Opinion ID: 1202713
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Musgrove's Statements.

Text: (1a) Defendant's central claim is that Patricia Musgrove's extrajudicial statements were inadmissible hearsay and hence that the court erred in receiving them into evidence. The Attorney General responds that the declarations come within the spontaneous statement exception to the hearsay rule. We agree. Evidence Code section 1240 provides: Evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the statement: [¶] (a) Purports to narrate, describe, or explain an act, condition, or event perceived by the declarant; and [¶] (b) was made spontaneously while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by such perception. Section 1240 is the codification of an established common law exception to the hearsay rule. ( People v. Washington (1969) 71 Cal.2d 1170, 1176 [81 Cal. Rptr. 5, 459 P.2d 259, 39 A.L.R.3d 541]; Tent. Recommendation and Study Relating to the Uniform Rules of Evidence, art. VIII, Hearsay Evidence (Aug. 1962) 6 Cal. Law Revision Com. Rep. (1964), appen. pp. 465-466.) (2) To render [statements] admissible [under the spontaneous declaration exception] it is required that (1) there must be some occurrence startling enough to produce this nervous excitement and render the utterance spontaneous and unreflecting; (2) the utterance must have been before there has been time to contrive and misrepresent, i.e., while the nervous excitement may be supposed still to dominate and the reflective powers to be yet in abeyance; and (3) the utterance must relate to the circumstance of the occurrence preceding it. ( Showalter v. Western Pacific R.R. Co. (1940) 16 Cal.2d 460, 468 [106 P.2d 895]; accord, People v. Washington, supra, 71 Cal.2d at p. 1176.) The foundation for this exception is that if the declarations are made under the immediate influence of the occurrence to which they relate, they are deemed sufficiently trustworthy to be presented to the jury. [Citation.] [¶] The basis for this circumstantial probability of trustworthiness is `that in the stress of nervous excitement the reflective faculties may be stilled and the utterance may become the unreflecting and sincere expression of one's actual impressions and belief.' ( Showalter v. Western Pacific R.R. Co., supra, 16 Cal.2d at p. 468.) (3) Whether the requirements of the spontaneous statement exception are satisfied in any given case is, in general, largely a question of fact. (See, e.g., People v. Washington, supra, 71 Cal.2d at pp. 1176-1177.) The determination of the question is vested in the court, not the jury. (E.g., People v. Tewksbury (1976) 15 Cal.3d 953, 966, fn. 13 [127 Cal. Rptr. 135, 544 P.2d 1335].) In performing this task, the court necessarily [exercises] some element of discretion.... ( Showalter v. Western Pacific R.R. Co., supra, 16 Cal.2d at p. 469.) Because the second requirement relates to the peculiar facts of the individual case more than the first or third does (see 6 Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn rev. ed. 1976) § 1750, pp. 202-222 [hereafter Wigmore]; People v. Jones (1984) 155 Cal. App.3d 653, 662 [202 Cal. Rptr. 289], following Wigmore), the discretion of the trial court is at its broadest when it determines whether this requirement is met (see Showalter v. Western Pacific R.R. Co., supra, 16 Cal.2d at pp. 468-469). Indeed, Dean Wigmore goes so far as to urge that the issue should be left absolutely to the determination of the trial court. (6 Wigmore, supra, § 1750, p. 221, italics deleted.) (1b) Impliedly conceding, as he must, that the first and third requirements of the exception are satisfied, defendant argues that the second is not. Specifically, he disputes the court's finding that Musgrove's statements were made in excitement and without reflection, arguing that they were delivered about 30 minutes following the attack, in response to questioning, and after she had been calmed down sufficiently to be able to speak coherently. We cannot say that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that Musgrove's statements were spontaneous within the meaning of the exception. When the statements in question were made and whether they were delivered directly or in response to a question are important factors to be considered on the issue of spontaneity. (See McClaflin v. Bayshore Equipment Rental Co. (1969) 274 Cal. App.2d 446, 454 [79 Cal. Rptr. 337]; Wiley v. Easter (1962) 203 Cal. App.2d 845, 854-855 [21 Cal. Rptr. 905].) (4) But as we emphasized in People v. Washington , Neither lapse of time between the event and the declarations nor the fact that the declarations were elicited by questioning deprives the statements of spontaneity if it nevertheless appears that they were made under the stress of excitement and while the reflective powers were still in abeyance. (71 Cal.2d at p. 1176, italics added.) Under the same reasoning, the fact that the declarant has become calm enough to speak coherently also is not inconsistent with spontaneity. ( People v. Jones, supra, 155 Cal. App.3d at p. 662; People v. Francis (1982) 129 Cal. App.3d 241, 254 [180 Cal. Rptr. 873].) To conclude otherwise would render the exception virtually nugatory: practically the only statements able to qualify would be sounds devoid of meaning. (1c) Here the record supports the finding of spontaneity. First, although Musgrove made the statements at issue about 30 minutes after the attack, it is undisputed that she was still under its influence. Second, it is also undisputed that she remained excited as she made the statements, even though she had become calm enough to speak coherently. Finally, the fact that the statements were delivered in response to questioning does not render them nonspontaneous. With one exception Officer Flores's questions appear to have been simple and nonsuggestive  in substance, What happened?, What happened then?, and so on. The single exception concerns the question whether the attacker could be Mexican. Such an inquiry may in some cases deprive a response of spontaneity by effectively placing words into the declarant's mouth or at least causing him to reflect and recollect himself before he answers. This, however, is not such a case. In view of Musgrove's emotional and physical state  she was excited and bleeding profusely from multiple and ultimately fatal stab wounds to the chest  we cannot say that the questions rendered her response reflective for purposes of the exception. Nor can we say Officer Flores effectively placed words into her mouth: he asked his question after she identified her attacker as Black or very dark complected and thereby merely elicited a clarification of her original statement. Because the record supports the finding that Musgrove's statements were spontaneous, we are presented with no reason to disturb the court's determination. The admission of the statements, accordingly, was not error.