Opinion ID: 1742814
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence of Hearsay and Prior Acts.

Text: A. Challenged testimony. Newell challenges the trial court's admission of testimony concerning the relationship between the defendant and Gillen, claiming the evidence constituted inadmissible hearsay and inadmissible prior-bad-acts evidence. The defendant objected to the following testimony: 1. Gillen's estranged husband, Robert Gillen, Jr., testified he heard Newell call Gillen a dumb f  ing bitch. He also described a phone conversation he had with Gillen just days before her death. Gillen seemed distressed, spoke in whispers, and stated Newell was standing there listening. Robert Gillen spoke with Gillen again on the day she died. Gillen was upset and said she did not want their children to visit that weekend because she had found out something about Newell and was scared. Gillen told her husband she was planning to leave Newell, but she was concerned about the baby. She complained that she was not allowed to go anywhere with the baby alone. 2. Gillen's brother, Kevin Hamilton, testified he saw injuries on his sister, including a knot on her head, about ten days before Gillen's death. His sister told him the defendant had head-butted her. Hamilton testified Gillen complained that she and Newell were not getting along, and she expressed fears for her safety. Hamilton thought Gillen was afraid of Newell. 3. Gillen's sister-in-law testified that Gillen told her Newell would not let Gillen be alone with the baby. Gillen also said that bruises on Gillen's head came from being head-butted, and from the context of this statement, the witness inferred the defendant was the perpetrator. The witness further testified she observed bruises on the victim's arm that looked like fingerprints. Gillen told the witness that she feared the defendant was going to do something to her. Gillen also expressed concern that she would not get her baby back if she left Newell. 4. Another brother of Gillen, Brian Reich, testified Gillen planned to leave Newell about a month before her death, but changed her mind a week later. Reich then visited his sister to talk her into leaving, but she was scared and crying and told him she was afraid Newell would harm her brother and his fiancée if she left. 5. Gillen's cousin testified to her observation that when Gillen and Newell visited, they usually brought the baby, but when Gillen visited alone, she never had the baby with her. Gillen always said the baby was with her mother-in-law. She stated Gillen talked about leaving Newell and acted scared just talking about doing so. Gillen told the witness one week before her death that she feared for her safety because she had found out something about the defendant. 6. Gillen's aunt testified that a week before her death, Gillen expressed fear of the defendant and said he was keeping Gillen on a timetable. Additionally, the aunt testified Gillen said she had found out something about the defendant and Gillen was afraid. 7. Various neighbors testified about verbal arguments they heard, but they denied seeing any physical abuse. 8. Jim McClain testified the defendant began treating Gillen badly a few weeks prior to her death and had begun calling her names, although McClain never saw any physical altercations. The night before Gillen died McClain offered to take her away from Newell, but Gillen refused the offer, expressing fear of the defendant. B. Scope of review. We review the defendant's hearsay claims for errors at law. State v. Buenaventura, 660 N.W.2d 38, 50 (Iowa 2003). Hearsay . . . must be excluded as evidence at trial unless admitted as an exception or exclusion under the hearsay rule or some other provision. State v. Dullard, 668 N.W.2d 585, 589 (Iowa 2003). Subject to the requirement of relevance, the district court has no discretion to deny the admission of hearsay if it falls within an exception, or to admit it in the absence of a provision providing for admission. Id. Inadmissible hearsay is considered to be prejudicial to the nonoffering party unless otherwise established. State v. Long, 628 N.W.2d 440, 447 (Iowa 2001). Rulings on the admissibility of prior-acts evidence are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. State v. White, 668 N.W.2d 850, 853 (Iowa 2003). [W]e find an abuse of that discretion only when a party claiming it shows the discretion was exercised on grounds or for reasons clearly untenable or to an extent clearly unreasonable. State v. Powell, 684 N.W.2d 235, 238 (Iowa 2004). C. Hearsay evidence. Hearsay is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at . . . trial, . . . offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Iowa R. Evid. 5.801( c ); see also Dullard, 668 N.W.2d at 589-90 (stating a statement is not hearsay if it is not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted). Hearsay is not admissible unless it falls within one of several enumerated exceptions. Iowa R. Evid. 5.802; Buenaventura, 660 N.W.2d at 51. 1. Evidence not hearsay. Much of the evidence to which the defendant objects is not hearsay. Evidence that Newell was heard to call the victim derogatory names is not hearsay because it was not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted, i.e., that Gillen was what the defendant called her. See also Iowa R. Evid. 5.801( d )(2) (stating statement offered against a party and which is the party's own statement is not hearsay). Evidence that the neighbors heard raised voices and arguing is also not hearsay. These witnesses did not testify to the content of the arguments, only that they occurred. Similarly, testimony about injuries the witnesses observed on Gillen prior to her death was not hearsay because these observations are not statements made by a declarant other than the witness. The same conclusion is warranted with respect to the witnesses' testimony that Gillen appeared scared, nervous, or distressed. This evidence did not contain any out-of-court statements admitted for the truth of the matter asserted, only evidence of the witnesses' observations. 2. Evidence falling within an exception to the hearsay rule. Gillen's statements to a number of persons that she was scared of Newell, that she feared for her safety, that she planned to leave Newell, and that she was afraid if she left Newell, he would keep the baby from her were admissible under an exception to the hearsay rule for then existing mental, emotional, or physical condition. Iowa R. Evid. 5.803(3). Rule 5.803(3) provides for an exception to the hearsay rule for [a] statement of the declarant's then existing state of mind, emotion, sensation, or physical condition (such as intent, plan, motive, design, mental feeling, pain, and bodily health), but not including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed. . . . The admission of such evidence under this exception is dependent upon the relevancy of the declarant's then existing state of mind, emotion, sensation, or physical condition. See Buenaventura, 660 N.W.2d at 51. Gillen's emotional state was relevant in this case to rebut the defendant's position that he and the victim had a loving relationship, as we discuss in more detail below. Gillen's statement to her estranged husband that Newell was listening to their conversation was also admissible under an exception to the hearsay rule. Iowa Rule of Evidence 5.803(1) provides that [a] statement describing or explaining an event or condition made while the declarant was perceiving the event or condition, or immediately thereafter is not excluded by the hearsay rule. Gillen's statement to her husband falls within this exception. 3. Erroneously admitted hearsayprejudice analysis. Although some of the hearsay statements admitted by the court are not subject to a readily identifiable exception, we do not think the admission of this testimony was prejudicial. See Iowa R. Evid. 5.103( a ) (Error may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of the party is affected. . . .). Rule 5.103( a ) requires a harmless error analysis where a nonconstitutional error is claimed. State v. Sullivan, 679 N.W.2d 19, 29 (Iowa 2004). To determine whether the error is harmless we ask: `Does it sufficiently appear that the rights of the complaining party have been injuriously affected by the error or that he has suffered a miscarriage of justice?' Id. (citation omitted). [W]e presume prejudicethat is, a substantial right of the defendant is affectedand reverse unless the record affirmatively establishes otherwise. Id. at 30. In considering whether the admission of hearsay is reversible error, we have held that notwithstanding the presumption of prejudice from the admission of such evidence, the erroneously admitted hearsay will not be considered prejudicial if substantially the same evidence is properly in the record. State v. Hildreth, 582 N.W.2d 167, 170 (Iowa 1998). That is the situation here with respect to Gillen's statements that Newell would not let her take the baby out alone and that he had her on a timetable. Jim McClain testified without objection to his observations of Newell's controlling behavior with respect to Gillen: One observation of Jerry being controlling was with their infant baby. If . . . the baby could not stay directly with him, he would leave the baby with his mother. He . . . wouldn't let Kathy take the baby, because he was worried that Kathy wouldn't come back. Likewise, the fact that the couple was not getting along could be easily gleaned from the admissible testimony, making Gillen's statements to that effect cumulative and their admission harmless error. The most troublesome hearsay statements erroneously admitted are Gillen's assertions that a large bruise on her head was caused by being head-butted by the defendant. This court has held, however, that no prejudice will be found where the evidence in support of the defendant's guilt is overwhelming. See State v. Holland, 485 N.W.2d 652, 656 (Iowa 1992) (holding prejudice was not shown due to the overwhelming evidence, albeit much of it circumstantial, connecting [the defendant] with the charged crimes); cf. State v. Brodene, 493 N.W.2d 793, 797 (Iowa 1992) (holding evidentiary error that violated the defendant's right of confrontation was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt where other clear evidence overwhelmingly established [the defendant's] guilt). Considering the evidence that was properly admitted, we think the record affirmatively establishes a lack of prejudice in this case. The medical evidence showed Gillen's death was not accidental and that she died from being strangled and beaten. Newell was the only other adult at home at the time of Gillen's death, but he did not call for assistance. Neighbors heard arguing and screaming just before they saw the defendant speeding away from the residence in his car. Subsequently, Newell gave several different versions of what had happened, lamented to family and friends that he was probably in trouble and might be charged with murder, and tried to convince his friend, Jim McClain, to lie about what happened on the night of Gillen's death. Moreover, one of the explanations given by the defendant for the victim's injuries was his statement to his jail mate that just prior to Gillen's death Newell head butted [Gillen] twice and she fell to the floor. Given the strength of the properly admitted evidence, including Newell's own admissions, we think the defendant was not injuriously affected by the hearsay testimony that he had head-butted Gillen on a prior occasion, nor did he suffer a miscarriage of justice from the admission of this evidence. The State has established a lack of prejudice. D. Prior-acts evidence. Rule 5.404( b ) governs the admissibility of a person's other crimes, wrongs, or acts. This rule provides: Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of the person in order to show that the person acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident. Iowa R. Evid. 5.404( b ). In order to be admissible, the evidence must be probative of `some fact or element in issue other than the defendant's criminal disposition.' State v. Taylor, 689 N.W.2d 116, 123 (Iowa 2004) (citation omitted). Moreover,. . . when prior-bad-acts evidence is offered `to establish an ultimate inference of mens rea, the court should require the prosecutor to articulate a tenable noncharacter theory of logical relevance.' Id. at 123-24 (citation omitted). See generally Iowa R. Evid. 5.401 (stating evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence). If a court determines prior-bad-acts evidence `is relevant to a legitimate factual issue in dispute, the court must then decide if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to the defendant.' Taylor, 689 N.W.2d at 124 (citation omitted). Evidence that is unfairly prejudicial is evidence that has `an undue tendency to suggest decisions on an improper basis commonly, though not necessarily, an emotional one.' State v. Plaster, 424 N.W.2d 226, 231 (Iowa 1988) (citation omitted); accord State v. Rodriquez, 636 N.W.2d 234, 240 (Iowa 2001). Because the weighing of probative value against probable prejudice is not an exact science, we give a great deal of leeway to the trial judge who must make this judgment call. Rodriquez, 636 N.W.2d at 240. The testimony outlined above showed the following prior acts by the defendant: he called the victim derogatory names, he head-butted her, he inflicted bruises on her arms, he listened to her phone conversation with her estranged husband, he would not let her go anywhere alone with the baby, and he kept Gillen on a timetable. We must first determine whether this evidence is relevant to a legitimate issue in the case other than a general propensity by the defendant to commit wrongful acts. Taylor, 689 N.W.2d at 124. The defendant argues he did not raise a defense of mistake or accident, and therefore, evidence that he had intentionally hurt Gillen in the past was irrelevant. An essential element of first-degree murder is malice aforethought. See State v. Lee, 494 N.W.2d 706, 707 (Iowa 1993); see also Iowa Code § 707.1 (A person who kills another person with malice aforethought either express or implied commits murder.). Malice aforethought is defined as `a fixed purpose or design to do some physical harm to another that exists before the act is committed.' Buenaventura, 660 N.W.2d at 49 (citation omitted). Because this element is a state of mind, circumstantial evidence is generally used to prove malice. Id. We have held the prior relationship between the defendant and the victim, including bad feelings, quarrels, and physical acts, is a circumstance that may be shown to prove the defendant's state of mind and motivation at the time of the crime. See Taylor, 689 N.W.2d at 128 (stating defendant's prior acts of violence toward his wife [were] relevant to his motive and intent on the day [of the alleged assault]); Buenaventura, 660 N.W.2d at 49 (same); State v. Kellogg, 263 N.W.2d 539, 542 (Iowa 1978) (same). The court's instruction to the jury defining this element was consistent with these legal principles. The jury was instructed: Malice is a state of mind which leads one to intentionally do a wrongful act to the injury of another or in disregard of the rights of another out of actual hatred, or with an evil or unlawful purpose. It may be established by evidence of actual hatred, or by proof of a deliberate or fixed intent to do injury. It may be found from the acts and conduct of the Defendant and the means used in doing the wrongful and injurious act. Malice requires only such deliberation that would make a person appreciate and understand the nature of the act and its consequences, as distinguished from an act done in the heat of passion. Malice aforethought is a fixed purpose or design to do some physical harm to another which exists before the act is committed. It does not have to exist for any particular length of time. Although motive is not a necessary element of murder, lack of motive may be considered in determining whether the Defendant acted with malice aforethought. We think the evidence challenged here was highly relevant to the issue of malice aforethought because it showed the relationship between the defendant and the victim and was pertinent to the defendant's possible motive for beating and strangling Gillen. If Newell and Gillen had an acrimonious relationship, it is more probable that Newell acted with malicea fixed purpose to do harmat the time of Gillen's death than if they had a loving relationship. Similarly, if Newell was possessive and controlling of Gillen, it is more likely that he acted with a fixed purpose to do physical harm to her when she returned home after an inordinately long and unexplained absence. In considering the admission of similar evidence in a prosecution for domestic abuse assault and burglary, we stated: [T]he defendant's prior conduct directed to the victim of a crime, whether loving or violent, reveals the emotional relationship between the defendant and the victim and is highly probative of the defendant's probable motivation and intent in subsequent situations. The most obvious example of the legitimate use of prior-bad-acts evidence is the admission of evidence of a defendant's prior assaults of a victim in a prosecution of the defendant for the subsequent murder of the victim. Courts have admitted such evidence to show the defendant's motive and intent with respect to the actions giving rise to the charged crime when intent is disputed. Taylor, 689 N.W.2d at 125 (citations omitted); accord White, 668 N.W.2d at 855 (finding no abuse of discretion in admission of defendant's prior assault on victim in prosecution for first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary); State v. Emerson, 375 N.W.2d 256, 260 (Iowa 1985) (admitting evidence of prior quarrels between defendant and victim in prosecution of defendant for first-degree murder); Kellogg, 263 N.W.2d at 542 (same). Contrary to the defendant's claim on appeal, we think the element of intentmalice aforethoughtwas contested at trial. Newell told the police he had a loving relationship with the victim, and several of the defendant's versions of what happened that night portrayed Gillen's death as accidental. In closing arguments, defense counsel repeatedly suggested that the relationship between the defendant and Gillen was amicable, and that the State had failed to establish the defendant's malice or ill will toward the victim. Because the defendant's intent to do harm to Gillen was in dispute and because the evidence in question was probative of the defendant's relationship with Gillen and his possible motive for harming her, the State articulated a tenable noncharacter theory of logical relevance to support admission of this evidence. We turn to the question of prejudice: is the probative value of this evidence substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect? In balancing probative value against prejudicial effect, the court considers the need for the evidence in light of the issues and the other evidence available to the prosecution, whether there is clear proof the defendant committed the prior bad acts, the strength or weakness of the evidence on the relevant issue, and the degree to which the fact finder will be prompted to decide the case on an improper basis. Taylor, 689 N.W.2d at 124. Our examination of the record shows a need for the challenged evidence. Although there was strong circumstantial evidence that Newell was the person who committed the act that killed Gillen, the prosecution had the additional burden to prove the defendant acted with malice aforethought, or ill will, at the time of Gillen's death. The only other evidence indicating malice was the manner in which Gillen was killed. We think evidence of the abusive and controlling nature of the relationship between Newell and Gillen was strong evidence of Newell's emotional and mental state at the time of Gillen's death, as well as his motive for murdering the mother of his child. Moreover, we agree with our observation in Taylor that a defendant should not be allowed to have his guilt or innocence determined `on a false presentation that his and the victim's relationship [was] peaceful and friendly.' Id. at 130 (citation omitted). Here, the defense sought to establish that Newell loved Gillen and bore her no ill will. Therefore, the State needed, and was entitled, to rebut this argument with evidence to the contrary. In assessing whether there is clear proof of prior misconduct, it is not required that the prior act be established beyond a reasonable doubt, nor is corroboration necessary. Id. There simply needs to be sufficient proof to `prevent the jury from engaging in speculation or drawing inferences based on mere suspicion.' Id. (citation omitted). Here, there was clear proof of name-calling in that several witnesses to these acts confirmed such occurrences. Similarly, various witnesses observed signs of physical abuse and given the context of these observations and the victim's well-documented fear of the defendant, we do not think the jury would have to speculate that Gillen's injuries were caused by Newell. Finally, evidence of Newell's controlling behavior with respect to Gillen also came from several sources. We think there was clear proof the defendant committed the prior acts attributed to him. Balanced against the need for the evidence, its reliability, and its probative strength is the danger of unfair prejudice. In evaluating the prejudice factor, we consider the likelihood that the prior-acts evidence will prompt the jury to base its decision on an improper emotional response toward the defendant. Id. Certainly the evidence of Newell's name-calling and violence reflected adversely on him and probably made him an unsympathetic character in the jury's eyes. Nonetheless, this evidence was essential to the truth-seeking function of the jury. See id. (stating `[a] trial is a search for the truth,' and thus, defendant's other acts are admissible to show his true relationship with the victim (citation omitted)). Therefore, the trial court was well within the bounds of permissible discretion in determining any danger of unfair prejudice did not substantially outweigh the high probative value of the challenged evidence. See White, 668 N.W.2d at 855 (finding trial court acted reasonably in admitting evidence of defendant's prior assault of victim notwithstanding that the jury could have been swayed by unfair prejudice from the admission of the evidence).