State v. DeSantiago

—At issue in this case is whether the testimony of three key witnesses from the defendants’ first trial, which ended in a mistrial, could be read to the jury on retrial without violation of the sixth amendment to the United States Constitution or ER 804. The witnesses were unavailable at the time of retrial, the former testimony is sufficiently reliable, and the defendants had similar motive when they cross-examined the witnesses at the first trial. Therefore, we hold that admission of the former testimony was proper.

In addition, the jury found that the defendants were armed with both a…