Opinion ID: 1563959
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Dr. Welner's Damning Hearsay

Text: Appellant argues that his rights under the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause were violated when the Commonwealth's psychiatric expert witness, Dr. Welner, testified regarding statements made to him by individuals who did not testify at trial. These individuals included a psychologist who had briefly treated Appellant in 1994; high school and law school classmates; Appellant's sister; Appellant's ex-girlfriend; and Appellant's accountant. See Appellant's Reply Brief at 15-17 (listing these individuals as those at issue). Dr. Welner purportedly used the information provided by these individuals in arriving at his conclusion that although Appellant suffered from several psychiatric disorders, Appellant's crimes were not caused by a psychotic illness. In support of his argument, Appellant cites Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004), which held that the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment prohibits the use of testimonial hearsay obtained by police officers against a criminal defendant, even if such hearsay is reliable, unless the defendant has the opportunity to cross-examine the out-of-court declarant. In so doing, the Court announced a new interpretation of the Confrontation Clause, overruling its earlier holding in Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980). Crawford, supra at 54, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Appellant acknowledges that he had failed to object to Dr. Welner's use of information obtained from these individuals. However, he argues that because Crawford was decided after his trial and sentencing, which trial occurred when the relaxed waiver rule of Freeman was still in effect, he should not now be penalized for failing to anticipate Crawford's changing the law. Appellant's contention that he should not be penalized for failing to have preserved his objections to the challenged evidence is baseless. It is settled that, in order for a new rule of law to apply retroactively to a case pending on direct appeal, the issue had to be preserved at all stages of adjudication up to and including the direct appeal. Commonwealth v. Jones, 571 Pa. 112, 811 A.2d 994, 1005 (2002) (quoting Commonwealth v. Tilley, 566 Pa. 312, 780 A.2d 649, 652 (2001) (quotation marks omitted)). [27] Here, Appellant failed to timely object to the now-challenged evidence. Moreover, although Crawford signaled a change in the law, Appellant fails to indicate how this change was material to his failure to have preserved the issue for review. In Crawford, the Court overruled its previous position that testimonial hearsay did not violate the Confrontation Clause if such evidence bore an adequate indicia of reliability by either falling within a firmly rooted hearsay exception or having particularized guarantees of trustworthiness. Crawford, supra at 40, 124 S.Ct. 1354 (quoting Roberts, supra at 66, 100 S.Ct. 2531). Crawford holds that now testimonial hearsay obtained by police is inadmissible unless the defendant had the opportunity to cross-examine the out-of-court declarant. Id. at 51-53, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Here, Appellant did not challenge, as he could have, the purported hearsay statements made during Dr. Welner's testimony on the grounds that they did not bear adequate indicia of reliability by either falling within firmly rooted hearsay exceptions or having particularized guarantees of trustworthiness, or on any other grounds. If Appellant was troubled by the purported hearsay testimony given by Dr. Welner, he did not need support from the specific legal principles later announced in Crawford to pursue his objections. Thus, there is no question that Appellant has waived this issue. [28]