State v. Alvarado

We here consider whether the foundation requirements for admission of recorded recollections necessarily include the declarant’s trial testimony that the statements were true when made. We hold that under certain circumstances, other indicia of reliability may achieve that purpose.

Early one morning in Seattle, six men left a party and went for a walk. One, Reynaldo Capetillo, was murdered by two of the others. The remaining three were witnesses. One of the witnesses, Louis Lopez, made tape-recorded statements to the police that implicated both defendants in the murder. At trial, however,…