State v. Haner

Summary

The Vermont Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Harold Haner, Sr.'s motion for a new trial based on his brother's purported confessions to the sexual assault underlying Haner's conviction. The court held that judicially granted use immunity was unwarranted and that the brother's statements were inadmissible hearsay because corroborating circumstances did not clearly establish their trustworthiness. The court also concluded that denial of the motion did not violate Haner's due process rights.

Holdings

1. The trial court did not err in refusing to grant judicial use immunity to Haner's brother. Under Vermont law, authority to grant witness immunity rests exclusively within the prosecutor's discretion, subject only to narrow exceptions, and Haner failed even to satisfy the proposed Smith standard because he did not make a convincing showing that the brother's testimony was clearly exculpatory.
2. The trial court properly excluded the brother's confessions as inadmissible hearsay because Haner failed to establish corroborating circumstances clearly indicating their trustworthiness.
3. The trial court did not violate Haner's due process rights by denying the motion for a new trial after refusing immunity and excluding the unreliable confessions.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court had authority or was required to grant judicial use immunity to Haner's brother so that he could testify in support of Haner's motion for a new trial.
2. Whether the brother's confessions were admissible under the statement-against-penal-interest exception in V.R.E. 804(b)(3).
3. Whether exclusion of the confessions and denial of the motion for a new trial violated Haner's due process rights.

Disposition

affirmed