Court Opinion

ID: 9623127
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:28:08.125458+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:24.691089
License: Public Domain

DIMOND, Justice Pro Tem.,
in which BOOCHEVER, Chief Justice, joins.
I agree with most of what my colleague, Justice Connor, has said in his opinion. But I cannot agree with that portion which holds that the admission into evidence of Arne Flathaug’s statement to Bullard was error, even though harmless in nature.
Two basic reasons for rejection of hearsay are that it has no inherent likelihood of truthfulness and cannot be tested by cross-examination. But there are now so many exceptions to the rule excluding hearsay evidence, I doubt the first reason for excluding it has much to recommend it. To say there is no likelihood of truthfulness in hearsay runs counter to the fact that in business and the ordinary affairs of life, hearsay is almost universally recognized as an accurate source of information.1
The second reason for excluding hearsay — lack of opportunity for cross-examination — has more to recommend it. An exacting and intelligent cross-examination in some cases can do much to test the accuracy of a witness’s recollection of what he saw. We have recognized the importance of cross-examination. For example, in Jefferson v. Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Company of Alaska,2 we stated:
It is a fundamental precept of common law that before testimony may sustain a cause of action, it must be subject to cross-examination. The right of trial necessarily confers the right to confront and cross-examine adverse witnesses3
*889But this fundamental right is subject to exceptions under the hearsay rule. An example is a spontaneous declaration or excited utterance made under the stress or excitement produced by a startling event. The traditional rule is that in order to allow such a declaration to be admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule, the declaration or utterance must be made before the declarant has had sufficient time to reflect on his statement.4 The basis for admission is the presumption that the statement is sincere and accurate because it is spontaneous. The basis for excluding the statement, with the passage of time between the event and the statement, is that the declarant may weigh the consequences of his thoughts and ultimately add design to the statement he makes.5
In this case, the trial judge considered Flathaug’s statement an excited utterance and allowed Bullard’s testimony on that basis. It is doubtful, however, that the judge chose the correct exception to the hearsay rule. Flathaug’s statement was made the day after the accident, and Bul-lard testified that he seemed calm.
I believe the exceptions to the hearsay rule should be expanded to include statements which have indicia of trustworthiness, and are made not long after the excitement is over. I would adopt Rule 804(b)(5) of the Uniform Rules of Evidence which allows as an exception to the hearsay rule a statement of recent perception where the declarant is dead (such as in this case), or is otherwise unable to testify. That rule provides that there may be admitted, as an exception to the hearsay rule,
[A] statement, not in response to the instigation of a person engaged in investigating, litigating, or settling a claim, which narrates, describes, or explains an event or condition recently perceived by the declarant, made in good faith, not in contemplation of pending or anticipated litigation in which he was interested, and while his recollection was clear.6
Flathaug’s statement meets the requirements of this rule. His statement was not in response to an investigation, litigation, or settlement of a claim. Bullard, an FAA inspector, was investigating the accident, but he was not investigating, litigating, or settling a claim. This investigation was purely for governmental purposes in order to determine the cause of the accident. Bullard had no relation to the parties to this litigation and his investigation was not in any way related to the litigation that grew out of the accident.
The statement Flathaug made described an event that was “recently perceived” by him — it being the day after the accident that he narrated what he saw to Bullard. As to “good faith”, there is nothing in the record to suggest in any way that Fla-thaug’s statement was made otherwise.
The statement was not made in contemplation of pending or anticipated litigation in which Flathaug was interested, because there is nothing in the record to show that he had any relation to the parties involved here or was in any way interested in the ensuing litigation. Finally, as to the requirement that his recollection was clear, I submit that a statement made the day following the accident satisfied such requirement. There was an insufficient lapse of time for memory to fade so as to detract from the accuracy of the statement.
Flathaug was dead at the time of trial. He was the last person to see the airplane *890in the air seconds before it crashed. He stated to Bullard what he saw, which was information pertinent to the jury’s effort to ascertain the cause of the accident. I believe that the lack of opportunity for cross-examination of Flathaug is outweighed by the necessity of allowing his statement in evidence in order to allow the jury to consider all relevant facts.
I do not believe that the recent perception exception, satisfying as far as possible the requirements of trustworthiness, is a material departure from the reasons for the general rule excluding hearsay. Exceptions to the hearsay rule are not static, and I think Uniform Rule 804(b)(5) commends itself as a “just addition to the present sharply defined exceptions, and . . . represents the enlightened policy of the future.”7 As is stated in the 1974 revision of Wigmore on Evidence:
The needless obstruction to investigation of truth caused by the hearsay rule is due mainly to the inflexibility of its exceptions, to the rigidly technical construction of those exceptions by the courts . ., and to the enforcement of the rule when its contravention would do no harm, but would assist in obtaining a complete understanding of the transaction.8
Although not requested to do so, Judge Burke gave the following cautionary instruction to the jury before Bullard testified as to what Flathaug had told him:
I want to instruct you and give the following cautionary Instruction concerning any testimony here in Court about out-of-Court statements by Mr. Flathaug. Mr. Flathaug is now dead. I have decided to allow that testimony under an exception to the hearsay rule. And it’s admitted subject to the following cautionary Instruction: No. 1, the statement is being admitted as an exception to the hearsay rule. No. 2, you should keep in mind the fact that the witness is now dead and not available to any party in this litigation for further examination or questioning. No. 3, that at the time Mr. Flathaug gave any statement that he might have given, he was not under Oath as the other witnesses in this case are required to be. No. 4, because he is not here under Oath and because he is now dead, the Defendants in this case will have no opportunity to cross examine Mr. Flathaug or to test his powers of observation, what he saw, the details of what he saw, by Cross Examination. And finally, that unlike the other witnesses in the case, you will not be in a position to observe Mr. Fla-thaug during the making of his statement; therefore you cannot have an opportunity to observe his appearance, his demeanor, the manner in which he testifies, and other matters of that nature, which properly may be considered by you in evaluating the testimony of any witness.
Because of all of those things, Ladies and Gentlemen, I will instruct you that you are to view the testimony concerning any out-of-Court statement by the deceased Mr. Arne Flathaug with caution.
I believe this excellent instruction obviated any prejudice that one might believe was present in allowing Flathaug’s statement in evidence as an exception to the hearsay rule which, of necessity, deprived Beech of the opportunity of cross-examining the deceased witness, Flathaug. Furthermore, it was not given at the end of a lengthy trial, but immediately before the statement was admitted, so that the judge’s admonition was fresh in the jurors’ minds when they heard the testimony.
I would not require that such an instruction be mandatory. But it ought to be given when requested or when the trial judge, in his discretion, believes it wise to do so.
I agree with Justice Connor that the judgment should be affirmed.

. United States v. Costello, 221 F.2d 668, 678 (2nd Cir. 1955), cited in State v. Gieffels, 554 P.2d 460 (Alaska 1976).

. 503 P.2d 1396 (Alaska 1972).

. Id. at 1398.

. See, Torres v. State, 519 P.2d 788, 792-93 (Alaska 1974); United States v. Mountain State Fabricating Co., 282 F.2d 263, 266 (4th Cir. 1960).

. Note, Rule 804(b)(2) of the proposed Federal Rules of Evidence; A Step Too Far?, 4 Valparaiso L.Rev. 327, 335-36 (1970).

. Uniform Rules of Evidence (1974), 13 Uniform Laws Annotated 247 (1975). This is nearly the same as Rule 804(b)(2) of the proposed Federal Rules of Evidence — the difference being that the Uniform Rule applies only to civil actions, whereas the federal counterpart does not have that limitation and presumably would be applicable in criminal actions also. See, 51 F.R.D. 438 (1971). The United States Congress declined to include this rule in adopting the Federal Rules of Evidence. I do not here reach the issue of whether the rule should apply to criminal actions.

. See, V Wigmore on Evidence § 1576 at 529 (Chadbourn Rev. 1974).

. V Wigmore on Evidence § 1427 at 257 (Chadbourn Rev. 1974).