Opinion ID: 1901509
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Issue 1Testimony of Detective Hogan and Barbara Turner

Text: May first contends that his appellate counsel [10] were ineffective for failing to appeal the decision of the trial court to disallow his attempt to present the Investigative Report of Lancaster County Police Detective Charles Hogan (Detective Hogan). To demonstrate ineffective assistance of counsel, one must show that (1) the underlying claim is of arguable merit; (2) counsel had no reasonable strategic basis for his or her action or inaction; and (3) but for the errors and omissions of counsel, there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the proceedings would have been different. Commonwealth v. Kimball, 555 Pa. 299, 724 A.2d 326, 333 (1999) (using the test for ineffective assistance of counsel set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984)). Counsel will not be deemed ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim. Commonwealth v. Tilley, 566 Pa. 312, 780 A.2d 649 (2001). Following Fair's disappearance in 1982, the Lancaster County Police assigned Detective Hogan to investigate the missing persons report. For more than two years, Detective Hogan compiled a report containing several statements from persons who claimed that they had seen Fair after December 19, 1982, the date on which May was arrested and incarcerated for the rape and attempted murder of G.S. and S.S. See, e.g., Initial Brief of Appellant, Appendix 4 at 14 (report of interview with David James Cunningham (Cunningham), who stated that he had known Fair for eight or nine years and had observed her driving by him in September or October of 1983); id. at 17 (report of interview with Samuel Witherspoon (Witherspoon), who stated that he knew Fair and that she attended a party at his house in November of 1983). During the 1991 guilt phase, trial counsel sought to introduce the Investigative Report in an attempt to demonstrate that Fair was still alive after May had been sent to jail, rendering it impossible for May to have killed her. The trial court permitted Detective Hogan to testify about the preparation of the report, but refused to allow testimony regarding the contents of the report, concluding that the individual statements contained therein were inadmissible hearsay. Notes of Testimony (N.T.), March 8, 1991, at 892-93. May assigns error to this decision, asserting that the Investigative Report is a business record and, therefore, should have been admitted as an exception to the hearsay rule. Hearsay is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 801(c). Hearsay is not admissible unless a specific exception applies. Pa.R.E. 802. May points to the business record exception, which provides as follows: (b) General Rule.A record of an act, condition or event shall, insofar as relevant, be competent evidence if the custodian or other qualified witness testifies to its identity and the mode of its preparation, and if it was made in the regular course of business at or near the time of the act, condition or event, and if, in the opinion of the tribunal, the sources of information, method and time of preparation were such as to justify its admission. (c) Definition.As used in this section business includes every kind of business, profession, occupation, calling, or operation of institutions whether carried on for profit or not. 42 Pa.C.S. § 6108. [11] May is correct in asserting that the Investigative Report is a business record and, as such, is admissible as an exception to the hearsay rule. [12] May fails to realize, however, that the admission of the Investigative Report does not automatically render the statements included therein admissible. Whether or not the Investigative Report is admissible, the statements themselves are also hearsay. Thus, the individual statements taken by Detective Hogan are double hearsay, which are permissible [only] if there is a [separate] hearsay exception for each statement in the chain. Commonwealth v. Ogrod, 576 Pa. 412, 839 A.2d 294, 327 n. 23 (2003) (citing Commonwealth v. Chmiel, 558 Pa. 478, 738 A.2d 406, 417 (1999)). May does not articulate any exception into which the statements could fall, and our review likewise reveals none. During the 1991 trial, May could have attempted to call the individuals who claimed that they saw Fair alive after December of 1982, but he did not, and he does not now contend that trial counsel were ineffective for failing to call those witnesses to testify. The presentation of direct testimony from Cunningham and Witherspoon, among others, would have alleviated the hearsay problem and would have provided the Commonwealth a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses. Because May has not demonstrated that the trial court erred in ruling the statements contained within the Investigative Report inadmissible, appellate counsel were not ineffective for failing to appeal this ruling. Commonwealth v. Tilley, 566 Pa. 312, 780 A.2d 649 (2001). In the same vein, May claims that appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to appeal the decision of the trial court to deny his attempt to present the testimony of Barbara Turner (Turner), Fair's mother-in-law, who, allegedly, would have testified that Fair left her one-year old son, Ricky Hamm (Ricky), with Turner for periods of time without telling Turner where she was going or when she would return. Trial counsel wished to call Turner to show that Fair's lifestyle was such that she would party on weekends and she would like to go out and have a good time without caring for or accepting responsibility for her child. N.T., March 8, 1991, at 903-06. The Commonwealth objected, asserting that the only purpose for this testimony would be to smear Fair's name. The trial court agreed and refused to allow Turner to testify in this regard, concluding that the evidence was irrelevant as it's just as illegal to kill the devil as it is to kill a saint and [i]t's not legal to kill irresponsible people. Id. at 904, 906. In the present PCRA filings, the Defender Association attempts to recast the proffered testimony of Turner as relevant to rebut testimony presented by the Commonwealth that Fair had a close relationship with her son and would not leave him for long periods of time. However, a full and fair review of the record makes it clear that trial counsel sought to introduce the testimony of Turner only to disparage Fair. As aptly articulated by the trial court, the allegedly irresponsible character of the victim is not relevant to exculpate May. Accordingly, appellate counsel were not ineffective for failing to appeal the decision of the trial court to estop the questioning of Turner as it related to Fair's character. See Tilley, supra (holding that counsel will not be deemed ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim).