Smith's Criminal Case Compendium

This compendium includes significant criminal cases by the U.S. Supreme Court & N.C. appellate courts, Nov. 2008 – Present. Selected 4th Circuit cases also are included.

Jessica Smith prepared case summaries Nov. 2008-June 4, 2019; later summaries are prepared by other School staff.

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Evidence > Hearsay > Hearsay Exceptions > Rule 804 Unavailability

State v. Allen [Duplicated], ___ N.C. App. ___, 828 S.E.2d 562 (May. 21, 2019)

Evidence > Crawford Issues & Confrontation Clause > Forfeiture by Wrongdoing

Evidence > Crawford Issues & Confrontation Clause > Unavailability

(1) In this murder, robbery and assault case, the trial court properly found that a witness was unavailable to testify under Evidence Rule 804 and the Confrontation Clause. The witness, Montes, was arrested in connection with the crimes at issue. She cooperated with officers and gave a statement that incriminated the defendant. She agreed to appear in court and testify against the defendant, but failed to do so. Her whereabouts were unknown to her family, her bondsman and the State. The State successfully moved to allow her recorded statement into evidence on grounds that she was unavailable and that the defendant forfeited his constitutional right to confrontation due to his own wrongdoing. The defendant was convicted and appealed. Considering the issue, the court noted that the evidence rule requires that a finding of unavailability be supported by evidence of process or other reasonable means. To establish unavailability under the Confrontation Clause, there must be evidence that the State made a good-faith effort to obtain the witness’s presence at trial. Here, the State delivered a subpoena for Montes to her lawyer, and Montes agreed to appear in court to testify against the defendant. These findings support a conclusion both that the State used reasonable means and made a good-faith effort to obtain the witness’s presence at trial.

(2) The trial court properly found that the defendant forfeited his Confrontation Clause rights through wrongdoing. The relevant standard for determining forfeiture by wrongdoing is a preponderance of the evidence and the State met this burden. Here, the defendant made phone calls from jail showing an intent to intimidate Montes into not testifying, and threatened another testifying witness. Additionally, his mother and grandmother, who helped facilitate his threatening calls to Montes, showed up at Montes’ parents’ house before trial to engage in a conversation with her about her testimony. The trial court properly found that the net effect of the defendant’s conduct was to pressure and intimidate Montes into not appearing in court and not testifying.

State v. Clonts, ___ N.C. App. ____, 802 S.E.2d 531 (June 20, 2017) aff’d per curiam, ___ N.C. ___, 813 S.E.2d 796 (Jun 8 2018)

In a case in which there was a dissenting opinion, the court held that the trial court erred by admitting a non-testifying witness’s pretrial deposition testimony. (1) The trial court’s finding were insufficient to establish that the witness was unavailable for purposes of the Rule 804(b)(1) hearsay exception and the Confrontation Clause. The entirety of the trial court’s findings on this issue were: “The [trial court] finds [the witness] is in the military and is stationed outside of the State of North Carolina currently. May be in Australia or whereabouts may be unknown as far as where she’s stationed.” The trial court made no findings that would support more than mere inference that the State was unable to procure her attendance; made no findings concerning the State’s efforts to procure the witness’s presence at trial; and made no findings demonstrating the necessity of proceeding to trial without the witness’s live testimony. The trial court did not address the option of continuing trial until the witness returned from deployment. It did not make any finding that the State made a good-faith effort to obtain her presence at trial, much less any findings demonstrating what actions taken by the State could constitute good-faith efforts. It thus was error for the trial court to grant the State’s motion to admit the witness’ deposition testimony in lieu of her live testimony at trial. (2) The court went on to find that even if the trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions had been sufficient to support its ruling, the evidence presented to the trial court was insufficient to support an ultimate finding of “unavailability” for purposes of Rule 804. It noted in part that the State’s efforts to “effectuate [the witness’s] appearance” were not “reasonable or made in good faith.” (3) A witness’s pretrial deposition testimony, taken in preparation of the criminal case, was clearly testimonial for purposes of the Confrontation Clause. (4) The court found that the facts of the case did not support a finding that the witness was unavailable under the Confrontation Clause. In this respect, the court noted that no compelling interest justified denying the defendant’s request to continue the trial to allow for the witness’s live testimony. It added: “The mere convenience of the State offers no such compelling interest.” It continued: “We hold that . . . in order for the State to show that a witness is unavailable for trial due to deployment, the deployment must, at a minimum, be in probability long enough so that, with proper regard to the importance of the testimony, the trial cannot be postponed.” (quotation omitted).

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