United States v. Robert Willard Adams

Robert Willard Adams appeals from his conviction on a jury verdict of receiving stolen United States postage stamps in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 641 , and burglary of a United States Post Office, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2115 .

The only question presented is whether, under the circumstances of this case, the district court erred in admitting into evidence hearsay testimony of a declaration implicating defendant, while the de-clarant was engaged in a concert of action with defendant involving the criminal conduct, the declarant not being produced at the trial. Defendant does not here deny that the testimony in question falls under a recognized exception to the hearsay rule, but argues that admission of the testimony nevertheless deprived him of his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, citing California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149 , 90 S.Ct. 1930 , 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970), and Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 , 88 S.Ct. 1620 , 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968).

The recognized exception to the hearsay rule applicable here is that, notwithstanding its hearsay character, testimony of out-of-court declarations implicating another, offered to prove the other’s guilt, is…