State v. Simmons

Defendant appeals a judgment of conviction for third-degree assault, ORS 163.165, and raises two assignments of error. He first argues that the trial court erroneously admitted hearsay statements that the assault victim, who did not testify at trial, had made to a police officer immediately after the assault, which had identified defendant as one of the assailants. Defendant asserts that the victim’s statements should not have been admitted because the state failed to establish that the victim was unavailable as a witness, and, therefore, admission of his statements violated defendant’s right…