Opinion ID: 852940
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Hearsay During the Penalty Phase

Text: Dumas complains the trial court erred by allowing into evidence at the penalty phase of trial hearsay evidence offered by the State. The facts are these. After the jury returned a verdict of guilty on all counts and after it adjudged Dumas a habitual offender, the case proceeded to the penalty phase of trial. The State alleged that Dumas was eligible for life imprisonment based on the statutory aggravator of intentional killing while committing or attempting to commit robbery. Outside the presence of the jury, counsel for Dumas addressed the trial court as follows: I'm actually going to ask the court to let me read in parts of some of the depositions.... Your [sic] know, from my point of view, this is essentially a sentencing.... And hearsay would be admissible at sentencing, it is typically in this state, as long as there is some indicia of reliability connected with it, and the court acts as a gatekeeper on that. I would assume these same depositions that have been published would have that indicia of reliability, as would depositions were [sic] taken but not published. R. at 655-57. Over objection by the State and after extended arguments by both sides, the trial court agreed to allow defense counsel to read portions of depositions to the jury. The jury was then reconvened. The State called no witnesses. Rather, it moved to incorporate into the penalty phase of trial all of the evidence and testimony from the guilt phase as well as the habitual offender phase. The State then made opening remarks and passed the jury. In its presentation, counsel for the defense also called no witnesses. Rather he proceeded with what the court characterized as a sentencing argument that included reading portions of depositions from several witnesses. Id. at 676. Through the use of depositions the defense attempted to advance the argument that because of inconsistencies in the testimony of various witnesses, the substantial involvement of Irving, and the State's lack of physical evidence connecting Dumas to the murder, there was residual doubt [3] that Dumas was the shooter and thus a life sentence was not appropriate. Before the State proceeded with its rebuttal argument, and outside the hearing of the jury, the following exchange occurred: [Deputy Prosecutor]: I believe before we started [defense counsel] indicated this was a sentencing phase, therefore hearsay was admissible, reliable hearsay. Is that accurate? [Court]: Yes. [Deputy Prosecutor]: I have two pieces of hearsay I would like to elicit myself. Id. at 695. One of the items of hearsay was a statement made by Dumas' cellmate to a third party. According to the third party, the cellmate alleged Dumas confessed to the murder and robbery. The second was a written statement by Edrick Wheeler, the person who was alleged to have driven Dumas and Irving to the crime scene. Although listed as a witness in the State's discovery response, Wheeler could not be located before trial for questioning by the defense, nor did he testify at trial. However at some point Wheeler gave a sworn statement to an investigating officer. Defense counsel objected to both statements on the grounds of hearsay. The trial court sustained the objection with respect to the cellmate's statement but overruled the objection concerning Wheeler's statement. The State proceeded with its rebuttal that included reading portions of the Wheeler statement. In essence his statement corroborated Irving's guilt phase testimony that Wheeler drove Dumas and Irving to a location near the car lot. Hearsay is a statement made out-of-court that is offered into evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Ind. Evidence Rule 801(c); Kubsch v. State, 784 N.E.2d 905, 919 (Ind.2003). It is clear that Wheeler's statement was hearsay. As such it was not admissible at trial unless it fell within some exception to the hearsay rule. Although technically not an exception to the hearsay rule, Indiana Evidence Rule 101(c) provides in pertinent part: The rules [of evidence], other than those with respect to privileges, do not apply in the following situations ... [p]roceedings relating to extradition, sentencing, probation, or parole; issuance of criminal summonses, or of warrants for arrest or search, preliminary juvenile matters, direct contempt, bail hearings, small claims, and grand jury proceedings. (emphasis added); see also Letica v. State, 569 N.E.2d 952, 957 (Ind.1991) (observing that strict rules of evidence do not apply in sentencing hearings and that hearsay evidence ... is admissible). In this case the trial court apparently accepted Dumas' argument that the penalty phase of a life without parole trial was in the nature of a sentencing proceeding and thus allowed Dumas to introduce hearsay testimony. Although the record is unclear, apparently the trial court allowed the State to introduce hearsay for the same reason. A sentence of life without parole is subject to the same statutory standards and requirements as the death penalty. Ajabu v. State, 693 N.E.2d 921, 936 (Ind.1998). Under the death penalty statute, following the completion of the guilt-determination phase of the trial and the rendering of the jury's verdict, the trial court reconvenes the jury for the penalty phase. Brown v. State, 783 N.E.2d 1121, 1127 (Ind.2003). As with capital punishment, before life imprisonment can be imposed, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt at least one aggravating circumstance listed in subsections (b)(1) through (b)(16) of the statute. See I.C. § 35-50-2-9; see also Bivins v. State, 642 N.E.2d 928, 955-56 (Ind.1994). Once the jury deliberates and has made its recommendation, the jury is dismissed. Indiana Evidence Rule 101(c) makes clear that with the exception of grand jury proceedings, [4] the proceedings in which the rules of evidence do not apply involve those where evidence is presented to a trial judge alone without the intervention of a jury. Id. The rationale for exempting certain proceedings, including sentencing, from the rules of evidence is to provide the trial judge with the widest range of relevant information in reaching an informed decision. We presume the trial judge is aware of and knows the law, and considers only evidence properly before the judge in reaching a decision. Emerson v. State, 695 N.E.2d 912, 917 (Ind. 1998); Birdsong v. State, 685 N.E.2d 42, 47 (Ind.1997). By contrast, where the guilt-determination phase of a capital trial is presented to a jury, the penalty phase is also presented to a jury. Like the guilt-determination phase, the penalty phase of a capital trial requires the introduction of evidence with the burden on the State to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Despite the statute's characterization of the penalty phase as a sentencing hearing, see I.C. § 35-50-2-9(d), this phase is nonetheless in the nature of a trial to which the rules of evidence apply. Of course our evidentiary rules are subject to limitations imposed by applicable provisions of the Indiana Constitution as well as the Federal Constitution. See, e.g., Green v. Georgia, 442 U.S. 95, 97, 99 S.Ct. 2150, 60 L.Ed.2d 738 (1979) (declaring that the State's hearsay rule to the contrary notwithstanding, the exclusion of certain hearsay testimony offered by the defendant in the penalty phase of a capital trial violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment). However, that is not to say that the rules of evidence do not apply in the penalty phase of a capital trial. The facts supporting eligibility for the death penalty or life without parole must be found beyond a reasonable doubt. And in a jury trial, the jury must find these facts. See Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002); Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000). In sum, we conclude that contrary to the trial court's determination, the rules of evidence are applicable in the penalty phase of a capital trial. Thus, by allowing the State to introduce hearsay testimony during this phase, the trial court erred. However, the error was invited. The court apparently allowed the introduction of the out-of-court statement based on Dumas' contention that the penalty phase of trial was essentially a sentencing hearing in which hearsay is admissible. A party may not invite error and then later argue the error supports reversal. Kingery v. State, 659 N.E.2d 490, 494 (Ind. 1995). Error invited by the complaining party is not reversible error. Id. Accordingly Dumas is entitled to no relief on this issue.