Court Opinion

ID: 9544551
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:56:56.822551+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:13:10.173307
License: Public Domain

MATTHEWS, Justice,
dissenting.
I disagree with the majority’s opinion that the admission of Dr. Sydnam’s videotaped deposition was not harmless error beyond a reasonable doubt.
The question is not simply whether the state might have obtained a conviction without Dr. Sydnam’s testimony. It appears plain that had the state or the trial *830judge insisted, Dr. Sydnam would have appeared in court. It is also abundantly clear that had Dr. Sydnam testified in court her testimony would have been admissible. Therefore, the critical question is whether there was a significant difference between the testimony as it was actually presented to the jury on the videotape and as it might have been presented had Dr. Sydnam appeared in person at Stores’ trial.
The videotaped testimony was prepared within less than a week of trial. It was clear to the defendant and his lawyer that the purpose of the taping session was to preserve the doctor’s testimony for use at trial. Thus, this is not a case where the defendant’s lawyer did not have adequate time to prepare, or where the issue to be proved or the quantum of proof needed was different from that at trial. Such might be the case if testimony from a preliminary examination or a deposition believed to be for discovery purposes were used.1
The defendant had the assistance of the same lawyer at both the taping session and at trial. A trial judge was present and ruled on objections raised by both parties. Defendant’s lawyer freely cross-examined the witness.
A videotape records the demeanor of a witness with even more faithfulness than a sound recording. With regard to the latter, we said in McBride v. State, 368 P.2d 925, 928-29 (Alaska 1962) (footnotes omitted), cert. denied, 374 U.S. 811, 83 S.Ct. 1702, 10 L.Ed.2d 1035 (1963):
The entire direct and cross-examination were played back through a high fidelity loudspeaker mounted on the courtroom wall. The jury was able to hear the inflections of voice which are so often important. They were able to note the readiness and promptness of the witness’s answers or the reverse; the distinctness of what he related or lack of it; the directness or evasiveness of his answers; the frankness or equivocation; the responsiveness or reluctance to answer questions; the silences; the explanations; the contradictions; and the apparent intelligence or lack of it. These are vital elements touching upon the witness’s veracity which are available in this jurisdiction to be noted and weighed by a jury even when the witness is not present in person. To a large extent, then, demean- or evidence is available for a subsequent jury; it is no longer wholly “elusive and incommunicable” as in the case of manual reporting of former testimony.
Finally, Dr. Sydnam testified as an expert witness concerning the results of her medical examination of the victim. This was not a case involving the testimony of a crucial eyewitness to the events of the crime, where it might be important at trial to test the witness’s powers of observation, memory, or possible bias.2
*831There is no reason to doubt the truth or accuracy of Dr. Sydnam’s testimony, nor does the defendant suggest her testimony was in any way unreliable. The defendant has not suggested that some profitable line of cross-examination was left unexplored. Under the circumstances, admitting the videotape was harmless error. Accordingly I would affirm the conviction.

. “A preliminary hearing is ordinarily a much less searching exploration into the merits of a case than a trial, simply because its function is the more limited one of determining whether probable cause exists to hold the accused for trial.” Barber v. Page, 390 U.S. 719, 725, 88 S.Ct. 1318, 1323, 20 L.Ed.2d 255, 260 (1968).

. In State v. Reid, 559 P.2d 136, 149 (Ariz.1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 921, 97 S.Ct. 2191, 53 L.Ed.2d 234 (1977), the Arizona Supreme Court allowed the testimony of a coroner to be videotaped prior to trial. The court noted:
We find no error in allowing Dr. Hirsch to testify by videotape under the appropriate safeguards contained herein. In deciding as we do, we wish to emphasize that our decision might be different were he an eyewitness to the events of the crime. Such a crucial witness should not be lightly excused from attendance at the trial itself. When considering when to allow a witness to testify by videotape in a criminal trial, the trial court must balance the right of the defendant to the right of confrontation and the need of the trier of fact to the additional benefit of having a particular witness testify in person at the trial with the extent of the need for the witness to be away at the time of trial. The treatment by the courts of witnesses has not always resulted in willing and cooperative testimony once witnesses have been compelled to attend court. Because of his professional speciality, Dr. Hirsch, a pathologist, might not be able to go on a vacation without disrupting or postponing trial dates. The right of the defendant to confront the witness against him can also accommodate the convenience of the witness without doing an injustice.