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Yancey v. State

A statement made by an individual who was under suspicion for the crimes in question did not meet the requirements for trustworthiness under the necessity exception to the hearsay rule.

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A jury convicted James Yancey of the shooting death of Gregory Ferrell and the aggravated assault of Terrell Lofton.1 At trial, the trial court admitted the statement of Travis Sloan, the defendant’s brother, under the necessity exception to the hearsay rule. The question in this appeal is whether a statement that a suspect makes during an official police investigation has sufficient indicia of reliability to be admissible when the declarant does not testify at trial. Because Sloan made his statement to police while under suspicion for the crimes, we hold that his statement does not have sufficient guarantees of trustworthiness and its admission under the necessity exception to the hearsay rule violated Yancey’s constitutional right of confrontation. Accordingly, we reverse.

1. Terrell Lofton and his friend Gregory Ferrell were sitting in Lofton’s maroon Delta 88 Oldsmobile on a Saturday afternoon when a light-colored van pulled alongside of them. Lofton turned to his right and asked the driver what he wanted. As Lofton put his key in the ignition, he heard five to seven shots and was hit in the right shoulder. Ferrell, who was in the passenger’s seat next to the van, died immediately from gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen.

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