Opinion ID: 2441011
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Nicklasson's Statement

Text: Skillicorn first contends that a statement made by Nicklasson to FBI Special Agent Arthur McOmber was improperly excluded as hearsay. He argues that the statement was admissible as an admission against Nicklasson's penal interest. Agent McOmber testified at a pretrial hearing that Nicklasson told him: They got out of the car. They walked Mr. Nicklasson walked with Mr. Drummond at gunpoint off into an area. Mr. Nicklasson stated he initially was intending to tie Mr. Drummond up and take his car and leave him out there in the area tied up. As he walked, he said he, quote, snapped, that he was so angry at the entire situation. He said something inside of him told him to do it, do it, and he was worried about that feeling that he was getting. So he kept trying to change the subject, kept trying to change his thoughts, and he talked to Mr. Drummond about his military service. They continued walking. Eventually Mr. Nicklasson told Mr. Drummond to kneel down. And one of the things that Mr. Nicklasson explained that made him so frustrated or mad is that Mr. Drummond was so submissive, that he never made any gesture whatsoever to try and flee or run away or even talk his way out of the situation, and Mr. Nicklasson stated that had Mr. Drummond done any of those things that maybe he might not have shot him or killed him, that maybe he would have left him there. A hearsay statement is any out-of-court statement that is used to prove the truth of the matter asserted and which depends upon the veracity of the statement for its value. State v. Sutherland, 939 S.W.2d 373 (Mo. banc 1997). Such statements are generally inadmissible unless they fall within a recognized exception to the hearsay rule. Id. Before Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973), Missouri courts held that declarations made by an unavailable witness against that witness's penal interest were not admissible as exceptions to the hearsay rule in criminal proceedings. State v. Blankenship, 830 S.W.2d 1, 6-7 (Mo. banc 1992). Chambers , however, recognized a constitutional right to proffer statements that would exonerate the defendant and were originally made and subsequently offered at trial under circumstances that provided considerable assurance of their reliability.  410 U.S. at 300, 93 S.Ct. at 1048 (emphasis added). The Chambers ' court set forth the following tests of reliability: (1) each confession was `in a very real sense self-incriminatory and unquestionably against interest;' (2) each statement was spontaneously made to a close acquaintance shortly after the murder occurred; and (3) the statements were corroborated by other evidence. State v. Smulls, 935 S.W.2d 9, 21 (Mo. banc 1996) (citations omitted). The indicators of reliability delineated in Chambers are not present in this case. First, Nicklasson's statement was not in a very real sense self-incriminatory and unquestionably against interest. Nicklasson's statement could merely be an attempt to exonerate himself of the requisite mental state for first degree murder. Second, the statement was neither spontaneous nor made to a close acquaintance shortly after the murder occurred. Instead, it was made to an FBI agent after the declarant had been arrested on October 5, 1994, nearly a month and a half after the murder. Finally, the statement was not corroborated by other evidence. Although Nicklasson claimed that he was intending to tie Mr. Drummond up and take his car and leave him out there in the area tied up, Skillicorn testified that Nicklasson did not carry anything with which to bind Mr. Drummond. The only thing Nicklasson held as he lead Mr. Drummond off towards the woods was a .22 caliber pistol. Neither the circumstances surrounding the statement nor the statement itself create considerable assurance of [its] reliability. Nicklasson's statement was properly excluded. Point One is denied.