Opinion ID: 2078773
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Truck Driver's Testimony

Text: Bud Feirick, the truck driver who spotted the waitress next to the highway, testified at trial. He said the waitress' first words to him were, They're going to kill her. They're going to kill her. He testified that the waitress was referring to the cook. Taylor argues that Feirick's testimony was improperly admitted because it was hearsay which violated Taylor's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses. Hearsay is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the facts asserted therein and thus resting on the credibility of a declarant who is not in court and is unavailable for cross-examination. Sills v. State (1984), Ind., 463 N.E.2d 228. The waitress was available as a witness. Indeed, she did testify later at trial and was extensively cross-examined by defense counsel. Therefore, Feirick's testimony about the waitress' roadside statements was admissible. Bundy v. State (1981), Ind., 427 N.E.2d 1077. Taylor also claims error in Feirick's description of the waitress as nude and covered with blood from head to toe. Taylor claims that the waitress' appearance after her escape bore no relevance to the charges pending at trial and therefore was inadmissible. Because the waitress was not the alleged victim of the pending charges, he says, the sole intent of any testimony about her statements or injuries was to prejudice the defendant. Feirick's graphic description of the waitress was properly admitted. The use of force is an element of rape and criminal deviate conduct. Feirick's testimony illustrated the injuries which the waitress sustained in her desperate attempt to escape. It is unlikely that one would risk jumping from a car traveling at 60 m.p.h. unless one were being held there by force. Furthermore, one would hardly risk one's life intentionally with such drastic action unless the fate within the car were subjectively worse. This testimony was relevant because it completed the story of the event and tended to increase the inference that force and/or a deadly weapon was used to perpetrate the sex crimes.