United States v. Brown
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
254 F.3d 454 (2001)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Clarence Brown (defendant) was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. At trial, police officer Michael Hughes testified that on the night in question, two men came up to him to tell him that they saw someone with a gun nearby yelling that he was going to shoot someone. Hughes testified that the men “were yelling, they were real excited, telling me they saw a guy with a gun.” The prosecution (plaintiff) sought to admit the men’s statements as excited utterances. Brown objected to this testimony on the ground that it constituted inadmissible hearsay because there was no independent evidence of a startling event. Brown’s defense generally was that Hughes had planted the gun. The trial court allowed the testimony and convicted Brown. Brown appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Roth, J.)
Dissent (Rendell, J.)
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