Court Opinion

ID: 9743766
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 21:42:30.333258+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:43.391476
License: Public Domain

VAIDIK, Judge,
concurring in result.
I concur in affirming Davis' conviction but write separately to impress upon proponents of exeluded evidence their responsibility for making a proper record when the trial court neglects to do so. Indiana Evidence Rule 103(a2)(2) relaxes the somewhat rigid specificity requirement of an offer to prove by merely requiring that "the substance of the evidence ... [be] apparent from the context within which the questions were asked." Although Rule 103 eases the proponent's burden, the proponent must still provide enough information to the trial court to enable it to make an informed decision as to the evidence's admissibility and to rectify any error in excluding the evidence. However, it is not enough that the proponent provides the trial court with the evidence or makes the substance of the evidence apparent from the context of the questions that were asked. The proponent must also assure that an adequate record is made for our review.
I disagree with the majority that the trial court was unable to discern the substance of Defendant's Exhibit A. The exhibit was part of the record, and the trial judge sustained an objection to it. Given the context, a reasonable inference would be that the judge saw the letter and was aware of its substance. Nonetheless, the rules of evidence require not only that the substance of the evidence be made known to the trial court, but also that the offer to *542prove identify the grounds for admission and the relevance of the testimony. See Noble, 725 N.E.2d at 846.
The State objected to Defendant's Exhibit A on hearsay grounds. However, defense counsel could have overcome the hearsay objection by explaining that the letter was not subject to exclusion under the hearsay rule because it was not being offered for the truth of the matter asserted, but rather, for impeachment purposes. Counsel has the obligation to alert the trial judge to the issue. Young v. Rabideau, 821 F.2d 373, 375-76 (Ith Cir.1987), cert. denied (positing that "[the offer need not be formal, nor the error precisely specified . However, appellant needed to make the appropriate arguments to the district court ... in order to alert the trial court to the issue."). The record shows that there was a conference at the bench immediately following each of the State's objections to the exhibit; but it also reveals that the conferences were not made part of the record. Because the record fails to reveal the substance of any of the discussions that took place during the bench conferences, we are unable to determine whether defense counsel argued that the letter should be allowed to come in for impeachment purposes. While initially the burden lies with the trial court to ensure that all stages of the proceedings-including bench conferences-are recorded by the court reporter, see Ind.Code § 38-15-23-1 (declaring that "the judge of each court ... shall appoint an official reporter, whose duty it shall be, whenever required by such judge, to be promptly present in said court, and to take down ... the oral evidence given in all causes, including both questions and answers, and to note all rulings of the judge in respect to the admission and rejection of evidence and the objections and exceptions thereto...."); Indianapolis Life Ins. Co. v. Lundquist, 222 Ind. 359, 372-73, 53 N.E.2d 338, 343 (1944) (opining that "[o}fficial court reporters are an arm of the court, charged with the duty of preserving a record of the evidence ...."), when it is apparent that no such recording was made, it becomes the party's duty to supplement the record by verified statement so as to present this Court with a complete record with respect to the issues raised on appeal. See Ind. Appellate Rule 31 (providing a means. to supplement the record by verified statement when no transcript is available for part or all of the evidence); Ford v. State, 704 N.E.2d 457, 461 (Ind.1998), reh'g denied.
While Davis, as the party alleging error, had the duty to present this Court with a record that was complete with respect to the exelusion of Defendant's Exhibit A, he failed to do so. Because there is no record of the bench conferences and, therefore, we have no way of determining what transpired during them-specifically, whether Davis provided the trial court with an opportunity to understand the proposed impeachment use of the evidence and to correct any error it may have made by sustaining the State's objection to the exhibit as hearsay-I find that Davis waived the issue. Hence, I concur in result.