State v. Whitney

In State v. Whitney, 159 Ariz. 476, 768 P.2d 638 (1989), three declarants ran up to a policeman, shouted "somebody may have possibly been raped" and told him they had been following the suspect. Id. at 479, 768 P.2d at 641. They gave the policeman a description of the suspect's vehicle and its license number. Id. Approximate 20 minutes later, they spoke to another policeman. They were excited, anxious and all talking at once. The police officer separated the three witnesses and spoke to them one at a time to find out what had happened. Id. The Arizona Supreme Court held the declarants' statements were admissible as excited utterances even though they were made partially in response to questions by police officers. Id. at 483, 768 P.2d at 645.