Opinion ID: 2360649
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Use of Testimony From Previous Trials

Text: Greene next argues that the use of Dr. Fahmy Malak's videotaped deposition from the guilt phase of the first trial in 1992 and the transcribed testimony of Edna Burnett from the 1996 resentencing hearing violated Arkansas Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1). That subsection reads: (b) Hearsay Exceptions. The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule if the declarant is unavailable as a witness: (1) Former testimony. Testimony given as a witness at another hearing of the same or a different proceeding, or in a deposition taken in compliance with law in the course of the same or another proceeding, if the party against whom the testimony is now offered, or, in a civil action or proceeding a predecessor in interest, had an opportunity and similar motive to develop the testimony by direct, cross, or redirect examination. There was no proof presented, according to Greene, that either Dr. Malak or Edna Burnett was unavailable for the resentencing hearing in 1999. He contends that the essential requirement of this rule of evidence was not met for these two witnesses. The State responds that Ark.Code Ann. § 5-4-616(a)(4) (Repl.1997), is directly on point: (4) All exhibits and a transcript of all testimony and other evidence properly admitted in the prior trial and sentencing shall be admissible in the new sentencing proceeding; additional relevant evidence may be admitted including testimony of witnesses who testified at the previous trial[.] Greene counters that there is a direct conflict between this court's Rule of Evidence 804(b)(1) and § 5-4-616(a)(4), and that when such a conflict occurs, this court's rules remain supreme. State v. Sypult, 304 Ark. 5, 7, 800 S.W.2d 402, 404 (1990). We disagree with Greene that this case presents a Sypult issue. Section 5-4-616(a)(4) is limited specifically to resentencing in criminal trials whereas our rule of evidence applies to all proceedings whether civil or criminal. The General Assembly clearly viewed resentencing hearings, following reversal of the initial sentence and remand, to be special proceedings which warranted a more specialized standard for the admission of previous testimony transcribed at the prior trial. We do not view the primary purpose and effectiveness of Rule 804(b)(1) to be compromised by § 5-4-616(a)(4), and that is the test under State v. Sypult, supra . Greene also asserts that notice to him that the former testimony of Dr. Malak and Edna Burnett would be used was untimely. Both transcriptions of prior testimony were not given to him until the morning of the trial which, he argues, denied him his right to a fair trial. Greene is not persuasive on this point. He should have known of the existence of § 5-4-616(a)(4) regarding prior testimony. And, equally as important, he had the right under Ark. R.Crim. P. 17.1, after being advised that Dr. Malak and Edna Burnett would be witnesses in the Disclosure of Aggravating Circumstances, to inquire as to whether a videotaped deposition or previously transcribed testimony would be used pursuant to the statute. This he failed to do. Finally, we give little credence to Greene's contention that Dr. Malak's deposition testimony in 1992 was used in the guilt phase of the trial rather than the penalty phase, and that this somehow makes a difference. Dr. Malak did testify about whether Burnett was alive when his hands and feet were tied, when he was struck by a blunt instrument, when he was knifed, and when he was shot in the chest. This testimony was of paramount importance for purposes of a resentencing hearing and for the aggravating circumstance of a murder committed in an especially cruel or depraved manner. Nor do we agree that Edna Burnett's transcribed testimony from the 1996 resentencing hearing about finding her husband's dead body had no relevancy to the aggravator of especially cruel or depraved murder as Greene maintains. We fail to see, however, where this precise issue was raised to the trial court at the 1999 hearing, and we will not address it. There was no reversible error based on these issues raised by Greene.