Opinion ID: 1376040
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Admission of the Log

Text: Harvey next argues the trial court erred in admitting the Log from GGH over his hearsay objection. We agree. Hearsay is a statement, which may be written, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at trial, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Rule 801, SCRE. Hearsay is not admissible unless there is an applicable exception. See Rule 802, SCRE. The business record exception reads as follows, in pertinent part: A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts, events, conditions, or diagnoses, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness; provided, however, that subjective opinions and judgments found in business records are not admissible. Rule 803(6), SCRE (emphasis added). At trial, the State called Terri Copilevitz, the clinical director at GGH. She stated the Log was a summary written by our clinical director at the time and [Harvey's] treatment coordinator providing a summary of the critical incidents that [Harvey] had been a part of. She explained that critical incidents are the way that we have staff report to us any behaviors that are significant that need to be followed up by the clinical staff. (Emphasis added). Harvey argues the Log is replete with subjective opinions and judgments and therefore is inadmissible hearsay. We agree. Even the description of what this document is indicates its highly subjective nature. Moreover, it is an unsigned document which repeatedly offers judgments about the progress of Harvey's treatment and his behaviors. Because the document did not meet the business record exception, we hold the trial court erred in admitting this document. See Rule 803(6), SCRE. Nonetheless, the State argues that any error is not prejudicial. We disagree. Unless the appellant was prejudiced by the erroneous admission of hearsay, reversal is not required. E.g., State v. Mitchell, 286 S.C. 572, 336 S.E.2d 150 (1985). The Mitchell court explained as follows: Whether an error is harmless depends on the circumstances of the particular case. No definite rule of law governs this finding; rather, the materiality and prejudicial character of the error must be determined from its relationship to the entire case. Error is harmless when it could not reasonably have affected the result of the trial. Id. at 573, 336 S.E.2d at 151 (quoting State v. Key, 256 S.C. 90, 180 S.E.2d 888 (1971)). The State argues there could be no prejudice from the Log's admission because the trial court orally indicated it would not consider this document. The State contends the trial court's comments from the bench show it relied primarily on Dr. Schwartz-Watts' evaluation and testimony in reaching its decision. However, we note that (1) the trial court admitted the Log over objection, (2) Dr. Schwartz-Watts specifically commented on it during her testimony, and (3) the State used it to impeach Dr. Bodtorf's opinion and lend support to Dr. Schwartz-Watts' diagnosis of pedophilia. Therefore, the Log entered into the trial in a significant way. Moreover, despite the trial court's oral comments about the Log, the court's written order does not state that it, in fact, disregarded the Log. See Ford v. State Ethics Comm'n, 344 S.C. 642, 646, 545 S.E.2d 821, 823 (2001) (The written order is the trial judge's final order and as such constitutes the final judgment of the court.). Accordingly, we find the erroneous admission of the Log was not harmless. See Mitchell, supra .