Opinion ID: 1060657
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Preclusion from Presenting Exculpatory Evidence

Text: Of primary concern to the Court in both Chambers in Green was that the absence of a hearsay exception for declarations against a penal interest precluded the defendants from introducing reliable evidence that others had confessed to committing the crimes for which the defendants were being tried. Such evidence, if believed by a jury, could have the effect of exonerating a defendant in a criminal proceeding. Accordingly, the Court in both Chambers and Green effectively created exceptions to Georgia's and Mississippi's rules against hearsay for declarations against penal interest due to: (1) the exculpatory nature of the third parties' confessions; (2) the confessions' persuasive assurances of trustworthiness; and (3) the lack of an evidentiary rule allowing a defendant to introduce evidence of a party's confession to the crime charged. Unlike the defendants in either Chambers or Green , the defendant in the case now before us was not precluded by the Tennessee Rules of Evidence from introducing evidence of the victim's statement. Pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Evidence 613 the defendant's counsel could have simply elicited from the victim whether she had ever told anyone that she had previously had sexual contact with an adolescent male. The victim could have then either admitted making the statement and explained the content or the circumstances surrounding the statement or the victim could have denied making the statement. If the victim denied making the statement, the defendant could have then introduced the hearsay evidence for impeachment purposes pursuant to Tennessee Rule of Evidence 613. See State v. Martin, 964 S.W.2d 564 (Tenn. 1998). The defendant, however, did not follow the established procedure in Tennessee for introducing this type of evidence. Moreover, the statement was not truly exculpatory in the sense that even if the victim had engaged in prior sexual activity with an adolescent male she still could have been a victim of rape at the hands of the defendant.