Opinion ID: 2103885
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Admissibility of Marchand Opinion

Text: At trial, plaintiffs attempted to introduce into evidence the Marchand Opinion. Defendant objected on grounds that the opinion was not certified by the Department of Insurance and was, therefore, inadmissible hearsay. It is true that the uncertified copy of the Marchand Opinion was not properly authenticated and so lacked the foundation sufficient to justify its admission under Indiana Code Annotated § 16-9.5-9-9 (West 1992) (currently codified as Indiana Code § 27-12-10-23 (1993)), which makes reports of the opinion of a medical review panel admissible. This foundational requirement ensures that the document is what it is purported to be and that it is an accurate copy. In this case, the fact that the uncertified Marchand Opinion was admitted into evidence over the defendant's objection was harmless error. An error is harmless if it does not affect the substantial rights of the parties. Ind.Trial Rule 61. The defendant had a substantial right in ensuring that evidence submitted by his opponents was both what it purported to be and was accurate. However, in this case, the uncertified copy of the Marchand Opinion submitted by plaintiffs at trial was identical to the properly certified copy of the Marchand Opinion submitted to the trial court by a co-defendant as part of his motion for summary judgment. Therefore, because there was an authenticated copy of the Marchand Opinion already in the record, and because the uncertified copy was identical to the certified copy, it was in this case harmless error for the trial court to admit the uncertified copy of the Marchand Opinion over defendant's objection.