Court Opinion

ID: 9621366
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 05:56:57.210289+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:05:03.121475
License: Public Domain

Judge Greene
concurring in the result.
I agree with the majority that the testimony of K’s mother regarding statements K made to her was not admissible under Rule 803(4) *733as statements made for the purpose of medical diagnosis or treatment. I do not believe, however, that this Court can consider whether those statements were admissible under Rule 803(2) (excited utterance) or as corroborative evidence because the trial court ruled this evidence was admissible solely under Rule 803(4) and the State did not object to the trial court’s ruling.
When a party offering evidence does not specify for what purpose the evidence is offered, “the evidence is admissible if it qualifies either as corroborative evidence or competent substantive evidence.” State v. Ford, 136 N.C. App. 634, 640, 525 S.E.2d 218, 222 (2000). Upon a request by a party challenging the admissibility of the offered evidence, the offering party must specify the purpose for which the evidence is offered. Id. If the evidence is offered for multiple purposes and the trial court rules the evidence is admissible for some but not all of those purposes, the offering party must object to the trial court’s ruling and cross-assign error to the ruling to preserve the ruling for appellate review. N.C.R. App. P. 10(b)(1), (d).
In this case, defendant objected to the testimony of K’s mother relating to statements K made to her, and the trial court held a voir dire hearing on the issue. The State and defense counsel questioned K’s mother and, at the conclusion of their questioning, the State argued the testimony of K’s mother was admissible under the medical diagnosis and excited utterance exceptions to the hearsay rule and as corroborative evidence. The trial court then overruled defendant’s objection to the evidence on the sole ground it was admissible under the medical diagnosis exception, thus implicitly denying the State’s request to admit the evidence as an excited utterance or as corroborative evidence. Defendant noted his objection to the ruling; however, the State did not object to the trial court’s denial of admission of the evidence as an excited utterance or as corroborative evidence. This issue, therefore, is not properly before this Court. Accordingly, I would hold admission of K’s mother’s testimony regarding statements made by K was error. Nevertheless, because there is no reasonable possibility based on other evidence admitted at trial that the result would have been different without the inadmissible testimony, see N.C.G.S. § 15A-1443(a) (1999), I would affirm defendant’s conviction.