State v. Young

The appellant’s argument, in summary, is that although a defendant is entitled to his Sixth Amendment right of confrontation, hearsay *223may be admitted against him if it falls within one of the exceptions to the hearsay rule and bears the indicia of reliability.

The state claims because Mabry’s refusal to be sworn or answer any questions renders his prior testimony unavailable, it was permissible to read his prior testimony to the jury. The burden of establishing unavailability rests on the party offering the evidence. State v. Smith (1979), 58 Ohio St. 2d 344 [12 O.O.3d 313], vacated on other…