State v. Stalnaker

The defendant offered the testimony of a niece of the defendant that while deceased was lying on the ground in his back yard after being burned, she asked him, “George, what happened?” George looked up at her and said, “Leta didn’t do this.”

Upon objection by the State, the trial judge overruled the objection and allowed the testimony; but the trial judge ruled that George Stalnaker’s statement was not a dying declaration. The trial judge ruled that since the defense opened the door to hearsay evidence, the State could explore the whole area of hearsay evidence. The defendant assigns as error…