Opinion ID: 2974896
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Exclusion of Hearsay Testimony of Roy Howard

Text: The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow Roy Howard to testify regarding statements that Earl Vane allegedly made, because the circumstances surrounding Ivy’s detention and arrest were not sufficiently startling to cause nervous excitement on the part of Vane. -3- No. 06-5369 United States v. Ivy There are three elements of an excited utterance: “First, there must be an event startling enough to cause nervous excitement. . . . Second, the statement must be made before there is time to contrive or misrepresent. . . . Finally, the statement must be made while the person is under the stress of the excitement caused by the event.” United States v. Hadley, 431 F.3d 484, 496 (6th Cir. 2005) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). We review the district court’s evidentiary ruling for abuse of discretion. Id. The district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the arrest was not an event startling enough to cause nervous excitement. The exciting event consisted of White approaching Ivy in the parking lot of the gas station and telling Ivy to “come here.” Although Ivy attempted to walk away, there was no chase or other dramatic occurrence. White’s description of his initial approach and his arrest of Ivy does not reveal anything that would make the event one startling enough to cause nervous excitement. In fact, Ivy himself testified that Vane “took off” upon seeing White, so it is not clear that Vane witnessed anything other than White’s approach, making the event even less likely to have resulted in nervous excitement. See United States v. Wolak, 923 F.2d 1193, 1196 (6th Cir. 1991) (concluding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit hearsay statements as excited utterances because, among other reasons, the declarant did not witness the arrest). Ivy refers the panel to this court’s decision in United States v. McCullough, 150 Fed. App’x 507 (6th Cir. 2005) (unpublished), to support his argument that an arrest qualifies as a startling event. However, in McCullough, a security guard approached the defendant, restrained him, and reached -4- No. 06-5369 United States v. Ivy inside the defendant’s jacket to pull out the gun that the defendant was carrying. 150 Fed. App’x at 510. The arrest that the declarant witnessed in McCullough is a far cry from the events that Vane witnessed. White did not approach and immediately detain Ivy. There was no struggle. It is not even clear that he raised his voice to Ivy any more than was necessary to be heard. Thus, this case is unlike McCullough. Because White’s approach and Ivy’s arrest were not sufficiently startling to cause nervous excitement, the district court did not abuse its discretion when it refused to allow Howard to testify regarding Vane’s statements.