Opinion ID: 2508560
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Written reports as inadmissible hearsay

Text: Appellant first argues the trial court erred in allowing the State to introduce the reports because they constituted impermissible hearsay, which improperly bolstered the children's testimony. Hearsay is defined as a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Rule 801(c), SCRE. Hearsay is inadmissible except as provided by the South Carolina Rules of Evidence, by other court rule, or by statute. Rule 802, SCRE. Improper admission of hearsay testimony constitutes reversible error only when the admission causes prejudice. State v. Garner, 389 S.C. 61, 67, 697 S.E.2d 615, 618 (Ct.App. 2010). Such error is deemed harmless when it could not have reasonably affected the result of trial, and an appellate court will not set aside a conviction for such insubstantial errors. Id. Improperly admitted hearsay which is merely cumulative to other evidence may be viewed as harmless. State v. Blackburn, 271 S.C. 324, 329, 247 S.E.2d 334, 337 (1978). Improper corroboration testimony that is merely cumulative to the victim's testimony, however, cannot be harmless, because it is precisely this cumulative effect which enhances the devastating impact of improper corroboration. Jolly v. State, 314 S.C. 17, 21, 443 S.E.2d 566, 569 (1994) (emphasis in original); see also Smith v. State, 386 S.C. 562, 689 S.E.2d 629 (2010) (forensic interviewer's hearsay testimony impermissibly corroborated the victim's testimony because the outcome of the case hinged on the victim's credibility regarding the identification of the perpetrator); Dawkins v. State, 346 S.C. 151, 154, 551 S.E.2d 260, 261 (2001) (defendant was entitled to post-conviction relief where four witnesses testified without objection regarding the victim's out-of-court conversations with them concerning the alleged abuse). Appellant specifically challenges the portions of the report where the mother related to Williams that the middle child told her appellant molested her and specific things the victims told the forensic interviewer during the interviews. We find these portions of the written reports constitute inadmissible hearsay as they were out-of-court statements offered to prove that appellant did in fact inappropriately touch the girls in the way that they claimed. We also find the trial court's error in allowing the State to introduce this evidence was not harmless. This trial hinged on the children's credibility, and the written reports were cumulative to the children's testimony. As this Court has held before, where credibility is the ultimate issue in a case, improper corroboration evidence that is merely cumulative to the victim's testimony is not harmless. Jolly, supra ; Dawkins, supra ; Smith, supra . Because the children's credibility was the ultimate determination for the jury to make in deciding appellant's guilt, the trial court's error in admitting the reports could not have been harmless. Id.