Court Opinion

ID: 9547549
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 17:48:41.390543+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:17:50.786354
License: Public Domain

SINGLETON, Judge,
dissenting.
Williamson argues, and the state concedes, that the trial court committed error when it permitted witness Boyles to testify that Otis Orth told her “[Williamson] went out to roll a queer [who] had a lot of money.” The court accepts the state’s concession of error and so do I. See Marks v. State, 496 P.2d 66, 67-68 (Alaska 1972). The court goes on to reject the state’s contention that the error was harmless, see Criminal Rule 47(a), despite the fact that the jury acquitted Williamson of felony murder and convicted him of manslaughter. I disagree with this conclusion, would find the error harmless, and affirm.1
The majority reasons that Otis Orth’s statement was hearsay which did not fall within the co-conspirator exception to the hearsay rule because it was not made “in furtherance of the conspiracy.” A.R.E. 801(d)(2)(E). I agree with this conclusion. Consequently, the majority concludes it automatically violated the confrontation clause to the United States Constitution, requiring application of the constitutional harmless error doctrine. See Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1965).
The majority is in error. A violation of the hearsay rule, adverse to a defendant, does not necessarily violate the confrontation clause. In California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 155-56, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 1933-34, 26 *975L.Ed.2d 489, 495-96 (1970), the Supreme Court said:
While it may readily be conceded that hearsay rules and the Confrontation Clause are generally designed to protect similar values, it is quite a different thing to suggest that the overlap is complete and that the Confrontation Clause is nothing more or less than a codification of the rules of hearsay and their exceptions as they existed historically at common law. Our decisions have never established such a congruence; indeed, we have more than once found a violation of confrontation values even though the statements in issue were admitted under an arguably recognized hearsay exception. The converse is equally true: merely because evidence is admitted in violation of a long-established hearsay rule does not lead to the automatic conclusion that confrontation rights have been denied. (Emphasis supplied, citations and footnote omitted.)
The requirement that a conspirator’s hearsay statement must be “in furtherance of the conspiracy” to be admissible against his accomplice is not required by the constitution. See Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 91 S.Ct. 210, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970). In a given case, whether a statement is or is not “in furtherance of a conspiracy” may be relevant in determining whether a statement was admitted in violation of the confrontation clause. United States v. Castillo, 615 F.2d 878 (9th Cir.1980).
A hearsay statement may be admitted without violating the confrontation clause if the declarant is unavailable and the statement has certain indicia of reliability. Otis Orth was a codefendant. The unavailability of a potential codefendant may normally be presumed since the codefendant will probably exercise his fifth amendment rights. See Galauska v. State, 527 P.2d 459, 465 (Alaska 1974), modified on other grounds, 532 P.2d 1017 (Alaska 1975); Gutierrez v. State, 673 P.2d 287, 289-90 (Alaska App.1983).
In considering indicia of reliability it is helpful to refer to a four-factor test suggested by Justice Stewart in his plurality opinion in Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. at 88-89, 91 S.Ct. at . 219-20, 27 L.Ed.2d at 227. First, did the statement contain an express assertion about a past fact; second, did the declarant have personal knowledge of the identity and role of the other participants in the criminal enterprise; third, is it possible that the declarant’s statement was based on faulty recollection; and, fourth, under the totality of the circumstances, was there reason to believe that the declarant had a motive to falsely implicate the defendant. The Alaska Supreme Court recommends use of a similar test. Hawley v. State, 614 P.2d 1349, 1358-59 (Alaska 1980) (citing United States v. Snow, 521 F.2d 730, 734-36 (9th Cir.1975), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 1090, 96 S.Ct. 883, 47 L.Ed.2d 101 (1976) (relying upon Dutton)).
Applying this test to Orth’s alleged statement, it is clear that there are sufficient indicia of reliability. First, the statement contained no assertion about a past fact; it involved a prediction of future conduct and, consequently, it carried on its face a warning to the jury against giving it undue weight. Second, Orth’s personal knowledge of the identity and role of Williamson was abundantly established by evidence showing that Orth and Williamson were together shortly before the incident in question and the undisputed testimony that Orth assisted Williamson in disposing of Dunkin’s body after the killing. Paraphrasing Justice Stewart, it is inconceivable that cross-examination could have shown that Orth was not in a position to know Williamson’s intentions in entering the car with Dunkin. Third, it is inconceivable that Orth’s statement was based on faulty recollection since Orth and Williamson had been together only a short period before and any discussion they had must have occurred at that time. Finally, there is nothing in the record to suggest that Orth would have intentionally misrepresented Williamson’s intentions or sought to falsely accuse him of a crime. Orth was speaking to a friend. He was not under custodial interrogation. Thus it cannot be inferred that he made the *976statement to carry favor with the prosecution. Consequently, admission of the statement did not violate the confrontation clause. United States v. Castillo, 615 F.2d 878 (9th Cir.1980).
The Ninth Circuit found harmless error on surprisingly similar facts in Castillo. Castillo was charged with murder in connection with the death of a fellow inmate in a federal correctional institution. Evidence established that Castillo and his victim belonged to rival factions within the institution and that the victim had on a number of occasions assaulted Castillo. Castillo conceded stabbing the victim, but claimed he acted in self-defense. During trial a prosecution witness was allowed to testify, over defense objection, to statements allegedly made by two of Castillo’s alleged confederates. The informant related a conversation with a friend of Castillo’s in which he asked “what was happening,” to which the friend replied, “We are fixing to kill a Mexican.” The court allowed the testimony in order to show a conspiracy to commit murder in which Castillo was a member. The Ninth Circuit found that the statements were erroneously admitted because they were not made, “in furtherance of the conspiracy.” F.R.E. 801(d)(2)(E). The court said:
There is nothing in the record to indicate that Peterson somehow intended to further a conspiracy to kill Flores by announcing its object to Nealy. At most, Peterson made nothing more than a casual admission to someone he had decided to trust.
615 F.2d at 883 (citations omitted). The court applied the four-factor Dutton test and concluded that while the admission of the testimony violated the hearsay rule, it did not violate the confrontation clause. That analysis applies equally here. The court went on to apply the normal noncon-stitutional harmless error standard. It concluded that since the evidence would most likely have gone to premeditation, and since the jury, in finding Castillo guilty only of voluntary manslaughter, had rejected the government’s contention that the killing was premeditated, the error was more probably than not harmless. The same result should follow in this case.
The majority’s suggestion in footnote 6 that Williamson was prejudiced because the jury might have reached a compromise on the manslaughter verdict, in violation of the jury instructions, is particularly troubling. If we are to assume that the jury disregarded its instructions, it is unlikely that we could ever find harmless error. There is nothing in the record to suggest compromise in this case. The risk of a compromised verdict exists in every case.
I would affirm the decision of the superi- or court.

. A majority of the court also concludes that the trial court erred in excluding evidence of a prior attempted homosexual seduction of a third party and evidence that the victim had a prescription for the drug Quaaludes. While I disagree with these conclusions as well, I do not understand the majority to indicate that these alleged errors, standing alone, would have justified reversal of Williamson’s manslaughter conviction. I am satisfied that the evidence in question, while arguably relevant, was subject to A.R.E. 403. I would not find an abuse of discretion. Alternatively, I would find any errors in this regard harmless because of the jury's manslaughter verdict.