Opinion ID: 1721954
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: whether the trial court erred in allowing ronnie pennington to testify as to the statements of julie carpenter over melton's objection.

Text: ¶ 17. Melton asserts Officer Ronnie Pennington's testimony should have been limited to what he personally observed or did. He asserts that Pennington's testimony as to what Julie Carpenter said was hearsay and should not have been allowed by the trial court. Melton objects to testimony by Pennington which relates to Julie Carpenter's inconsistent statements regarding her relationship with Melton. Pennington testified Julie Carpenter first stated she knew Melton only vaguely then later admitted they had a sexual relationship. ¶ 18. The state contends this matter has not been preserved for appeal since the judge's reasoning for overruling the appellant's objection is not part of the record. In the alternative, the state submits any harm was cured by rephrasing the question to limit the testimony only to the inconsistent statements of Julie Carpenter. ¶ 19. This Court has addressed a similar situation in which the appellant specified all in chamber conferences were to be included on appeal and nevertheless a bench conference on a hearsay ruling was not included in the record. We held: Under the circumstances, we perceive no grounds for charging [the appellant] and his attorney with responsibility for the fact that the court reporter did not take down what transpired.... On the other hand, we do not think it appropriate that we invent matters not fairly within the record. We approach the critical portion of the trial with a common sense awareness of how at the trial level court and counsel proceed regarding objections of the sort here made. Lambert v. State, 574 So.2d 573, 577-578 (Miss.1990) (citation omitted). ¶ 20. In this case, Melton noted that all objections, arguments, responses and rulings by the Court should be included in the record for appeal. At the first possible moment, counsel for Melton objected to hearsay and was sustained. However, upon renewing his motion later in the testimony, counsel for the appellant was overruled after a bench discussion which had been designated Off The Record. ¶ 21. The distinction between the two rulings appears to be premised on the fact that Pennington was exposing inconsistent statements of Julie Carpenter. This sort of testimony might have been allowed under Miss. Rule of Evid. 613(b) as impeachment evidence if Julie Carpenter had been a witness and was afforded an opportunity to explain the inconsistency. However, Julie Carpenter was not a witness in this trial. Therefore, Pennington's statements fall into the category of hearsay under Miss. Rule of Evid. 802. His testimony does not come within an exception to the hearsay rule enumerated in Rule 803 and allowing this testimony was error. ¶ 22. Melton asserts that admitting hearsay constitutes reversible error. He cites Balfour v. State, 598 So.2d 731 (Miss. 1992). However, the defendant's case in Balfour was reversed for violations of the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth amendments. Id. at 756. Our inquiry is whether the error merits reversal. Did the admission of this evidence abridge Melton's right to a fair trial? Lambert, 574 So.2d at 578. Pennington's testimony served to impeach Julie Carpenter's character for truthfulness. It may have also lent credence to the state's theory that Julie Carpenter and Melton were having an affair, showing Melton's motive for murdering Chris Carpenter. The testimony of Julie Carpenter's friend Rachel Callahan and her boyfriend Robert Britton brought out similar facts. They stated that Melton and Julie were going together. Additionally, Bill Carpenter's testimony that his son and Julie had been having trouble and that he saw Melton's car in the couple's driveway reinforced evidence of a relationship. The bus driver's testimony that she was instructed to drop the Carpenter children at Melton's house in the days before Julie reported Chris missing did the same. ¶ 23. In addition to the similar testimony, there was sufficient evidence to convict Melton without Pennington's account of Julie Carpenter's statements. John Franovich, a forensic scientist with the Mississippi Crime Laboratory, testified that the bullets recovered from Chris Carpenter's body were fired from the gun Melton borrowed from Mr. Glenn. Blood evidence fifty feet behind Melton's trailer pinpointed the site of Carpenter's death, and Tonya Brown identified Melton's car as the one she saw later the day of the murder backed up to the bank where the body was found. She also testified a man fitting Melton's description was standing near the car. Finally, John Murphy, a cell mate of Melton, testified Melton confessed to the murder while awaiting trial. The jury would not have returned a different verdict had it not heard the hearsay testimony in issue; therefore, the error in admitting this testimony is insufficient to require reversal.