Opinion ID: 1924492
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: exclusion of the entire police report

Text: ¶ 13. Rials next argues that it was an abuse of discretion for the trial court to refuse to admit the entire police report into evidence. Rials's own expert, Al Gonzales, was questioned by the defense regarding the police report. During that cross-examination, defense counsel quoted or had Gonzales quote extensively, to the jury, portions of witness statements contained in the police report. Rials objected to the defendants' referring to the statements contained in the police report, but that objection was overruled. Rials then moved to have the police report admitted in its entirety. The trial court denied the motion. ¶ 14. Rials claims that it was prejudicial to allow the defendants to introduce into evidence only those portions of the police report which support their theory of the case. Rials further claims that admission of the entire report was necessary to present a fair and complete picture to the jury. ¶ 15. In response, Duckworth and Johnson point out that defense counsel only referred to the report during the cross-examination of Gonzales. They further respond, [A]t no time did defense counsel attempt to introduce any portion of the police report into evidence. As such, defendants Duckworth and Johnson claim that the trial court properly executed its sound discretion in excluding the report. ¶ 16. Sanderson Farms and Willis counter that Rials did not offer testimony or evidence sufficient to warrant admission of the police report in its entirety. They claim that the trial court properly refused to admit the report after appropriately applying evidentiary law to the issue of admission of the police report in its entirety. ¶ 17. The standard of review regarding the admissibility of evidence at trial is well established. The relevancy and admissibility of evidence is largely within the discretion of the trial court, and reversal may be had only where that discretion has been abused. Weaver v. State, 713 So.2d 860, 865 (Miss.1997); Washington v. State, 726 So.2d 209, 215 (Miss.Ct. App.1998). Miss. R. Evid. 106 provides that: When a writing or recorded statement or part thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require him at that time to introduce any other part or any other writing or recorded statement which ought in fairness to be considered contemporaneously with it. Miss. R. Evid. 106. The comment to the Rule calls this a codification of the common law doctrine of completeness.... Miss. R. Evid. 106 cmt. ¶ 18. This Court has held, however, that Rule 106 does not permit the introduction of an entire document when a witness was, as here, only cross-examined by reading from a writing and no part of that document was introduced into evidence. See, e.g., Lester v. State, 692 So.2d 755, 786 (Miss.1997), overruled on other grounds, Weatherspoon v. State, 732 So.2d 158 (Miss.1999). ¶ 19. Furthermore, while portions of the police report may be admissible under Miss. R. Evid. 803(6), other portions may not be admissible. In this instance, the trial court correctly determined that portions of the police report were admissible, yet the report also contained statements which amounted to hearsay. Therefore, it was proper for the trial court, exercising its discretion, to exclude the report. Because Rials failed to carry her burden of proving that the trial court abused its discretion, this claim is without merit.