O'CAIN v. State

The appellant, Israel O'Cain, was convicted of murder after a jury trial and was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment and, inter alia, was ordered to pay $35,357.40 restitution. He appeals, raising one issue. He contends that the trial court committed reversible error by admitting into evidence the hearsay statements of the victim implicating him in her murder as spontaneous exclamations and dying declarations.

Shortly before 9:00 a.m., Karen Dale, a niece of the victim, Linda Daughtry, heard a loud knock on her second floor apartment door. She peeped through the observation hole in the door…