Mouzone v. State

We shall in this case determine whether a statement given to police by a witness to a double murder five hours after the incident took place and after almost two hours of questioning by a police officer falls within any exception to the rule against hearsay. We set forth the facts crucial to our discussion of the issue.

At approximately two o’clock in the afternoon of August 31,1979, Anna Byrd happened to be in the vicinity of North Avenue and Charles Street in Baltimore City. While there she heard a loud noise, similar to a car back-firing. She turned around to see a woman lying on the…