Opinion ID: 2291635
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Sultannah Saddiq's statement

Text: For his fifth point on appeal, Appellant asserts that it was error for the State to elicit testimony from Briana Higgs about a statement Sultannah Saddiq made to her over the telephone after the crime was committed. Appellant contends that the statement was hearsay, that Briana was not one of the co-conspirators, and that it violated Appellant's right to confront the witnesses against him. Briana testified that on the night of the shooting, she was inside her house when she heard her grandmother telling her to get some towels because someone was bleeding on the porch. Briana stated that she knew Sultannah, and the police asked Briana to call her. When Briana called, Sultannah did not answer her phone. Eventually, she did answer the phone and told Briana that she did not know the boy who had been shot. At this point during the testimony, Appellant's counsel objected on hearsay grounds. Appellant argued that the statement was not made by a co-conspirator, and therefore did not meet the hearsay exception. After an in-chambers conference, the trial court ruled that the statement was admissible under Rule 801(d)(2)(v) because Sultannah was a co-conspirator. The testimony continued, with Briana stating that when Sultannah called back, she asked what happened and Briana told her that someone had been shot. Sultannah then asked if the victim died. Our evidence rules indicate that a statement is not hearsay if it is offered against a party and is a statement by a co-conspirator of a party made during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy. Ark. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(v) (2007). Here, the statement was made by Sultannah to Briana. Because Sultannah was a co-conspirator, her statements to Briana are not hearsay pursuant to Rule 801(d)(2)(v). Thus, the admission of Sultannah's statement to Briana was not error.