Wilson

Defendant and appellant Steven A. Wilson was convicted by a jury of two counts of attempted voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a firearm. As to each count, the jury found the allegation that appellant personally used a firearm within the meaning of Penal Code section 12022.2, subdivision (a) to be true. On this appeal, appellant challenges the admission of two police detectives’ testimony concerning conversations with his wife, Helena Wilson, in which she related a conversation she had had with him. Appellant contends that the testimony was erroneously admitted as a declaration against penal interest. Alternatively, he contends that if Mrs. Wilson’s statement satisfies the requirements of a declaration against penal interest, its admission denied him the right to confront a witness against him. (U.S. Const., 6th & 14th Amends.) We conclude that the statement was properly admitted and that there was no constitutional error.

In the early morning hours of August 15, 1991, one of the victims, Andres Oropeza, drove a truck to a market. With him were the second victim, Gustavo Ramirez Romero, and another person. While backing the truck into a parking space,…