U.S. v. Moore

In prosecution on charge of unlawful sale of firearm to known felon and for filing false report that said firearm had been stolen, Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant’s motion to preclude govt. from introducing evidence of phone number that now-deceased purchaser gave to his probation officer that govt. linked to defendant’s phone. While Dist. Ct. found that probation officer’s report containing phone number constituted inadmissible hearsay, Ct. of Appeals found that said report was admissible under “residual hearsay” exception under Rule 807, since, along with other requirements for admission under 807 that both parties agreed were met, instant report that was signed by purchaser was trustworthy in spite of purchaser’s criminal history, since purchaser: (1) had personal knowledge of his own cell phone number; (2) was unavailable to testify at defendant’s upcoming trial; and (3) lacked motivation to lie about his cell phone number where he knew probation officer and others would be contacting him on said number throughout his probation.