United States v. Smallwood

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ELLIS, District Judge.

At issue in this prosecution of two defendants for murder and use of a firearm while engaged in a drug conspiracy in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 848(e)(1)(A) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) & (j) is whether certain statements made by the murder victim to his sister, brother, and roommate on the day of the murder are admissible pursuant to an exception to the hearsay rule.

I

Defendants Tyrone Smallwood and Thomas Edward Smith, Jr. were indicted and now face trial for the February 11, 1996 murder of Conrad Shelton in Washington, D.C., a murder they allegedly committed…