Opinion ID: 2546413
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Judy Adams's Call to Police

Text: Judy Adams called the police when she realized a robbery was occurring. While she was on the phone, she did not see what was happening but relayed to the police a description of the events provided to her by her son, Rod Adams, and Leticia Calderon, both of whom were percipient witnesses. Police taped this call, and the prosecutor proposed to play the tape for the jury. Defendant objected on the ground the tape contained hearsay, but the trial court overruled the objection. The tape was then played for the jury. Defendant contends the trial court erred by permitting the prosecution to play the tape for the jury, arguing that Judy Adams was not a percipient witness and her comments therefore did not qualify as a spontaneous utterance that could fall under an exception to the hearsay rule. Evidence Code section 1240 provides: Evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the statement: [ถ] (a) Purports to narrate, describe, or explain an act, condition, or event perceived by the declarant; and [ถ] (b) Was made spontaneously while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by such perception. In a multiple, nested hearsay situation as here, the multiple hearsay is admissible only if each hearsay layer separately meets the requirements of a hearsay exception. ( People v. Arias (1996) 13 Cal.4th 92, 149, 51 Cal.Rptr.2d 770, 913 P.2d 980.) A trial court's decision to admit evidence under the spontaneous utterance exception to the hearsay rule will not be reversed unless the court abused its discretion. ( People v. Phillips (2000) 22 Cal.4th 226, 236, 92 Cal.Rptr.2d 58, 991 P.2d 145.) That all three people involved โ Judy Adams, her son Rod Adams, and Leticia Calderon โ were operating under the stress and excitement of the robbery when the tape was made is not questioned. The crime had just occurred and was ongoing; the robbers were fleeing with the loot, and Roland Teal, Barney Pipkin, and others were in hot pursuit. Although defendant is correct that Judy Adams was not a percipient witness to the events she related to police on the telephone, she was a witness to what the others (Rod Adams and Leticia Calderon) were saying. ( People v. Arias, supra, 13 Cal.4th at p. 150, 51 Cal.Rptr.2d 770, 913 P.2d 980 [the act or event described can be another's statement].) Rod Adams and Leticia Calderon, in turn, were percipient witnesses to the unfolding events of the robbery and the flight therefrom. Because both levels of hearsay qualified under the spontaneous utterance exception to the hearsay rule, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the tape. [26]