Green v. Georgia

Background

A man convicted of rape and murder and his codefendant, Carzell Moore, were tried separately for the killing of Teresa Carol Allen. At the sentencing stage for the convicted man, he tried to introduce testimony from Thomas Pasby that Moore had told Pasby he shot the victim after sending the man on an errand. The Georgia trial court excluded that testimony as hearsay under state rules, and the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.

Reasoning

The Court asked whether excluding Pasby’s testimony denied the defendant a fair chance to challenge the death sentence. The Justices concluded the testimony was highly relevant to punishment and had strong signs of reliability: it was a spontaneous statement to a close friend, it was against the speaker’s interest, and the State itself had used similar evidence against Moore. Citing prior rulings, the Court held that mechanically applying the hearsay rule in these circumstances violated the defendant’s right to a fair sentencing process, so the death sentence was vacated and the case was sent back for further proceedings. Justices Brennan and Marshall would have vacated the sentence outright.

Real world impact

The ruling makes it harder for courts to refuse reliable out-of-court confessions at sentencing in capital cases. It requires courts to consider fairness and reliability before excluding such evidence. The decision is not a final determination on guilt; the case returns to Georgia for further proceedings.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Rehnquist dissented, arguing the Constitution does not let the Supreme Court override a State’s evidence code and that the Court’s step creates poor law.