State v. Patel

Syllabus

Convicted of the crimes of murder, home invasion, burglary in the first degree as an accessory, robbery in the first degree as an accessory, conspiracy to commit burglary in the first degree and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the shooting death of the victim, the defendant appealed, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court improperly admitted into evidence certain statements by his coconspirator, C, that inculpated the defendant, and precluded him from introducing into evi- dence a statement by S, a cousin of the defendant, that was against S's penal interest. N, a cousin of the defendant who had been charged with narcotics offenses, enlisted the defendant and C in N's plan to rob the victim, with whom N previously had engaged in drug transactions. N drove the defendant and C to an area near the victim's home before driving away. After the defendant and C entered the victim's home and tied up his mother, C went upstairs, shot the victim and ransacked his bedroom looking for money. The defendant and C then fled into the woods, where C lost his cell phone, and they thereafter met up with N and drove away. N subsequently was convicted of murder in a separate trial, and this court affirmed his conviction on appeal. In the defendant's trial, C, in response to a question by the court and without having been sworn in, informed the court that he would exercise his fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions if he were called to testify. The court thereafter admitted into evidence a tape recording of a conversation between C and E, a jailhouse informant, that was made after E told correction officials that he would be willing to record his conversations with C without C's knowledge. The court further admitted into evidence testimony from C's girlfriend, B, about statements C had made to her and precluded the defendant's sister, M, from testifying that the defendant had been with her on the day of the murder and t