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Originally Posted by Atticus Grinch
Hearsay evidence isn't being offered for the truth when it's offered to prove the state of mind of the declarant. Was there evidence the defendant had heard the lyrics and believed them to be true?
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It's not hearsay if it's being offered to prove the state of mind of the defendant (not the declarant).
There was evidence that the defendant had heard the lyrics. I don't know what the lyrics were -- whether they were just about the victim's gang sympathies and affiliation, or whether he was boasting about things he'd supposedly done. If the former, then yes, there was evidence the defendant believed them to be true. If the latter, I'm not sure, but expect there was at least evidence that the defendant took this as an indication that the victim was inclined towards violence.
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When I'm a judge I'm excluding this. Also, other fiction written by the murder victim, and their library records that might show they had an interest in violence.
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Okay. And if the defendant was black and the victim was white, and they bumped into each other at a bar and the victim yelled "get away from me nigger", and then the defendant found a video of the victim in a Klan outfit singing his recent song, "god bless the KKK," I assume you'd exclude that too. And I'd have thanked you for the appellate issue, back when I did criminal appeals.
