Opinion ID: 654644
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State of Mind Evidence

Text: 50 Defendants appeal the trial court's exclusion of Carl Engstrom's videotaped deposition. Defendants offered the deposition as relevant hearsay, admissible pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 803(3), reflecting Elizabeth's state-of-mind. The government objected, claiming that decedent did not threaten suicide in the last phone call with Engstrom, and that threats of suicide in months preceding her death were inadmissible hearsay and irrelevant. The district court agreed with the government, also finding the information cumulative and collateral, and excluded the deposition testimony. We believe the trial court erred. The deposition was admissible under the state of mind exception, and while conceivably cumulative, its import was such that exclusion violated defendants' right to put on a defense. This abuse of discretion requires reversal. 51 Rule 803(3) of the Federal Rules of Evidence allows the admission of ... [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).... The declarant's statement of mind must be relevant to some issue in the case before such testimony can be admitted under Rule 803(3). T. Harris Young & Assoc. v. Marquette Electronics, Inc., 931 F.2d 816, 828 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 658, 116 L.Ed.2d 749 (1991); Prather v. Prather, 650 F.2d 88, 90 (5th Cir. Unit A 1981). 52 A homicide victim's state of mind is unquestionably relevant to the defense theory that she committed suicide. 18 The government maintains that Elizabeth's earlier suicide threats and references to dying were too remote to make Engstrom's testimony relevant. The time lag between Elizabeth's references to dying and her death warrants further examination. 53 In In re Fill, 68 B.R. 923 (Bankr.S.D.N.Y.1987), an action to avoid allegedly fraudulent transfers, the transferee was permitted to offer state of mind hearsay evidence of the debtor's declarations that he intended to repay the loans even though such statements were made six years before actual repayment. The court discussed a continuity of time concept relevant to the state of mind inquiry, quoting a leading commentator as follows: 54 Although it is required that the statement describe a state of mind or feeling existing at the time of the statement, the evidentiary effect of the statement is broadened by the notion of the continuity of time in states of mind.... Since, however, the duration of state of mind or emotion varies with the particular attitudes or feelings at issue and with the cause, it is reasonable to require as a condition of invoking the continuity notion that the statement mirror a state of mind which, in light of all the circumstances including proxity [sic] in time, has some probability of being the same condition existing at the material time.... 55 Id. at 928, citing McCormick, Evidence, Sec. 294, at 844-45 (Cleary, 3d ed. 1984) (emphasis added). 56 The court noted that substantial weight must be given to the significant number of years between the making of the statement that the loans would be repaid and the actual repayment of the loans.... Id. 57 The temporal relationship between Elizabeth's statements and her death is far less attenuated than the six year time lag analyzed in Fill. Where one threatens suicide, talks about what should be done in event of her death, and dies within months under suspicious circumstances including the presence of a suicide note and other witnesses corroborating her depression and suicidal ideation, we do not believe uncertainty over the exact date of the suicide threats should preclude admission of those statements to show state of mind. 19 58 The totality of the circumstances convinces us that Engstrom's testimony was relevant, admissible hearsay under the state of mind exception for another reason. Elizabeth was dependent on him for money. Five hours before she died, after a quarter of a century of responding to her demands, Engstrom told Elizabeth he would not give her any more money. 20 Engstrom was asked how Elizabeth responded. He answered: 59 She said, Well, I'm all washed up then, or some words to that effect. She couldn't--she had to have money to go, continue operation. 60 The extent of Elizabeth's financial dependence on Engstrom figured prominently in her mental state on January 7th. We hold that Engstrom's deposition was relevant, admissible state of mind evidence because it contained not merely references to suicide, but information pertinent to decedent's desperate mental condition regarding finances on the date of her death. 61 However, our inquiry is not over. The trial court ruled that the testimony was cumulative and collateral. Defendants argue that exclusion of crucial, relevant, admissible evidence violated their constitutional right to present a defense. Rock v. Arkansas, 483 U.S. 44, 52, 107 S.Ct. 2704, 2709, 97 L.Ed.2d 37 (1987). The Engstrom deposition, they say, provided Elizabeth's motive for self-destruction. The government's response rests on United States v. Anderson, 872 F.2d 1508 (11th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 1004, 110 S.Ct. 566, 107 L.Ed.2d 560 (1989). In Anderson, the Court instructed that the right to present a defense is subject to compliance with the rules of evidence. Id. at 1519. Because we hold that Engstrom's deposition contained state of mind evidence admissible under Rule 803(3), the rule extracted from Anderson does not influence our consideration. 62 We move, then, to a brief review of admitted testimony to determine if Engstrom's deposition was, in fact, cumulative or collateral. Elizabeth's relationship with Engstrom figured prominently in the conclusions of the defenses' addictionologist. The expert testified that Engstrom's cutting off of funds that Elizabeth could use to buy drugs was the major precipitating event in her suicide. Nonetheless, his only direct reference to Engstrom was as follows: 63 Q. [ ] Did you find precipitating events in the case of Elizabeth Veltmann that would lead to suicide? 64 A. Rejection by Mr. Ingstrom [sic] and his--the apparent finality of this, you are getting no more money. That's got to be perceived by her as an enormous threat because, how am I going to pay for these drugs?.... R.16-53. 65 We cannot find, nor has counsel brought to our attention any other references to Engstrom in testimony or evidence heard by the jury. 66 Although the trial court has discretion to exclude testimony and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion, the trial court's discretion does not extend to exclusion of crucial relevant evidence. United States v. Ethridge, 948 F.2d 1215, 1218 (11th Cir.1991) (citation omitted). Although a number of witnesses talked about Elizabeth's depression, threat to destroy her house, drug addiction, and financial straits, no witness brought to the jury that aspect of decedent's financial desperation arising from the end of a successful, long-term, blackmail. We find that exclusion of this evidence impaired defendants' right to fully present their defense, requiring reversal and remand for new trial.