Georgia v. Kenney
Annotate this CaseMichael Kenney was convicted by jury of malice murder and related offenses in connection with the shooting death of Laquitta Brown. Before trial, Kenney moved in limine to exclude hearsay statements that Sharrie Dixon, a witness present during the shooting who was unavailable to testify at trial, allegedly made to Aisha Brown (“Aisha”), Laquitta’s partner. In response, the State filed a notice of intent to admit Dixon’s statements to Aisha under OCGA § 24-8-807 (“the residual exception” or “Rule 807”). The court construed the State’s notice as a motion to admit Dixon’s statements. Then, finding that the State had failed to establish exceptional guarantees of trustworthiness, the court granted Kenney’s motion in limine and denied the State’s construed motion to admit Dixon’s statements. The State timely appealed under OCGA § 5-7-1(a)(5). On appeal, the State argued the trial court abused its discretion in excluding Dixon’s statements because the statements were admissible under OCGA §§ 24-8-803 (1) (present sense impression), 24-8-803 (2) (excited utterance), and 24-8-807 (the residual exception). The Georgia Supreme Court concluded, however, that the State affirmatively waived its present-sense-impression and excited-utterance arguments and that the court was authorized to conclude that Dixon’s statements were inadmissible under the residual exception. Accordingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court.
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