State v. Swann

• Decision Date: 01 October 2008
• Docket Number: No. 2007-1046.,2007-1046.
• Citation: 2008 Ohio 4837,895 N.E.2d 821,119 Ohio St.3d 552
• Parties: The STATE of Ohio, Appellant, v. SWANN, Appellee.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

895 N.E.2d 821

119 Ohio St.3d 552

2008-Ohio-4837

The STATE of Ohio, Appellant, v. SWANN, Appellee.

No. 2007-1046.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted May 7, 2008.

Decided October 1, 2008.

Ron O'Brien, Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney, and Seth L. Gilbert, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellant.

Dianne Worthington, Galloway, for appellee.

O'DONNELL, J.

{¶ 1} The state appeals from a decision of the Franklin County Court of Appeals that reversed Christopher Swann's felonious-assault conviction because the trial court had excluded the testimony of four witnesses who were prepared to testify at trial that another person, Delmar Carlisle, claimed to have committed the offense.

{¶ 2} The issue in this case is whether Evid.R. 804(B)(3), which requires a trial court to exclude an unavailable declarant's statement against penal interest "unless corroborating circumstances clearly indicate the trustworthiness of the statement," deprives a defendant of the constitutional right to present a complete defense. Because the Ohio Rule of Evidence at issue here rationally serves a legitimate state interest in ensuring the admission of trustworthy testimony, it is constitutional. Accordingly, the judgment of the court of appeals is reversed.

Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 3} On the evening of June 25, 2005, John Stith saw several neighbors shooting guns into the air near his south Columbus residence, and he went outside to demand that they stop shooting. After exchanging words with them, he began walking back toward his home, and someone behind a nearby bush said, "F* * * you." Stith recognized the voice as belonging to Christopher Swann, one of those who had been shooting and someone he had known for about seven years. He turned, saw Swann, and then saw a flash of light from Swann's direction as a bullet struck him in the neck, causing him to fall to the ground. Another round hit Stith in his left leg. Stith survived, but the wound to his neck rendered him unable to control his left hand.

{¶ 4} The grand jury returned indictments against Swann for felonious assault with a firearm specification and having a weapon while under a disability. He pleaded not guilty, waived his right to a jury trial on the weapon-under-disability count, and tried the felonious-assault count to a jury. During trial, the state called several witnesses, including Stith and another neighbor, Kavar Thompson, who testified that he saw Swann shoot Stith. In his defense, Swann presented an alibi, as several persons testified that at the moment Stith was shot, Swann was several houses away, socializing with them at a neighborhood gathering.

{¶ 5} As part of his defense, Swann also claimed that another neighbor, Delmar Carlisle, had admitted to shooting Stith. Swann sought admission not only of Carlisle's testimony but also that of four witnesses, Lisa Hughes, Cierra Hughes, Tiffany Hughes, and Tia Holland, each of whom allegedly heard Carlisle's admission. During his voir dire to determine whether he would admit to the shooting on the witness stand, Carlisle invoked his right against self-incrimination on advice of counsel and refused to answer any questions about the Stith shooting. As a result, the trial court declared him unavailable to testify during trial.

{¶ 6} The trial court also excluded the testimony of the four witnesses — Lisa, Cierra, and Tiffany Hughes, and Tia Holland — ruling that Swann had not presented sufficient corroborating evidence to support the trustworthiness of Carlisle's admission in conformity with the hearsay exception for statements against penal interest, as set forth by Evid.R. 804(B)(3).

{¶ 7} After the jury began deliberating, Swann proffered the testimony of these four witnesses. Lisa Hughes and her daughters, Cierra and Tiffany, each testified that Carlisle had bragged about shooting Stith. They also testified to having a close relationship with their cousin, Tia Holland, by whom Swann has a daughter. In her testimony, Holland related that Carlisle told her several days before the shooting that Stith had asked to have sex with Carlisle's pregnant girlfriend. Holland also testified that Carlisle admitted that he had shot Stith and that he was sorry for allowing Swann to face trial for that shooting.

{¶ 8} The jury returned a verdict finding Swann guilty of felonious assault and the firearm specification, and the trial court acquitted Swann of the weapon-under-disability count. The trial court sentenced Swann to a term of incarceration of six years for the felonious-assault count, to be served consecutively to a three-year term for the firearm specification.

{¶ 9} Swann appealed to the Tenth District Court of Appeals, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in finding insufficient corroborating evidence to admit the testimony of the four witnesses regarding Carlisle's statements against penal interest pursuant to Evid.R. 804(B)(3).

{¶ 10} The court of appeals reversed Swann's conviction, but the majority did not agree on a basis for the decision: Judge Tyack relied on Holmes v. South Carolina (2006), 547 U.S. 319, 126 S.Ct. 1727, 164 L.Ed.2d 503, and ruled the exclusion of Carlisle's statements against penal interest pursuant to Evid.R. 804(B)(3) unconstitutional because it denied Swann the opportunity to present a complete defense — i.e., that someone else shot Stith. State v. Swann, 171 Ohio App.3d 304, 2007-Ohio-2010, 870 N.E.2d 754, ¶ 12. Judge Brown did not agree with Judge Tyack's analysis of Holmes, but she concurred in the judgment on the basis that the trial court erred in finding insufficient corroborating evidence to admit Carlisle's statements. Id. at ¶ 35-36. Judge Sadler dissented, concluding both that Evid.R. 804(B)(3) is constitutional and that the trial court had not abused its discretion in excluding the hearsay testimony for lack of sufficient corroborating evidence. Id. at ¶ 38, 49.

{¶ 11} The state appealed, and we agreed to review one proposition of law: "The Federal Constitution does not prohibit a trial court from applying the `corroboration' requirement in Evid.R. 804(B)(3) to exclude hearsay testimony offered by a criminal defendant." In its brief to this court, the state asserts that the corroboration requirement of Evid.R. 804(B)(3) is constitutional. Swann, on the other hand, urges us to adopt Judge Tyack's analysis of Holmes and to hold that application of the corroboration requirement in Evid.R. 804(B)(3) deprived him of an opportunity to present a complete defense.

Right to a Meaningful Opportunity to Present a Complete Defense

{¶ 12} In Chambers v. Mississippi (1973), 410 U.S. 284, 294, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297, the court recognized that "[t]he right of an accused in a criminal trial to due process is, in essence, the right to a fair opportunity to defend against the State's accusations." Although Chambers referred to due process, the court has since explained that "[w]hether rooted directly in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or in the Compulsory Process or Confrontation clauses of the Sixth Amendment, the Constitution guarantees criminal defendants `a meaningful opportunity to present a complete defense.'" (Citations omitted.) Crane v. Kentucky (1986), 476 U.S. 683, 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142, 90 L.Ed.2d 636, quoting California v. Trombetta (1984), 467 U.S. 479, 485, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 81 L.Ed.2d 413, and citing Chambers, 410 U.S. 284, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297; and Washington v. Texas (1967), 388 U.S. 14, 23, 87 S.Ct. 1920, 18 L.Ed.2d 1019. As stated in Crane, "That opportunity would be an empty one if the State were permitted to exclude competent, reliable evidence * * * when such evidence is central to the defendant's claim of innocence." 476 U.S. at 690, 106 S.Ct. 2142, 90 L.Ed.2d 636.

{¶ 13} The court has consistently recognized, however, that this constitutional right is not absolute and does not require the admission of all evidence favorable to the defendant. See, e.g., United States v. Scheffer (1998), 523 U.S. 303, 308, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413 ("A defendant's right to present relevant evidence is not unlimited, but rather is subject to reasonable restriction"); Taylor v. Illinois (1988), 484 U.S. 400, 410, 108 S.Ct. 646, 98 L.Ed.2d 798 ("The accused does not have an unfettered right to offer testimony that is incompetent, privileged, or otherwise inadmissible under standard rules of evidence"); Rock v. Arkansas (1987), 483 U.S. 44, 55, 107 S.Ct. 2704, 97 L.Ed.2d 37 ("the right to present relevant testimony is not without limitation").

{¶ 14} As the court acknowledged in Chambers, "In the exercise of this right, the accused, as is required of the State, must comply with established rules of procedure and evidence designed to assure both fairness and reliability in the ascertainment of guilt and innocence." 410 U.S. at 302, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297. The court has further emphasized that "[s]tate and Federal Governments unquestionably have a legitimate interest in ensuring that reliable evidence is presented to the trier of fact in a criminal trial. Indeed, the exclusion of unreliable evidence is a principal objective of many evidentiary rules." Scheffer, 523 U.S. at 309, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413, citing Fed.R.Evid. 702, 802, and 901, and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (1993), 509 U.S. 579, 589, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469.

{¶ 15} Accordingly, in Scheffer the court clarified that "Chambers therefore does not stand for the proposition that the defendant is denied a fair opportunity to defend himself whenever a state or federal rule excludes favorable evidence." Id. at 316, 118 S.Ct. 1261, 140 L.Ed.2d 413. Rather, it emphasized, "state and federal rulemakers have broad latitude under the Constitution to establish rules excluding evidence from criminal trials. Such rules do not abridge an accused's right to present a defense so long as they are not `arbitrary' or `disproportionate to the...