Opinion ID: 1550932
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: challenge to testimony of detective ferreira, sergeant pedchenko, and dr. pitterman

Text: The defendant argues that the trial justice committed reversible error in admitting what he describes as hearsay testimony submitted by Detective Alfred A. Ferreira and Sergeant William Pedchenko, who testified concerning the Miranda admonitions they had heard as given by Detective Cross prior to the waiver of rights made by defendant. In support of his argument defendant cites State v. Brash, 512 A.2d 1375 (R.I. 1986), wherein we held that inadmissible hearsay could not be used to bolster the testimony of a witness in a criminal case. The short answer to this contention is that the testimony of Detective Ferreira and Sergeant Pedchenko did not constitute hearsay at all. The giving of Miranda admonitions is a verbal act. Testimony of a declarant who heard the Miranda admonitions is not introduced for the truth of the matter asserted but only to indicate that the words of admonition were given. These words have an independent legal effect upon the voluntariness of a statement given by a defendant. They bear a similarity to contractual words upon which persons rely in a civil context. See McCormick on Evidence, § 249 at 732. A witness who heard a Miranda admonition given may testify to the words used as he might testify to any act of which he has made a firsthand observation. Consequently, State v. Brash is wholly inapplicable. There is no rule that precludes the admission of corroborative testimony from a witness who has observed an event relevant to an issue in the case. The defendant also objects to the testimony of Dr. Pitterman, who was accompanied to the Adult Correctional Institutions by two detectives when she tested defendant's ability to read the Miranda form. Specifically defendant objects to Dr. Pitterman's testimony that she was told by the detectives that defendant had read the form to them in a similar fashion when he was arrested but read a little bit more slowly for her than he had for them. This testimony also did not constitute hearsay since it was introduced solely to show the effect of the form upon defendant and its relevance to the voluntariness of the subsequent statements. See McCormick on Evidence, § 249 at 733-34. Consequently, the trial justice was correct in allowing these statements into evidence as nonhearsay.