The Eleventh Circuit weighed in on the matter in 1985, holding in United States v.Rouco (11th Cir. 1985) 765 F.2nd 983, 995, that the defendant waived his right to confront a witness by killing him. It cited Carlson for the proposition that â€
Description
Trial court did not abuse discretion by admitting as spontaneous declarations six sets of statements by victim to police officers--two concerning charged offenses and four concerning prior bad acts by defendant, which were admitted under Evidence Code Sec. 1109 to show a past pattern of domestic abuse--where statements were made shortly after the events to which they pertained, even though defendant was no longer in the vicinity when the statements were made. Under doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing, defendant who murdered victim could not object on Confrontation Clause grounds to the admission of victim's testimonial hearsay statements about prior acts of domestic violence.
