Tooby's California Post-Conviction Relief for Immigrants

(F)Unreliable Hearsay.  Hearsay evidence is generally admissible at sentencing, but a defendant clearly has a due process right not to be sentenced on the basis of materially incorrect information.  “[S]ome minimal indicia of reliability [must] accompany a hearsay statement,”[190] and unreliable hearsay must be excluded.[191]  A new sentencing hearing will be ordered where the defendant can show the hearsay was (1) false or unreliable, and (2) demonstrably made the basis for the sentence.[192] 

[190] See United States v. Huckins, 53 F.3d 276, 279 (9th Cir. 1995); United States v. Petty, 982 F.2d 1365, 1369 (9th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, 114 S.Ct. 683 (1994).  

[191] United States v. Pinto, 48 F.3d 383, 389 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 133 L. Ed. 2d 74, 116 S.Ct. 125 (1995); United States v. Ponce, 51 F.3d 820, 828 (9th Cir. 1995) (holding that hearsay statements must be corroborated by extrinsic evidence). 

[192] See United States v. Huckins, 53 F.3d 276, 279 (9th Cir. 1995); United States v. Hanna, 49 F.3d 572 at 577 (9th Cir. 1994); United States v. Messer, 785 F.2d 832, 834 (9th Cir. 1986).