Alexander v. State

OPINION

By the Court,

Mowbray, J.:

A jury found Charles Louis Alexander guilty of unlawful possession of narcotics (marijuana). The trial judge rejected Alexander’s testimony that his friend, Stephen Carl Walston, had told Alexander a day and a half before his trial that he (Walston) was the guilty culprit. The trial judge ruled that the testimony was hearsay and self serving. Appellant admits that the testimony is hearsay, but argues that it is admissible because it is a declaration against the penal interest of Walston.

Alexander was observed by two police officers at the hour of 2:30 a.m. on…