Opinion ID: 1418598
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Hearsay Evidence Issue

Text: The appellant juvenile also argues that the circuit court erroneously admitted and relied upon hearsay evidence in the March 25, 2002 hearing as the basis for its placement and custody order. Our review of the record leads us to the conclusion that the circuit court overruled the juvenile's counsel's objections to the hearsay evidence of the appellant's misconduct in school principally because the two witnesses were testifying to the fact that they had received oral reports from school officialsand because the prosecutor represented to the court in connection with these witnesses' testimony that school officials would testify directly about the incidents of misconduct. In other words, the circuit court allowed the hearsay evidence to be presented primarily to lay a foundation for expected first-hand evidence. However, when the two school official witnesses failed to arrive because they had not been subpoenaed and the prosecution rested without seeking a continuance, the circuit court had only a minimal quantity of hearsay (perhaps even double hearsay) about the incidents at the school. As a result, the juvenile's counsel was unable to cross-examine any of the witnesses who testified about the incidents or the context in which the incidents had occurred. This court has addressed the issue of hearsay evidence in proceedings involving juveniles in several contexts. In the abuse and neglect context, in In Re Simmons Children, 154 W.Va. 491, 177 S.E.2d 19 (1970), we stated in Syllabus Points 1 and 5 that: 1. Although the hearings in a juvenile court are not usually held to the same strict rules of procedure as ordinary cases, the basic requirements of the law as to due process must be followed for a proper hearing to be held.