What is the test for admitting a declaration against a penal interest under the hearsay rule?

To qualify for admission under the declaration-against-penal-interest exception to the hearsay rule, the proponent of the evidence must show that "the declarant is unavailable, that the declaration was against the declarant's penal interest when made and that the declaration was sufficiently reliable to warrant admission despite its hearsay character." (People v. Duarte (2000) 24 Cal.4th 603, 610-611 (Duarte).) If the court is required to determine any preliminary facts, such as whether a statement is one against penal interest, that determination is made under section 405.⁵ (People v. Jackson (1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 1670, 1678.) "The test imposed is an objective onewould the statement subject its declarant to criminal liability such that a reasonable person would not have made the statement without believing it true." (Ibid.)

" 'In determining whether a statement is truly against interest within the meaning of . . . section 1230, and hence is sufficiently trustworthy to be admissible, the court may take into account not just the words but the circumstances under which they were uttered, the possible motivation of the declarant, and the declarant's relationship to the defendant.' " (People v. Grimes (2016) 1 Cal.5th 698, 711 (Grimes).) "Ultimately, courts must

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consider each statement in context in order to answer the ultimate question under . . . section 1230: Whether the statement, even if not independently inculpatory of the declarant, is nevertheless against the declarant's interest, such that 'a reasonable man in [the declarant's] position would not have made the statement unless he believed it to be true.' " (Id. at p. 716; see Kincaid v. Kincaid (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 75, 89 ["In order for a statement to qualify under the exception, both the content of the statement and the fact that the statement was made must be against the declarant's social interest."].)