SYLLABUS

(This syllabus is not part of the opinion of the Court. It has been prepared by the Office of the Clerk for the convenience of the reader. It has been neither reviewed nor approved by the Supreme Court. Please note that, in the interests of brevity, portions of any opinion may not have been summarized).

State v. Dionte Byrd; State v. Freddie Dean, Jr. (A-105-07)

Argued January 5, 2009 -- Decided April 2, 2009

ALBIN, J., writing for the Court.

In a matter of first impression, the Court determines whether, under the Rules of Evidence, a witness’s hearsay statement implicating a defendant in a crime should be admissible when through violence, intimidation, or other unlawful means, the defendant made the witness unavailable to testify at trial.