State v. Moen
Supreme Court of Oregon
786 P.2d 111 (Or. 1990)
Moen (defendant) was charged with murdering his wife and mother-in-law, Hazel Chatfield. At a routine follow-up visit for high blood pressure, Chatfield's doctor, Dr. Mulkey, found her upset and diagnosed situational depression; Chatfield told Mulkey that Moen had physically abused her daughter and that she feared Moen "might kill them both." The trial court admitted Mulkey's testimony about these statements under the medical-diagnosis hearsay exception, and Moen was convicted.
Whether a patient's out-of-court statements concerning the cause of her condition, made to a medical professional for purposes of obtaining diagnosis or treatment, are admissible if reasonably pertinent to that diagnosis or treatment.