Opinion ID: 1972242
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: the propriety of admission of testimony of the arresting officers concerning out-of-court statements made by donna and evidence of her testimony before the grand jury

Text: This issue requires us to restate and reevaluate certain basic evidentiary principles that have long been recognized by this court as part of its common-law rules of evidence. Generally, an out-of-court statement, oral or written, made by a declarant and offered for the proof of the matter asserted constitutes hearsay and is inadmissible in evidence. State v. Jalette, 119 R.I. 614, 619, 382 A.2d 526, 529 (1978); State v. Palmigiano, 112 R.I. 348, 359, 309 A.2d 855, 861 (1973); McCormick's Handbook of the Law of Evidence § 246 at 584 (2d ed. Cleary 1972). There is no question that Donna's out-of-court statements were offered to prove the matter asserted therein and would constitute hearsay unless they were appropriately admitted under some previously defined exception to that rule.
There is no claim in this case that Donna, in talking to the police officers, was so under the stress or excitement of a dramatic event as to be placed within this exception to the hearsay rule. Her statements to the police were such that no serious argument could be made that her reflective faculties were stilled and her normal controls absent as a result of external shock. See In re Daniel, ___ R.I. ___, ___, 456 A.2d 258, 260 (1983); State v. Jalette, 119 R.I. at 619, 382 A.2d at 529; 6 Wigmore, Evidence § 1747 at 195 (Chadbourn rev. 1976). Indeed, the state does not argue, nor did the trial court hold, that these statements constituted spontaneous utterances.
This court has long recognized as an exception to the hearsay rule that a prior inconsistent statement of a witness may be introduced into evidence, not for the truth of the matter asserted, but in order to impeach the credibility of the witness's testimony given in court and under oath. See, e.g., State v. Isaac, ___ R.I. ___, ___, 477 A.2d 62, 66 (1984); State v. Freeman, ___ R.I. ___, ___ n. 1, 473 A.2d 1149, 1151 n. 1 (1984); State v. Roddy, ___ R.I. ___, ___, 401 A.2d 23, 35 (1979); State v. Bowden, 113 R.I. 649, 661, 324 A.2d 631, 639 (1974), cert. denied 419 U.S. 1109, 95 S.Ct. 782, 42 L.Ed.2d 805 (1975). In the case at bar, the trial justice recognized this general rule by instructing the jury that it could not consider prior inconsistent statements as substantive evidence. The difficulty with admitting Donna's prior statements to the police officers as prior inconsistent statements lies in the fact that Donna made no in-court identification in the course of the trial and, consequently, made no statement that could be impeached by a prior inconsistent statement. It is true moreover, that her testimony on the motion to suppress was very uncertain in respect to identifying either defendant then on trial and that the state's counsel informed the court that his principal witness's willingness to identify defendants had significantly diminished from the time of her initial statement to the police. Although state's counsel admitted that he was not surprised by Donna's unwillingness or inability to give a definite identification of defendants at trial, he sought and obtained permission to use the technique of cross-examination in eliciting testimony from her. Thus, it might be argued that state's counsel attempted to impeach his own witness even in the absence of any testimony on the subject of identification. In the circumstances of this case, even if Donna's statements had properly been admitted as prior inconsistent statements, they could not have been used as substantive evidence of the matter asserted therein. Indeed, the trial justice's instruction to the jury recognized this limited use. Unlike the problem presented in California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970), we are not faced with a statute such as Cal.Evid.Code § 1235 (West 1966), which authorized the use of prior statements as substantive evidence. We have consistently adhered to that which was described in California v. Green as [t]he orthodox view, adopted in most jurisdictions, [which] has been that the out-of-court statements are inadmissible for the usual reasons that have led to the exclusion of hearsay statements   . Id. at 154, 90 S.Ct. at 1933, 26 L.Ed.2d at 494. Consequently, under the rule prevailing in this jurisdiction, Donna's prior statements could not have been considered by the jury as substantive evidence of identification of defendant.
It has also been recognized that the prior consistent statement of a witness may be introduced in evidence in order to rehabilitate the witness after he or she has been impeached by means of a prior inconsistent statement or otherwise impeached by a claim of recent fabrication. See State v. Bracero, ___ R.I. ___, ___, 434 A.2d 286, 290-91 (1981). See generally 4 Wigmore, Evidence §§ 1122-1132 at 254-96 (Chadbourn rev. 1972). We have also held that a prior consistent statement is inadmissible to buttress the in-court testimony of a witness in the absence of impeachment and the need for rehabilitation. State v. Ouimette, 110 R.I. 747, 760-61, 298 A.2d 124, 133 (1972). In any event, prior consistent statements, when admissible, are not admitted for the truth of the matter asserted but only to rehabilitate the witness who has been impeached. State v. Ouimette, supra; 4 Wigmore, § 1132 at 294. In the case at bar, even assuming that Donna's credibility was impeached by showing that she had selected at the North Providence police station two photographs of persons other than defendants on trial, it is difficult to state that she could have been impeached in relation to an identification in court when no such identification was made. However, assuming, without deciding, that the prior consistent statement was properly admitted, it could not be admitted for the proof of the matter asserted but only to rehabilitate the testimony of the witness given at trial. An examination of the evidence in the case also indicates that state's counsel sought to impeach Donna. When referring to her testimony before the grand jury, he asked her whether she had made a positive identification of defendants. The grand jury testimony did indicate that she had made a positive identification. As with any other prior statement, this evidence could not be introduced for the proof of the matter asserted but only to buttress or rehabilitate testimony given at trial. The state relies to a great extent upon our recent opinion in State v. Long, ___ R.I. ___, 488 A.2d 427 (1985), in which we approved of the introduction of a pretrial identification for the purpose of buttressing the testimony of a state's witness who had given an in-court identification at trial. In that case we emphasized the great testimonial value of pretrial-identification testimony, its reliability, and the ability of defense counsel to cross-examine the witness who made not only the in-court identification but the pretrial identification as well. It is significant to note that State v. Long did not deal with a case in which there was no in-court identification, neither did it deal with a case in which state's counsel was, in effect, cross-examining the complaining witness rather than defense counsel cross-examining the same witness. It should be noted that in State v. Long, we cited a California case, People v. Gould, 54 Cal.2d 621, 626-27, 7 Cal. Rptr. 273, 275, 354 P.2d 865, 867 (1960), as authority for the use as substantive evidence of a pretrial identification under the more modern view. It is well to point out that in People v. Gould , the Supreme Court of California held without equivocation that an extrajudicial identification that cannot be confirmed by an identification at the trial is not sufficient to sustain a conviction in the absence of in-court evidence tending to connect the defendant with the crime. Id. at 631, 7 Cal. Rptr. at 278, 354 P.2d at 870. [2] We have recently taken great care to exclude testimony given by a third person in regard to a prior statement of a witness in a criminal case when that statement did not clearly meet the requirement of a recognized exception to the rule against hearsay. In State v. Burgess, ___ R.I. ___, ___, 465 A.2d 204, 207 (1983), we held that testimony by a physician recounting the details of a sexual assault given him by the victim did not qualify for the medical-history exception to the hearsay rule, nor did it fall within the spontaneous-utterance exception to the hearsay rule. We further stated in Burgess that the recounting of a statement by such a professional person as a physician would give substantial stature to the prior statement in the eyes of the jury and thus would be extremely prejudicial. In the case at bar, the skillful avoidance of presenting the uncertain testimony of the state's principal witness at trial together with the production of prior statements through the testimony of police officers and her testimony before the grand jury enormously enhanced the quality of doubtful testimony by glossing it with a patina of certainty through the eyes of others. Consequently, Donna's prior statements should not have been received as substantive evidence against defendant. Moreover, since Donna gave no identification testimony at trial, there was nothing to be impeached and therefore nothing to be rehabilitated. The prior statements should not have been received under either theory. [3]
A further exception to the hearsay rule that might be raised is the doctrine relating to the admissibility of a memorandum of past recollection recorded. We have recognized this doctrine in both civil and criminal cases. See, e.g., Mercurio v. Fascitelli, 116 R.I. 237, 240, 354 A.2d 736, 738-39 (1976); State v. Contreras, 105 R.I. 523, 540, 253 A.2d 612, 621-22 (1969). In Mercurio, 116 R.I. at 240, 354 A.2d at 739, we referred to McCormick's Handbook of the Law of Evidence § 300 at 713 and 3 Wigmore, Evidence § 747 at 100 (Chadbourn rev. 1970), as setting forth the necessary predicate for admissibility of a memorandum of prior recollection recorded as opposed to the use of a memorandum for the purpose of refreshing present recollection. This requirement is succinctly set forth in McCormick, § 299 at 712. As the rule permitting the introduction of past recollection recorded developed, it required that four elements be met: (1) The witness must have had firsthand knowledge of the event, (2) the written statement must be an original memorandum made at or near the time of the event and while the witness had a clear and accurate memory of it, (3) the witness must lack a present recollection of the event, and (4) the witness must vouch for the accuracy of the written memorandum. (Emphasis added.) McCormick goes on in § 302 at 714-15, to state: The traditional formulation of the rule, still adhered to by most courts, requires that before a past recollection recorded could be received in evidence the witness who made or recognized it as correct must testify that he lacks present memory of the events and therefore is unable to testify concerning them. If examining the writing refreshes the recollection of the witness, under this approach the writing is thus rendered inadmissible and the witness must testify from his newly refreshed recollection. The record in the present case discloses no testimony by Donna that would meet the requirement of laying the foundation for the introduction of excerpts from her prior statements under the doctrine of past recollection recorded. At no point did she testify that she had no present recollection of the events that took place on March 14, 1981, surrounding the fire at the Welfare Building located next door to her apartment. Her testimony both at the motion to suppress and during the course of the trial indicated an uncertainty concerning the identification of both defendants. That uncertainty was greater in respect to defendant Lato than to defendant Coppola. Nevertheless, the closest she came to identifying defendant Coppola occurred at the suppression hearing when she stated that he resembled one of the persons whom she saw leaving the building after she heard the noise at the time of the fire. Although she expressed uncertainty, she did not state at any time that her observations of the events at the time of the fire were accurate and clear, that she had recorded such observations, and that at the time of trial that recollection had become exhausted. Consequently, the prior statements Donna made to the police officers and to the grand jury could not be properly admitted as memoranda of past recollection recorded.