State v. Surbaugh, 737 S.E.2d 240

Julia Surbaugh was sentenced to life without mercy for first degree murder after a 2010 Webster County jury trial.
State theory: husband shot himself; State introduced wife’s role and financial motive evidence.
Decedent, after being shot, made several statements to police and others; some were recorded or testified to.
Petitioner sought to suppress these statements as Crawford v. Washington violations and challenged several evidentiary rulings.
Circuit Court admitted decedent’s statements as excited utterances under Rule 803(2) and declined to suppress portions of petitioner’s third statement.
Court remanded for new trial on appeal, reversing and vacating the circuit court judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether decedent's statements were testimonial	Surbaugh: statements are testimonial under Crawford	Surbaugh: statements non-testimonial; excited utterance justified	Statements non-testimonial; admissible
Whether decedent's statements were admissible under hearsay exceptions	Dying declarations/excited utterances support admissibility	Excited utterance sufficient; catch-all not needed	Excited utterance exception applicable; catch-all unnecessary
Whether petitioner’s third statement should have been suppressed under Bradshaw	Custodial interrogation required new warnings; arrest warrant changed status	Unknown to officers; no custodial interrogation; no suppression required	No Bradshaw error; continued statements admissible
Whether Harden instruction should have been given	Evidence of abuse/threats relevant to self-defense state of mind	No substantial abuse evidence; instruction not warranted	No reversible error; Harden instruction not required
Whether petitioner was entitled to a good character instruction	Good character evidence requires jury instruction weighing with all evidence	Standalone instruction improper; no guidance on weighing	Error to omit proper good character instruction; remand for new trial with proper instruction

State v. Harden, 223 W.Va. 796 (2009) (limits on self-defense evidence; abusive threats as relevant to state of mind)
State v. Derr, 192 W.Va. 165 (1994) (requirements for warranting instruction on requested issues)
State v. Guthrie, 194 W.Va. 657 (1995) (jury instructions must be correct statements of law)
State v. Shrewsbury, 213 W.Va. 327 (2003) (abuse of discretion in evidentiary rulings)
State v. Sutphin, 195 W.Va. 551 (1995) (excited utterance prerequisites and factors)
State v. Mechling, 219 W.Va. 366 (2006) (testimonial versus non-testimonial statements under Confrontation Clause)
Bradshaw, State v. Bradshaw (1995) (custodial warnings must be repeated when custodial interrogation begins)
Mannix v. United States, 140 F.2d 250 (1944) (good character evidence cannot alone create reasonable doubt)
U.S. v. Foley, 598 F.2d 1323 (1979) (standalone good character instruction improper)