Opinion ID: 1305836
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: Admission of Williams's Out-of-Court Statement

Text: Officer John Richard Holt brought Williams back to Cumberland County from Georgia, where Williams was arrested. During the return trip, Holt answered a number of Williams's questions. Holt testified during the Commonwealth's case-in-chief that in response to Williams's questions, Holt told Williams that the Black Hawk revolver had been recovered from the Rappahannock River. When Williams later asked what Cruse had told the police about the Keller incidents, and Holt said that Cruse had told us the whole story, Williams responded, I can prove Jeff had that goddamn Black Hawk. Willams contends that the court erred in permitting the last out-of-court hearsay statement by Williams. We disagree. Although Williams may have thought that his statement was exculpatory, the statement linked him to the Keller incidents and was thus admissible as a party admission exception to the hearsay rule. Stewart v. Commonwealth, 245 Va. 222, 236, 427 S.E.2d 394, 403, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 114 S.Ct. 143, 126 L.Ed.2d 105 (1993) (statement to witness prior to defendant's wife's murder that defendant had consulted counsel regarding divorce admissible under party admission exception to hearsay rule).