Opinion ID: 2168279
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Medical Examiner's Report

Text: Jackson's final point on appeal concerns the circuit court's decision to allow the jury to take the medical examiner's report with them into the jury room during deliberations. During Dr. Peretti's testimony, the State moved to introduce the medical examiner's autopsy report, which detailed his medical findings and conclusion as to the manner of Cobb's death. Jackson objected, arguing that admitting the report in addition to Dr. Peretti's testimony was simply bolstering and cumulative since the doctor had already testified. The trial court allowed the State to introduce the report at State's Exhibit 6. The court also allowed the State to supplement the autopsy report with the State Crime Lab's toxicology report. When the jury retired to begin deliberations, Jackson objected to the jury taking the report with them, stating that the report contained information that was not in evidence; however, the court overruled the objection. On appeal, Jackson does not challenge the trial court's initial ruling allowing the report to be admitted into evidence; rather, he argues that the court erred in letting the jurors take the report with them into the jury room, reiterating his argument that the report contained evidence that had never been presented to the jury. Therefore, he claims, because neither he nor his attorneys were present when the jury received this evidence, his right to be present at a critical stage of the proceedings was violated, and prejudice must be presumed under Davlin v. State, 313 Ark. 218, 853 S.W.2d 882 (1993). Arkansas Code Annotated § 16-89-125(d)(3) (Repl.2005) provides that, [u]pon retiring for deliberation, the jury may take with them all papers which have been received as evidence in the cause. (Emphasis added.) In Anderson v. State, 367 Ark. 536, 242 S.W.3d 229 (2006), this court held that, where a videotaped statement had been introduced into evidence, it was not error for the trial court to allow the jury to have the videotape in the jury room during deliberations because the defendant had been present when the tape was played and introduced during trial. Anderson, 367 Ark. at 542-43, 242 S.W.3d at 234. Similarly, in the instant case, because the report was introduced into evidence during the trial, while Jackson was present and represented by counsel, the circuit court did not err in sending the report with the jury during deliberations. In Flanagan v. State, 368 Ark. 143, 167, 243 S.W.3d 866, 883 (2006), this court concluded that the jury's taking exhibits (in that case, audiotapes and videotapes of out-of-court statements) that had been admitted into evidence and made exhibits at trial was not a critical stage of criminal proceedings. Therefore, the defendant's presence would not have contributed to the fairness of the proceedings. Id. (citing Anderson, supra ). Similarly, here, as noted above, the report had been admitted into evidence. Although the report may have contained some details about which Dr. Peretti did not testify, this would merely have constituted cause to move for redaction of portions of the exhibit, which Jackson did not do. However, the report had been admitted as an exhibit, and therefore, under § 16-89-125(d)(3), the court did not err in sending it back with the jury.