Opinion ID: 1111213
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Deanna's Extrajudicial Statements

Text: (26) Defendant contends that Charles Erbert's and Jennie Chapman's testimony about statements Deanna made on the night of the killings violated his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation because they were inadmissible and unreliable hearsay. He also asserts his attorney was incompetent for not objecting to the statements. We conclude the statements were properly admissible. Consequently, although the absence of an objection by defendant's counsel waived the substantive contention, the omission was neither evidence of a deficient performance nor prejudicial. Charles testified that while he and Deanna waited for the fire department's paramedics to arrive and help Doreen, Deanna told him the man who attacked Doreen said, `I'm coming back to kill you. If you tell somebody, I'll kill you. I'm coming for you, too,' or something similar. Jennie Chapman, a neighbor of the Erberts, came to the house immediately in response to a call from Charles. She arrived after the paramedics; Deanna was brought out to her. She testified about waiting outside in a car with Deanna: She would kind of drift off. She'd  she wouldn't say anything. And then she said, he killed my mommy. And I said, who. I can't tell you because he said he'd kill me. He'd come back and get me if I told. As defendant implicitly recognizes, the statements Deanna attributed to the killer were not offered for their truth; that is, they were not admitted to prove the killer would return to kill Deanna if she told. Rather, they were relevant to the killer's state of mind at the time of the killings. Consequently, defendant's statements to Deanna were not within the hearsay rule. (Evid. Code, § 1200.) Moreover, the hearsay rule does not prevent evidence of a statement made by a party from being admitted against that party. (Evid. Code, § 1220.) The Attorney General acknowledges that Deanna's statements to Charles and Jennie were admitted for their truth to the extent Deanna attributed the threats to the killer. However, Deanna's statements constituted spontaneous utterances that were excepted from the hearsay rule under Evidence Code section 1240: Evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the statement: [¶] (a) Purports to narrate, describe, or explain an act, condition, or event perceived by the declarant; and [¶] (b) Was made spontaneously while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by such perception. Unquestionably, Deanna was under the immediate influence of stress from events that caused sufficient nervous excitement to make her statements about the threats spontaneous and unreflecting. (See People v. Poggi, supra, 45 Cal.3d at pp. 318-320.) We reject defendant's contention that a statement admissible under Evidence Code section 1240 nevertheless violates Sixth Amendment confrontation rights unless the prosecution shows both declarant unavailability and adequate indicia of reliability. Defendant made no timely or specific objection on this ground in the trial court. Thus, he has not preserved the claim for review. ( People v. Alvarez (1996) 14 Cal.4th 155, 186 [58 Cal. Rptr.2d 385, 926 P.2d 365].) Even if the claim had been preserved, however, it would have no support in the law. The hearsay exception for spontaneous declarations is among those firmly rooted exceptions that carry sufficient indicia of reliability to satisfy the Sixth Amendment's confrontation clause. ( White v. Illinois (1992) 502 U.S. 346, 355, fn. 8 [112 S.Ct. 736, 742, 116 L.Ed.2d 848] and accompanying text.) The Sixth Amendment confrontation clause imposes no requirement of declarant unavailability as a prerequisite for admission of spontaneous declarations. ( Id. at pp. 355-356 [112 S.Ct. at pp. 742-743].) Therefore, admission of Deanna's extrajudicial statements did not violate defendant's confrontation rights. ( People v. Alvarez, supra, 14 Cal.4th at pp. 186-187.)