State v. Belden

The constitutional right to confrontation requires the State to exhaust “all reasonably available means of producing the witness,” under “the circumstances of the individual case.” State v. Harris, 362 Or 55, 66–67, 404 P3d 926 (2017).

Defendant appealed a conviction for fourth-degree assault constituting domestic violence.  Defendant assigned error to the trial court’s admission of hearsay statements after the trial court declared the victim in the case “unavailable.”  The victim failed to appear the morning of trial despite being served with a subpoena.  On appeal, defendant argued that the hearsay statements “violated his right to confrontation” under Article I, section 11 of the Oregon Constitution, because the State failed to exhaust “all reasonably available means of producing the witness.”  In response, the State asserted that, under the circumstances of this case, measures available after the victim failed to appear were “essentially irrelevant.”  The constitutional right to confrontation requires the State to exhaust “all reasonably available means of producing the witness,” under “the circumstances of the individual case.”  State v. Harris, 362 Or 55, 66–67, 404 P3d 926 (2017).  The Court found that measures the State could have pursued after the victim failed to appear at trial—such as calling the victim—were reasonably available in this case.  Thus, the Court held that the State failed to meet its burden to allow for hearsay evidence.  Reversed and remanded.