Sam Hendricks v. State Indiana

Hendricks was convicted of class D felony battery. The Court of Appeals affirmed. Hendricks v. State (1990), Ind.App., 554
N.E.2d 1140. Although granting transfer to address one of the issues discussed by the Court of Appeals, we reach the same
result. Judgment affirmed. The defendant contends that the trial court erred in admitting testimony of the investigating police officer detailing the
out-of-court statements of the victim's physician and defendant's wife that were made to the officer in the course of his
investigation. Reviewing the admissibility of the out-of-court assertions under Patterson v. State (1975), 263 Ind. 55, 324
N.E.2d 482, the Court of Appeals found no error in the admission of the statements because the declarants' in-court testimony
was consistent with their out-of-court statements. The Court of Appeals opined that "[a] declarant must either acknowledge
making the prior statement, . . . or testify consistently with the out-of-court statement and then be subject to cross examination."
554 N.E.2d at 1144. We grant transfer to clarify this statement, which is contrary to our decision in
Lambert v. State (1989), Ind., 534 N.E.2d 235.