Opinion ID: 1709406
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of the Family Journal

Text: ¶ 31. Edwards's family kept a journal at the nursing home in which they would record their observations, thoughts, and feelings about Edwards and his care. [3] Staff members were aware of and occasionally wrote in the journal. Plaintiff's counsel repeatedly attempted to introduce the journal into evidence during their case-in-chief. The trial court allowed Edwards's estate to use the journal to refresh family members' recollections, but reserved ruling on its admissibility. At the end of Mariner's defense, the trial court found that the journal was admissible under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1) to rebut the inference of recent fabrication and also under Rule 803 as an exception to hearsay. The trial judge also found the journal was more probative than prejudicial under Rule 403. The trial court did not specify under which of the hearsay exceptions to Rule 803 the journal fell. Edwards's estate argues that, if the journal is not admissible under Rule 801(d)(1) as a prior consistent statement, it is admissible under Rule 803(1) as a collection of present-sense impressions. ¶ 32. Under Rule 801(d)(1), a prior consistent statement will not be deemed hearsay so long as (1) the witness testifies at trial and is subject to cross-examination concerning the statement, and (2) the statement is offered to rebut an express or implied charge of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive. M.R.E. 801(d)(1). The availability of the witness is therefore a prerequisite for the introduction of a prior consistent statement. The Edwards's family journal contains a number of entries by Edwards's sister Shirley Powell, who was deceased by the time of trial. Those portions of the journal could not have been introduced to rebut an inference of recent fabrication because there was no testimony at trial to rebut. Because the trial court did not distinguish between statements made by testifying family members and non-testifying family members, it was error to find that journal entries made by non-testifying family members were not hearsay under Rule 801. ¶ 33. The trial court also found the journal admissible under the present-sense impression exception to the hearsay rule. See M.R.E. 803(1). Exceptions to the hearsay rule, unlike statements which are not hearsay under Rule 801, are exempt from the availability rule. Present-sense impressions are exempted from the rule against hearsay because the contemporaneousness of the occurrence of the event and the statement render it unlikely that the declarant made a deliberate or conscious misrepresentation. M.R.E. 803(1) cmt. 1. ¶ 34. To be admissible as a present-sense impression, a given statement must meet three requirements: First, the statement must be made while the event or condition is being perceived by the declarant or immediately thereafter; second, the declarant must perceive the event or condition; and finally, the statement must describe or explain the event or condition. M.R.E. 803(1); see also Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632, 640 (Miss. 1987). A crucial element of the reliability of a present-sense impression is its spontaneity. The determination of spontaneity is a question for the trial judge whose action in admitting the statement should not be held to be error unless this Court would be justified in concluding that under all and any reasonable interpretation of the facts the explanation could not have been spontaneous. Evans v. State, 547 So.2d 38, 41 (Miss.1989) (quoting Harris v. State, 394 So.2d 96, 98 (Ala.Cr.App.1981)). ¶ 35. Given the strong deference owed to the trial court, we do not find that admission of the journal constituted reversible error. Most of the journal entries indicate the date and time of the entry so that the trial judge could reasonably have interpreted such entries as being spontaneous. However, we note that Edward's estate presented no evidence and the trial judge conducted no inquiry to verify that each entry in the journal was contemporaneous with family members' observations of Edwards. While such an inquiry may be burdensome, spontaneity is required for the admissibility of any evidence under the present-sense impression to the hearsay rule and, as a general practice, should be more thoroughly inquired upon in the future. See M.R.E. 803(1); see also Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632, 640 (Miss. 1987). Nevertheless, in this case, we find support that the journal entries were, as a whole, contemporaneous and that the trial court did not commit reversible error in admitting the journal.