Opinion ID: 1775659
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: did the trial court err in excluding certain mitigating evidence at the sentencing phase of the trial?

Text: Twice during the sentencing phase, the trial court excluded, as hearsay, the contents of certain conversations. In the first instance Purvis Davis attempted to testify about Cole's statements regarding religion; the trial court instructed him not to reveal the content of any conversation. In the second instance Cole's sister attempted to relate Cole's statements about the death of her child, Cole's disabled nephew. Again the trial court instructed the witness not to relate the content of any conversation. Although Cole's failure to make an offer of proof precludes a positive determination, it is unlikely that these statements would have constituted hearsay. A statement offered to prove something other than the truth of the matter asserted is not hearsay. Slay v. Illinois Central Gulf Railroad Co., 511 So.2d 875 (Miss. 1987); Bridgeforth v. State, 498 So.2d 796 (Miss. 1986); Page v. State, 495 So.2d 436 (Miss. 1986). Moreover, under certain rare circumstances, the due process clause may require that the hearsay rule not be applied mechanistically to defeat the ends of justice. Green v. Georgia, 442 U.S. 95, 99 S.Ct. 2150, 60 L.Ed.2d 738 (1979); Chambers v. Mississippi, 410 U.S. 284, 93 S.Ct. 1038, 35 L.Ed.2d 297 (1973). In the case at bar, however, Cole's claim fails for two (2) reasons. First, he made no offer of proof at trial. No error may be predicated on the exclusion of evidence unless an offer of proof is made. Gates v. State, 484 So.2d 1002 (Miss. 1986); King v. State, 374 So.2d 808 (Miss. 1979), cert. denied, 445 U.S. 917, 100 S.Ct. 1279, 63 L.Ed.2d 602 (1980). As noted above, Cole's failure to make an offer of proof prevents this Court from determining with certainty whether the excluded testimony constituted hearsay. Second, Cole has not made any showing of prejudice. Though precluded from relating conversations, the witnesses testified that Cole went to church, that he enjoyed church services, that he loved everyone, and that he was upset when his nephew died. Assuming arguendo that the testimony should have been admitted, we find beyond a reasonable doubt that any error resulting from its exclusion was harmless. Gray v. State, 472 So.2d 409 (Miss. 1985), reversed on other grounds, ___ U.S. ___, 107 S.Ct. 2045, 95 L.Ed.2d 622 (1987).