United States v. Boyce
742 F.3d 792, 134 S.Ct. 2321 (2014)
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Rule of Law:
A general letter restoring a felon's civil rights upon release from custody applies only to the conviction for which the sentence has just been completed, not to all prior convictions. Additionally, statements made by a declarant during a 911 call immediately following a startling event, such as a domestic battery, are admissible under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule if the statements relate to the event.
Facts:
- Darnell Boyce had five state felony convictions from 1991 and was later convicted for unlawful use of a weapon (UUW) while on supervised release.
- Boyce's supervised release for the 1991 felonies was revoked, and that sentence terminated on December 23, 1995.
- Boyce completed his sentence for the UUW charge on February 6, 1997, after which he received a form letter from Illinois restoring his right to vote and hold state office.
- On March 27, 2010, Boyce struck Sarah Portis, the mother of four of his children.
- Portis immediately ran to a neighbor's apartment and called 911.
- During the 911 call, Portis stated that Boyce had just hit her, was 'going crazy,' and confirmed that he had a gun.
- When police officers arrived and attempted to speak with Boyce, he fled on foot.
- During the chase, an officer witnessed Boyce throw a handgun into a yard; officers later recovered a .357 Magnum handgun from the area and found three matching bullets in Boyce's pocket.
- While awaiting trial in jail, Boyce sent Portis a letter with specific language for her to use to recant her statement that he had a gun.
Procedural Posture:
- Darnell Boyce was charged in federal district court with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
- Boyce filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing his predicate felony convictions were invalid because his civil rights had been restored. The district court denied the motion.
- The government sought to introduce the audio of Sarah Portis's 911 call, and the district court admitted it into evidence under the present sense impression and excited utterance exceptions to the hearsay rule.
- A jury found Boyce guilty on both counts.
- The district court sentenced Boyce to 210 months' imprisonment as an armed career criminal.
- Boyce appealed his conviction and sentence to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
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Issue:
Do statements made during a 911 call, in which a victim of domestic battery reports that her assailant possessed a gun, fall within the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule?
Opinions:
Majority - Williams, Circuit Judge
Yes. A statement falls within the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule if it relates to a startling event and was made while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by that event. Here, the startling event was the domestic battery committed by Boyce. Portis made the 911 call immediately after the battery, having 'just' run to a neighbor's house, and a responding officer described her as emotional. Her statements that Boyce had a gun related to the startling event because the presence of a weapon described the level of threat posed by her assailant and the danger she experienced. The court also held that under the circuit's precedent in United States v. Burnett, the letter restoring Boyce's civil rights was conviction-specific and applied only to his UUW conviction, not his prior 1991 felonies, meaning he was still a felon prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Concurring - Posner, Circuit Judge
Yes. While the judgment should be affirmed under existing precedent, the underlying legal principles for the excited utterance and present sense impression exceptions are deeply flawed. These exceptions are based on outdated 'folk psychology' rather than empirical evidence. The rationale that excitement or spontaneity prevents fabrication is questionable, as psychological studies show that lies can be instantaneous and that emotional stress can distort perception and memory. Instead of relying on these archaic and complex rules, courts should adopt a simpler, more flexible standard, akin to the residual exception, that admits hearsay evidence when it is reliable, understandable to the jury, and materially enhances the likelihood of a correct outcome.
Analysis:
This decision reinforces the Seventh Circuit's narrow, conviction-by-conviction approach to the restoration of civil rights for felons, making it more difficult for individuals with multiple convictions to regain firearm eligibility. It also provides a broad interpretation of the 'relates to' element of the excited utterance test, affirming that a statement about a weapon is connected to a domestic battery even if the weapon wasn't used in the assault. The case is significant for its application of hearsay exceptions in domestic violence prosecutions and for Judge Posner's influential critique questioning the psychological foundations of long-standing evidence rules, urging a move toward a more modern, reliability-focused approach to hearsay.
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