Opinion ID: 1788253
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: admissibility of billie madero's testimony

Text: The trial court admitted, over defense counsel objection, the testimony of Billie Madero, an employee of the Department of Revenue, who testified that she documented a call received from an individual who had identified herself as Rachel Carlson and requested that a case be opened against Walker Davis, Jr., for child support. The information obtained from Carlson during the telephone conversation was recorded on a template sheet of paper containing standard questions to provide the Department of Revenue identical information from every caller. The State attempted to introduce Madero's summary of the phone conversation under the business record exception to the hearsay rule. Brooks mounts two challenges to the child support claim record. First, Brooks argues that the record was totally irrelevant with regard to his motive because there was no evidence demonstrating that he even knew of the record. Brooks also asserts that the State failed to establish a proper foundation showing that it was indeed Carlson who placed the call. The State counters that the record was probative of motive for both Davis and Brooks because it illuminated why Davis hired Brooks  namely to kill Carlson and Stuart to avoid child support obligations. We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the record. As previously indicated, the State advanced at trial the theory that Brooks was motivated to kill, at least in part, by the desire to aid his cousin in evading child support payments. There is very little record evidence, however, demonstrating that either Davis or Brooks was aware of Carlson's desire to obtain child support or any steps taken by Carlson to actually obtain such support. The summary record of the telephone conversation testified to by Madero was not a complaint for child support that Davis would have been served with or would have received a copy of. Davis's knowledge of Carlson's support request rests on the sole asserted inference that Carlson would not have paid the $25 fee charged to open a child support case at the Department of Revenue without first seeking a negotiated settlement with Davis, coupled with testimony from Davis's neighbors and Gilliam that Carlson was seen at Davis's apartment in the days shortly before the murders crying and agitated. Brooks did admit in a police statement that he knew of Stuart's existence and that his cousin had denied paternity of the child. There is no direct evidence, however, that Carlson had demanded child support payments from Davis. To the contrary, Mark Gilliam testified that during the initial stages of his participation in the conspiracy, Davis had only informed Gilliam that he intended to kill the woman who had been pestering him for money for a stereo. No mention was made of child support payments. Without evidence showing that Davis or Brooks knew of Carlson's support request, the Department of Revenue record is irrelevant to anyone's intent and motive. The admission of Madero's testimony violates the proscription against hearsay evidence. To be admissible as a business record, it must be shown that the record was (1) made at or near the time of the event recorded; (2) by or from information transmitted by a person with knowledge; (3) kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity; and (4) that it was the regular practice of that business to make such a record. See Quinn v. State, 662 So.2d 947, 953 (Fla. 5th DCA 1995); § 90.803(6)(a), Fla. Stat. (2002). To the extent the individual making the record does not have personal knowledge of the information contained therein, the second prong of the predicate requires the information to have been supplied by an individual who does have personal knowledge of the information and who was acting in the course of a regularly conducted business activity. See Quinn, 662 So.2d at 953; Van Zant v. State, 372 So.2d 502, 503 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979). If this predicate is not satisfied, then the information contained in the record is inadmissible hearsay, unless it falls within another exception to the hearsay rule. See Quinn, 662 So.2d at 953-54; see also Hill v. State, 549 So.2d 179, 181 (Fla.1989); Johnson v. Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 546 So.2d 741, 743 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989); Harris v. Game & Fresh Water Fish Comm'n, 495 So.2d 806, 809 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986) (The general rule is that a hearsay statement which includes another hearsay statement is admissible only when both statements conform to the requirements of a hearsay exception.); Van Zant, 372 So.2d at 503. The business record exception does not permit the admission into evidence of the hearsay statements within the Department of Revenue record. The information in the record regarding the alleged relationships between Carlson, Stuart, and Davis was not within Madero's personal knowledge, but was supplied by Rachel Carlson, who, obviously, was not acting within the course of a regularly conducted business activity. The scenario is similar to that recently faced by the Fifth District in Reichenberg v. Davis, 846 So.2d 1233 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003), in which the district court determined that the information contained within the records of the Department of Children and Families pertaining to the alleged sexual abuse of a seven-year-old boy was not admissible under the business records exception because it was relayed by witnesses, and not based upon the personal knowledge of an agent of the `business.' Id. at 1234; see also Van Zant, 372 So.2d at 503 (determining that the business record exception did not extend to the information contained within a probable cause affidavit and sworn complaint because the source of the information contained within the record was the victim, not the person who prepared the record). Without an alternative exception to cover the hearsay contained in the Department of Revenue record developed from a telephone call, the substance of the record should not have been admitted into evidence here. See Hill, 549 So.2d at 181. We thus conclude that the trial court erred in admitting Madero's testimony regarding the substance of the Department of Revenue record. The impact of the trial court's error in admitting this evidence is subject to evaluation under a harmless error analysis as set forth in State v. DiGuilio, 491 So.2d 1129 (Fla.1986). There, this Court held: The harmless error test ... places the burden on the state, as the beneficiary of the error, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the error complained of did not contribute to the verdict or, alternatively stated, that there is no reasonable possibility that the error contributed to the conviction. Application of the test requires an examination of the entire record by the appellate court including a close examination of the permissible evidence on which the jury could have legitimately relied, and in addition an even closer examination of the impermissible evidence which might have possibly influenced the jury verdict. Id. at 1135 (citation omitted). Applying the DiGuilio standard, we determine that the State has established beyond a reasonable doubt that the admission of the limited record information did not contribute to the verdict in the instant case. To the extent Brooks' motive and intent were issues at trial, the State established Brooks' motive of pecuniary gain with Gilliam's testimony that Davis promised Brooks $10,000 to commit murder, coupled with the evidence that Davis was a man of modest means who had procured a $100,000 insurance policy on the life of Alexis Stuart. There is no reasonable possibility that the error in admitting the limited Department of Revenue record, which could have only served to provide an alternative theory of Brooks' motive, contributed to Brooks' conviction. There is an overwhelming amount of properly admitted evidence upon which the jury could have legitimately relied in finding Brooks guilty in the instant matter. Importantly, during this trial, Mark Gilliam related detailed, substantiated information regarding the two failed attempts he, Brooks, and Davis had made on Carlson's life. Gilliam testified that on Monday, April 22, 1996, Davis phoned Carlson from the hospital asking her to meet him at his home where Gilliam and Brooks were secretly waiting in Gilliam's car. According to Gilliam, he and Brooks followed the vehicle occupied by Davis and Carlson in the direction of the predesignated place in Crestview where, according to plan, Brooks was to shoot Carlson. Gilliam established that Brooks had a pistol-grip shotgun and latex gloves with him in the car. Gilliam's version of events was partially corroborated by the testimony of a law enforcement officer who performed a consensual search of Davis's home after the murders and discovered a short-handled shotgun. In addition, the crime scene analyst testified that the smudged hand impressions found at the crime scene were consistent with the perpetrator wearing latex gloves. Gilliam further testified that during the course of the duo following Carlson's car on the night of the first failed murder attempt, Carlson was stopped by a law enforcement officer for speeding. Gilliam explained that he drove by Carlson's stopped car, made two u-turns, and pulled up a short distance behind her. This testimony was partially corroborated by that of Florida State Trooper Michael Hulion, who reported that he stopped Carlson for speeding on Monday, April 22, and noted the presence of a baby in the back seat as well as a black male in the passenger seat. Gilliam further described that as this was occurring a second police officer drove to a position behind his vehicle, approached his car, and began questioning the two men as to why they had positioned their vehicle behind Carlson's stopped vehicle. Testimony at trial confirmed that a sheriff's deputy had in fact run a check on Gilliam's license plates that evening in the vicinity of Crestview. Gilliam also described in detail the second attempt to effectuate the murder, which occurred on the following day, Tuesday, April 23, and followed largely the same sequence of events with Carlson picking Davis up at a local shopping center and Gilliam and Brooks following behind. According to Gilliam, the second attempt ended in failure because Gilliam became separated from Carlson's car at a stop light. Gilliam stated that he and Brooks proceeded to the predesignated location in Crestview and waited for the plan to unfold, but Davis and Carlson did not appear. Gilliam's testimony was supported by the testimony of the officers who questioned Gilliam after the murders and related that he placed Xs on a map of Crestview that corresponded to the area in which the victims' bodies were found. Finally, Gilliam stated that he backed out of the murder plan and left Eglin the morning of April 24 to return to his base at Fort Benning, Georgia. Gilliam testified that prior to his departure, Davis helped him secure false hospitalization documents to explain his delayed return to his base. Gilliam's testimony regarding the failed attempts to proceed with the murder provides compelling and persuasive evidence of Brooks' involvement in the murders of Rachel Carlson and Alexis Stuart. This testimony was not presented during Brooks' initial trial. In light of the totality of the evidence, there is no reasonable possibility that the admission of the limited child support record information could have contributed to the jury verdict. See DiGuilio, 491 So.2d at 1135. Gilliam's testimony is not, however, the only evidence supporting Brooks' conviction. Record evidence also firmly establishes Brooks' presence in Crestview in the vicinity of the crime scene in close proximity to the time of the murders. Witnesses Irving Westbrook and Charles Tucker testified that they saw two men walking in the vicinity of the murder scene, away from where Carlson's car was later found, around the time of the murder. According to Irving Westbrook, one of the men had a limp. Their testimony was corroborated by witness Kea Bess who had previously been introduced to Davis by a mutual friend on the Sunday prior to the murders. Bess testified that she saw Davis, whom she recognized because of the cast on his leg, and another man walking rapidly in the opposite direction from the crime scene. According to Bess, one of the men was carrying a bag. Witness Michelle Thomas testified that Davis and Brooks visited her Crestview apartment, located only a few blocks from the scene of the crime, [9] on the night of the murders shortly after 9 p.m. She stated that both men were wearing black nylon pants and that Brooks carried a black backpack. Thomas testified that Brooks used the bathroom, Davis asked for a towel, and both men used the telephone. [10] The presence of Brooks and Davis in Thomas's apartment that evening was also corroborated by the testimony of Nikki Henry, a friend of Thomas, who arrived just as the two men were walking away from the location. The presence of Brooks and Davis in Crestview on the night of the murders was further established and verified by the testimony of Rochelle Jones. Jones stated that she received a call from Davis on the night of the murders requesting that she come to a particular location to provide transportation for the duo. Davis gave Jones directions to drive to a street in Crestview between a credit union and an animal hospital. [11] Jones's testimony was corroborated by telephone records, and the testimony of a police officer who stopped Jones for speeding as she drove back to Eglin Air Force base, who noted the presence of two black males in her vehicle and requested that Davis assume operation of the vehicle because Jones was operating the vehicle with a suspended license. The testimony of Jones was further corroborated by that of Glenese Rushing, who was using the automatic teller machine at the Crestview credit union on the night of the murders and reported seeing two people across the street at the animal hospital entering a car that subsequently made a u-turn in the credit union parking lot. [12] The testimony of Jones also establishes that whatever transportation Brooks and Davis may have used to travel to Crestview that evening was apparently unavailable for the return trip. Record evidence also demonstrates the guilty knowledge of Brooks regarding the murders. In contrast to the multitude of witnesses who placed Brooks in Crestview near the crime scene on the night of the murders, Brooks consistently denied being in the community during his police interviews. According to Air Force Office of Special Investigations Agent Karen Garcia, Brooks claimed that he and his cousin remained in Davis's apartment near Eglin Air Force base assembling a waterbed on the night of the murders, leaving only briefly to walk Davis's dog. At one point during his interview with Agent Garcia, Brooks stated, Walker is on his own. If he did something, he's on his own. The investigator from the office of the State Attorney, Michael Hollinhead, also interviewed Brooks shortly after the murders. Hollinhead testified that when he attempted to develop information from Brooks regarding the person named Mark (subsequently identified as Gilliam), who had accompanied Brooks to Davis's home on April 21, Brooks became evasive. The identity of Brooks as the individual who killed Carlson and Stuart is also supported by substantial evidence. Forensic evidence established that both Carlson and Stuart were killed by a person seated in the rear driver's-seat of the vehicle, [13] and that no one occupied the front passenger's seat at the time of Carlson's stabbing. [14] Other evidence demonstrated that Brooks was the individual seated in the back seat of Carlson's vehicle. Importantly, Davis was in a leg cast at the time of the murder. That fact renders it highly unlikely that Davis would have been able to sit in the back seat of a car in a position that would have left him able to muster the leverage utilized to mount this attack from behind. Moreover, a shoe print was found on Carlson's shoulder. A forensic expert opined that the print was consistent with the killer extricating himself from the vehicle by climbing over the victim's body, which was found in the front seat, or opening the driver's-side front door and kicking Carlson over. Either feat would have been almost impossible for a man in a leg cast. Moreover, Davis sat in the front passenger seat during the prior failed murder attempts as established by the trooper who stopped Carlson for speeding and testified to seeing a baby in the back seat and a black man in the right front seat. On the basis of this record, there is no reasonable possibility that the erroneous admission of the limited testimony of Madero regarding the child support record contributed to Brooks' conviction. As detailed above, the State introduced extensive, substantial, direct, and corroborated testimony regarding the plan to murder Rachel Carlson and the role of Brooks as killer. The jury also heard a significant amount of direct testimony and other evidence which placed Brooks in the vicinity of the crime scene on the night of the murders without transportation back to Eglin. The forensic evidence demonstrated that the victims were killed by someone occupying the back seat of Carlson's car, and that no one occupied the passenger seat at the time of the murders. The only reasonable inference to draw from the forensic evidence, coupled with the direct testimony concerning the role of Brooks as the killer, and the fact that Davis was in a leg cast at the time of the murders, is that it was Brooks who inflicted the fatal blows. The State clearly established the motive of pecuniary gain and the guilty knowledge attributable to Brooks through the content of his police statements. All of this evidence was properly admitted before the jury to be utilized by the jury in reaching its verdict. For these reasons, we conclude that the trial court's error in admitting the limited testimony of Madero and the Department of Revenue record was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.