Opinion ID: 1641388
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: did the trial court err in admitting an anatomical drawing made by june harris smith as the drawing was hearsay?

Text: Immediately before the trial reconvened and, while the parties were still discussing the discovery violation, the following colloquy occurred: BY THE COURT: Counsel, I'm still at a loss of what these doctors are going to say other than that the picture is highly suggestive. What does that have to do with your defense in this case? BY MR. GUY ROGERS, JR.: If the drawing is highly suggestive and it was not the victim's testimony, that it was elicited through suggestive techniques, then my defense would be that the little girl  that that statement should not come in because it would be highly prejudicial. It's rank hearsay, and it does not bear sufficient indignantive [sic] reliability and guarantees or trustworthiness to come into evidence. BY THE COURT: It can come in under 803.25, and the indignantive [sic] or trustworthiness does not fall [sic] for the tender years exception. That's a totally new exception to the hearsay rule under the Mississippi Rules of Evidence. BY MR. GUY ROGERS, JR.: Your Honor, you may be right, but I do believe that even under 803.25 there are certain fact findings that should be made regarding the reliability, even though it is a tender years exception. I may be wrong, but I still think that that finding would have to be made before that document could be admissible. BY THE COURT: Your objection is noted. The motion is denied. I want the record to clearly reflect that the Court did grant a continuance. The Court feels that the continuance that it granted was reasonable, and the Court feels that the argument that you made today as to why you need an additional continuance is not meritorious, and therefore the motion for mistrial as well as for an additional continuance will be denied. Immediately after the trial reconvened, the State sought to admit the drawing into evidence. Young again objected to the drawing's introduction as hearsay and highly suggestive. The trial court overruled the objection. On appeal, Young argues the statement is hearsay and the method in which Smith made the drawing is suggestive. Young, in essence, argues that his inability to cast doubt on this procedure renders his trial fundamentally unfair when the document itself was entered into evidence. As to the first question of whether this was hearsay, Rule 803(25) states: A statement made by a child of tender years describing any act of sexual contact performed with or on the child by another is admissible in evidence if: (a) the court finds, in a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, that the time, content, and circumstances of the statement provide substantial indicia of reliability; and (b) the child either (1) testifies at the proceedings; or (2) is unavailable as a witness: provided, that when the child is unavailable as a witness, such statement may be admitted only if there is corroborative evidence of the act. M.R.E. 803(25). The Comment to Rule 803(25) states: Some factors that the court should examine to determine if there is sufficient indicia of reliability are (1) whether there is an apparent motive on declarant's part to lie; (2) the general character of the declarant; (3) whether more than one person heard the statements; (4) whether the statements were made spontaneously; (5) the timing of the declarations; (6) the relationship between the declarant and the witness; (7) the possibility of the declarant's faulty recollection is remote; (8) certainty that the statements were made; (9) the credibility of the person testifying about the statements; (10) the age or maturity of the declarant; (11) whether suggestive techniques were used in eliciting the statement; and (12) whether the declarant's age, knowledge, and experience make it unlikely that the declarant fabricated. Corroborating evidence may not be used as an indicia of reliability. Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990). A finding that there is a substantial indicia of reliability should be made on the record... . M.R.E. 803(25) Comment. This rule allows statements of causation and fault [and] has been expanded to include the identity of the perpetrator in child abuse cases. Jones v. State, 606 So.2d 1051, 1056 (Miss. 1992). The record is void of any hearing concerning the hearsay nature of this document. Furthermore, the trial judge stated that no requirement of indicia of reliability or guarantees of trustworthiness was necessary for evidentiary purposes. The record is also void of any evidentiary predicate being laid to admit this document under any other hearsay objection. The State did not seek its introduction under any other hearsay exception. Without any hearing or findings regarding the trustworthiness of this statement, this statement was used as substantive evidence to prove Freddie Young was the perpetrator of this crime. This Court can find no alternative to holding that the trial court erred in admitting the drawing into evidence. However, in this case, the error was harmless. Young did not object to the oral testimony of Smith, who stated that the child identified Young. Young did object to the statement of Officer Abel that he heard the child identify Young as the perpetrator. Nevertheless, on appeal Young does not complain of this hearsay statement. Finally, the young girl herself identified Freddie Young as the perpetrator on the stand. Where corroborative evidence exists and the hearsay evidence is merely cumulative, the admission may be held to be harmless. Jones v. State, 606 So.2d 1051, 1057 (Miss. 1992). In the present case, the evidence the jury could obtain from the anatomical drawing was repetitious of the oral testimony of Smith, to which Young did not object. Therefore, the error was harmless.