Opinion ID: 2273504
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Admissibility of Bryant's Statements Under the Residual Hearsay Exception

Text: At trial, the petitioner also claimed that the Bryant evidence would be admissible under the residual exception to the hearsay rule. In light of its conclusion that the evidence would have been admissible as trustworthy declarations against penal interest, however, the trial court not did reach the petitioner's alternative claim of admissibility. The trial court, however, would have been well within its discretion to conclude that the Bryant evidence would be admissible under the residual exception. [56] The following principles guide my analysis. A statement that is not admissible under any of the [hearsay] exceptions [enumerated in the Connecticut Code of Evidence] is admissible if the court determines that (1) there is a reasonable necessity for the admission of the statement, and (2) the statement is supported by equivalent guarantees of trustworthiness and reliability that are essential to other evidence admitted under traditional exceptions to the hearsay rule. (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Merriam, 264 Conn. 617, 633 n. 22, 835 A.2d 895 (2003), quoting Conn.Code Evid. § 8-9. Reasonable necessity may be established by showing that unless the hearsay statement is admitted, the facts it contains may be lost, either because the declarant is dead or otherwise unavailable, or because the assertion is of such a nature that evidence of the same value cannot be obtained from the same or other sources. (Internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Merriam, supra, at 633 n. 21, 835 A.2d 895. [T]he second prong, reliability, is met in a variety of situations.... At minimum, the statement must independently bear adequate indicia of reliability to afford the trier of fact a satisfactory basis for evaluating [its] truth.... (Citation omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Hines, 243 Conn. 796, 810, 709 A.2d 522 (1998). We previously have identified several factors that bear [on] the trustworthiness and reliability of an out-of-court statement, including: (1) whether the circumstances are such that a sincere and accurate statement would naturally be uttered, and no plan of falsification [could] be formed ... (2) the closeness of the relationship between the declarant and recipient... (3) whether the statement was made spontaneously and in confidence or obtained in response to government questioning conducted in anticipation of litigation... (4) the temporal proximity between the alleged statement and the events to which the statement refers ... and (5) whether the declarant testifies at trial and is subject to cross-examination. (Citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted.) State v. Skakel, 276 Conn. 633, 728-29, 888 A.2d 985, cert. denied, 549 U.S. 1030, 127 S.Ct. 578, 166 L.Ed.2d 428 (2006). In addition, a review of cases from this court and the Appellate Court reveals other factors that have been deemed relevant to this analysis. These include whether the declarant had a reason to lie; see id., at 729, 888 A.2d 985; whether the statement is corroborated or contradicted by other evidence; see State v. McClendon, 248 Conn. 572, 584, 730 A.2d 1107 (1999); whether the statement was made under oath; State v. Faison, 112 Conn.App. 373, 384, 962 A.2d 860, cert. denied, 291 Conn. 903, 967 A.2d 507 (2009); whether the declarant's perception was impaired at the time he made the statement; State v. Rodriguez, 39 Conn.App. 579, 604-605, 665 A.2d 1357 (1995), rev'd on other grounds, 239 Conn. 235, 684 A.2d 1165 (1996); and whether the declarant has recanted or consistently reaffirmed the statement. See Morant v. State, 68 Conn. App. 137, 171, 173, 802 A.2d 93, cert. denied, 260 Conn. 914, 796 A.2d 558 (2002). In addition, other courts have concluded that the fact that an unavailable declarant's statement was video recorded militates in favor of admissibility because the jury can assess the declarant's demeanor at the time the declarant made the statement. See, e.g., United States v. Sanchez-Lima, 161 F.3d 545, 547 (9th Cir.1998). Finally, the trial court's fact finding and analysis for purposes of determining the trustworthiness of a statement under the hearsay exception for declarations against penal interest is equally applicable to the same determination under the residual hearsay exception. See Morant v. State, supra, at 172-73, 802 A.2d 93 (relying on same trustworthiness factors in reviewing trial court's rulings under hearsay exception for declarations against penal interest and residual hearsay exception). The first prong of the analysis, necessity, is readily satisfied in the present case. Because Bryant has invoked his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination, he is not available to testify for the petitioner. Furthermore, the information that Bryant provided is not available from any other source. Finally, Bryant's statements, if believed, exonerate the petitioner. The petitioner, therefore, has demonstrated the necessity of admitting Bryant's hearsay statements. The Bryant evidence also satisfies the second requirement for admissibility under the residual hearsay exception, namely, that it is supported by indicia of trustworthiness and reliability that are equivalent to those required for admissibility under other hearsay exceptions. Because those circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness that substantiate the truthfulness of Bryant's statements are set forth in detail in part III C and D of this opinion, I need not repeat them here. It bears emphasis, however, that, in addition to the fact that Bryant's statements are strongly corroborated, no plausible explanation ever has been advanced as to why Bryant would falsely implicate Hasbrouck and Tinsley in the victim's murder. [57] Indeed, the majority correctly observes that Bryant had nothing personally to gain by coming forward, and the record indicates that, although Bryant was reluctant to come forward, he did so solely because he was convinced, on the basis of what he knew, that the petitioner's conviction constituted a grave injustice. Furthermore, there is nothing in the record that casts doubt on Bryant's credibility. The record does reflect, however, that Bryant is a law school graduate from a prominent family who, at the time of his interview with Colucci, owned his own business and was married with four children. [58] In addition, because Bryant's lengthy statement to Colucci was video recorded, the fact finder at a new trial will be able to evaluate Bryant's demeanor, temperament and affect as he gave the statement. It also is highly significant that physical evidence found at the scene of the crime, in particular, the two hairs found on the victim's body, support Bryant's version of the events. Finally, Bryant first confided in Mills, an old and trusted friend, and, as the trial court found, Bryant's failure to come forward sooner is readily explainable by his reasonable fear that doing so would have resulted in his being a suspect in the victim's murder. For all the foregoing reasons, the trial court properly could have found that the Bryant evidence would be admissible under the residual exception to the hearsay rule because in no event would such a ruling have constituted an abuse of discretion. [59] It is apparent, therefore, that the trial court properly concluded that the Bryant evidence would be admissible at a new trial. For the reasons that follow, the trial court was required to consider that evidence in the context of the original trial evidence.