State v. Mohamed

¶1 This case requires us to determine whether it is permissible to impeach a hearsay declarant with his or her prior convictions under certain circumstances. ER 806 allows for impeachment of a hearsay declarant as if the declarant were a testifying witness. In this case, the defendant did not testify and his own out-of-court statements were admitted into evidence through his expert witness’ testimony. Defense counsel expressly declined a limiting instruction offered by the trial court regarding the purpose of the defendant’s statements. The State then cross-examined the expert witness with…