Opinion ID: 1704807
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: the trial court committed reversible error by overruling flowers' objections to the testimony of jack matthews.

Text: ¶ 70. Flowers argues that reversible error occurred when the trial court, over objections from the defense, allowed Investigator Jack Matthews to testify from a business ledger which indicated money was missing from the furniture store, since the evidence of a robbery was extremely minimal. Flowers charges that Matthews was the only person who actually testified that any money was missing and that since he was allowed to testify without the proper predicate being established his statement was hearsay. The State argues that the testimony of Matthews makes it clear that his conclusion on how much money was missing was not based on what someone else told him but on his interpretation of the ledger. ¶ 71. At common law hearsay exceptions developed which furnished guarantees of truth-worthiness and reliability which have been incorporated into the hearsay provisions of the uniform rules. M.R.E. Article VIII(cmt.). There are five requirements for admission under the other exceptions provision of Rule 803(24):(1) trustworthiness; (2) materiality; (3) probative value; (4) the interests of justice; and (5) notice. M.R.E. 803(24). Judicial discretion is required to determine the admissibility of evidence under this rule, and the judge's ruling will not be overturned on appeal except for an abuse of discretion. Leatherwood v. State, 548 So.2d 389, 401 (Miss.1989) (citing United States v. Friedman, 593 F.2d 109, 118 (9th Cir.1979)). ¶ 72. In the case sub judice, the ledger is a business record. The foundational requirements for business records are: 1) the statement is in written or recorded form; 2) the record concerns acts, events, conditions, opinions or diagnoses; 3) the record was made at or near the time of the matter recorded; 4) the source of the information had personal knowledge of the matter; 5) the record was kept in the course of regular business activity; and 6) it was the regular practice of the business activity to make the record. ¶ 73. The comments to the rules also state that there must be testimony from a foundational witness to provide evidence of the foundation requirements. M.R.E. 803(6) and cmt. Accordingly, the ledger found at the store would be a business report. Here the custodian of the records is unavailable, as she was one of the victims found dead at the scene of the crime. Thus the foundation for introduction of the business records was established through the investigator who discovered the records at the scene and through Tardy's daughter (Ballard), both of whom were qualified witnesses under M.R.E. 803. ¶ 74. At trial it was established that Matthews recovered the ledger from a desk at the furniture store on the morning of the murders. He identified the ledger and described it to be a record of the cash on hand for the store's operations. It was admitted into evidence with no objections. When the State asked Matthews if he was able to determine through his investigation how much money was missing from the cash drawer, the defense objected that the proper predicate had not been laid to show how Matthews made his determination. The court overruled the objection when the State clarified his statement and said, All we are asking is for his investigation after he was advised how to read the ledger sheet. (emphasis added). ¶ 75. Later, Ballard, Tardy's daughter, testified that she was involved to some extent in the business at Tardy's and that she was familiar with how the business was run. She described the normal operating procedures at the store. She described what her mother would do every morning after she had entered the building: go to her office and unlock the safe and take the things necessary for business, the cash drawer, and the accounts receivable book and the receipt book out and take it to the front office. After looking at the ledger, Ballard testified that the ledger indicated that there was $400 in the drawer. Ballard also testified that Carmen Rigby, the bookkeeper, had worked at Tardy's for 20 years and that she usually got to work, anywhere from 10 after to 9:30. Every morning she would, come in and take the receipt book to see what had come in the day before and that morning in the mail and make up a deposit and count the drawer and balance the drawer and then go to the bank. Ballard testified that a deposit had been made on the morning of the murders. ¶ 76. Ballard was clearly the proper source of the detailed information since she had personal knowledge of how the business was operated. She was involved in the business to some extent and was, therefore, qualified to interpret the ledger sheet. Since the bookkeeper was one of the victims, the ledger had to be authenticated by someone other than the custodian. Ballard qualified as a witness to authenticate the record. We find that Matthews, should only have been allowed to introduce the ledger which he found during his investigation, not testify about the details therein and interpret the ledger's contents. ¶ 77. The judge overruled the defense's objection that the ledger was hearsay, and we find clear abuse in his ruling. The ledger was a necessary and reliable source of evidence since the bookkeeper was not available to testify. Once it was admitted, although its contents did not necessarily require an expert to describe what it contained, it did require someone who was familiar with the contents, terms and meaning of the ledger. The only person who testified who fit that description was Ballard. Because the ledger met the requirements of a business record under M.R.E. 803(6), it could be admitted into evidence, but the interpretation of this document required someone who was familiar with it and could explain it to the jury. Matthews could not so interpret the ledger, but Ballard could. ¶ 78. It is not uncommon to allow the introduction of records that contain evidence for which the defendant is on trial. Kettle v. State, 641 So.2d 746, 750 (Miss. 1994). A recent decision by this Court in Harkins v. State, 735 So.2d 317, 321 (Miss. 1999), held that the admission of calibration certificates without testimony from the calibration officer does not, in general, violate either the hearsay rule or the confrontation clauses in the Mississippi or United States constitutions, as long as the proper foundation is laid. In the case sub judice, the business ledger qualified under Rule 803(6) as data kept in the regular course of business. However, the better practice would have been to allow only Ballard to testify about the ledgers contents, because of the need to explain about the money which should have been at the store that morning. ¶ 79. Matthews testified that he recovered the ledger sheet from the desk at the furniture store on the morning of the murders. Matthews testified that the ledger sheet, which was entered into evidence, appeared to show the cash on hand for the day. Later, in his testimony, Matthews began to testify as to the amount of money that the ledger would indicate was missing from the cash drawer, whereupon the defense objected as to the knowledge of the witness as to his determinations. The State argued that the question was toward what his investigation revealed after he had been advised on how to read the ledger sheet. Matthews was clearly testifying to double hearsay. He could not have read and interpreted the ledger but for instructions on how to do so by someone who knew that particular ledger. In fact, that is exactly what occurred according to the record. The court overruled the objection, and Matthews was able to testify that approximately $287 was missing from the cash drawer. The better procedure was clearly to allow Matthews to tell how and where he found the ledger, mark it for identification purposes and then to allow Roxanne Ballard to have introduced the records, provide for their authenticity, and in interpreting the document, testify as to procedures and how much money was missing, if any. There was additional testimony from the cell mate, Veal, that Flowers had confessed to him that he had taken some money. There was also testimony during the trial concerning the fact that Flowers did not receive his pay check for the short time that he had worked at Tardy's due to damages to batteries that he caused. There was also testimony that Tardy had told Flowers that she no longer needed him to come to work. Additionally, some $250 was recovered by authorities from the bedstead where Flowers had lived. The ledger was relevant to show that there was evidence that a robbery had taken place, and from this evidence, the jury could decide the issue. Ballard's testimony adequately covered the ledger and other evidence indicating proof that a robbery occurred. ¶ 80. Although we find error in allowing Matthews to testify about the ledger's content, there was more than sufficient other testimony which supports the fact element of proof required of the State to establish that a robbery occurred. Thus, Matthews's testimony about the ledger was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. On retrial, however, we suggest the aforementioned procedure be followed of allowing only Ballard, who was evidently the only person who could interpret the ledger, to testify about the ledger's contents.