Opinion ID: 891593
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of the Videotaped Statement Was Harmless Error

Text: {46} The State maintains that even if the admission of the videotaped statement was error, it was harmless. We agree and take this opportunity to clarify the proper standard for non-constitutional harmless error. {47} Evidence admitted in violation of our rules is grounds for a new trial where the error was not harmless. See, e.g., State v. McClaugherty, 2003-NMSC-006, ¶ 32, 133 N.M. 459, 64 P.3d 486. The harmless error rule has its origins in the context of non-constitutional error; it arose as a reaction to an era marked by automatic reversal of cases for any procedural error. 7 Wayne R. LaFave et al., Criminal Procedure § 27.6(a), at 99-100 (3d ed. 2007). Because of the prevalence of automatic reversals, there was a widespread and deep conviction that appellate courts tower[ed] above the trials of criminal cases as impregnable citadels of technicality. Kotteakos v. United States, 328 U.S. 750, 759, 66 S.Ct. 1239, 90 L.Ed. 1557 (1946) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). {48} The harmless error rule was adopted to require appellate courts to affirm lower courts notwithstanding technical errors, defects, or exceptions which [did] not affect the substantial rights of the parties. 7 LaFave, supra, § 27.6(a), at 101 (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); see also 28 U.S.C. § 2111 (2000) (based on the original provision); Fed. R.Crim. Pro. 52(a) (same). The purpose of the rule was, and continues to be, to limit reversal to errors which impacted the outcome of the proceeding and to substitute judgment for automatic application of rules; to preserve review as a check upon arbitrary action and essential unfairness in trials, but at the same time to make the process perform that function without giving [individuals] fairly convicted [a] multiplicity of loopholes.... Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 760, 66 S.Ct. 1239. Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, harmless error was applied exclusively in the context of non-constitutional error; constitutional error continued to require automatic reversal. 7 LaFave, supra, § 27.6(a), at 101. {49} Then, in the 1960s, with the unprecedented expansion of federal constitutional protections into the criminal process, harmless error analysis was imported into the constitutional context. Id. To this end, the Court in Chapman v. California held that there may be some constitutional errors which in the setting of a particular case are so unimportant and insignificant that they may, consistent with the Federal Constitution, be deemed harmless, not requiring the automatic reversal of the conviction. 386 U.S. 18, 22, 87 S.Ct. 824, 17 L.Ed.2d 705 (1967). {50} The United States Supreme Court has articulated two constitutional harmless error standards, while recognizing that there is little, if any, difference between them. Id. at 24, 87 S.Ct. 824. Thus, the harmlessness of a constitutional error is properly analyzed asking whether there [was] a reasonable possibility that the [error] complained of might have contributed to the conviction, Fahy v. Connecticut, 375 U.S. 85, 86-87, 84 S.Ct. 229, 11 L.Ed.2d 171 (1963), or whether the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, Chapman, 386 U.S. at 24, 87 S.Ct. 824; see also State v. Walters, 2007-NMSC-050 ¶¶ 25, 27, 142 N.M. 644, 168 P.3d 1068 (referring to both standards in discussing harmless error analysis); State v. Johnson, 2004-NMSC-029, ¶ 9, 136 N.M. 348, 98 P.3d 998 (noting that the constitutional harmless error standard has been variously articulated). {51} Constitutional error implicates our most basic, and most cherished, individual rights; non-constitutional error, while still serious, does not pose the same threat to liberty. Therefore, it is appropriate to review non-constitutional error with a lower standard than that reserved for our most closely held rights. See, e.g., Kotteakos, 328 U.S. at 765, 66 S.Ct. 1239 (holding that the federal standard for non-constitutional harmless error is whether one can[] say, with fair assurance, after pondering all that happened without stripping the erroneous action from the whole, the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error); United States v. Lane, 474 U.S. 438, 460-61, 106 S.Ct. 725, 88 L.Ed.2d 814 (1986) (Brennan, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (recognizing that the federal standard for non-constitutional harmless error is less exacting than that for constitutional error); see also 7 LaFave, supra, § 27.6(b), at 110 (same). {52} In New Mexico, however, the constitutional standard has seeped into our non-constitutional harmless error case law and it is now common for both types of error to be reviewed under the same reasonable possibility standard. See, e.g., State v. Torres, 1999-NMSC-010, ¶¶ 51-53, 127 N.M. 20, 976 P.2d 20 (applying the reasonable possibility standard and concluding that the improper admission of HGN evidence was harmless); Clark v. State, 112 N.M. 485, 487, 816 P.2d 1107, 1109 (1991) (applying the reasonable possibility standard and concluding that the admission of improper impeachment evidence was harmless). To add to the confusion, in some instances, our case law makes no mention of the reasonable possibility standard and instead applies a long-standing three-part test for determining whether non-constitutional error amounts to harmless error. See, e.g., State v. Duffy, 1998-NMSC-014, ¶ 38, 126 N.M. 132, 967 P.2d 807 (For an error to be deemed harmless, there must be: (1) substantial evidence to support the conviction without reference to the improperly admitted evidence, (2) such a disproportionate volume of permissible evidence that, in comparison, the amount of improper evidence will appear so minuscule that it could not have contributed to the conviction, and (3) no substantial conflicting evidence to discredit the State's testimony.) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted); State v. Moore, 94 N.M. 503, 504, 612 P.2d 1314, 1315 (1980). {53} In light of the unsettled nature of our case law in this area, we take this opportunity to re-fortify the boundary between non-constitutional and constitutional error for the purpose of harmless error analysis. Where the defendant has established a violation of the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution or the New Mexico Constitution, constitutional error review is appropriate. In these cases, a reviewing court should only conclude that an error is harmless when there is no reasonable possibility it affected the verdict. In contrast, where a defendant has established a violation of statutory law or court rules, non-constitutional error review is appropriate. A reviewing court should only conclude that a non-constitutional error is harmless when there is no reasonable probability the error affected the verdict. Cf. State v. Day, 91 N.M. 570, 573-74, 577 P.2d 878, 881-82 (Ct.App.1978) (stating that the proper harmless error standard in a case of prosecutorial misconduct was whether there was a reasonable probability that the misconduct contributed to the conviction). {54} The reasonableness standards provide elasticity that is responsive to the appropriate level of certainty needed before a reviewing court can pronounce an error harmless. The standards are necessarily difficult to explicate because they are fluid; they will acquire content through application in each case. Needless to say, the reasonable possibility standard continues to resemble the reasonable doubt standard while the reasonable probability standard requires a greater degree of likelihood that a particular error affected a verdict. In other words, the universe of harmless error is larger in the context of non-constitutional error than it is in the realm of constitutional error. To that end, non-constitutional error is reversible only if the reviewing court is able to say, in the context of the specific evidence presented at trial, that it is reasonably probable that the jury's verdict would have been different but for the error. {55} To determine whether an error meets the requisite standard of harmlessness, a number of different factors come into play. In this regard, the three-part inquiry noted above provides a useful framework for determining not only whether non-constitutional error is harmless, but also for assessing the impact of constitutional error. Though the three elements have previously been characterized as a test, they are more properly described as three factors to be considered. No one factor is determinative; rather, they are considered in conjunction with one another. All three factors will provide a reviewing court with a reliable basis for determining whether an error is harmless. {56} We therefore sanction the use of the following three-part inquiry for determining whether there is a reasonable possibility or reasonable probability that an error, constitutional or non-constitutional, contributed to a verdict. The factors are whether there is: (1) substantial evidence to support the conviction without reference to the improperly admitted evidence; (2) such a disproportionate volume of permissible evidence that, in comparison, the amount of improper evidence will appear minuscule; [2] and (3) no substantial conflicting evidence to discredit the State's testimony. See, e.g., McClaugherty, 2003-NMSC-006, ¶ 32. Application of these factors will allow the reviewing court to determine whether there is a reasonable possibility that a constitutional error affected the verdict or whether there is a reasonable probability that a non-constitutional error affected the verdict. {57} Finally, we emphasize that, when assessing the harmfulness of error, it is not the role of the appellate court to reweigh the evidence against a defendant: The inquiry ... is not whether, in a trial that occurred without the error, a guilty verdict would surely have been rendered, but whether the guilty verdict actually rendered in this trial was surely unattributable to the error. That must be so, because to hypothesize a guilty verdict that was never in fact renderedno matter how inescapable the findings to support that verdict might bewould violate the jury trial guarantee. Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275, 279, 113 S.Ct. 2078, 124 L.Ed.2d 182 (1993); accord State v. Martinez, 2008-NMSC-060, ¶ 44, 145 N.M. 220, 195 P.3d 1232; Johnson, 2004-NMSC-029, ¶ 43. The harmless error analysis does not center on whether, in spite of the error, the right result was reached. Rather, the focus is on whether the verdict was impacted by the error.
{58} Defendant established that Varkevisser's videotaped statement was admitted in violation of the New Mexico Rules of Evidence and, therefore, we review the error under the non-constitutional standard. First, there was substantial evidence to support Defendant's convictions without reference to the videotaped statement. Defendant's confession provided strong evidence against him. See State v. Alvarez-Lopez, 2004-NMSC-030, ¶ 34, 136 N.M. 309, 98 P.3d 699 (Confessions have profound impact on the jury ....) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Further, Defendant's confession was corroborated both by Varkevisser's testimony and the physical evidence. {59} Second, there was indeed such a disproportionate volume of permissible evidence that the improper evidence was minuscule in comparison. The improperly admitted evidence amounted to seventy minutes of slow, winding dialogue punctuated by long periods of silence. It contained mostly irrelevant speculation which had no direct connection to Victim's murder. When compared to the volume of permissible evidenceDefendant's confession, Varkevisser's corroborative in-court testimony, and the corroborative physical evidencethe impact of the videotaped statement was inconsequential. {60} The third factor is whether there was no substantial conflicting evidence to discredit the improperly admitted statement. Because Defendant presented evidence which challenged the extraneous discussion in the video in the form of four character witnesses who testified that he was a peaceful, nonviolent, law abiding citizen, the jury may have used the improperly admitted video to resolve the conflict in character evidence against Defendant. Thus, this factor weighs against harmlessness. {61} Finally, we note that, overall, this was not a case where both sides presented significant conflicting evidence. In addition to his four character witnesses, Defendant testified on his own behalf, stating that he had nothing to do with Victim's death and that his confession was involuntary. On the other hand, the State presented overwhelming evidence of guilt, including Defendant's confession, Varkevisser's corroborative eye-witness account, and the corroborative physical evidence. In light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt, the impact of the videotaped statement, which was largely cumulative of Varkevisser's in-court testimony and Defendant's confession, was negligible. On balance, the lack of significant conflicting evidence overall weighs in favor of the harmlessness of the admission of the video. {62} Because there was substantial evidence to support Defendant's convictions without reference to the videotaped statement, such a disproportionate volume of permissible evidence that the improper evidence was minuscule in comparison, and a lack of significant conflicting evidence overall, we conclude that there was no reasonable probability that admission of Varkevisser's videotaped statement contributed to Defendant's conviction. {63} In the words of the United States Supreme Court, [a] defendant is entitled to a fair trial but not a perfect one. See Lutwak v. United States, 344 U.S. 604, 619, 73 S.Ct. 481, 97 L.Ed. 593 (1953). Admission of the videotaped statement was error, but we conclude that it was harmless. Defendant's convictions are affirmed.