Salt Lake City v. Williams

2005 UT App 493, 128 P.3d 47, 538 Utah Adv. Rep. 72, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 472, 2005 WL 3005809
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedNovember 10, 2005
Docket20040942-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2005 UT App 493 (Salt Lake City v. Williams) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salt Lake City v. Williams, 2005 UT App 493, 128 P.3d 47, 538 Utah Adv. Rep. 72, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 472, 2005 WL 3005809 (Utah Ct. App. 2005).

Opinions

OPINION

McHUGH, Judge:

¶1 Rocky Chad Williams appeals his convictions for making threats against life or property and violation of a protective order, see Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-5-107 to -108 (20083), on the grounds that the trial court improperly admitted hearsay testimony in violation of Williams's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. This is an issue of first impression for this court under the United States Supreme Court's recent decision in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). For the reasons set forth herein, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

2 On July 17, 2008, Dycie Allred and Eric Sanders attended a movie in the Sugar House area of Salt Lake City. Williams coincidentally was in attendance at the same movie. Allred had previously obtained a protective order against Williams prohibiting him from having any contact with her.

3 When Allred and Sanders were exiting the parking lot after the movie, Williams passed in front of them. Allred exclaimed, "Oh, my God, there's [Williams]." Upon seeing Williams, Allred became upset enough that Sanders convinced her to pull over so that they could switch drivers. While the vehicle was stopped and before Sanders could replace Allred as the driver, Williams [49]*49pulled his car in front of theirs at an angle two feet from the front bumper. Allred became further upset by this conduct and began erying and shaking. Sanders used his cellular telephone to dial 911.

€ 4 Williams exited his vehicle, pointed at Allred, and shouted something at Allred with a look of rage on his face. Allred exclaimed that Williams had just threatened to kill her. Alired put her car in reverse and proceeded westbound. Williams followed Allred's vehicle, also traveling westbound. When Allred turned her vehicle around and proceeded eastbound, Williams did the same and continued to follow the vehicle driven by Allred. Williams tried to get past Allred's car several times to force her to stop. He was gesturing and yelling at Allred. During this pursuit, Sanders spoke with the dispatch operator regarding the events that were occurring and information relayed to him by Alired. The chase continued with Williams "tailgating" Alired and following her when she again changed direction. - Eventually, Williams stopped pursuing Allred's vehicle.

1 5 At the instruction of the dispatch operator, Allred waited in a parking lot for police officers to arrive. After twenty to thirty minutes, Allred and Sanders proceeded to the home of Sanders's sister and again contacted the police. At that time, Allred gave a telephonic statement to Officer Don Quimette of the Salt Lake City Police Department. Officer Quimette prepared a written report of that statement.

16 Williams was charged with making threats against life or property, a class B misdemeanor, in violation of Utah Code seetion 76-5-107; violating a protective order, a class A misdemeanor, in violation of Utah Code section 76-5-108; and interfering with a legal arrest, a class B misdemeanor, in violation of Utah Code section See Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-5-107, -5-108, - 8-3051 (2003).

17 Before trial, Allred passed away due to a heart condition. Prior to her death, Allred had not testified about the events of July 17, 2008, and had not been subjected to cross-examination. Williams filed motions to suppress the hearsay statements of Allred both before and after the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), which held that testimonial out-of-court statements are admissible only if the witness was unavailable and there was a prior opportunity for cross-examination.

18 The trial court denied the motion to suppress, and the matter was tried before a jury on July 9, 2004. A portion of the 911 tape recording on which Allred could be heard stating that Williams had threatened to kill her was played for the jury. Counsel for the defense did not object to admission of the tape. The trial court also admitted Officer Ouimette's report of his interview with Allred and testimony from Sanders concerning Allred's statements while the events were unfolding. Officer Ouimette's report was admitted by counsel for Williams.

1 9 The jury returned a verdict of guilty on both remaining counts. Williams appeals his conviction on the grounds that the trial court erred in allowing the hearsay statements of Allred into evidence through Sanders and Officer Quimette.

ISSUE AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

110 The issue before this court is whether the trial court properly admitted the statements of Allred despite the fact that she had not been subjected to prior eross-exami-nation. We review for correctness the district court's legal conclusion that the challenged statements were admissible under the excited utterance and present sense impression exceptions to the hearsay rule. See State v. Pena, 869 P.2d 932, 936 (Utah 1994). We recognize, however, that admissibility of evidence under the hearsay exceptions requires the application of facts to the legal requirements of the rule and that the trial court has some discretion in making this determination. See N.D. v. A.B., 2003 UT App 215,¶ 11, 73 P.3d 971. The district [50]*50court's subsidiary factual determinations are reviewed for clear error. See Cal Wadsworth Constr. v. City of St. George, 898 P.2d 1372, 1378 (Utah 1995).

ANALYSIS

I. The Crawford Decision

T11 This case presents this court's first opportunity to apply the United States Supreme Court's decision in Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004).2 That decision replaced the existing standard for admission of hearsay statements against a criminal defendant with a requirement that testimonial statements could be admitted only if the declarant was unavailable and if there had been a prior opportunity for cross-examination. See id. at 68, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The Crawford Court, however, left "for another day any effort to spell out a comprehensive definition of "testimonial.'" Id.

12 Although the Crawford Court did not provide a definition of "testimonial," it did give some guidance to that analysis. The defendant in Crawford was charged with assault and attempted murder. See id. at 40, 124 S.Ct. 1354. The State introduced a recorded statement made by the defendant's wife (Wife) during the police investigation. See id. Wife was unavailable to testify at trial because of Washington State's marital privilege. See id. The defendant argued that the admission of the hearsay statements of Wife violated his Sixth Amendment privilege to be " 'confronted with the witnesses against him'" Id. (quoting U.S. Const. amend. VI).

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Salt Lake City v. Williams
2005 UT App 493 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
2005 UT App 493, 128 P.3d 47, 538 Utah Adv. Rep. 72, 2005 Utah App. LEXIS 472, 2005 WL 3005809, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salt-lake-city-v-williams-utahctapp-2005.