Opinion ID: 2330570
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: hearsay regarding marital strife

Text: Next, Warrior argues the trial court erred in allowing the State to present hearsay testimony regarding statements made by Jeremy indicating his belief that his marriage was in trouble. This testimony came from two witnessesJeremy's uncle and a friend who was also a coworker of Jeremy's. Jeremy's uncle testified that Jeremy was considering a divorce. The uncle described a telephone conversation several weeks before Jeremy's death in which Jeremy complained about Warrior being out all night. The uncle asked, `Well, do you think she is messing around?' Jeremy did not give him an answer but said he was going to wait a couple of weeks to make a decision. About a week later, Jeremy reported things had improved. But Jeremy's uncle testified, [T]he night before he got shot, he had called me and said that she had been gone all of that night, most of that night. The other witness, Jeremy's friend and coworker, testified Jeremy had confided about trouble in his marriage and suspected Warrior was not working as many hours as she claimed to be. The day before Jeremy was killed, the friend suggested Jeremy check Warrior's pay stub to see if her pay correlated with her claims of working late and then he should confront her. During the testimony of both witnesses, Warrior objected on the basis of hearsay. Although the trial court found that the statements did not constitute hearsay because they were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted, it also found the statements showed Jeremy's impressions and feelings at the time he made them, implying they fit into a hearsay exception. In making these rather ambiguous findings, the trial court did not explicitly reference any statutory exceptions to hearsay. Although the State notes that the trial court found the statements were not offered for the truth of the matter asserted, it did nothing more to advance this argument on appeal. Even if it had, the evidence of Jeremy's growing suspicions and discussions of divorceindeed, the truth that those existedimpacted the State's evidence of motive. All but conceding this, the State offers suggestions for hearsay exceptions under which the trial court's rulings might fall. Despite the State's suggestions, it is impossible from the record to determine which, if any, exceptions the trial court might have contemplated as a basis for admitting the evidence. We need not attempt to divine the trial court's rationale, however, because even if the evidence was erroneously admitted, the admission was harmless. In making that determination in the context of a violation of evidentiary limitations proscribed by the Kansas Code of Evidence, as opposed to a violation of a constitutional right, we apply the statutory harmless error standard of K.S.A. 60-261 and K.S.A. 60-2105 to determine if there is a reasonable probability the error affected the outcome of the trial in light of the record as a whole. The State, as the party benefitting from the introduction of the evidence, has the burden of persuasion. State v. McCullough, 293 Kan. 970, 270 P.3d 1142 (2012) (citing Ward, 292 Kan. at 568-69, 256 P.3d 801). Here, the State has met that burden, primarily because the evidence from these two witnesses regarding Jeremy's suspicions added little to the considerable evidence from Moore and from Warrior herself about Warrior's and Rodgers' relationship. Moore testified that Rodgers and Warrior were having an affair. Warrior admitted to an extramarital affair and explained the when, where, and how aspects of the two spending time together on an almost daily basis. The jury heard the recording of Warrior's statements in her third hospital interview, in which she said she was falling in love with Rodgers and that her behavior caused problems with Jeremy because she was staying out late at night. Jeremy did not know about the affair, but he had his suspicions, she stated. These statements by Warrior are essentially the same as the hearsay statements to which she objects. The hearsay evidence added little or nothing to the issue. Hence, we find the admission of the evidence, assuming it was error, to have been harmless.