People v. Johnson

Within moments of her husband discharging a firearm, while fleeing the scene in her car, Tina Tyler called 911 and reported her husband had shot at her. She provided a description of him, defendant Tony Alfonso Johnson (appellant), the firearm used and the location of the incident. When Tyler failed to appear at trial, the court overruled appellant’s objection and admitted the audiotape of the 911 call. Appellant challenges this ruling on appeal, arguing that pursuant to Crawford v. Washington (2004) 541 U.S. 36 [ 158 L.Ed.2d 177 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 ] (Crawford), the ruling violated his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. We disagree and affirm.

BACKGROUND

At 10:46 p.m. on January 5, 2008, City of Fairfield Police Department dispatcher Kristina Leslie received a 911 cell phone call, transferred by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), from Tyler. While talking to Tyler, Leslie orally transmitted her information to another dispatcher to relay to patrol officers.

At trial, Tyler’s 911 call was played for the jury. Although the transcript of the call was not admitted into evidence, it was provided to the jury when the audiotape was played. The transcript reveals the…