Opinion ID: 1859644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: exclusion of cheryl arbogast testimony

Text: During the guilt phase of his trial, the defendant attempted to call his sister, Cheryl Arbogast, to testify about statements his brother Jeff had made to her concerning the defendant's mental state around the time of the killing. Because Arbogast had no personal knowledge of facts regarding her brother's mental state, the trial court excluded her testimony as inadmissible hearsay. The defendant argues that Jeff's statements were admissible under Tenn. R. Evid. 804(a)(4) because Jeff had died and was unavailable to testify. Rule 804 provides for certain exceptions to the hearsay exclusionary rule when a witness is unavailable. Unavailability is defined at subsection (a)(4) as including situations in which the declarant [i]s unable to be present or to testify at the hearing because of the declarant's death or then existing physical or mental illness or infirmity. However, under subsection (b) of Rule 804, the hearsay exception for unavailable witnesses applies only to (1) former testimony, (2) statements under belief of impending death, (3) statements against interest, and (4) statements of personal and family history. See Tenn. R. Evid. 804(b). Jeff Hall's descriptions to Arbogast of the defendant's mental state do not fall within any of these exceptions. The trial court properly excluded this testimony during the guilt phase of defendant's trial.