Grant v. State

161 S.W.3d 785 (2004)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

D entered an apartment hat belonged to his mother-in-law, Ms. Rosetta Pittman. As he entered through the open front door, he began shooting at the occupants of the residence. Ms. Pittman suffered gunshot wounds to her hand, chest, and neck. Pittman's niece, Louise Perry, was shot in the hand as well. Captain David Lovell was the first officer to arrive. He noticed a trail of blood in the front room leading to the back of the apartment. Lovell followed the blood trail and found Pittman lying in a large puddle of blood at the back door. She was upset and crying, and she had blood coming from her mouth. Lovell managed to calm her down and asked what happened. Ms. Pittman told the officer, 'D shot me, and he ran out the back door.' Lovell reported that Ms. Pittman began losing consciousness and that he could only understand what she was saying when he got really close to her. Lovell could not testify that Pittman knew she was dying. Lovell testified that Pittman knew that she had lost a lot of blood and that she was 'in real bad shape.' D moved to exclude any statements by Pittman as hearsay. The trial court determined that Pittman's statement was a dying declaration, and could be admitted into evidence. D was found guilty and appealed.