People v. Walker

728 N.W.2d 902, 273 Mich. App. 56
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 14, 2007
DocketDocket 250006
StatusPublished
Cited by63 cases

This text of 728 N.W.2d 902 (People v. Walker) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Walker, 728 N.W.2d 902, 273 Mich. App. 56 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinions

Neff, P.J.

This case is before us on remand from the Michigan Supreme Court for reconsideration of defendant’s Confrontation Clause claim in light of Davis v Washington,_US_; 126 S Ct 2266; 165 L Ed 2d 224 [59]*59(2006). See 477 Mich 856 (2006). We conclude that the standards announced in Davis render the written statement of the victim’s account of the alleged felonious assault, and her statements in response to questioning by police officers at a neighbor’s home, testimonial and, therefore, inadmissible absent an opportunity for cross-examination by defendant. However, the statements made in the 911 call are nontestimonial in character, and, therefore, no error occurred in the trial court’s admission of the 911-call evidence. Given the record before us, and the fact that this case was tried before either Davis or Crawford v Washington, 541 US 36; 124 S Ct 1354; 158 L Ed 2d 177 (2004), was decided, we reverse defendant’s convictions and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings, including consideration of amended charges and sentencing, if appropriate.

I. FACTS

The underlying facts of this case were set forth in our earlier opinion as follows:1

This case steins from a domestic assault in which defendant beat his live-in girlfriend repeatedly with a stick and threatened her with a gun. The couple had been living together for several years and had a son together. The victim told police that after the couple had an argument on the evening of October 18, 2002, defendant forced her to lie on the bed on her stomach while he beat her with white sticks on her back, buttocks, legs, and arms. He then pointed a handgun at her and told her he would “blow her back out” if she moved. The beatings continued until early the next morning. The victim escaped at approximately [60]*609:00 a.m. by jumping from a second-story balcony while defendant was sleeping. She ran to the home of a neighbor, who called 911.
The police arrived within a few minutes. Because the victim was upset, the neighbor wrote out her statement of what happened. The victim accompanied the police to the couple’s home, where the police found three white sticks and a handgun. Defendant was not at the home, but was located and arrested a short while later. [People v Walker, 265 Mich App 530, 532; 697 NW2d 159 (2005).]

II. ISSUE

At issue on remand is the admissibility of hearsay statements, including statements made during the 911 call, the victim’s statement recorded in writing by the neighbor, and the victim’s statements to the police.2 The trial court determined that the statements were admissible under MRE 803(2) as excited utterances, and, in our earlier opinion, we agreed. However, we must now decide whether the statements are objectively characterized as testimonial under the standards articulated in Davis and, therefore, inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause. Only testimonial statements “cause the declarant to be a ‘witness’ within the meaning of the Confrontation Clause.” Davis, supra at 2273. “It is the testimonial character of [a] statement that separates it from other hearsay that, while subject to traditional limitations upon hearsay evidence, is not subject to the Confrontation Clause.” Id.

III. ANALYSIS

The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment bars the admission of “testimonial” statements of a witness who did not appear at trial, unless the witness [61]*61was unavailable to testify and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness. Crawford, supra at 59, 68. In Crawford, the Court concluded that a recorded statement, given in response to structured police questioning after the declarant was in custody and had received Miranda3 warnings, was clearly an inadmissible “testimonial” statement made during a police “interrogation.” Id. at 53 n 4, 61. The Court however declined to “spell out a comprehensive definition” of testimonial hearsay for purposes of the Confrontation Clause. Id. at 68.

The Court in Davis, and the companion case of Hammon v Indiana, has since further defined the demarcation between “testimonial” and “nontestimo-nial” hearsay in evaluating statements made to law enforcement personnel during a 911 call or at a crime scene:

Without attempting to produce an exhaustive classification of all conceivable statements — or even all conceivable statements in response to police interrogation — as either testimonial or nontestimonial, it suffices to decide the present cases to hold as follows: Statements are nontesti-monial when made in the course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency. They are testimonial when the circumstances objectively indicate that there is no such ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution. [Davis, supra at 2273-2274.]

Like this case, Davis involved the admission of a recording of a 911 call in which the caller, Michelle McCottry, indicated that she had been assaulted by her [62]*62former boyfriend, Davis, who had just fled the scene. Davis, supra at 2270-2271. The Court held that McCottry’s 911-call statements identifying Davis as her assailant were not testimonial. Id. at 2277. However, in Hammon, the Court held that statements made to police officers who responded to a domestic disturbance at the home of Hershel and Amy Hammon were testimonial and, therefore, inadmissible. Id. at 2272, 2278-2279. In Hammon, when the police arrived at the Hammon home, Amy was sitting on the front porch, and, although she appeared frightened, she told the police that “ ‘ “nothing was the matter.” ’ ” Id. at 2272 (citation omitted). The police entered the home and subsequently questioned Hershel and Amy in separate rooms. Amy recounted details of Hershel’s assault, and an officer had her complete and sign a battery affidavit. Amy’s statements to the police and her affidavit were admitted as evidence against Hershel when Amy failed to appear for trial. Id. at 2272-2273. However, the Davis Court found Amy’s statements and affidavit violative of the defendant’s rights under the Confrontation Clause and therefore inadmissible. Id. at 2278-2279.

In this case, as the Court did in Davis, we must address the admissibility of hearsay statements occurring in various contexts, including statements made during a 911 call, the victim’s statement recorded in writing by the neighbor, and her statements to the police. As noted in our earlier opinion, defendant challenged the statements generally and did not distinguish between the victim’s oral statements to her neighbor, her statement recorded in writing by the neighbor, and her statements to the police. Walker, supra at 536 n 3. Nonetheless, for purposes of analysis under the standards set forth in Davis, the statements in these contexts must be distinguished and analyzed accordingly.

[63]*63A. 911 CALL

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
728 N.W.2d 902, 273 Mich. App. 56, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-walker-michctapp-2007.