Opinion ID: 1700217
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: By The Victim

Text: At trial, Dr. Joseph Tramontana was permitted to tell the jury factual matters related to him by M.P., the prosecuting witness. This testimony critically related to the facts of the crime with which defendant had been charged. The context is important. Dr. Tramontana first testified that M.P. had seen him professionally five times in 1980, beginning in February, 1980. This was well prior to the January 26, 1981 incident that is the subject of this prosecution. This was also prior to the hypnotic session here in issue. Dr. Tramontana testified that in February of 1980 M.P.'s mother brought her to his office and stated that the defendant had had sexual contact with M.P. Two months later both M.P. and her mother reported that these accusations had been the product of M.P.'s dreams, not actual experiences. Dr. Tramontana's testimony here was: A On the second to the last of the, uh, of the five visits, the five times I had seen her, uh, the mother told me that, uh, that ... [M.P.] said all of her accusations had been a dream. Q And what month was that? A That was, that was April 8, 1980. Q Okay. A And I talked with ... [M.P.] and she agreed that it had all been a dream. Again all of this occurred before January 26, 1981, and before Dr. Tramontana ever hypnotized M.P. It provides a necessary backdrop for understanding Dr. Tramontana's testimony regarding his professional relationship with M.P. after January 26, 1981. On direct examination this colloquy took place between the state's attorney and Dr. Tramontana: A February 17, 1981, we had an office visit at Gulf Coast Mental Health Center. Q Okay. And did you see her [M.P.] after that day? A March 9, 1981. Q During that time, Doctor, that you saw her, on either of these occasions, did you, did you confer with ... [M.P.] regarding or had, well, let me ask you this: Did you ever confer with her regarding any dreams in the past that she had stated to you? A Yes, I did. Q Okay. Would you relate that to us, please, sir? A You want me to quote, uh, ... . Q (Interposing) Yes, sir. How it came about? A After ... [M.P.] had, uh, had told me that these things were true. That, uh, that they had been going on, uh, she was very tense, very, uh, had a great deal of anxiety symptoms.       At that time, I asked her [M.P.], uh, once she was in a [hypnotic] trance, why she had, uh, told me the year before that it was all a dream. And she said, quote, because ... [defendant] said for me to tell you that, close quotes. And I asked her if she always did what he told her? She said, quote, I was scared he was going to hurt me, close quotes. And I said did he threaten you? And she said, quote, no, but he seemed like he would hurt me, close quotes. And then we went on into detail about what actually happened. Q Okay. Did she relate these to you? A Yes, she did. Q Okay. In greater detail than in the past? Yes, she did. We have here Dr. Tramontana's testimony regarding a series of out-of-court statements of the prosecuting witness, M.P. Not only did Dr. Tramontana testify what M.P. told him, he also stated what M.P. said that the Defendant said to her. None of these statements attributed to M.P. was made under oath. None was subject to cross-examination, except in the sense that M.P. had appeared as a witness at trial in her own behalf. The statements were introduced to prove the truth of the matters asserted. They are hearsay and are inadmissible unless they may be brought within some recognized exception to the hearsay rule. The state has called no exception to our attention, and none is apparent upon our independent reflection. We do not regard this testimony by Dr. Tramontana as admissible under our rule allowing a physician to give the history related to him by a patient where the history was necessary to the treatment of the patient. The rationale for this exception to the hearsay rule is that a person's desire for proper diagnosis and treatment serves as an adequate assurance of the trustworthiness of statements made to a treating doctor. Barton, Cowart, The Enigma of Hearsay, 49 Miss.L.J. 31, 71 (1978). As a rule, we have left the admissibility vel non of such statements to the discretion of the trial judge. Gulf Oil Corp. v. Thatch, 240 Miss. 117, 125, 126 So.2d 501, 503 (1961). However, as here, the patient makes the statements while in a hypnotic trance the justification for the hearsay exception is rendered inapplicable in that the patient is not conscious of his own assertions. In other jurisdictions, the testimony of psychologist hypnotists relating to what they have been told by the defendant about the crime has been rejected as hearsay and as improperly bolstering the testimony of a witness. See Rodriquez v. State, 327 So.2d 903 (Fla.App. 1976) (Court refused to allow expert called by the defense to testify as to statements made by the defendant while under hypnosis); State v. Conley, 6 Kan. App.2d 280, 627 P.2d 1174 (1981) (Defendant's expert could not testify as to statements the defendant made while under hypnosis which were offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted); State v. Harris, 241 Or. 224, 405 P.2d 492 (1965) (Doctor could not testify as to statements made to him by the defendant while under hypnosis or following hypnosis). See generally, Annotation, Admissibility of Hypnotic Evidence at Criminal Trial, 92 A.L.R.3d 442, 458-461 (1979). If a hypnotist may not testify as to facts told him by the defendant and thus bolster the defendant's testimony, surely it follows that such a witness may not relate out-of-court statements made by the prosecutrix. We hold that the testimony at issue here was clearly inadmissible. While we recognize that the objection of defense counsel may have been technically deficient, we regard Dr. Tramontana's hearsay testimony as so prejudicial that, when considered together with the opinion evidence discussed below, reversal is required.