## Facts

- Michelle McCottry called 911 during an alleged domestic assault by her former boyfriend, Adrian Martell Davis, describing events as they occurred and identifying Davis as the assailant.
- McCottry did not appear at Davis’s trial for felony violation of a domestic no-contact order.
- Over a Confrontation Clause objection, the trial court admitted the 911 recording; Davis was convicted.
- In a companion case, police responded to a domestic disturbance involving Amy and Hershel Hammon.
- Officers separated the parties; an officer questioned Amy in a separate room and obtained a signed battery affidavit recounting past events.
- Amy did not appear at Hershel Hammon’s trial for domestic battery.
- Over a Confrontation Clause objection, the trial court admitted the officer’s testimony about Amy’s statements and her affidavit; Hammon was convicted.

## Issues

1. Whether statements made during a 911 call describing a contemporaneous domestic assault are “testimonial” under the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause.
2. Whether statements made to police on-scene after the apparent end of a domestic disturbance, including a signed affidavit describing past events, are “testimonial.”
3. What objective standard governs when police questioning produces “testimonial” statements barred absent unavailability and a prior opportunity for cross-examination.

## Decision

- The Court announced an objective “primary purpose” test distinguishing testimonial from nontestimonial statements in the context of police questioning.
- Statements are nontestimonial when the circumstances objectively indicate the primary purpose is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency.
- Statements are testimonial when the circumstances objectively indicate no ongoing emergency and the primary purpose is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later prosecution.
- In Davis, the 911 call statements were nontestimonial; admission of the recording did not violate the Confrontation Clause, and the conviction was affirmed.
- In Hammon, the on-scene statements and signed affidavit were testimonial; their admission violated the Confrontation Clause, and the judgment was reversed and remanded.

## Legal Principles

- The Confrontation Clause bars admission of testimonial statements by a non-testifying witness unless the witness is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine.
- Whether statements from police questioning are testimonial turns on an objective assessment of the circumstances and the interrogation’s primary purpose.
- Ongoing-emergency questioning directed at resolving a present threat generally yields nontestimonial statements.
- Structured questioning aimed at reconstructing past events for possible criminal prosecution generally yields testimonial statements, including formalized written affidavits.
- Practical difficulties in prosecuting domestic violence cases do not alter the constitutional requirements for admitting testimonial hearsay.

## Conclusion

The Court held that emergency-focused 911 statements describing events as they unfold are generally nontestimonial and admissible without prior cross-examination, while post-incident statements to police intended to establish past facts for prosecution are testimonial and inadmissible absent the confrontation prerequisites.


Davis v. Washington, 547 U.S. 813 (2006)