Opinion ID: 1755609
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Whether the trial court erred by entering a summary judgment for MEP on Donna Welch's breach-of-contract claim.

Text: Donna Welch claims that genuine issues of material fact exist as to the breach-of-contract claim and that, therefore, the trial court erred by entering a summary judgment for MEP on that claim. Specifically, she contends that the trial court erred by excluding her testimony and Brian's testimony regarding the alleged agreement between Dr. Welch and MEP for the purchase of Dr. Welch's optometry practice. Donna asserts that their testimony should not have been excluded because, she says, it falls under Rule 803, Ala.R.Evid., which states: The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule ...: (3) Then existing mental, emotional, or physical condition. A statement of the declarant's then existing state of mind, emotion, sensation, or physical condition (such as intent, plan, motive, design, mental feeling, pain, and bodily health), but not including a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed.... Donna specifically avers that her testimony and Brian's testimony demonstrate Dr. Welch's intent, plan, or motive to enter into an agreement pursuant to which MEP would purchase Dr. Welch's optometry practice. The trial court, however, disagreed. It held that because the noncompetition agreement was never executed, the only evidence of an agreement between Dr. Welch and MEP for the purchase of Dr. Welch's optometry practice was the Welches' testimony that Dr. Welch had told them that such an agreement did in fact exist. The court further stated that the testimony was clearly hearsay and that it did not fall within any hearsay exceptions. The court determined that any statement made by Dr. Welch to Donna or Brian was a statement of memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or believed.... The court distinguished this case from Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Adams, 30 F.3d 554 (4th Cir.1994), a case Donna relies on in support of her contention that their testimony should not have been excluded. In Adams, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that the federal district court had not erred in admitting into evidence statements by the deceased declarant regarding his intention to change the beneficiary on an insurance policy. In the case before us, Donna offers her and Brian's testimony to prove the existence of an agreement between Dr. Welch and MEP pursuant to which MEP agreed to purchase Dr. Welch's optometry practice. The court specifically stated: However, [Donna Welch] seeks to offer the testimony to prove the existence of the oral contract by showing that Dr. Welch believed he had reached an agreement. However, `[a] statement of ... belief, offered to prove the fact ... believed, does not satisfy the exception' provided to 803(3). [Charles W. Gamble,] Gamble's Alabama Rules of Evidence § 803(3)(b) [(1995)]. The statements merely reflect Dr. Welch's belief that he had a deal and the statements are offered to prove a fact believed, the contract. As such, the statements are inadmissible hearsay and, without the statements, [Donna] has no admissible evidence of an agreement. We agree with the trial court's analysis. Donna offered the testimony to prove that a contract existed, not to prove that Dr. Welch intended to enter into a contract with MEP. It is not disputed that Dr. Welch intended to enter into a contract; what is disputed is whether there actually was an agreement between Dr. Welch and MEP to purchase Dr. Welch's optometry practice. Clearly, the testimony of Donna and Brian Welch is hearsay, because any statement made by Dr. Welch to either of them regarding an agreement Dr. Welch had with MEP would be offered for the truth of the matter asserted  the existence of the agreement. Furthermore, because the testimony consisted of Dr. Welch's statements of belief offered to prove the fact believed, the testimony does not fall within any of the exceptions to the hearsay rule. As the trial court stated: [T]he statements are inadmissible hearsay and, without the statements, [Donna] has no admissible evidence of an agreement. Because the testimony was inadmissible hearsay and because there was no other evidence to prove the existence of an agreement on the part of MEP to purchase Dr. Welch's practice, the trial court correctly granted MEP's motion for a summary judgment on the breach-of-contract claim.