Eighth Circuit Finds Victim's Text That He Was "Nodding the F*** Out" After Taking Heroin Was Properly Admitted Under the State of Mind Exception

Federal Rule of Evidence 803(3) provides an exception to the rule against hearsay for

A statement of the declarant’s then-existing state of mind (such as motive, intent, or plan) or emotional, sensory, or physical condition (such as mental feeling, pain, or bodily health), but not including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed unless it relates to the validity or terms of the declarant’s will.

A good example of this "state of mind" exception in action can be found in the recent opinion of the Eighth Circuit in United States v. Shipp, 2025 WL 1740318 (8th Cir. 2025).

In Shipp,

Lugene Shipp and Dione Mobley were charged with conspiring to distribute heroin resulting in death and distribution resulting in death after M.W. died of heroin intoxication....After a bench trial, the district court1 convicted Shipp on both counts, while it convicted Mobley only of the conspiracy count.

In a consolidated appeal, the defendants claimed that the trial judge improperly allowed for the admission of several pieces of hearsay. One of these pieces of hearsay was a text message that the victim sent after he had taken the heroin in which he state that he was "nodding the f*** out,” indicating the drug was causing him to feel like he would pass out."

On appeal, the Eighth Circuit found that the text was properly admitted under Rule 803(3), ruling as follows:

M.W.'s statements to Kinzenbach were likewise admissible for context, but some were considered for their truth. At the bench trial, the district court declined to “dissect...line by line” Exhibit 36, which contained M.W.'s messages with Kinzenbach, but concluded “there are parts of it that [the court] will consider for the truth of the matter asserted and part that [it] won't.” It also admitted M.W.'s text message to another individual that he was nodding out. The district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting Exhibit 36 or the nodding out text. The statements in Exhibit 36 addressed M.W.'s then-existing state of mind, detailing his intent and plan to purchase heroin from Kinzenbach in exchange for pills and money and his perception of the drug's quality after he purchased the drug....Similarly, M.W.'s statement about nodding out reflected his present feeling of drowsiness while under the drug's effects.

-CM