Valladares was made only after she had repeated the statement to him. Under the instant facts, we can only conclude the statements made to Detective Fisher and Agent Sexton so tended to subject Campbell to criminal liability that a reasonable person would not have made them unless believed to be true. Finally, Valladares contends the statements fail to meet the third prerequisite in that they are not accompanied by corroborating circumstances clearly indicating their trust-worthiness. We do not agree with the assertion. In the case at hand there are sufficient corroborating circumstances provided by Valladares' own incriminating statements to establish the trustworthiness of the Campbell statements. For example, she was able to arrange a meeting with Valladares whom she stated was her source of drugs. More importantly, at that meeting Valladares himself corroborated everything Campbell had disclosed earlier to Fisher and Sexton. He volunteered to sell narcotics to Sexton, disclosed that he had a corner on the drug market in the area, discussed how much he sold each week, bragged about the quality of his merchandise, acknowledged that Campbell had sold narcotics for him, and that she owed him $1,000. He also accepted Sexton's offer to pay Campbell's debt. In addition, at other prearranged meetings Sexton actually purchased two separate quantities of cocaine prior to the major purchase which is the subject of this action. In the final analysis, in testifying about Campbell's statement, Fisher and Sexton actually revealed no more than Valladares himself volunteered. Moreover, Valladares himself revealed far more incriminating information to Sexton than was said to have been revealed by Campbell's challenged statements. Under the circumstances here it is clear the testimony concerning Campbell's extrajudicial statements carried with it the particularized guarantee of trustworthiness necessary to support the mission of the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment. The requirements of Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 65 L.Ed.2d 597, 100 S.Ct. 2531 (1980) have been met. See also State v. Parris, supra at 148.