Opinion ID: 1855355
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: exclusion of mrs. talbert's letters

Text: ¶ 11. The first issue Mr. Talbert raises in his petition for writ of certiorari is whether the trial court erred in excluding Mrs. Talbert's letters written during the course of her therapy. The chancellor held that the letters were privileged psychotherapist-patient communications under Miss. R. Evid. 503(b)(B). The Court of Appeals found that the trial court erred in excluding the letters, because Mrs. Talbert waived the privilege when she called her psychologist, Dr. Little, to testify. However, the Court of Appeals found the error harmless, because Mr. Talbert was allowed to testify regarding the content of the letters at trial. He testified that Mrs. Talbert wrote about her three personalities or egos in the letters, that she admitted in the letters that she had pushed Mr. Talbert beyond anger, and that the letters contained name-calling by Mrs. Talbert. The Court of Appeals found that exclusion of the letters was harmless error since Mr. Talbert was allowed to testify regarding the letters from his own memory and that the burden was on Mr. Talbert to point out any portions of the letters which he could not recall that would be relevant to his case. ¶ 12. We disagree with the Court of Appeals's conclusion that the exclusion of Mrs. Talbert's letters amounts to harmless error. That conclusion assumes that Mr. Talbert's memory of 130 pages of letters was as reliable as the letters themselves. Furthermore, his testimony regarding the letters' contents was necessarily limited by the questions he was asked. The conclusion that Mr. Talbert's testimony was somehow equivalent to the introduction of the letters is therefore based on a false premise. ¶ 13. Mr. Talbert had two significant reasons in wanting to admit the letters-to defend Mrs. Talbert's claim of habitual cruel and inhuman treatment and to support his own allegation of adultery. The letters go directly to Mrs. Talbert's state of mind and her multiple personality disorder, supporting Mr. Talbert's assertion that she was equally or more aggressive on occasion. The letters also disclose her fantasies of adulterous relationships during the period of the marriage, which may prove her inclination to commit adultery. Mr. Talbert's testimony was an insufficient substitute for the letters, so he was prejudiced by their exclusion. The exclusion of the letters is therefore not harmless error and requires reversal in this case.