PEOPLE v. NELSON Part-II
In his appeal and habeas petition, John Paul Nelson challenges his conviction of premeditated attempted murder with a finding that he personally discharged a firearm. In the published portion of this opinion, we reject defendant's contention that his constitutional right to confront witnesses, as defined in Crawford v. Washington (2004) 541 U.S. 36 (Crawford), was violated by the admission of the victim's out-of-court statement identifying defendant as the perpetrator. We hold the victim's brief informal statement, made on the night of the shooting in an ambulance when the victim was close to death, was not testimonial. Hence, admission of the statement did not contravene defendant's rights under Crawford.
In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we address defendant's other assertions of error, including erroneous admission of uncharged misconduct and bad character evidence; a violation of the Doyle rule precluding reference to post-Miranda silence; closing argument references to facts not in evidence; and inadequate cross-examination of a key prosecution witness. Court find no reversible error, and accordingly affirm the judgment and deny the habeas petition.
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