911 call allowed in murder trial

Kim Smith

Friday, Aug. 4, 2000 | 10:18 a.m.

The wife of murder suspect Ronald Collins will exercise her right not to testify against her husband, but prosecutors will be able to use her 911 call and one statement she gave to police following the slaying of a woman in her home.

District Judge Joseph Bonaventure made that ruling Thursday following a 30-minute hearing that included the playing of the brief 911 call.

Collins' attorney, Joseph Sciscento, believes that Melanie Collins' 911 call and statements to police should not be used against her husband, Ronald, 30, because they could be considered hearsay.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Ed Kane argued that the call and statements fall under an exception to the hearsay law because they are "excited utterances." Excited utterances are allowed under the assumption that people who are startled don't have time to reflect upon what they are saying and therefore probably aren't lying.

Melanie Collins told a 911 dispatcher and at least two police officers that she came home around 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 11 and walked into her kitchen to find a bloody body covered from the waist down with a blanket.

She told police that when she screamed, Ronald Collins came out from underneath the blanket. Both the victim and Ronald Collins were naked and covered in blood, police said.

In a written statement to police, Melanie Collins said she tried to run from her husband, but he ended up walking her to her car and talking to her. When he went inside to clean up the mess, she called 911 from a cellular phone.

On that 911 tape, Melanie Collins tells the dispatcher what she discovered and then says, "I have to go because my husband will see me." She then hangs up abruptly.

Sciscento argued that Collins was capable of rational thought during the call and the subsequent statements, including a 17-page statement that was taken more than two hours after the discovery of the body.

The deputy special public defender tried to convince Bonaventure to allow him to question Melanie Collins about her state of mind, but Kane argued that if she got on the stand she would be waiving her spousal right not to testify against her husband.

Melanie Collins did not testify.

Bonaventure agreed with Sciscento, but only about the 17-page statement. He ruled the 911 call and an earlier written statement can be used.

Agnes K. Ready, a 37-year-old Las Vegas woman with a history of prostitution arrests, suffered from numerous cut and stab wounds. She died as the result of a slashed throat.

Collins' trial, which had been scheduled for Monday, has been postponed until Sept. 18.