Opinion ID: 2016221
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: evidence of victim's discharge summary date

Text: Dr. Votta testified, over objection on hearsay grounds, to the dates of B.W.'s hospital stay from records provided to him by the University of Nebraska Hospital, where other doctors had attended to B.W.'s exacerbated cystic fibrosis condition. The significance of the dates pinpointing B.W.'s hospital stay revolved around B.W.'s statements that the sexual abuse had occurred after that hospital stay. An objection based on the best evidence or original writing rule would have been a proper objection. The best evidence rule is most appropriately described as the original writing rule: In proving the terms of a writing, where the terms are material, the original writing must be produced unless it is shown to be unavailable for some reason other than the serious fault of the proponent. It is suggested in McCormick on Evidence § 233 (John W. Strong 4th ed. 1992) that courts abandon the distinction between transactions essentially written and nonwritten and allow the application of the rule to turn upon the trial judge's determination of such factors as the centrality of the writing to the litigation, the importance of bringing the precise words of the writing before the trier, and the danger of mistransmission or imposition in the absence of the original. The result is a collateral documents exemption from the basic rule which has followed as a necessary concession to the expedition of trials. Even if he had had the document with him, Dr. Votta's testimony was hearsay, an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted and inadmissible in accordance with Neb.Rev.Stat. § 27-802 (Reissue 1989). Dr. Votta could not have provided the necessary foundation for the document, as he was not a party to the making of the hospital summary discharge record and could not attest to the accuracy of the document. He was only able to testify that the hospital normally sends such copies of the summaries of discharge records of Dr. Votta's patients' hospital stays for his records and continuing treatment of the patients. While Dr. Votta did recommend that B.W. be admitted into the hospital for her cystic fibrosis condition, he had no personal knowledge whether or when B.W. had actually been admitted, except for the copies of summary discharge documents that the hospital forwards to treating physicians as a matter of normal operating procedure. Although the admitted testimony, absent supporting testimony by hospital records personnel, is hearsay without a corresponding exemption, we find the error in admitting the unsupported testimony is harmless beyond a reasonable doubt for three reasons: (1) B.W.'s previously discussed courtroom testimony and July 31, 1990, statements to her friend and subsequently to authorities indicated the recentness of the occurrence of the alleged assault; (2) Dr. Votta testified from his personal knowledge that he had examined B.W. on August 2, 1990, for possible sexual abuse and that his findings (recent manipulation) were not inconsistent with the allegation of sexual assault; and (3) in this context, the writing in question is not central to the litigation, and the evidence supporting B.W.'s contentions regarding the approximate timing of the alleged assault was cumulative and established by first-person testimony. The court's error in admitting Dr. Votta's hearsay testimony from the hospital discharge summary is thus harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. See, State v. Johnson, 236 Neb. 831, 464 N.W.2d 167 (1991); State v. Baltimore, 236 Neb. 736, 463 N.W.2d 808 (1990); State v. Donaldson, 234 Neb. 683, 452 N.W.2d 531 (1990); State v. Cox, 231 Neb. 495, 437 N.W.2d 134 (1989).