Opinion ID: 854116
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jackson's Description of an Argument with Montgomery

Text: The trial court permitted Stephens to testify that the weekend before he was shot, Jackson came to her apartment and reported that he had had an argument with Montgomery over disparaging remarks Montgomery had made about her. Jackson's statement is hearsay, as it is an out of court statement offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter assertedthat Montgomery and Jackson had a falling out shortly before the shooting. The State contends that the statement is admissible under the hearsay exception for present sense impression. Present sense impression is defined as: A statement describing or explaining a material event, condition or transaction, made while the declarant was perceiving the event, condition or transaction, or immediately thereafter. Evid.R. 803(1). Jackson did not make the statement at issue while perceiving the event, and nothing in the evidence indicates that he was reporting the argument to Stephens immediately after it occurred. Nevertheless, even if the trial court erred in admitting Stephens' testimony on this point, it was merely cumulative of Mitchell's more detailed eyewitness account of the argument. We conclude that the admission of this evidence was at most harmless error. See McClain, 675 N.E.2d at 331-32.