Williamson

MEMORANDUM **

Michael Williamson appeals the district court’s denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition. Williamson challenges his conviction on the ground that the trial court’s admission of Kathryn Wagner’s hearsay statements under the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule violated his constitutional right to confrontation. He also argues that the district court erred in dismissing his petition without holding an evidentiary hearing on his other claims. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1291 , 2253, and we affirm.

Under the Confrontation Clause, out-of-court testimonial statements are inadmissible unless (1) the declarant is unavailable and (2) the defendant had a prior opportunity for cross-examination. United States v. Crawford, 541 U.S. 36, 53-59 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 , 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004). Nevertheless, “when the declarant appears for cross-examination at trial, the Confrontation Clause places no constraints at all on the use of his prior testimonial statements____ The Clause does not bar admission of a statement so long as the declarant is present at trial to defend or explain it.” Id. at 59 n. 9, 124 S.Ct. 1354 (emphasis added) (citations…