United States v. Obayagbona
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
627 F. Supp. 329 (E.D.N.Y. 1985)
Undercover FBI agent Michael Turner recorded a heroin-buy meeting where Florence Obayagbona (defendant) allegedly handed him a drug sample; after a chaotic arrest, Turner, still being recorded, exultantly told fellow agents that Obayagbona had handed him the sample, a statement made about 14 minutes after the handoff but only two minutes after the arrest and at the first moment Turner could safely speak as law enforcement. Obayagbona objected to admitting the recorded statement, but the trial court admitted it, and she was convicted and appealed.
Whether a statement is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule if it relates to a startling event as a spontaneous reaction, or if it describes an event the declarant was perceiving during or immediately after that event.