Opinion ID: 358317
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Negative Hearsay

Text: 33 FBI agent Snider testified that he had checked various records, which included police records, sheriff's office records, credit records, and city directories, and contacted other sources in Lewiston and that there was no trace of a person named Dale Olson who might have borrowed appellant's automobile. Another Dale Olson, a truck driver, testified that he did not know appellant and was not acquainted with any other person named Dale Olson in the Lewiston area. Appellant objected to both statements on the ground that they constituted negative hearsay. Olson's statement clearly was not hearsay, as he spoke from his personal knowledge. 34 Snider's testimony requires a more extended discussion. 5 Case law predating the Federal Rules of Evidence differed on the question whether evidence of the lack of entries in records constitutes hearsay, and if so, whether any exception permitted its admittance. Compare, e. g., United States v. De Georgia, 420 F.2d 889 (9th Cir. 1969), And McClanahan v. United States, 292 F.2d 630 (5th Cir.), Cert. denied, 368 U.S. 913, 82 S.Ct. 193, 7 L.Ed.2d 130 (1961), And Nichols v. United States, 48 F.2d 46 (5th Cir. 1931), With Shreve v. United States, 77 F.2d 2 (9th Cir. 1935), Cert. denied, 296 U.S. 654, 56 S.Ct. 380, 80 L.Ed. 466 (1936), and Gravel Prods. Div. of Buffalo Crushed Stone Corp. v. Sunnydale Acres, 10 Misc.2d 323, 171 N.Y.S.2d 519 (1958). 35 The Federal Rules of Evidence, however, have resolved the issue. Rule 803(7) treats evidence of the absence of entries in records of a regularly conducted activity as an exception to the hearsay rule: 36 Evidence that a matter is not included in the memoranda reports, records, or data compilations, in any form, kept in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (6), to prove the nonoccurrence or nonexistence of the matter, if the matter was of a kind of which a memorandum, report, record, or data compilation was regularly made and preserved, unless the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness. 37 The authors of the Advisory Committee Note explained that such evidence was probably not hearsay as defined in Rule 801, but the drafters of the Rules opted for a specific treatment of the subject in order to resolve the question definitively in favor of admissibility. 38 Similarly, Fed.R.Evid. 803(10) excludes from the hearsay rule evidence of the absence of a public record or an entry in a public record. It provides: 39 To prove the absence of a record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, or the nonoccurrence or nonexistence of a matter of which a record, report, statement, or data compilation, in any form, was regularly made and preserved by a public office or agency, evidence in the form of a certification in accordance with rule 902, or testimony, that diligent search failed to disclose the record, report, statement, or data compilation, or entry. 40 Accordingly, the District Court could correctly admit properly presented evidence that public records and regularly maintained business records did not mention the Dale Olson upon whom appellant relied for an alibi. Such evidence would tend to prove the nonexistence of such a person, but would not, of course, conclusively determine the issue. The sole difficulty lies in the adequacy of the foundation. The exceptions to the hearsay rule for both business and public records are grounded on the high probability of their accuracy. Such records are maintained regularly and systematically by persons having a duty to make accurate records and are relied upon in the course of daily operations. To merit judicial reliance on the contents of records, it is necessary that the proponent of particular records establish the trustworthiness of those records. 41 Thus, under Fed.R.Evid. 803(6) business records are admissible only if the custodian or other qualified witness testifies that the records were kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and . . . it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the (record). Rule 803(7), which governs admission of evidence of the absence of entries in business records, does not specifically require the testimony of a custodian or another qualified witness. For the purpose of our opinion here, we assume, without deciding, that such a foundation is a necessary predicate to the admission of evidence of the absence of entries and that this requirement was not met. See 4 J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein's Evidence P 803(7)(01) (1977). 42 In contrast, the hearsay exception for evidence of the absence of information in public records, embodied in Rule 803(10), expressly provides a foundation requirement. Either a certificate in compliance with Fed.R.Evid. 902 indicating that diligent search failed to disclose the record or testimony to that effect will suffice. No Rule 902 certificate was presented for the public records, and FBI agent Snider did not testify that any of his record searches were conducted in a diligent fashion. 43 Appellant, however, made no objection whatsoever on the ground that a foundation was lacking. He only objected that the evidence was negative in form and was hearsay. As noted earlier, the Federal Rules of Evidence eliminate this type of objection, and the District Court properly overruled appellant's objection. Accordingly, our inquiry is limited to the question whether the prosecutor's abdication of his responsibility to lay a convincing foundation amounts to plain error under Fed.R.Crim.P. 52(b). Generally, under that standard reversal follows only in those very exceptional circumstances where . . . necessary in order to prevent a miscarriage of justice or to preserve the integrity and reputation of the judicial process. United States v. Segna, 555 F.2d 226, 231 (9th Cir. 1977) (citing Ninth Circuit cases). An assessment of plain error depends not upon the obviousness of the error but upon its prejudicial impact on the determination of guilt. Looking as the entire case, reversal is appropriate if it is highly probable that the unobjected-to error materially affected the jury's verdict. Id. 44 Applying that rigorous standard, we decline to invoke the plain error doctrine. To find the requisite likelihood of substantial prejudice, we believe it necessary that there be some evidence suggesting the unreliability of the records underlying the improperly introduced evidence. See United States v. Rudinsky, 439 F.2d 1074, 1076 (6th Cir. 1971). See also United States v. Valdivia, 492 F.2d 199, 208 (9th Cir. 1973), Cert. denied, 416 U.S. 940, 94 S.Ct. 1945, 40 L.Ed.2d 292 (1974); United States v. Pacheco-Lovio, 463 F.2d 232, 234 (9th Cir. 1972) (per curiam). Appellant has never challenged the accuracy of the records of which Snider testified, and nothing in the record on appeal reveals a lack of trustworthiness. Absent any hint that the records were erroneous or untrustworthy, we cannot conclude that the lack of a foundation significantly prejudiced appellant.