984 F.3d 1289
8th Cir.2021Background
- Crystal Earth stabbed her cousin, Wade Sharpe Butte, four times in the torso and face during an altercation in her Rosebud Reservation home; she was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 1153 and § 113(a)(3) (assault with a dangerous weapon) and § 113(a)(6) (assault causing serious bodily injury).
- At trial Earth conceded the stabbing but claimed self-defense; many witnesses were intoxicated and none provided a direct, contemporaneous eyewitness account of the stabbing.
- Sharpe Butte, severely injured and with very high blood alcohol, made statements to a 911 caller, officers, EMTs, and a treating physician; medical testimony corroborated knife puncture wounds and lack of defensive wounds.
- Earth made inconsistent statements after the event (including a false 911 call) and was arrested; alleged bruises on Earth were contested and not photographed.
- The jury convicted Earth on Count One (assault with a dangerous weapon), acquitted on Count Two (serious bodily injury), and Earth appealed raising evidentiary (hearsay) rulings, a rejected jury instruction on retreat/self-defense, and sufficiency of the evidence.
Issues
| Issue | Government's Argument | Earth's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admission of Rebecca's 911 statements and Officer Roe testimony | Offered to show effect on listener / origin of investigation (not for truth) | Statements were hearsay and violated Confrontation Clause | Admitted as non-hearsay (effect on listener); limiting instructions given; no Confrontation problem because Rebecca testified and was cross-examined |
| Admission of Sharpe Butte's statements to EMT/physician under Rule 803(4) (medical treatment) | Statements about drinking and being stabbed were pertinent to diagnosis/treatment and admissible | Some descriptive statements (surprise) assigned fault and were not pertinent to treatment | Statements about cause and drinking admissible under Rule 803(4); descriptive surprise statements also reasonably pertinent and admissible; identification of assailant largely cumulative given Earth’s concession |
| Admission of body-camera recordings (Officer Roe and Officer Scott) / excited utterance and hearsay-within-hearsay concerns | Portions admissible as excited utterances; Earth’s own post-stabbing statements are party admissions | Record contained hearsay and improper bolstering; some restated remarks were hearsay within hearsay | Many on-scene utterances admissible as excited utterances; some hospital restatements were improperly admitted but any error was harmless given the overall evidence |
| Refusal to give requested jury instruction stating no duty to retreat | Model instruction adequately explains self-defense and retreat was not central to case | Requested explicit no-retreat language should have been given | District court did not abuse discretion; model instruction was legally correct and retreat was not central to the dispute |
| Sufficiency of evidence (self-defense) | Government showed use of disproportional force, medical and circumstantial evidence consistent with non-defensive conduct | Earth argued testimony supported reasonable fear and self-defense | Viewing evidence most favorably to verdict, a reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Earth did not act in self-defense; conviction affirmed |
Key Cases Cited
- White v. Illinois, 502 U.S. 346 (U.S. 1992) (medical-treatment statements may carry guarantees of trustworthiness)
- United States v. Renville, 779 F.2d 430 (8th Cir. 1985) (limits on Rule 803(4): motive and reasonable reliance by physician)
- United States v. Iron Shell, 633 F.2d 77 (8th Cir. 1980) (identifying assailant seldom pertinent to treatment)
- United States v. Bercier, 506 F.3d 625 (8th Cir. 2007) (prejudicial hearsay can require a new trial when case rests on witness credibility)
- United States v. Graves, 756 F.3d 602 (8th Cir. 2014) (factors for assessing excited-utterance exception)
- United States v. Clemmons, 461 F.3d 1057 (8th Cir. 2006) (analysis of excited utterance admissibility)
- United States v. Walker, 817 F.2d 461 (8th Cir. 1987) (self-defense jury instruction and standards concerning force and retreat)
- United States v. McPike, 512 F.3d 1052 (8th Cir. 2008) (harmless-error standard for evidentiary errors)