Stewart v. State

CHASANOW, Judge.

We are called on in this case to decide whether a prior inconsistent statement by a recanting witness in a criminal case may be admitted as substantive evidence at trial even though the party calling the witness knows beforehand that the witness intends to disavow his or her prior statement. We hold that prior inconsistent statements are admissible as substantive evidence, provided they fall within the circumscribed limitations discussed in Nance v. State, 331 Md. 549, 629 A.2d 633 (1993), regardless of whether the party calling the witness knows ahead of time that the…