Can a police officer testify regarding a witness's statement?

This exception allows "evidence of a declarant's statements regarding his or her then existing state of mind or emotion, when the declarant's state of mind or emotion is at issue in the case, or when the evidence is offered to prove or explain the declarant's acts or conduct." (People v. Ruiz (1988) 44 Cal.3d 589, 608, original italics.) The citizen's statements do not reflect the citizen's emotional state and the citizen's state of mind or emotion was not at issue in this case. The trial court erroneously stated the state of mind exception applied to explain "why the officer then did what he did next." A hearsay statement offered to prove the conduct of someone other than the declarant is not admissible under the state of mind hearsay exception embodied in Evidence Code section 1250. (People v. Noguera (1992) 4 Cal.4th 599, 622.)

Since neither the spontaneous declaration nor the state of mind exceptions to the hearsay rules apply to these facts, we next inquire whether the testimony can be deemed nonhearsay. An out-of-court statement is admissible for a nonhearsay purpose if the nonhearsay purpose is relevant to the dispute. (People v. Bunyard (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1189, 1204.) Thus, to explain his or her investigation of a crime scene, an officer can testify regarding a witness's statement if the officer's investigation of the crime scene is relevant to an issue in dispute. (People v. Lucero (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1107, 1109-1110; People v. Scalzi (1981) 126 Cal.App.3d 901, 907.)