People v. Freeman
California Court of Appeal
97 Cal. Rptr. 717 (Cal. Ct. App. 1971)
During Norman Freeman's (defendant) robbery trial, Anna Duckworth had earlier told investigator Fred Knipp that Foster (the robbery's gunman) had been at her daughter's house the morning of the robbery and that Freeman had come to pick Foster up; at trial, Duckworth denied making these statements and was excused, after which Knipp testified, over Freeman's objection, to what Duckworth had actually told him during the interview, consistent with the prosecution's earlier offer of proof. Freeman was convicted and appealed, arguing Knipp's testimony was inadmissible hearsay.
Whether a witness's out-of-court statement, later denied by the witness at trial and relayed through the interviewer who took the original statement, is admissible as substantive evidence of the matter asserted rather than merely for impeachment.