Court Opinion

ID: 9539470
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:04:48.706055+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:58:50.795565
License: Public Domain

Carley, Judge,
dissenting.
Contrary to the majority’s equivocation on the issue of error vel non, it is my opinion that the hearsay testimony was erroneously admitted. The position taken by the State is that, insofar as evidence may be relevant to explain any conduct, the admissibility of that evidence pursuant to OCGA § 24-3-2 is conclusively established. Based upon the recent Supreme Court decisions in Momon v. State, 249 Ga. 865 (294 SE2d 482) (1982) and Teague v. State, 252 Ga. 534 (314 SE2d 910) (1984), the argument advanced by the State in the instant case was specifically rejected in Noles v. State, 172 Ga. App. 228 (322 SE2d 910) (1984). “[T]he admissibility of evidence under OCGA § 24-3-2 is not a determination based only on its relevancy to explain conduct. There is a further requirement. The conduct to be explained must itself be a relevant issue in the case.” (Emphasis in original.) Noles v. State, supra at 229.
*162The majority’s conclusion is that, even if erroneously admitted, the hearsay testimony was harmless in the instant case. The majority advances several reasons why it reaches that conclusion. In my opinion, the majority’s reasons are predicated upon a misunderstanding of the hearsay rule and of the Supreme Court decisions in Momon and in Teague. I do not contest that, if relevant, the fact of the existence of an out-of-court conversation may be proved. That is not hearsay. What I do challenge is the majority’s conclusion that the specifics of such a conversation are admissible under OCGA § 24-3-2 as an exception to the hearsay rule even if the conduct to be explained thereby is not itself a relevant issue in the case. See Noles v. State, supra.
In holding that the testimony was harmless, the majority primarily focuses on the issue of the credibility of the victim. In so doing, the majority ignores the “prejudicial effect of bolstering the victim’s testimony” that can result from the admission of hearsay. Parker v. State, 162 Ga. App. 271, 275 (290 SE2d 518) (1982). If the “door” to the issue of the victim’s conversation with her mother was “opened” by appellant in the instant case, and if the victim’s credibility was thereby attacked, the proper response by the State would have been to prove the existence of such a conversation. However, the specifics of the victim’s contribution to the conversation, as opposed to its existence, were never brought into question and the specifics of that conversation in the form of testimony by the mother would be admissible under OCGA § 24-3-2 only if the mother’s conduct was a relevant issue. I also disagree with the majority’s reliance upon the presence for cross-examination of both the victim and her mother as authority for finding the erroneous admission of hearsay to be harmless. If both parties to a conversation are witnesses in a trial, that is even more reason for not condoning the admission of hearsay testimony by one of them.
Also, I simply cannot understand the majority’s conclusion that the physician’s examination which showed an unusually enlarged vagina corroborated, in any way, the victim’s testimony regarding appellant’s commission of the crimes for which he was being tried. Appellant was charged with sodomy, not rape or child molestation!
The single legitimate point raised by the majority regarding harmless error is that the testimony that was given by the mother as to the victim’s conversation is not so explicit and graphic as to warrant reversal. However, as I view the case, the evidence authorizing appellant’s conviction consists solely of the uncorroborated testimony of the victim. Compare Noles v. State, supra. Although corroboration of the victim’s testimony is not a factor in determining the sufficiency of the evidence, the lack of such corroboration must necessarily be a consideration in applying the “totality of the evidence” standard for determining whether it is highly probable that the erroneous admis*163sion of certain evidence is nonetheless harmless. See Johnson v. State, 238 Ga. 59 (230 SE2d 869) (1976). In my opinion, the “totality of the evidence” in the instant case is the victim’s testimony which, rather than being corroborated in a lawful manner as in Noles, was erroneously bolstered by inadmissible hearsay. Parker v. State, supra. Unlike the majority, I do not believe that an appellate court should engage in “weighing” the evidence. Therefore, I cannot conclude that it is highly probable that the jury would have accorded the victim’s direct testimony, which was the sole evidence of appellant’s guilt, the same credibility without the inadmissible bolstering hearsay as the jury obviously did with such hearsay. I reach this conclusion notwithstanding the fact that the hearsay was not necessarily graphic or explicit. The harm lies in the bolstering and corroborative effect of the hearsay, not its explicitness. It is the jury that should weigh the evidence and determine issues of credibility after hearing all of the relevant and admissible testimony of the witnesses. Appellant has not had the opportunity to have a jury weigh the evidence and determine the credibility of the witnesses under these appropriate circumstances. Under the holding of the majority, he will never have that opportunity. Since the “totality of the evidence” consists of the uncorroborated and erroneously bolstered testimony of the victim, I would not hold that it is highly probable that the error is harmless. Accordingly, I must dissent from the majority’s decision to weigh the evidence, and from its conclusion that the error was not harmful.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Birdsong, Judge Sognier and Judge Benham join in this dissent.