N.C. Court of Appeals Weighs in on "Testimonial" Evidence after Bryant

Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Michigan v. Bryant may have signaled a loosening of that Court’s interpretation of the key term “testimonial” as used in the Crawford confrontation clause analysis, a recent N.C. Court of Appeals decision suggests that our courts aren’t so inclined. Recall that under Crawford, testimonial statements by people who don’t testify at trial are inadmissible unless the State establishes unavailability and a prior opportunity to cross-examine. Bryant was the Court’s latest decision exploring the meaning of the key term “testimonial.” In a series of blog posts here, here, and here, I analyzed that important case. In a nutshell, Bryant held—over a bitter dissent by Justice Scalia—that a homicide victim’s statements to responding officers were nontestimonial. The recent court of appeals decision was State v. Glenn, decided April 17, 2012. Here are the facts: Around 3 am, while the victim was looking for a cab, a vehicle pulled up and a male driver asked the victim if she needed a ride. Believing the vehicle to be a cab, the victim got in. She then discovered that the vehicle was not a cab and that the driver was naked from the waist down. When she tried to exit the vehicle, the driver called her a name and grabbed her shirt. Although the victim was able to escape by jumping out of the vehicle, she was dragged by it and sustained injuries. The defendant was charged with kidnapping, assault, and indecent exposure. At trial, the State offered statements [...]