- Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
- Area(s) of Law: Evidence
- Date Filed: 01-05-2012
- Case #: A136945
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Schuman, P. J., for the Court; Wollheim, J.; and Nakamoto, J.
The Court of Appeals reviewed this case on remand by the Oregon Supreme Court on the issue of admissibility of statements under OEC 804(3)(c). Under OEC 804(3)(c) a hearsay statement is admissible if (1) the declarant is unavailable, (2) the statement is inculpatory, and (3) there is corroboration of the trustworthiness of the statement. The Supreme Court held that courts must consider the hearsay declarant, not the witness, in determining the level of trustworthiness. The Court of Appeals, using the new guidelines, held that the declarant in this case was not sufficiently trustworthy, because he was a convicted serial killer, his statement was vague, he contradicted the statement by subsequent denials, and there was not enough circumstantial evidence to corroborate the statement. The Court affirmed the inadmissibility of the statement.