State v. Khuram Ashfaq Choudhry

STEELMAN, Judge.

The statement of a co-defendant who absconded prior to trial was not admissible under a hearsay exception where there was no corroborating evidence to support its admission. Where the State did not offer any portion of the co-defendant’s statement into evidence, it did not “open the door” to the admission of the statement. Defendant waived any possible conflict of interest on the part of his trial attorney.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

On the evening of 3 November 2002, Khuram Choudhry (defendant), Umar Malik (Malik), and Hasan Sokoni (Sokoni) drove to a BP gas station…