Brief Fact Summary. Defendant, Stephen English was convicted for the murder of his wife. Defendant appealed the decision by the trial court to not allow the admission of a confession given by a third party who has since disappeared.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A confession by a third party who is unavailable for trial is inadmissible as hearsay.
These exceptions are not sustained.
View Full Point of LawIssue. The issue is whether the confession given by a third party unavailable for trial is admissible as evidence.
Held. The Supreme Court of North Carolina held that the state followed the majority rule wherein a confession by a third party is inadmissible hearsay. The reasoning behind the majority rule is that the parties are unable to cross-examine, and the confession is not given under oath.
Discussion. The judge that wrote the opinion, J. Brogden, noted that he was hesitant to follow the majority rule but did so for the sake of precedent. However, the facts of the case, that the confession was given by an African-American in 1930’s North Carolina and then disappeared soon thereafter, indicate that the confession may not have had the safeguards that modern day confessions would typically have.