People v. Stamper
742 N.W.2d 607, 480 Mich. 1 (2007)
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Rule of Law:
A young child's out-of-court statement may be admitted under the dying declaration exception to the hearsay rule if the surrounding circumstances, including the child's own statements and physical condition, sufficiently demonstrate a belief of impending death; the declarant's age alone is not a categorical bar to admissibility.
Facts:
- The defendant, the boyfriend of Gloria Ann Logan, gave Logan's four-year-old son, Jake, a bath.
- During the bath, Gloria Logan heard her son crying.
- After the bath, Jake began losing consciousness.
- When Gloria asked Jake to open his eyes, he responded, “Mom, I can’t, I’m dead.”
- Jake was taken to the hospital with 88 bruises and severe internal injuries, including anal injuries consistent with penetration.
- At the hospital, a nurse asked Jake how he got his bruises, and he responded, “from ‘Mike.’ ”
- When another nurse asked who Mike was, Jake stated he was “Mom’s wife.”
- Jake died shortly after being admitted to the hospital.
Procedural Posture:
- The defendant was prosecuted in a Michigan trial court.
- The trial court admitted the victim's out-of-court statements implicating the defendant under the dying declaration exception to the hearsay rule.
- A jury convicted the defendant.
- The defendant (appellant) appealed his conviction to the Michigan Court of Appeals, arguing the trial court erred in admitting the statements.
- The Court of Appeals (appellee is the State of Michigan) affirmed the trial court's decision and the conviction.
- The defendant then filed an application for leave to appeal with the Michigan Supreme Court.
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Issue:
Does a four-year-old child's out-of-court statement identifying his abuser qualify for the dying declaration exception to the hearsay rule, MRE 804(b)(2), by demonstrating a sufficient awareness of his own impending death?
Opinions:
Majority - Per Curiam (Memorandum Opinion)
Yes. A four-year-old child's statement can qualify as a dying declaration. The admissibility of such a statement depends on a case-by-case analysis of the surrounding facts and circumstances, not on a rigid rule based on age. The court found that Jake Logan's statement to his mother, “Mom, I can’t, I’m dead,” when considered alongside the severity of his 88 bruises and fatal internal injuries, clearly indicated his belief that death was imminent. His subsequent statements to the nurses identifying 'Mike' as the cause of his injuries directly concerned the circumstances of his impending death. Therefore, all requirements of the dying declaration exception under MRE 804(b)(2) were met, and the defendant's argument that a four-year-old is incapable of such awareness is rejected.
Analysis:
This decision is significant because it rejects a categorical rule that would preclude a young child's statements from being admitted as dying declarations. By mandating a fact-specific, case-by-case inquiry into the child's state of mind, the court allows for the admission of crucial, and often sole, evidence in child homicide cases. This precedent broadens the application of the dying declaration exception, enabling prosecutors to use a victim's final words to identify a perpetrator, provided there is sufficient circumstantial evidence that the child understood their fatal condition. It shifts the focus from the declarant's age to the reliability and context of the statement itself.
