U.S. v. Henderson

In prosecution on unlawful possession of firearm charge, Dist. Ct. did not err in excluding out-of-court statement by passenger in defendant’s vehicle, who claimed that gun in defendant’s vehicle was actually passenger’s gun. While passenger’s statement was potentially against his penal interest, statement was not admissible as exception to hearsay rule under Rule 804(b)(3), since: (1) Dist. Ct. could properly find that passenger’s claim, that he found instant fully-loaded gun from somewhere and wedged it into driver’s seat where defendant was located, was incredible; and (2) defendant failed to provide any corroborating evidence to suggest that passenger’s statement was trustworthy.