Opinion ID: 2022281
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Documents Affecting an Interest in Property

Text: The State contends the document was admissible under Indiana Evidence Rule 803(15): Statements in Documents Affecting an Interest in Property. A statement contained in a document purporting to establish or affect an interest in property if the matter stated was relevant to the purposes of the document, unless dealings with the property since the document was made have been inconsistent with the truth of the statement or the purport of the document. The Indiana Rule is identical to the Federal Rule. There are no reported Indiana cases dealing with this exception and federal case law is sparse. See, e.g., United States v. Weinstock, 863 F.Supp. 1529 (D.Utah 1994); Taylor v. United States, 1993 WL 597379 (D.Ariz. Sept.27, 1993); Compton v. Davis Oil Co., 607 F.Supp. 1221 (D.Wyo.1985). The Advisory Committee's Note to Federal Rule of Evidence 803(15) anticipated that the exception would typically apply to ancient and dispositive documents that contain recitals of fact. For example, a deed may recite that the grantors are all the heirs of the last record owner. This was viewed as admissible under 803(15) because [t]he circumstances under which dispositive documents are executed and the requirement that the recital be germane to the purpose of the document are believed to be adequate guarantees of trustworthiness.... As with any exception to the hearsay rule, the ultimate issue is whether the evidence in question is reliable. Each specific exception to the rule contains requirements designed to ensure the trustworthiness of the evidence. A piece of evidence that may be argued to fit within the specific language of the rule may nonetheless be inadmissible hearsay because of its inherent unreliability. Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 814-15, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 3145-47, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990); Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 88-89, 91 S.Ct. 210, 219-20, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970) (plurality opinion) (to satisfy the Confrontation Clause, when unavailability of declarant is not proved, hearsay statements are analyzed on a case-by-case basis to see whether there are indicia of reliability); 5 WEINSTEIN'S FEDERAL EVIDENCE § 802.05[4][a] (2d ed. 1997). Reliability is an implicit requirement of Rule 803(15). Weinstock, 863 F.Supp. at 1535 (the circumstances of an affidavit's execution supported the conclusion that the declarations therein were trustworthy); Botsford General Hosp. v. Citizens Ins. Co., 195 Mich.App. 127, 489 N.W.2d 137 (1992) (handwritten sales receipt was not made under circumstances that promoted its reliability and was inadmissible under 803(15)); 5 WEINSTEIN'S FEDERAL EVIDENCE § 803.20[1] (the 803(15) exception is available only if several indicia of trustworthiness are shown). Under Rule 803(15) some documents, usually dispositive ones (e.g., deeds, bills of sale, etc.), are regarded as inherently reliable. If a document actually constitutes the instrument of transfer, as in the case of a deed, the statements recited in the document are likely to be reliable because the instrument is carefully drawn and was not created for purposes of the current controversy. They typically have the added assurance that they are negotiated documents where at least one party, usually the purchaser, is strongly motivated to see that they are accurate and a misrepresentation may generate adverse consequences to the other. This exception to the hearsay rule is in part based on necessity. 5 WEINSTEIN'S FEDERAL EVIDENCE § 803(15)[1] (the rule is necessary because litigation may arise so many years after a conveyance that declarants and witnesses to the transaction may be unavailable). Just as business records must be admitted because people recording vast numbers of events cannot be expected to testify to personal recollection of this minutiae, statements in dispositive documents are sometimes the only means of establishing facts that are not genuinely controverted. By reason of passage of time and the importance of a well planned transaction at the time it was done, these documents are presumptively reliable. However, the Rule has been held to apply to other documents affecting or establishing an interest in property, even if not dispositive in nature. See, e.g., Weinstock, 863 F.Supp. at 1529 (an affidavit claiming ownership of 35,000 shares of stock, filed after the stock certificate was lost, was admitted under Federal Rule of Evidence 803(15) to show that the defendant, who allegedly forged an endorsement on the certificate, never had an ownership interest in the stock or the certificate). The parameters of the phrase establish or affect an interest in property are not entirely clear. The phrase could certainly be confined to documents that directly establish (deeds) or affect (liens) interests in property. In some broader sense anything relating to a commercial transaction may be argued to affect an interest in property. It is debatable whether the affidavit in issue in this case should be described as one affecting an interest in property. By asserting that the ATM withdrawals were unauthorized, Johnson in some sense affected an interest in money owed to him by the bank by causing the bank to reimburse most of this money. The affidavit in this respect is of the same qualitative character as the shareholder affidavit held admissible in Weinstock. However, any document to be admitted under this exception must still be executed in circumstances that generate confidence in its reliability. For non-dispositive documents, this burden is steeper. And the more recent its creation, the more carefully the document's reliability must be examined. Because the circumstances under which this affidavit was given do not establish sufficient indicia of truthfulness, it does not qualify under the 803(15) exception to the hearsay rule. The affidavit in this case bears none of the indicia of reliability that Rule 803(15) assumes. It is neither ancient nor dispositive. More importantly, the document was created in conjunction with the very transaction giving rise to the lawsuit in which it is offered. And, as explained below, there are a variety of circumstances under which there may be a motive to supply an incorrect affidavit of this type.