Harvey Stockton a/k/a Harvey Dewayne Stockton a/k/a Harvey Wayne Stockton v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals affirmed Harvey Stockton’s conviction for assault family violence with a prior conviction and his fifty-one-year sentence. The court held that statements captured in two police body-camera videos were non-testimonial for Confrontation Clause purposes because the first involved preliminary questions during an ongoing emergency assessment and the second involved medical evaluation and treatment.

Holdings

1. The first video contained non-testimonial statements because the officer's preliminary, informal questions were directed at assessing and securing a potentially ongoing emergency rather than establishing past events for a later criminal prosecution.
2. The second video contained non-testimonial statements because the paramedic's questions concerned Flores's pain, injuries, and medical treatment, and the statements were made for medical diagnosis or treatment rather than criminal investigation.
3. Because the videos contained non-testimonial statements, their admission did not violate the Confrontation Clause.
4. The court did not need to address the appellant's harm argument because its resolution of the Confrontation Clause issue was dispositive.

Questions Presented

1. Whether statements recorded in the first body-camera video, made by the alleged victim in response to an officer's preliminary questions at the scene of a reported disturbance, were testimonial hearsay whose admission violated the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause.
2. Whether statements recorded in the second body-camera video, made by the alleged victim while being questioned by a paramedic about her injuries and medical needs, were testimonial hearsay whose admission violated the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause.
3. Whether admission of the two videos was harmful.

Disposition

affirmed