Court Opinion

ID: 9750422
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 14:58:06.107249+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:26:10.205969
License: Public Domain

SCHRODER, J.,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I concur in part and dissent in part because I disagree with the legal analysis regarding the hearsay statements repeated by the landlady, Vickie Wheeler.
The majority concludes that the statements made by Rapp and Sanchez to Wheeler were non-testimonial under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), because they were “informal,” “not made to law enforcement or their equivalents,” and “not obtained under interrogative circum*360stances.” I disagree with the majority’s test. Neither Crawford, nor Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813, 126 S.Ct. 2266, 165 L.Ed.2d 224 (2006), limited testimonial statements to those obtained by law enforcement or their agents. Nor is “formality” or an “interrogation” required for a statement to be testimonial. “The Framers were no more willing to exempt from cross-examination volunteered testimony or answers to open-ended questions than they were to exempt answers to detailed interrogation.” Davis, 547 U.S. at 822, n. 1, 126 S.Ct. 2266. “[I]t is in the final analysis the declarant’s statements ... that the Confrontation Clause requires us to evaluate.” Id. (Emphasis added.)
The statements to Wheeler by the victim/witness Rapp recounted past criminal events. Pursuant to Davis, I believe the statements are testimonial. The in-court use of the statements was to establish the truth of the matter therein (that Rapp’s home was broken into and that the intruder would not let him leave). Accordingly, I believe the use of the statements as proof of burglary and unlawful imprisonment implicates the Confrontation Clause.7
Although the alleged hearsay error as to the police officers was unpreserved, to avoid error on retrial, I believe it behooves the Court to address the statements made by Rapp to the police officers (that a man had come into his apartment, stated the police were looking for him, and that he needed a place to hide). It appears that under Davis, these statements would be considered non-testimonial, as they were made in the context of an ongoing emergency, with the police in hot pursuit of Appellant at the time. The issue then would become, whether the statements are admissible under any hearsay exception. Crawford, 541 U.S. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354.
Venters, J., joins.

. A similar analysis would apply to the statements made by Sanchez to Wheeler, however, because the count involving Sanchez was subsequently dismissed, the Sanchez hearsay issue appears to be moot.