State v. Warsame

735 N.W.2d 684, 2007 Minn. LEXIS 438, 2007 WL 2127880
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 26, 2007
DocketA05-488
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 735 N.W.2d 684 (State v. Warsame) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Warsame, 735 N.W.2d 684, 2007 Minn. LEXIS 438, 2007 WL 2127880 (Mich. 2007).

Opinions

OPINION

ANDERSON, Paul H., Justice.

The state charged Farah Abshir War-same with one count of domestic assault [687]*687and one count of making terroristic threats. The charges related to an incident with Warsame’s girlfriend, N.A. At a Rasmussen hearing, the district court concluded that most of N.A.’s statements to the police were inadmissible at trial. The state appealed, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that all of the statements were admissible. We denied Warsame’s petition for review. The United States Supreme Court granted Warsame’s writ of certiorari and vacated the court of appeals decision, remanding the case for reconsideration in light of Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. -, 126 S.Ct. 2266, 165 L.Ed.2d 224 (2006). Upon remand, the court of appeals again reversed the district court’s ruling. We granted Warsame’s petition for review and affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

Shortly after midnight on October 24, 2004, the Eden Prairie Police Department received a 911 call from an individual concerning an incident at a neighboring home, located less than two blocks from the police department. Officer John Wilson responded to the call, and as he approached the address where the 911 call originated, he encountered a woman walking in the middle of the street. Before Wilson was able to get out of his car or speak to the woman, she stated, “My boyfriend just beat me up.” Wilson quickly determined that the woman, whom he later identified as N.A., was related to the 911 call. He also observed that N.A. was upset, crying, and holding the left side of her head. Wilson then moved N.A.’s hand from her forehead and observed that she had a fresh bump on her head about the size of a baseball. The bump was swollen and red. Wilson also noted that N.A. appeared “wobbly” and “potentially faint,” so he had her sit down on the curb.

Wilson retrieved his emergency medical treatment bag from his squad car and began checking N.A.’s head and neck area. He observed fresh bruising on her neck, and as he did so, N.A. stated that she had been choked. While Wilson administered first aid, he asked N.A. what he described as “some form of open-ended question of what happened,” and Wilson testified that N.A. gave the following response:

She told me that her boyfriend came home. She wanted to talk. He was tired and did not want to talk. They began to argue. And he had gone into the kitchen and grabbed a cooking pot and had struck her in the head with it. And after * * ⅜ he hit her, she fell on to the bed, and he then got on top of her and was choking her, and her sisters came up and attempted to get her boyfriend off the top of her. At that time her boyfriend went into the kitchen, got a knife and came back after her and threatened to kill her, chased her from room to room. She affirmed that she was very frightened and believed he was going to kill her.

Wilson called an ambulance. During the approximately 15 to 20 minutes before an ambulance arrived, Wilson learned more information from N.A. She told Wilson that she was pregnant, after which Wilson attempted to assess if N.A.’s pregnancy may have been affected by the alleged assault. N.A. also stated that after the assault, her boyfriend had “left in her vehicle with one of her sisters.”

N.A. explained to Wilson that she could not call 911 because the phone lines in her home had been cut, and as a result she walked toward the police department in order to report the assault. Wilson testified that N.A. provided most of this information in a “story-like fashion,” and that he asked only a few “small questions” toward the end in order to obtain extra [688]*688detail. Wilson testified that N.A. was “crying and physically shaking” throughout his entire encounter with her. Wilson recalled writing down N.A.’s name, date of birth, and telephone number while he was speaking with her, but he did not recall whether any additional notes he took were written before or after the paramedics arrived.

Police Sergeant Robert Olson arrived at the scene one to three minutes after Wilson. Olson observed Wilson assisting N.A. as she was seated on the curb, and he noticed that N.A. was crying and “heaving heavily.” He also saw a large lump on her head. Olson used his portable radio to relay to other police units responding to the 911 call some of the information that N.A. was giving to Wilson about the suspect’s description. Olson heard N.A. describe her assailant, who was identified as the respondent, Farah Abshir Warsame, and state that a knife was involved in the assault, which information Olson reported over his radio. Olson also heard N.A. state that a third party had been cut with the knife. Olson stated that he took no notes during this time.

Olson testified that Warsame was not in police custody during the time he was listening to the exchange between Wilson and N.A. But Olson had learned that another Eden Prairie police officer had responded to the 911 call and that officer observed an SUV-type vehicle leaving the home where the alleged assault had taken place. Olson learned that the officer was following the vehicle, which was apparently traveling at a high speed. The vehicle, driven by Warsame, was later stopped about two miles from N.A.’s home.

Olson testified that he remained near Wilson and N.A. for three to five minutes and then went to the home where the assault allegedly occurred. After entering the home, he spoke with one of N.A.’s sisters, LA., who was apparently present during the alleged assault. Olson stated that he observed a cut on I.A.’s finger, which was not bleeding.

Wilson testified that during the 15 to 20 minutes he spent with N.A., he learned “early on” that Warsame had been apprehended. Wilson stated that he learned this shortly after Olson broadcasted War-same’s name and description over the police radio, but Wilson did not recall if Olson was still nearby when Wilson learned that Warsame had been apprehended.1 Wilson did not recall ever telling N.A. that Warsame was in police custody.

After the paramedics arrived to assist N.A., Wilson also entered N.A.’s home and spoke with I.A. It was during this conversation that Wilson learned that during the assault, LA. had attempted to grab a knife from Warsame, was cut, and passed out from the injury.

Both N.A. and I.A. failed to respond to subpoenas from the state to testify at War-same’s trial, so the state moved to admit their statements to Officer Wilson and Sergeant Olson. After conducting a Rasmussen hearing where Wilson and Olson both testified, the district court concluded that N.A.’s initial statement to Wilson, that her boyfriend beat her up, was not testimonial under Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), but all subsequent statements by N.A. and I.A. were testimonial and therefore inadmissible because they violated Warsame’s rights under the Confrontation Clause. With the exception of the initial statement, the court concluded that the [689]*689statements N.A. made to Wilson were taken “to obtain evidence that could be used at trial” and made while N.A. knew that she was safe in the presence of a police officer. The court also concluded that the statements I.A. made to Olson and Wilson were for the purpose of providing evidence and therefore testimonial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
735 N.W.2d 684, 2007 Minn. LEXIS 438, 2007 WL 2127880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-warsame-minn-2007.