State v. Carter

Leonard Lee Carter appeals from a conviction of first-degree theft at a jury trial. At trial, the only issue was the identity of the thief. The State offered no eyewitness identification. Carter challenges the admissibility of three out-of-court statements which tended to identify him as the thief. We affirm.

The theft occurred in the afternoon on a downtown Seattle street when a tall, young black man bumped into the victim and removed a wallet from her purse. Officer Japar of the Seattle Police Department was driving nearby at this time and heard a woman's scream. Looking in the direction of…