The state is challenging rulings by lower courts that prevented prosecutors from using the out-of-court statement of an available witness, an injured woman who told a police officer her husband beat her up but later recanted. A trial judge agreed with the defendant, Mr. Ratner, that the woman's statement was barred by a 2004 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case out of the state of Washington. The ruling by the nation's high court tightened the limits on the use of prior statements because of Sixth Amendment rights of defendants to confront accusers. In this case, the 4th District Court of Appeal decided it did not have jurisdiction over a direct appeal by the state of a non-final county court order prohibiting use of the hearsay statement that the county court had certified to be of great public importance.