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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 124 September Term, 1995 ___________________________________

STATE OF MARYLAND v. MICHAEL STEWART MATUSKY

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Murphy, C.J. Eldridge Rodowsky Chasanow Karwacki Bell Raker JJ. ___________________________________ Opinion by Raker, J. Rodowsky, J. dissents ___________________________________ Filed: September 18, 1996

We granted certiorari in this case to determine whether the trial court correctly applied the declaration against penal

interest exception to the rule precluding admission of hearsay evidence. We shall hold that the trial court interpreted the

exception too broadly, erroneously admitting collateral portions of the hearsay declaration that did not directly incriminate the declarant.

I. In May, 1993, Respondent Michael Stewart Matusky was indicted in the Circuit Court for Baltimore County on two counts of firstdegree murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of Gertrude and Pamela Poffel. When the police initially investigated the

crime in January, 1993, they questioned Matusky, as well as Pamela Poffel's estranged husband, Richard Dean White, and White's

fianc

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Maryland Law