Opinion ID: 199398
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exclusion of Portions of Search Warrant Affidavit

Text: 40 The district court excluded two portions of an affidavit in support of the search warrant for Fleurette Farrell's belongings. Arthur concedes that the statements in the affidavit are hearsay but says they are nonetheless trustworthy and should have been admitted because the statements about the timing of certain events would have been useful to impeach the government's principal witnesses against him. First, Arthur claims that the statement in the affidavit that police were still executing a search warrant at 161 Intervale Street when investigators arrived on the scene of the Thomas homicide contradicts the testimony of McKnight and Ivy, the key government witnesses, that the police had left the building before the shooting. Second, he argues that other statements in the affidavit contradict Farrell's testimony concerning the time she arrived at 161 Intervale Street and whether she actually entered the building. 41 The district court acted within its discretion. 13 Both statements contain multiple levels of hearsay, and Arthur points to no specific rule supporting admission of the testimony. Nor does the residual exception provided in Fed. R. Evid. 807 help Arthur since he did not raise the argument. The exception was, in any event, unavailable since Arthur could have called as a witness any officer who actually conducted the search of 161 Intervale Street, rather than simply relying on the hearsay statements. See Fed. R. Evid. 807 (requiring proof that the statement is more probative on the point for which it is offered than any other evidence which the proponent can procure through reasonable efforts).