Opinion ID: 901115
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Refusal of Hearsay

Text: [¶ 36.] The defendant argues that the circuit court abused its discretion by refusing to admit the statement of an unavailable defense witness. Engesser sought to call his civil attorney, Dennis Finch, to testify that Sean Boyle told Finch that he saw Finley and Engesser leave the Full Throttle Saloon and that Finley was driving the Corvette when the two left. Engesser contends that Finch should have been allowed to testify under the catch-all hearsay exception in SDCL 19-16-35 (Rule 804(b)(6)). [¶ 37.] For hearsay to be admissible under this rule, the proponent must establish: (1) the declarant is unavailable; (2) the statement must have circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness equivalent to the first four exceptions in Rule 804(b); (3) the statement must be offered as evidence of a material fact; (4) the statement must be more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence that the proponent reasonably can procure; (5) the statement must serve the interests of justice and the purposes of the rules of evidence; (6) the proponent of the evidence to be offered must have given advance notice to the other side. SDCL 19-16-35 (Rule 804(b)(6)). See United States v. Love, 592 F.2d 1022, 1026 (8th Cir.1979). Because our rule is identical to former FRE Rule 804(b)(5), now FRE 807, and many federal courts have examined this rule, it is helpful to use federal cases in our analysis. As the federal courts have recognized, this rule is to be used `rarely, and only in exceptional circumstances.' United States v. Woolbright, 831 F.2d 1390, 1396 (8th Cir.1987) (quoting Love, 592 F.2d at 1026). [¶ 38.] The test for admissibility of evidence in general should not be confused with the rules for admissibility under this hearsay exception. It is true, of course, that if Sean Boyle had been a live witness, his credibility would have been solely for the jury to determine. See 19-14-1 (Rule 601). But he was a hearsay declarant, not a trial witness. The preliminary question of trustworthiness, underlying the admissibility of catchall hearsay statements, is a question for the court, rather than a question of weight for the jury. SDCL 19-9-7 (Rule 104(a)). The trial judge has both the obligation and the `considerable discretion' to determine whether `hearsay statements contain the necessary circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness' to be admissible under this rule. See United States v. Guinan, 836 F.2d 350, 354 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 487 U.S. 1218, 108 S.Ct. 2871, 101 L.Ed.2d 907 (1988) (quoting United States v. Vretta, 790 F.2d 651, 659 (7th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 851, 107 S.Ct. 179, 93 L.Ed.2d 115 (1986)). [¶ 39.] Hearsay generally does not qualify as admissible evidence. SDCL 19-16-4 (Rule 802). Rule 804(b)(6) is one of the narrowly tailored exceptions to the general rule excluding hearsay evidence. The proponent offering hearsay evidence has the affirmative burden of establishing the trustworthiness requirement in Rule 804(b)(6). United States v. Snyder, 872 F.2d 1351, 1354-55 (7th Cir.1989). The rule requires that a hearsay statement not covered by some other exception be supported by equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness before it can be admitted. [6] [¶ 40.] The circumstances a trial court should consider in assessing the trustworthiness of hearsay testimony include: (1) the character of the witness for truthfulness and honesty and the availability of evidence on that question; (2) whether the testimony was given voluntarily, under oath, subject to cross-examination and a penalty for perjury; (3) the relationship of the witness to the parties and any motivation the witness had for making the statement; (4) the extent to which the witness's statement reflects personal knowledge; (5) whether the witness ever recanted the statement; (6) the existence of corroborating evidence; and (7) the reasons for the unavailability of the witness. Id. at 1355. These considerations are neither exhaustive nor absolute, and each case must be analyzed on its own facts. United States v. Doerr, 886 F.2d 944, 956 (7th Cir.1989) (quoting Snyder, 872 F.2d at 1355-56.) The trial court did in fact consider most of these circumstances. [¶ 41.] Under these criteria, we conclude that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit the statement. The statement was given by a felony suspect, who was unavailable because he was in flight from the authorities. Nothing about this gives us any comfort that he has a character for truthfulness and honesty. His statement was not given under oath, not subject to cross-examination, and not subject to any penalty for perjury. The statement was not even given to Attorney Finch in person. It was given over the telephone. We have no way of knowing what Boyle's motivation was for giving the statement. There is no corroboration of his claimed observations. Lastly, the circumstances of his being unavailable strongly suggest that he would not be the type of person to garner credibility. The trial court properly considered all these facts in deciding that this hearsay was inadmissible. [¶ 42.] In any event, Boyle's statement to Finch was only marginally relevant. As the trial court found, Boyle did not place a time frame on what he saw. The court regarded this as crucial. Indeed, Engesser himself indicated that he left the bar with the deceased around 5:30 to 6:00 p.m. That would have been the time Boyle would have seen them. The accident, however, occurred two to two and half hours later. But the bar was only ten to fifteen minutes from the scene of the accident. Thus, who was driving the car so long before the accident had little relevance to the question of who was driving it at the time of the accident. Even Engesser admitted that he had been driving the car earlier in the day. Lastly, it must be understood, as South Dakota's Professor Larson explains, that even when a statement qualifies as a hearsay exception, it does not mean that the statement must be admitted: The balancing test of SDCL 19-12-3 (Rule 403) applies regardless, and the statement is subject to the requirement of the other rules of evidence. John W. Larson, South Dakota Evidence § 804.6, p. 703 (1991). Thus, the trial court was well within its discretion in concluding that this statement was unreliable, i.e., had little probative value. The admissibility of evidence rests largely in the discretion and practical judgment of the trial court. Table Steaks v. First Premier Bank, 2002 SD 105, ¶ 38, 650 N.W.2d 829, 838. Here, the court carefully exercised its judgment in refusing admission of this statement, and it did not abuse its discretion in doing so.