State of West Virginia v. Gray
Annotate this CaseSeptember 1998 Term
___________
No. 25149
___________
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA,
Plaintiff below, Appellee,
v.
PHILLIP A GRAY,
Defendant below, Appellant.
________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Circuit Court of Fayette County
Hon. John W. Hatcher, Jr., Judge
Case No. 97-F-16
AFFIRMED
________________________________________________________
Submitted: October 7, 1998
Filed: December 14, 1998
Darrell V. McGraw, Jr.,
Esq.
Amy L. Austin, Esq.
Attorney
General
Assistant
Public Defender
Scott E. Johnson,
Esq.
Public
Defender Corporation
Senior Assistant Attorney
General
Fayetteville, West Virginia
Charleston, West
Virginia
Attorney for Appellant
Attorneys for Appellee
The Opinion of the Court was delivered PER CURIAM.
JUSTICE MCGRAW did not participate.
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT
1. "The West
Virginia Rules of Evidence and the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure allocate
significant discretion to the trial court in making evidentiary and procedural rulings.
Thus, rulings on the admissibility of evidence and the appropriateness of a particular
sanction for discovery violations are committed to the discretion of the trial court.
Absent a few exceptions, this Court will review evidentiary and procedural rulings of the
circuit court under an abuse of discretion standard." Syl. Pt. 1, McDougal v.
McCammon, 193 W. Va. 229, 455 S.E.2d 788 (1995).
2. "
'An appellant or plaintiff in error will not be permitted to complain of error in the
admission of evidence which he offered or elicited, and this is true even of a defendant
in a criminal case.' Syl. pt. 2, State v. Bowman, 155 W. Va. 562, 184 S.E.2d 314
(1971)." Syl. Pt. 2, State v. McWilliams, 177 W. Va. 369, 352 S.E.2d 120 (1986).
3. " 'A judgment will not be reversed because of the admission of improper or irrelevant evidence when it is clear that the verdict of the jury could not have been affected thereby.' Syllabus Point 7, Starcher v. South Penn Oil Co., 81 W. Va. 587, 95 S.E. 28 (1918)." Syllabus Point 7, Torrence v. Kusminsky, 185 W. Va. 734, 408 S.E.2d 684 (1991).
Per Curiam:
Phillip Gray (hereinafter
"Gray" or "Appellant") appeals his conviction in the Circuit Court of
Fayette County of the offense of delivery of a controlled substance. Gray contends that
notes written by the arresting police officer should not have been admitted into evidence
as an exhibit against Gray, because the notes were only used to refresh the officer's
memory, and because the contents of the notes were hearsay. After thorough review of the
record, we affirm the decision of the lower court.
I. Facts
On the evening of October
4, 1996, Gray was approached by Raymond Hicks, an individual working undercover for the
West Virginia State Police and the Fayette County Sheriff. Subsequent to a short
discussion between Mr. Gray and Mr. Hicks concerning the purchase of drugs, Mr. Gray
informed Mr. Ronald Lawson that Mr. Hicks desired to purchase some cocaine.
Mr. Lawson left for
several minutes. When he reappeared, he handed Mr. Hicks some cocaine, and Mr. Hicks gave
Mr. Lawson a marked bill. It was disputed at Mr. Gray's trial whether Mr. Gray gave Mr.
Hicks $10.00 in change for his $60.00. Mr. Hicks testified that he was not sure if Mr.
Gray had given him any change.
After Mr. Hicks bought the
cocaine, he was debriefed by Sergeant Ballard of the West Virginia State Police. During
this debriefing, Sergeant Ballard took notes on the information that Mr. Hicks provided.
Mr. Gray was subsequently arrested and charged with "possession with intent to
deliver a controlled substance."See footnote 1 1 During the course of Mr. Gray's trial, Sergeant Ballard was called to
testify by the State. On cross-examination, Mr. Gray's counsel asked Sergeant Ballard who
provided change to Mr. Hicks. Sergeant Ballard said he could not recall. Defense counsel
then asked Sergeant Ballard whether reading his debriefing notes would refresh his memory.
After Sergeant Ballard indicated that reading his notes would refresh his memory, defense
counsel provided Sergeant Ballard with a copy of the debriefing notes. Sergeant Ballard
asked defense counsel if she wanted him to read the bottom of the report concerning the
individual from whom Mr. Hicks received his $10.00 in change. Defense counsel told
Sergeant Ballard, "You can read it." Sergeant Ballard then read aloud the
section of the notes dealing with the purchase and the rendering of change.See footnote 2 2 Defense counsel then
said, "So Ronnie Lawson gave him the $10 change?" Sergeant Ballard answered,
"Yes, ma'am."
During redirect
examination of Sergeant Ballard, the State moved to have the debriefing notes in their
entirety admitted into evidence as an exhibit, after Sergeant Ballard confirmed that to
the best of his recollection the debriefing notes contained statements made by Mr. Hicks
on the night of the alleged drug transaction. Without objection by defense counsel, the
notes were marked as an exhibit. The State then moved for introduction of the exhibit, and
defense counsel objected. The lower court overruled the objection, stating, "The jury
is entitled to the entire document once you've shown a part of it."
Mr. Gray contends on
appeal that the trial court committed error in admitting the debriefing notes in their
entirety. Mr. Gray maintains that the notes do not fall within any exception to the
hearsay rule and are therefore inadmissible without further discussion.See footnote 3 3
II. Standard of Review
In addressing a lower
court's discretion in rulings on admissibility, we explained as follows in syllabus point
one of McDougal v. McCammon, 193 W. Va. 229, 455 S.E.2d 788 (1995):
The
West Virginia Rules of Evidence and the West Virginia Rules of Civil Procedure allocate
significant discretion to the trial court in making evidentiary and procedural rulings.
Thus, rulings on the admissibility of evidence and the appropriateness of a particular
sanction for discovery violations are committed to the discretion of the trial court.
Absent a few exceptions, this Court will review evidentiary and procedural rulings of the
circuit court under an abuse of discretion standard.
III. West Virginia Rule of Evidence 106
Rule 106 of the West
Virginia Rules of Evidence provides: "When a writing or recorded statement or part
thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require the introduction at that
time of any other part or any other writing or recorded statement which ought in fairness
to be considered contemporaneously with it." Rule 106, based upon the common law
"rule of completeness," is designed to reduce the risk that a writing or
recording will be taken out of context or that an initial misleading impression will
influence the minds of the jurors. S. Saltzburg, M. Martin, D. Capra, Federal Rules of
Evidence Manual, pp. 98-99 (1998), citing, United States v. Walker, 652 F.2d 708, 713 (7th
Cir. 1981).
While the language of the
rule would technically render it applicable where one party actually introduces a writing
or recorded statement into evidence, it is also applicable where the party's utilization
of the writing or recorded statement is "tantamount to the introduction of the
[document] into evidence." Rainey v. Beech Aircraft Corp., 784 F.2d 1523, 1529 n.11,
cert. granted, Beech Aircraft Corp. v. Rainey, 485 U.S. 903 (1988). Thus, reading into the
record from a document would be tantamount to introducing that document for purposes of
Rule 106.
In Beech Aircraft Corp. v.
Rainey, 488 U.S. 153 (1988), the United States Supreme Court recognized "that when
one party has made use of a portion of a document, such that misunderstanding or
distortion can be averted only through presentation of another portion, the material
required for completeness is ipso facto relevant and therefore admissible under Rule 401
and 402." Id. at 172. Likewise, it is acknowledged in John W. Strong, McCormick on
Evidence § 56, at 228 (4th Ed. 1992), that if the first party introduces a part of a
writing, the adversary has a right to introduce the remainder of that writing during his
or her own next stage of presentation of proof.
In 7 James A. Adams &
Kasey W. Kincaid, Iowa Practice § 106.1, at 72 n.1 (1988), the authors note:
Although a technical reading of the rule
would limit its applicability to cases where the primary evidence is actually introduced,
the underlying goal of the rule suggests that it should apply where testimony concerning a
document is elicited but the document itself is not formally introduced. A contrary result
could enable litigants to circumvent the concerns of fairness and completeness upon which
the rule is predicated.
In State v. Taylor, 1998
WL 832309 (S.C. Nov. 23, 1998), a murder trial involving evidence introduced through a man
with whom the decedent had maintained an extra-marital relationship, the South Carolina
court addressed Rule 106 and reasoned as follows:
Appellant
effectively placed a portion of [the] statement into evidence by having [it] read directly
from the statement. Accordingly, in the interest of fairness and completeness, it would
have been appropriate for the trial judge to require the introduction of any other portion
of [the] statement which explained or clarified . . . [the issue].
In State v. Dunlap, 930 P.2d 518 (Ariz. 1996), cert. denied, Dunlap v. Arizona, 117 S. Ct. 2456 (1997), Arizona
Rule 106See footnote 4 4 was
examined. Acknowledging Federal Rule 106 as the source of the state rule, the Dunlap court
consulted the advisory committee's notes to the federal rule, which provided as follows:
The rule is an expression of the rule of
completeness . . . . The rule is based on two considerations. The first is the misleading
impressions created by taking matters our of context. the second is the inadequacy of
repair work when delayed to a point later in the trial. . . .
Dunlap, 930 P.2d at 531, quoting Fed.R.Evid. 106 advisory committee's
note.
IV. Interplay Between Rule 106 and Hearsay Rules
Considerable disagreement
exists among legal scholars regarding whether Rule 106 can justify the introduction of
otherwise inadmissible evidence. See C. Wright and K. Graham, Federal Practice &
Procedure § 5078, discussing controversy over this issue. In Hayes v. State, 935 P.2d 700
(Wyo.1997), the Wyoming court approved the admission of a police report under Wyoming Rule
106 after defense counsel selectively used parts of the report at trial. The court
reasoned as follows:
Hayes complains he
was denied a fair trial when the State was allowed to have witnesses read a complete
police report into evidence. During cross-examination, two witnesses, the social worker
and the detective, were examined about an interview with the victim, which was the subject
of the police report. On redirect, the State inquired whether the cross-examination had
covered the entire report and began asking questions about what was in the report. When
Hayes objected, claiming the information in the report was inadmissible hearsay, the trial
court overruled the objection, indicating the State would be allowed to use the report to
refresh the witnesses' recollection and to give a more complete and accurate
representation of the victim's statements than had been presented by the defense. . . . We
see no abuse of discretion in allowing the State to present a more complete and accurate
picture of the police report once the defense opened the door and presented a partial and
selective picture of what was in the report. Wyo. R. Evid. 106; and see Chavez-Becerra v.
State, 924 P.2d 63, 69 (Wyo.1996); Ramirez v. State, 739 P.2d 1214, 1220 (Wyo.1987).See footnote 5 5
935 P.2d at 707 (footnote added).
In State v. Austin, 585 N.W.2d 241 (Iowa 1998), a videotape of an interview with a child victim was deemed
admissible under Rule 106. 585 N.W.2d at 243. The Iowa court noted that Iowa's Rule 106,
similar to West Virginia rule 106See footnote 6 6 "establishes an independent standard for the admissibility of
additional evidence, thus obviating any debate concerning whether evidence may be admitted
only if otherwise admissible." Id., quoting 7 James A. Adams & Kasey W. Kincaid,
Iowa Practice § 106.1, at 72 n.11 (1988).
Some approaches, however,
would permit Rule 106 to serve only a "limited purpose" of permitting
a party to admit omitted portions of a
partially admitted statement only when and only to the extent that the omitted portions
are necessary to provide context to the admitted portions, or to explain or clarify them.
The rule does not made admissible statements that would otherwise be inadmissible; it is
meant only to allow contemporaneous admission of evidence that would ordinarily not be
admissible until later stages of the trial.
Stoneking v. State, 800 P.2d 949, 951-52 (Al.App. 1990) (citations
omitted.)
Professor Cleckley explains that Rule 106
is designed to ensure "that the presentation of a writing or recorded statement
accurately reflects its true meaning." See F. Cleckley, Handbook on Evidence for West
Virginia Lawyers Sec. 1-7(C)(6) (3d ed. 1994). While Professor Cleckley states that the
remainder of the writing "might have to be admissible under some other portion of the
rules of evidence," he also recognizes that "[w]here clarification is needed it
would appear that the remainder evidence should take precedence over exclusionary
rules." Id. "Rule 106 cannot be interpreted to allow the admission of
inadmissible evidence, except to the extent that it is necessary, in fairness, to explain
what the other party has elicited." Id.See
footnote 7 7
In State v. Neal, 179 W.
Va. 705, 371 S.E.2d 633 (1988), this Court encountered an argument similar to the
Appellant's contentions. In footnote three of that opinion, we explained:
The accused assigns the admission of the
pretrial statement as error. In his statement, the accused said he was upset because, just
prior to the shooting, a person would not sell him marihuana and the accused proceeded to
fight with him. The accused had previously prevailed on a motion to suppress the statement
because of the officers' failure to take Neal before a magistrate. Later, the accused
sought to cross-examine the officers with that part of the statement where Neal said he
was upset prior to the shooting incident. The trial judge ruled that, based upon the rule
of completeness (W.Va.R.Evid. 106), if the accused intended to use that part of the
statement, the State would be free to introduce the rest of the statement concerning Neal
being upset due to the attempted marihuana purchase. See F. Cleckley, Handbook on Evidence
for West Virginia Lawyers Sec. 9.1(B) (2d ed. 1986), concerning the exercise of discretion
by a trial judge in admitting complete statement for fundamental fairness. The accused
elicited the testimony, therefore, he is not entitled to raise its admission on appeal.
Syl. pt. 2, State v. Harshbarger, 170 W. Va. 401, 294 S.E.2d 254 (1982).
179 W. Va. at 708 n.3, 371 S.E.2d at 636 n.3.
The case sub judice is
analogous to Neal to the extent that the accused elicited the testimony which triggered
the Rule 106 applicability. Based upon the Appellant's counsel's initial introduction of a
portion of Sergeant Ballard's notes by having Sergeant Ballard read them into the record,
we find that the Appellant waived any hearsay objections he may have had to that evidence.
Addressing a defendant's right to object to information initially elicited by the defense,
we explained as follows in State v. Hanson, 181 W. Va. 353, 382 S.E.2d 547 (1989):
It may well be
that Trooper Gillespie's testimony as to the suspicious origin of the fire, based on his
conversations with Corporal Humphreys and his reading of the fire marshal's investigatory
report, was hearsay and inadmissible. However, defense counsel not only failed to object
to this testimony, but actually elicited it in the first instance on cross-examination of
Trooper Gillespie.
In syllabus point two of State v. McWilliams, 177 W. Va. 369, 352 S.E.2d 120 (1986), we observed: " 'An appellant or plaintiff in error will not be permitted
to complain of error in the admission of evidence which he offered or elicited, and this
is true even of a defendant in a criminal case.' Syl. pt. 2, State v. Bowman, 155 W. Va.
562, 184 S.E.2d 314 (1971)."
Professor Cleckley traces the common law
forefather of Rule 106 to pre-1900 cases such as Schwarzbach v. Ohio Protective Union, 25
W. Va. 622 (1885), wherein the Court stated that "a party offering in evidence a
written paper must offer the whole, and when a plaintiff offers a paper, his opponent is
entitled to insist, as he did in this case, that the whole be introduced as part of
plaintiff's case." Thus, the admission by the lower court of the remainder of the
notes in the present case is nothing innovative or unconventional. It is firmly founded in
the common law rule of completeness and its modification and enhancement through Rule 106.
As recognized above, our review of the lower court's admission is limited to the abuse of
discretion standard. We cannot conclude, based upon the evidence of record before us, that
the lower court abused its discretion in deeming the remainder of the notes admissible
under Rule 106.
Moreover, even if we were
to find that the lower court abused its discretion in the admission, prejudice must be
demonstrated to reverse a conviction based upon erroneous admission of evidence. In
syllabus point seven of Torrence v. Kusminsky, 185 W. Va. 734, 408 S.E.2d 684 (1991), we
explained that "'[a] judgment will not be reversed because of the admission of
improper or irrelevant evidence when it is clear that the verdict of the jury could not
have been affected thereby.' Syllabus Point 7, Starcher v. South Penn Oil Co., 81 W. Va.
587, 95 S.E. 28 (1918)." In light of other evidence of the transaction at issue and
the Appellant's involvement therein, the effect of the introduction of the remainder of
the officer's notes was negligible.See footnote 8 8 In fact, in this particular circumstance, the notes may actually have
improved the Appellant's case since the remainder of the notes did not contradict the
portion read into evidence regarding the giving of $10 in change to Mr. Hicks. If defense
counsel's objective was to present the jury with conflicting testimony regarding the drug
exchange and the individual who actually consummated the sale with Mr. Hicks, certainly
introduction of the notes in their entirety, indicating that it was not the Appellant who
gave Mr. Hicks the change, was not injurious to the Appellant.
We affirm the decision of
the lower court.
Affirmed.
Footnote: 1 1 Mr. Gray was
charged with violating West Virginia Code § 60A-4-401(a)(i)[1983], which states in
pertinent part:
(a) Except as authorized by this chapter,
it is unlawful for any person to manufacture, deliver, or possess with intent to
manufacture or deliver, a controlled substance.
Any person who violates this subsection
with respect to:
(I) A controlled substance classified in
Schedule I or II which is a narcotic drug, is guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction,
may be imprisoned in the penitentiary for not less than one year nor more than fifteen
years, or fined not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, or both.
Footnote: 2 2 The section that
Ballard read stated:
"[Lawson] went around [the] house and came back out, and he showed me three 50s [the cocaine], and I took one and gave him the $60 and he gave me $10 change."
Footnote: 3 3 Hearsay is defined as "a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." West Virginia Rule of Evidence 801(c)[1994]. Hearsay is not admissible unless it falls under one of the exceptions that are enumerated in Rules 803 and 804 of the West Virginia Rules of Evidence.
Footnote: 4 4 Arizona Rule 106
is similar to West Virginia Rule 106, as follows:
When a writing or recorded statement or part thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require the introduction at that time of any other part or any other writing or recorded statement which ought in fairness to be considered contemporaneously with it.
Footnote: 5 5 Wyo. R. Evid. 106 provides: "When a writing or recorded statement or part thereof is introduced by a party, an adverse party may require him at that time to introduce any other part or any other writing or recorded statement which ought in fairness to be considered contemporaneously with it."
Footnote: 6 6 Iowa Rule 106
provides as follows:
When an act, declaration, conversation, writing, or recorded statement, or part thereof, is introduced by a party, any other part or any other act, declaration, conversation, writing, or recorded statement is admissible when necessary in the interest of fairness, a clear understanding, or an adequate explanation.
Footnote: 7 7 We also note that the remainder evidence admitted through Rule 106 may not technically meet the definition of hearsay in some circumstances. If the remainder evidence is introduced for the purpose of providing context for the portion of the writing already utilized, rather then being offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted, the remainder evidence is not technically hearsay, pursuant to the definition of hearsay in Rule 801(c). That rule defines hearsay as "a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted."
Footnote: 8 8 We do note, however, that the better practice is for lower courts to review the remainder evidence to determine the portions of the remainder, whether in part or in whole, to be properly admitted under the Rule 106 standard. Rule 106 does not require introduction of the entire document, but rather only that portion of the remainder of the document which explains or clarifies the previously admitted portion.
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