Opinion ID: 1667377
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 19

Heading: Unfair hearsay rulings

Text: Mr. Bowen asserts that the Trial Court made a number of errors in ruling on hearsay objections. In particular, he asserts error in granting hearsay objections made by the State, and in denying ones made by defense counsel. Hearsay is a statement made by an out-of-court declarant that is repeated incourt by a witness and is offered into evidence for the truth of the matter asserted. Piercefield v. State, 316 Ark. 128, 871 S.W.2d 348 (1994); Ark.R.Evid. 801(c). Hearsay is generally inadmissible except as provided by law or by the rules of evidence. Hall v. State, 315 Ark. 385, 868 S.W.2d 453 (1993). We will not reverse a trial court's determination as to the admissibility of hearsay unless there was an abuse of discretion. Latham v. State, 318 Ark. 19, 883 S.W.2d 461 (1994). Mr. Bowen first complains that when Special Agent Battershell testified during the trial, the State was permitted to introduce into evidence the statement he took from the defendant. Mr. Bowen is apparently arguing that the report was hearsay that should not have been admitted. As the State argues, the statement was admissible as an admission of a party-opponent under A.R.E. 801(d)(2)(i). Mr. Bowen also contends that the Trial Court erred when it refused to admit a progress note prepared by Dr. Anderson on February 6, 1992, in which the doctor records his impressions of a session where the personality William Luther Tindall appears. Mr. Bowen does not assert any legal basis for his allegation of error on this ruling. Rather, it appears that he is arguing that it should have been admitted because the Trial Court allowed the prosecution to introduce hearsay. In any event, the trial transcript reveals that Dr. Anderson was permitted to read the entire progress note into the record; therefore, the Trial Court did not abuse his discretion. Mr. Bowen next contends the Trial Court erred when he permitted the State's expert, Dr. Mathews, to testify concerning notes the State Hospital staff made concerning evidence that Mr. Bowen was malingering. When the defense counsel objected, he did not appear to be making a hearsay objection. Rather, he stated, If he doesn't know it's true he can't testify to it. The Trial Court overruled the objection, saying that he was an expert who was giving an opinion, and that the objection went more to the weight of the evidence rather than its admissibility. The Trial Court was correct. When an expert's testimony is based on hearsay, the lack of personal knowledge on the part of the expert does not mandate the exclusion of the opinion but presents a jury question as to the weight which should be assigned the opinion. Arkansas State Highway Commission v. Schell, 13 Ark.App. 293, 683 S.W.2d 618 (1985). Mr. Bowen next argues that the Trial Court should not have allowed Dr. Anderson to testify, in response to a question posed on cross examination, concerning a statement made by Mr. Bowen that was reported in one of his medical records. Specifically, the record contained an interview of Mr. Bowen's father, Fred Bowen, that was conducted by one of the staff at the State Hospital. During the interview, Fred Bowen reported that his son had said, in effect, that I could kill you and get away with it because of my mental history. The transcript from this portion of Mr. Bowen's trial reveals that although an objection was made, it was rather obscure and referred only to the admissibility of Mr. Bowen's medical history and Dr. Anderson's lack of direct knowledge of the statement. After the objection was overruled, the prosecutor said he would rephrase the question as it had been badly phrased. He was then allowed to elicit the testimony about the record without any further objection from the defense. Under these circumstances, this argument was not properly preserved for appeal. Robertson v. State, supra . Mr. Bowen also argues that the Trial Court erred when he refused to allow Marla Gergely to read to the jury a psychosocial history she had prepared by interviewing people who knew Mr. Bowen. At trial, Mr. Bowen's attorney argued that the psycho-social history was not hearsay because it was not offered for the truth of the matter asserted. We are not told the purpose of the offering, however, and it is apparent that the only purpose for offering the statements of these people was for the truth of the matter asserted. As Mr. Bowen does not argue that any exception applies, we find no error. In connection with the ruling on the admissibility of statements made in Mr. Bowen's psycho-social history, Mr. Bowen argues that Dr. Anderson should not have been permitted to testify about the contents of a progress note prepared by Nurse Rudder on November 28, 1991. In particular, he takes issue with Dr. Anderson being permitted to read the following statement from the report: Came to door of office with another patient. Waved and said in baby talk, I just came to wish you happy turkey day. I used to be nine and now I am five and my name is Davey. The statement was offered to show that Mr. Bowen made the statement, and not for the truth of the matter asserted. In the last paragraph of his argument, Mr. Bowen simply asserts that the court erred when it sustained the State's hearsay objections, but denied all of his. It is, of course, possible that all of the State's objections were valid and all of Mr. Bowen's were not. At any rate, our only possible course of review is to consider each allegation of error on which any specific argument is made, and we have done so.