Commonwealth v. Baldwin

Defendant was charged with offenses arising from alleged domestic violence. The Commonwealth and Defendant filed motions in limine regarding the admissibility of a record of a 911 call placed by the son of Defendant and the alleged victim. Defendant argued that the boy’s statements - including, “my dad just choked my mom” - were not excited utterances and that their admission would violate his right of confrontation right. The judge concluded that the statements were not excited utterances because the boy’s voice on the recording sounded “calm.” A single justice vacated the judge’s order excluding the recording. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding that the question is not whether the declarant shows “excitement,” but, rather, whether the declarant was acting spontaneously under the influence of the incident at the time the statements were made, and not reflexively. Remanded. View "Commonwealth v. Baldwin" on Justia Law