Opinion ID: 2543459
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Factors for Determining Trustworthiness and Reliability

Text: Newton articulated the following factors for consideration in determining the trustworthiness of statements that inculpate the defendant: where and when the statement was made, to whom the statement was made, what prompted the statement, how the statement was made, and what the statement contained. Newton, 966 P.2d at 575-76. Stevens expanded the factors for consideration to include: the nature and character of the statement, the relationship between the parties to the statement, the declarant's probable motivations for making the statement, and the circumstances under which the statement was made. Stevens, 29 P.3d at 314 (citing People v. Fuller, 788 P.2d 741, 745 (Colo.1990)). [10] Stevens also held that although the most important determination regarding trustworthiness is whether the statement is genuinely self-inculpatory or whether it shifts blame to the defendant, this determination is not dispositive. Id. at 315. In addition to consideration of the foregoing factors, a determination regarding the trustworthiness of Rodarte's statement must be informed by the Supreme Court's conclusion that when a statement against interest inculpates a criminal defendant in addition to the declarant, as in a co-defendant situation, such a statement is inherently unreliable because an accomplice often has considerable interest in `confessing and betraying his cocriminals.' Lilly, 527 U.S. at 131, 119 S.Ct. 1887 (citation omitted). The Supreme Court has also opined that arrest statements by a co-defendant have traditionally been viewed with special suspicion. Lee, 476 U.S at 541, 106 S.Ct. 2056. Our cases have followed the Supreme Court's assessment of statements by a codefendant, holding that such statements are inherently and presumptively unreliable. See, e.g., Stevens, 29 P.3d at 313.