Opinion ID: 1382950
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: hearsay: grand jury testimony.

Text: Joe Reid died by accidental drowning on July 8, 1998. Appellant's trial began on November 23, 1998. At trial, Detective Lane was allowed to read to the jury a transcript of Reid's January 21, 1998 grand jury testimony. Since that testimony was offered to prove the truth of its content, i.e., that Appellant robbed and killed the Davenports and burglarized and burned their residence, the testimony was clearly hearsay and inadmissible unless it fell within an exception to the hearsay rule. KRE 801(c), KRE 802. It is immaterial that Appellant was permitted to impeach Reid's grand jury testimony by cross-examining Lane about Reid's prior inconsistent statements. Impeachment of incompetent evidence is no substitute for its exclusion. The trial judge held Reid's grand jury testimony admissible under the hearsay exception for statements against interest. KRE 804(b)(3). That Rule provides an exception for: A statement which was at the time of its making so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or proprietary interest, or so far tended to subject the declarant to civil or criminal liability ... that a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have made the statement unless believing it to be true. A statement tending to expose the declarant to criminal liability is not admissible unless corroborating circumstances clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement. The Commonwealth's argument in response to Appellant's motion to suppress was that Reid's statement that he put the chain back on the motorcycle exposed him to criminal liability for criminal facilitation. KRS 506.080(1) provides: A person is guilty of criminal facilitation when, acting with knowledge that another person is committing or intends to commit a crime, he engages in conduct which knowingly provides such person with means or opportunity for the commission of the crime and which in fact aids such person to commit the crime. (Emphasis added.) Obviously, Reid's act of putting the chain back on the motorcycle did not provide Appellant with the means or opportunity to rob and kill the Davenports or to burglarize and burn their residence. Thus, on appeal, the Commonwealth argues that Reid's statement exposed him to criminal liability for hindering prosecution or apprehension. KRS 520.120 (hindering in the first degree) and KRS 520.130 (hindering in the second degree) both provide in pertinent part: A person is guilty of hindering prosecution or apprehension ... when, with the intent to hinder the apprehension, prosecution, conviction or punishment of another [who] is being sought in connection with the commission of a [criminal] offense ... he renders assistance to such person. (Emphasis added.) KRS 520.110(1) defines renders assistance to include, inter alia: Provid[ing] such person with money, transportation, weapon, disguise or other means of avoiding discovery or apprehension. (Emphasis added.) Even assuming Reid put the loose chain back on the motorcycle's cogs with the intent to hinder Appellant's apprehension or prosecution, as opposed to (as his testimony suggested) facilitating his own departure from the scene, the fact remains that Reid did not provide Appellant with the transportation that Appellant supposedly used to avoid discovery or apprehension. The motorcycle belonged not to Reid, but to Dustin Oyer. Presumably, if Reid had not slipped the loose chain back on the motorcycle, Appellant could have done so himself. This simple act was insufficient to expose Reid to criminal liability for hindering prosecution or apprehension by providing transportation to one being sought in connection with a criminal offense. The prosecutor obviously agreed; for despite the fact that Reid received no deal in exchange for his grand jury testimony, no effort was made during the interim between that testimony and Reid's death to charge him with any criminal offense premised upon his testimony. There is also a complete absence of any corroboration, as required by KRE 804(b)(3), either that the chain came off the motorcycle or that Reid put it back on. But even if Reid's description of the chain incident had been admissible as a statement against his own penal interest, such would not have authorized the wholesale admission of his entire grand jury testimony, the balance of which served only to incriminate Appellant. The United States Supreme Court has held that a statement against penal interest is a single declaration or remark, not the entire report or narrative within which it is contained. [T]he most faithful reading of Rule 804(b)(3) is that it does not allow admission of non-self-inculpatory statements, even if they are made within a broader narrative that is generally self-inculpatory. The district court may not just assume for purposes of Rule 804(b)(3) that a statement is self-inculpatory because it is part of a fuller confession, and this is especially true when the statement implicates someone else. Williamson v. United States, 512 U.S. 594, 599, 600-01, 114 S.Ct. 2431, 2434, 2435, 129 L.Ed.2d 476 (1994); see also Vincent v. Seabold, 226 F.3d 681, 687, 689 (6th Cir.2000). Although the hearsay rule and many of its recognized exceptions predate the United States Constitution, [2] the application of those exceptions clearly implicates the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980), made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. Pointer v. Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 403, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 1068, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965). Thus, we are bound by the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of what constitutes an admissible out-of-court statement under the hearsay exception for statements against penal interest. Cf. Moseley v. Commonwealth, Ky., 960 S.W.2d 460, 462 (1997). Pursuant to Williamson , each statement within the broader narrative must be examined individually to determine whether it is, in fact, self-inculpatory. If not, it is inadmissible. Gabow v. Commonwealth, Ky., 34 S.W.3d 63, 78 n. 12 (2000). Here, the Commonwealth can identify but one isolated remark in the broader narrative of Reid's grand jury testimony as even arguably against Reid's own penal interest. The remainder of his testimony was self-exculpatory, i.e., that he was an innocent bystander to crimes committed by Appellant. Moore v. Commonwealth, Ky., 282 S.W.2d 613, 615 (1955) (mere presence at the scene of a crime is not sufficient to attach guilt). We also reject the novel theory advanced during oral argument that any statement made under oath is a potential statement against penal interest because, if untrue, the statement would subject the declarant to prosecution for perjury. If that were so, every prior statement made under oath by an unavailable witness would be automatically admissible against any person inculpated by that statement. There is, of course, a separate hearsay exception for former testimony; but that exception permits the admission of prior sworn testimony only if the party against whom the testimony is now offered had an opportunity when it was given to develop the testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination. KRE 804(b)(1). Obviously, Appellant never had an opportunity to cross-examine Reid's grand jury testimony. The improper admission of the grand jury testimony of Joe Reid requires reversal for a new trial at which none of Reid's statements inculpating Appellant shall be admitted.