Supreme Court of Louisiana
State of Louisiana v. Willie Carter
November 15, 1901107 La. 792
Summary
The court affirmed the murder conviction and death sentence, holding that an otherwise admissible dying declaration must be admitted as a whole even when it includes statements that would be inadmissible if considered separately. The court reasoned that editing or excluding the declaration would undermine the established rule against fragmentary dying declarations and deprive society of potentially important evidence.
Holding
- Admissibility of a dying declaration containing extraneous statements. An otherwise admissible dying declaration must be admitted as a whole and is not rendered inadmissible merely because some statements, viewed separately, would not fall within the rule admitting dying declarations.
Docket No. 14,427
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