Opinion ID: 2093275
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: admission of sanders' threat to wilson

Text: Myers' next assignment of error pertains to the admission of hearsay testimony by Edward Wilson. The State called Edward Wilson, and he testified that he had attended a meeting with Myers at a hotel in Council Bluffs prior to trial. All those who were in the van with Myers on the night of Mainelli's murder were present in the hotel room. Edward Wilson testified that Tim Sanders told those present that if anyone said anything about the Mainelli murder to the police, something [was] going to happen to them. Edward Wilson interpreted this as a threat that any person who spoke with the police would be harmed. Myers' objection to this testimony as hearsay was overruled. We find no error in allowing this testimony, for the statement was made in furtherance of a conspiracy and thus qualified as nonhearsay. Prior to Edward Wilson's taking the stand, Ronnie Cross, a defense witness, also testified that Sanders, Myers, and all the men who were in the van on the night of Mainelli's murder congregated at a hotel in Council Bluffs. Cross testified that while at the hotel, Sanders informed the men that they were not to speak to the police regarding Mainelli's murder. Cross' testimony constitutes independent evidence which established the prima facie elements of a conspiracy to cover up Mainelli's murder. See State v. Copple, 224 Neb. 672, 401 N.W.2d 141 (1987). Thus, the statement about which Edward Wilson subsequently testified was a statement made by Sanders in the furtherance of the conspiracy and therefore was admissible as nonhearsay. However, even if we found that the evidence was erroneously admitted, Myers could not have been harmed by its admission. As already indicated, during the cross-examination of Cross, it was established that both Myers and Sanders had made comments about people talking to the police about the murder. Cross testified that the men who were in the van with Myers on the night of Mainelli's murder had a meeting in Council Bluffs. At this meeting, Myers and Sanders threatened the men in some fashion such that they understood that if they spoke to the police they would be harmed. Therefore, Edward Wilson's testimony regarding what was said at the meeting in Council Bluffs was largely cumulative.