Court Opinion

ID: 9740295
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:32:03.799726+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:17.340063
License: Public Domain

*241Danhof, P. J.
(dissenting). I agree with the majority that it is . time that the question of admitting business records in criminal cases was reexamined. This case presents a vivid example of the weakness of the present rule. The error which the majority finds reversible consists of using a hospital record instead of calling the examining physician, who apparently has left the jurisdiction. The hospital record is by far the most reliable evidence that the complaining witness had had intercourse. Probably the examining physician would have had no independent recollection of the examination, and if called he would have read the record, stated that his memory was refreshed, and then testified to the facts contained in the record. A rule which excludes the more reliable of two types of proof is surely in need of reexamination. I do not agree with the majority that the admission of the hospital record must be considered reversible error.
I agree that this case turns on the credibility of the witnesses and that the hospital record tends to bolster the complaining witness’s testimony. However, it does so in the sense of vouching for her veracity. I would submit her veracity needs no bolstering. There is absolutely nothing in this record that suggests that the complaining witness is not telling the truth, and there is a good deal that indicates that the defendant is lying.
The majority seems to recognize the truthfulness of the complaining witness’s testimony when it says, "the crucial question was the credibility of the complaining witness—whether her testimony identifying the defendant as her assailant was to be believed.” If the hearsay had tended to support the identification of the defendant, I would agree that under People v Lewis, 294 Mich 684 (1940), *242reversible error was committed. However, the hospital record sheds no light on the complaining witness’s powers of observation. It only serves to vouch for her truthfulness and it supports her truthfulness only to a limited extent. All that the hospital record shows is that the complaining witness had had intercourse, it does not and could not show that she was raped. There is a good deal in the record that supports the accuracy of the complaining witness’s testimony. The complaining witness testified that she had first encountered the defendant at a bus stop and that he sat next to her on the bus. Thus, she was able to observe the defendant for an extended period of time. She also stated that on a subsequent occasion she had seen the defendant on the street. The complaining witness identified a watch as hers. The watch had been recovered from a pawn shop and the police were led to the defendant by his thumb print which appeared on the pawn ticket.
Were this a case where there was any indication of a wholly fabricated charge I would view the admission of the hospital record differently. However, this is not such a case. There is nothing in the record to suggest that the complaining witness is acting for any reason other than that she was raped and her watch was stolen. To infer otherwise would be to indulge in speculation.
I would affirm the defendant’s convictions.