Court Opinion

ID: 9846028
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 03:33:03.696178+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:16:31.459273
License: Public Domain

LEMONS, Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the result reached in Judge Elder’s opinion, but write separately because I believe Bonds’ statement was directly admissible against Pitt as a statement against penal interest.
In order for a statement against penal interest to be admitted as an exception to the hearsay rule, the declarant must be unavailable to testify at trial, the statement must be against the declarant’s interest at the time it was made, and the declarant must be aware at the time the statement is made that it is against his or her interest to make it. Additionally, such a statement is only admissible upon a showing that the declaration is reliable. See Randolph v. Commonwealth, 24 Va.App. 345, 355, 482 S.E.2d 101, 105-06 (1997).
Judge Elder states, “[u]nlike the statements in Lilly, Chandler, Randolph and Raia, Bonds’ statements did not indicate that he was aware that his statement implicated him in appellant’s attempt to rob the victim.” Bonds did not have to know that his statement implicated him in an attempted robbery; he only had to know that his statement implicated *762him in a crime. “It is important to remember that the interest of the declarant which is threatened by the declaration need not relate to the matters at issue in the case at trial. All that is required is that the declaration be against some pecuniary, proprietary, or penal interest of the declarant.” 2 Charles E. Friend, The Law of Evidence in Virginia § 18-12 (4th ed. 1996). In this case, Bonds admitted he tackled the victim. While disclaiming any intent to participate in a robbery, Bonds, nonetheless, confessed to an assault. It is inconceivable that a competent adult would be unaware that, under these circumstances, tackling the victim was an assault and that assault was a crime. Bonds’ statement acknowledged criminal liability. In disclaiming his intent to be a “robber,” but still acknowledging that he assaulted the victim, Bonds merely attempted to differentiate the type of crime he committed.
“To be considered as being against the declarant’s penal interest, it is not necessary that the statement be sufficient on its own to charge and convict the declarant of the crimes detailed therein. Rather, the statement’s admissibility is based upon the subjective belief of the declarant that he is making admissions against his penal interest and upon other evidence tending to show that the statement is reliable.” Lilly v. Commonwealth, 255 Va. 558, 573, 499 S.E.2d 522, 533, cert. granted, — U.S. -, 119 S.Ct. 443, — L.Ed.2d - (1998) (citations omitted). That the “statements were self-serving, in that they tended to shift principal responsibility to others or to offer claims of mitigating circumstances, goes to the weight the jury could assign to them and not to their admissibility.” Id. at 574, 499 S.E.2d at 534. Judge Elder’s opinion establishes the inherent reliability of the statement. Under Virginia law, Bonds’ statement qualifies as an exception to the hearsay rule and was directly admissible against Pitt.
Pitt also maintains that the introduction of Bonds’ statement violated his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation.
[W]hen a hearsay declarant is not present for cross-examination at trial, the Confrontation Clause normally requires a showing that he is unavailable. Even then, his statement is *763admissible only if it bears adequate “indicia of reliability.” Reliability can be inferred without more in a case where the evidence falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception. In other cases, the evidence must be excluded, at least absent a showing of particularized guarantees of trustworthiness.
Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 2539, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). “[A]dmissibility into evidence of [a] statement against penal interest of an unavailable witness is a ‘firmly rooted’ exception to the hearsay rule in Virginia.” Lilly, 255 Va. at 575, 499 S.E.2d at 534. But if the statement made against penal interest is made by a codefendant, it must be considered “presumptively unreliable.” Lee v. Illinois, 476 U.S. 530, 545, 106 S.Ct. 2056, 2064, 90 L.Ed.2d 514 (1986). “[T]he arrest statements of a codefendant have traditionally been viewed with special suspicion. Due to his strong motivation to implicate the defendant and to exonerate himself, a codefendant’s statements about what the defendant said or did are less credible than ordinary hearsay evidence.” Id. at 541, 106 S.Ct. at 2062. The proponent of the statement may overcome this presumption by showing sufficient “indicia of reliability.” Id. at 543, 106 S.Ct. at 2063. Judge Elder’s opinion adequately recites the evidence in support of the trustworthiness of Bonds’ statement.
Finally, the trial judge instructed the jury that Bonds’ statement could be considered only against Bonds and not against Pitt. As stated above, the statement was directly admissible against Pitt; consequently, unlike the facts in Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), no cautionary instruction was required.
Judge Elder’s opinion maintains that Bonds’ statement was inadmissible against Pitt and that the trial judge erred in ordering a joint trial. For the reasons stated above, I disagree; however, I concur with the judgment that if error occurred, it was harmless.