Declarations of death are permitted as evidence in Indian courts if the dying person is aware of his danger, if he has given up hope of recovery, if the death of the dying person is the subject of the indictment and the declaration of death, and if the dying person was capable of a religious sense of responsibility to his Creator. [2] The first application of the exception for the declaration of death in American law took place in 1770 in the murder trial of the British soldiers responsible for the Boston Massacre. One of the victims, Patrick Carr, told his doctor before his death that the soldiers had been provoked. The doctor`s testimony helped defense attorney John Adams secure the acquittal of some of the defendants and reduce the charges for the rest. Although the declaration of death may be considered admissible evidence, certain conditions must be met before the declaration can be made in court. G.S. 8C-804(b)(2). An explanation offered under this rule is commonly referred to as a “declaration of death.” If the applicant is not available as a witness under Rule 804(a) and the applicant`s statement meets the two admissibility criteria discussed below, the statement is not excluded from hearsay by the rules. However, there are exceptions to the hearsay rule, and you guessed it – the declaration of death is one of them. If the accused is convicted of murder, but the reliability of the death declaration is in question, an appeal must be lodged.
[5] The statement must have been made at a time when the applicant believed his or her death was “imminent”, which is generally evidenced by the circumstances of the applicant`s injury or condition, as well as the applicant`s statements that he or she was likely to die. See G.S. 8C-804(b)(2). See, for example, Staat v. Bodden, 190 N.C. App. 505 (2008) (The complainant was bleeding from a gunshot wound and, shortly after calling 911, told his mother that he thought he was going to die; the declarant`s statements to officers at the crime scene and in the hospital were admissible as death statements); Statement v. Penley, 318 N.C. 30 (1986) (video recording of the applicant`s identification of the defendant in a photograph admissible as a declaration of death when the applicant died the following day and had made statements acknowledging his imminent death); State v.
Richardson, 308 N.C. 470 (1983) (where the declarant had repeatedly expressed his belief that he would die, his testimony before hospital officials a few hours before his death was admissible as a declaration of death). The conditions under which a declaration of death is admissible The declaration must relate to the circumstances or cause of the applicant`s imminent death. For example, in Clifton Chambers` 1988 death statement, he stated that ten years earlier he had helped his son bury a man the son had accidentally killed. The testimony was reason enough to warrant a search warrant on the son`s property, and the man`s body was found. However, there was no physical evidence of a crime, and since Chambers was not the victim, his death statement was not admissible as evidence and the son was never brought to justice. [1] The essence of the admissibility of the declaration of death really boils down to the issues of the witness`s jurisdiction before death and the related facts of the case, so that the courts can make their decision. The declaration of death can be used in civil and criminal cases. So let`s start with the stereotypical hypothetical situation: the victim has just been shot and it is you who come to comfort the person, and with his dying breath, he pronounces the name of the alleged perpetrator. This author is an unrecognized fan of TV shows or movies that have a significant criminal component in the plot. If you are an avid consumer of movies or television with a criminal element, you would probably also have seen one of those scenes where a person was shot and reveals with his last breath the name of the brutal murderer who ended his life.
Since the interest of FindLaw lies in the actual application of the law, the question must be asked: is a declaration of death allowed? Read on to find out. To be admissible under Rule 804(b)(2), the applicant`s statements must also relate to the “cause or circumstances” of what he considered to be his imminent death. G.S. 8C-804(b)(2). Testimony that meets this requirement may include, for example, identifying the perpetrator or other witnesses present, describing the nature of the breach, or explaining when, where and why the triggering event occurred. See, for example, State v. Bodden, 190 N.C. App. 505 (2008) (the explainer identified the person who shot him and told the officer that “he was shot outside in the parking lot”); State v. Calhoun, 189 N.C. App.
166 (2008) (Emergency services found a victim by shooting on the ground and the victim identified the two shooters before dying); State v Penley, 318 N.C. 30 (1986) (the explanatory identified the defendant as an aggressor); Statement c.