Opinion ID: 1149229
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: whether the trial court committed reversible error in allowing the state to read the previous trial testimony of absent witness mary parks into the record.

Text: ¶ 82. The following colloquy transpired in the trial court. BY MR. TURNER: Your Honor, at this time, we would call Mary K. Parks. She testified in the first trial. However, she has since moved out of the state somewhere and can't be found. We have issued three different subpoenas for her at three different places and just can't find her, and we would ask to read her testimony into the record.       Your Honor, this witness at the time of the first trial was a jailer in Lauderdale County. When the time came to issue subpoenas for this trial, we again issued a subpoena to her at that place, and were advised at that time she no longer worked there. I had the Sheriff's Office in Newton County work to obtain a new address for her. They found a specific address in Quitman, and I issued a new subpoena for her in Quitman that was attempted to be served, and they were told at time that she moved out of state. I reissued a third subpoena and asked the Newton County Sheriff's Office to continue to work even over this past weekend to try to find her. They had received some word she might possibly be in Alabama somewhere, and Mr. Duncan just handed me a note that Ron Davis just gave him that he has received some information she lives in an apartment project in Demopolis, Alabama, called the Hilltop or the Circle, but other than that, this is the first anywhere close to a location we have been able to find her, and that's out of state, and that was just found this morning. BY THE COURT: Well, I think the State has met the test in that the witness is unavailable. That she appears now to be a resident of the State of Alabama as opposed to the State of Mississippi. Further, I think you probably have the testimony there before you in the transcripts of the former trial of this case, where she did testify, at which time you cross-examined her regarding her testimony. Therefore, your objection is overruled. ¶ 83. In order to use the former testimony of a witness, the prosecution must prove the unavailability of the witness by diligent effort. Mitchell v. State, 572 So.2d 865, 869 (Miss. 1990). However, the prosecution's burden is to demonstrate diligent effort, not to do everything conceivable. Id. at 869. Nothing in the record suggests that Parks' testimony would have been substantially impeached had she been present. Further, Duplantis was allowed to introduce impeachment testimony of the telephone log records through his expert. ¶ 84. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.