Quote:
Originally Posted by NLnit
The facts of the case decided seem like a standard application of the very old "dying declaration" rule, that allows statements of people facing imminent death to be admitted into court (on the quaint assumption that someone who is about to meet his maker will not tell a lie with his dying breath.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by NLnit
That doesn't make much sense. Ya i understand who the accuser is. That's not a revelation by any means. But their argument, or part of it, can be based on what a guy says who is in no position to be cross examined?
So a dude can be dying and in a state of shock and say something which implicates another individual and that is allowed in court?
And the fact that it is reported in CSM does change the meaning of the decision.
The particular facts of this case don't really bother me, because the dying declaration exception to the inadmissibility of hearsay actually makes a lot of sense.
It is founded in common sense--if somebody shoots you and you are laying there bleeding out, it is exceedingly unlikely that you will falsely accuse someone. You'd obviously want to tell the police who actually shot you, so that the shooter can be punished.
Also, the fact that hearsay is admissible doesn't mean that the case against you can be proved. hearsay statements can be cross examined to a certain extent even if the person who made the statement is unavailable. For example, the officer offering the hearsay statement from the dead guy that "Joe shot me," can be cross examined on whether the dead guy has a grudge against Joe, whether he had blood in his eyes, whether he had adequate opportunity to observe who shot him, etc. etc.
In the hands of a clever defense attorney, a hearsay statement is largely dogmeat, because you can come up with 82,000 things that the officer doesn't know that can undermine the credibility of the dying declaration.
So just because the dying declaration comes in doesn't mean it's game over.
Last edited by mpethybridge; 02-28-2011 at 07:53 PM.
Reason: finished the last sentence