Opinion ID: 2067026
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Hearsay Argument.

Text: Karen's handwritten statement falls within the definition of hearsay because it is an out-of-court statement by a nontestifying declarant offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. See Iowa R. Evid. 801(c). The magistrate admitted Karen's statement over Moeller's hearsay objection, but she did not specify what exception to the hearsay rule she relied on in admitting it. The very brief record does not show the basis on which the State urged the acceptance of this evidence. Moeller, however, assumes that the magistrate relied on the hearsay exception based on the unavailability of the witness. See Iowa R. Evid. 804. Moeller's assumption rests on the fact that the magistrate's notes showed that the declarant had refused to testify. Moeller contends that, if unavailability of the declarant was the basis for the admission of the testimony, it was error because the State did not establish the necessary foundation under rule 804. The State responds in two ways: first, the written statement was admissible as a statement against penal interest because in it the declarant stated that she had been living with Moeller, a violation of the order and therefore a crime. See Henley v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 533 N.W.2d 199, 203 (Iowa 1995); Hutcheson v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 480 N.W.2d 260, 262 (Iowa 1992). Second, the State contends that, even if it was error to admit the hearsay statement, it does not require reversal because other evidence of Moeller's violations was properly received. See State v. McGuire, 572 N.W.2d 545, 547 (Iowa 1997). We need not speculate on what basis the magistrate admitted the evidence because we conclude that substantially the same evidence came in to the trial from other sources. A police officer testified that Moeller told the officer that he had been staying with his wife in the face of the no-contact order. In fact, Moeller asked the officer to accompany him to the family home to retrieve his belongings. In addition, the officer saw the heated confrontation between Moeller and his wife at the police station. In view of this evidence regarding Moeller's conduct in violation of the no-contact order, Karen's written statement that Moeller had been living with her was merely cumulative. The admission of the statement was therefore not prejudicial.