Can a 911 call from a witness give evidence under the hearsay exception?

The decision whether to admit hearsay evidence under this exception falls within the trial court's broad grant of judicial discretion (People v. Hines (1997) 15 Cal.4th 997, 1034-1035, fn. 4), and the court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that the recording contained spontaneous statements. Evidence Code section 1240 provides that evidence of a statement is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule if the statement purports to narrate, describe, or explain an act, condition, or event perceived by the declarant, and was made spontaneously while the declarant was under the stress of excitement caused by such perception. Here, the 911 caller described to the emergency dispatcher that he was watching people breaking into a car in front of his house, and he narrated the events that unfolded before him. The caller's statements demonstrated that he was experiencing stress: he did not want to give the dispatcher his address out of concern that the police would reveal that he was the one who made the 911 call, and he would not go outside the house because he did not want the people breaking into the car to see him. The trial court could properly conclude that the statements of the witness during the 911 call qualified as spontaneous utterances.

Page 12