United States v. Summers
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
414 F.3d 1287 (2005)
Relevant factsFree
After a bank robbery, police stopped and searched a car carrying Gene Summers, Marvin Thomas, Omar Mohammed, and Curtis Frazier (defendants), finding evidence linking all four to the crime. One of them, Mohammed, asked police, "How did you guys find us so fast?" The prosecution introduced that question at trial. The jury convicted Summers and Thomas, and on appeal Thomas argued Mohammed's question was inadmissible hearsay.
IssueFree
Whether a question can constitute an assertion for purposes of the hearsay rule's prohibition against using an out-of-court statement to prove the truth of the matter asserted.