Opinion ID: 1889175
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Confrontation Clause Considerations

Text: The third step as we articulated it in Tovar in determining whether a hearsay statement is admissible as a statement-against-interest is to consider whether the admission of the statement violated the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. State v. Tovar, 605 N.W.2d 717. In Crawford v. Washington , the Supreme Court held that a witness's out-of-court testimonial statements are not admissible unless the witness is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness. 541 U.S. 36, 59, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). Here, Vega-Lara made the challenged statements to a friend; he was not being interrogated by the police and he did not make the statements before a grand jury, at a preliminary hearing, or at a trial. Based on these circumstances, we conclude that these statements are not testimonial and therefore their admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause. See State v. Her, 750 N.W.2d 258, 265 (Minn.2008) (stating that the admission of nontestimonial hearsay statements does not violate a defendant's confrontation rights), vacated and remanded on other grounds, ___ U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 929, 173 L.Ed.2d 101 (2009). Having considered the three analytical steps articulated in Tovar to determine whether Vega-Lara's three statements to M.G. were admissible under Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3), we conclude that Vega-Lara's statements were admissible. More particularly, we conclude: (1) Vega-Lara was unavailable for purposes of Minn. R. Evid. 804; (2) each statement directly inculpated Vega-Lara and the statements were sufficiently against Vega-Lara's penal interest that a reasonable person in his position would not have made the statements unless he believed them to be true; and (3) the admission of the statements did not violate Morales's confrontation rights. Therefore we hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it admitted, under Minn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3), the three statements Vega-Lara made to M.G. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. STRAS, J., not having been a member of this court at the time of the argument and submission, took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.