State v. Jones

311 Md. 23, 532 A.2d 169 (1987)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Complainant (P) was stopped by Jones (D), a Maryland State Trooper, for operating a vehicle without a taillight. An alleged sexual assault occurred in D's police cruiser., but the parties' testimony regarding the assault and the circumstances under which P came to be in the police car varied. After the assault occurred, P and her passenger chased D, but could not catch up, and stopped at the first emergency roadside phone to report the incident. The evidence at issue concerns the testimony of a Trooper Byrd, who had heard two unidentified speakers on his CB radio: the two transmissions were 'look at Smokey Bear southbound with no lights on at a high rate of speed;' and 'look at that little car trying to catch up with him.' Byrd testified to these statements outside the presence of the jury, and the trial judge ruled them admissible under the present sense impression exception to the hearsay rule. When the jury was called back, Byrd testified again but cast his testimony in narrative form. Although D objected to the testimony initially, before it was given to the judge, he failed to object when Byrd testified before the jury. D appealed. The Court of Special Appeals reversed, citing the absence of corroborative evidence by an equally percipient witness.