California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ibarra, H031958 (Cal. App. 9/23/2008), H031958 (Cal. App. 2008):
In Davis v. Washington (2006) 547 U.S. 813 (126 S.Ct. 2266), the court explained that a statement is "nontestimonial when made in the course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet an ongoing emergency." (Id. at p. 822.) A statement is testimonial "when the circumstances objectively indicate that there is no such ongoing emergency, and that the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution." (Ibid.) The court defined "interrogation" broadly, to include any questioning by law enforcement or emergency personnel, regardless of the formality or informality attending the questioning. (Id. at p. 827.) The court held that the threat of criminal prosecution for making a false statement to law enforcement officers "imports sufficient formality" to render testimonial any statement given during an interrogation "solely directed at establishing the facts of a past crime, in order to identify (or provide evidence to convict) the perpetrator." (Id. at p. 826.)
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