Opinion ID: 2551571
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Unavailable Witness

Text: We first address Conley's claim that the district court erred when it found that Eckels was unavailable as a witness. Her preliminary hearing transcript was used as evidence at trial. The district court's determination that a witness is unavailable to testify will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. State v. Love, 267 Kan. 600, 609, 986 P.2d 358 (1999). Judicial discretion is abused when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the district court. State v. Davidson, 264 Kan. 44, 56, 954 P.2d 702 (1998). We find no abuse of discretion here. K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 60-460(c)(2) allows the use of preliminary hearing testimony in a trial of the same action if the declarant is unavailable at the trial and the adverse party had the right and opportunity to adequately cross-examine at the preliminary hearing. State v. Zamora, 263 Kan. 340, 342, 949 P.2d 621 (1997). Under K.S.A. 60-459(g)(3), a witness may be unavailable when the witness is unable to be present or to testify at the hearing because of death or then existing physical or mental illness. The standard for determining whether a witness is unavailable is whether there has been a good faith effort to obtain the witness' presence at trial. Zamora, 263 Kan. at 342. The question of a good faith effort turns on the totality of the facts and circumstances of the case. 263 Kan. at 342. Here, Conley argues that the State did not make a good faith effort, or use reasonable diligence in attempting to produce Eckels for trial. The State filed a pretrial motion seeking to have Eckels declared unavailable and to have her preliminary hearing testimony admitted at trial. At the hearing on the motion, the State produced a notarized letter from Eckels' Arizona physician. The physician's letter reported that Eckels (she is referred to as Anderson in the letter) delivered a child by caesarean section on July 15, 1998, and, barring any medical complications, she would not be able to travel until August 26, 1998. (The trial commenced August 4, 1998.) No other evidence was offered. Conley, relying on State v. Calvert, 211 Kan. 174, 505 P.2d 1110 (1973), State v. Steward, 219 Kan. 256, 547 P.2d 773 (1976), and State v. Stafford, 255 Kan. 807, 878 P.2d 820 (1994), contends that the physicians's letter alone is insufficient to show unavailability. A review of the three cases is appropriate. In Calvert, during Calvert's third trial, the district court prohibited the reading of Darlene Coffee's testimony. Coffee had testified for the defense as an alibi witness at Calvert's second trial. After the State rested, Calvert's counsel told the court that Coffee called to say that she was unable to testify based on her doctor's orders. The district court ruled that in order to admit Coffee's prior testimony, the doctor would have to call the prosecutor regarding Coffee's excuse for failing to appear. The doctor never called. Thus, the district court excluded Coffee's prior testimony. We affirmed. Calvert failed to make the showing required by the district court. 211 Kan. at 183. In Steward, the State successfully moved to present a witness' prior testimony. At a hearing on the motion, the assistant district attorney and an investigator testified that they spoke to the witness and to her doctor. They said the doctor performed a physical examination and determined that the witness could not travel due to her being in the late stages of a difficult pregnancy. On appeal, we affirmed, noting that there was no lack of diligence and no indication of bad faith on the part of the State. We pointed out that Steward neither asked for a continuance nor complained of the cross-examination of the witness at the first trial. 219 Kan. at 264. In Stafford, the district court declared a cancer patient unavailable to testify. After the preliminary hearing, the witness was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. The witness wished to forego treatment and, instead, asked to receive medication for pain management. At the time of the trial, the witness was taking numerous medications 24 hours a day. As a result of the medications, she experienced some hallucinations and memory loss. The witness' doctor testified regarding the issue of availability. We concluded that there was no abuse of discretion in allowing the witness' prior testimony into evidence. 255 Kan. at 813-14. Conley asserts that Calvert, Steward, and Stafford require a doctor's testimony or other additional evidence to satisfy the requisite reasonable diligence standard. We disagree. These cases do not establish such a strict requirement. Here, Eckels had delivered a baby by caesarean section less than 3 weeks before trial. Her physician's notarized letter said Eckels is medically unable to travel the week of 8/3-7/98. Moreover, Conley did not ask for a continuance. The facts do not show a lack of reasonable diligence on the part of the State, nor do they show bad faith. A reasonable person would agree with the district court's decision to declare Eckels unavailable as a witness. We find no error in admitting Eckels' preliminary hearing testimony.