In order for a hearsay statement to be admissible under Rule 804(b)(5), the proponent of the statement must show that the declarant is unavailable and that the statement contains ''circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness' equivalent to those inherent in the more specific exceptions provided under Rule 804(b)(1)-(4).' United States v. Snyder, 872 F.2d 1351, 1354 (7th Cir. 1989).
If a party repeatedly refuses to testify despite a grant of immunity and under the threat of contempt sanctions and he is directly ordered by the court to answer the government's questions and refuses to do so and then is held in civil contempt and ordered confined until he was willing to testify, that party's persistence had been adequately tested, see United States v. Boulahanis, 677 F.2d 586, 588 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1016, 74 L. Ed. 2d 509, 103 S. Ct. 375 (1982), and the court can properly conclude that the unavailability requirement of the rule had been satisfied.
In addition to demonstrating unavailability, Rule 804(b)(5) requires that a hearsay statement not covered by some other exception be supported by 'equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness' before it can be admitted. A trial judge has ''considerable ...