Fed. Rule Evid. 804(a), states, in part, 'a declarant is not unavailable as a witness if his . . . absence is due to the procurement or wrongdoing of the proponent of his statement for the purpose of preventing the witness from attending or testifying'. Steele v. Taylor, 684 F.2d 1193, 1202 (6th Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1053, 103 S. Ct. 1501, 75 L. Ed. 2d 932 (1983); United States v. Seijo, 595 F.2d 116, 119-20 (2d Cir. 1979).
For a statement against interest to be admissible under Rule 804, however, the declarant must have been unavailable at the time of the trial within the meaning of Rule 804(a).
Subsection (a) of that rule tells us a witness should be considered unavailable in five separate circumstances.: The declarant is unavailable if he 'is absent from the hearing and the proponent of a statement has been unable to procure the declarant's attendance (or in the case of a hearsay exception under subdivision (b)(2), (3), or (4), the declarant's attendance or testimony) by process or other reasonable means.' Fed. R. Evid. 804(a)(5).