In Gonzalez V

Essay

In Gonzalez v. State, a defendant had been charged with killing a woman during a robbery. When police arrived, the woman victim was in shock, scared, and bleeding, but she was still conscious and asking for help when police responded. She told officers that she had been shot by a kid who lived across the street, and she noted that the kid stole her truck. The woman knew her situation was grave, but she never told anyone that she knew that was dying. Over a defendant's objection, a police officer offered her dying declaration at the defendant's murder trial. Should the trial court have permitted the woman's statement to the officer to be admitted as a dying declaration? What arguments should you make if you want the woman's statement kept from admission at trial? All things considered, should dying declarations be permitted, because a defendant cannot cross-examine the dead witness?