Court Opinion

ID: 9781435
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 16:37:42.445736+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:26.493856
License: Public Domain

Justice KITTREDGE.
I concur in result, but agree with Chief Justice Toal that the apparent categorical rule emanating from Jolly v. State and its progeny precluding a finding of harmless error goes too far. 314 S.C. 17, 21, 443 S.E.2d 566, 569 (1994) (stating that “[i]mproper corroboration testimony that is merely cumulative to the victim’s testimony ... cannot be harmless ....”) (emphasis in original). In my judgment, it may be a rare occurrence for the State to prove harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt in these circumstances. But these determinations are necessarily context dependent, and a categorical rule is at odds with longstanding harmless error jurisprudence. Cf. Huggler v. State, 360 S.C. 627, 634-36, 602 S.E.2d 753, 757-58 (2004) (holding in a post-conviction relief matter arising from a criminal sexual conduct conviction that defense counsel’s failure to object to the admission of written witness statements that went beyond time and place of the alleged sexual assault fell below an objective standard of reasonableness, but counsel’s failure to object had not prejudiced the *483defendant’s case “[i]n light of the overwhelming evidence presented by the State” and “[t]he evidence of abuse was overwhelming even without the content in the [improperly admitted] written statements.”).
I have reviewed the evidence, including the video interviews of the children. While a close question may be presented, I cannot say the improper vouching and admission of the forensic interviewer’s written reports were harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. There is a lack of overwhelming evidence of guilt apart from the State’s regrettable desire to admit patently inadmissible evidence. Accordingly, I join the majority in voting to reverse.
HEARN, J., concurs.