James v. State
| Decision Date | 08 May 1998 |
| Citation | 723 So.2d 776 |
| Parties | Joe Nathan JAMES, Jr. v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Bryan A. Stevenson, Birmingham, for appellant.
Joe Nathan James, appellant, pro se.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen.; and Vernon Barnett and Rosa H. Davis, asst. attys. gen., for appellee.
Joe Nathan James, Jr., appeals from his conviction of capital murder, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Ala.Code 1975. On August 26, 1996, James was tried before a jury on the charge that he murdered Faith Hall during the commission of burglary in the first degree, on August 15, 1994. Following the guilty verdict, the jury recommended, by a vote of 10-2, that James receive the death penalty. The trial court imposed the death sentence recommended by the jury. James appeals.
The State's evidence tends to show the following. James was a former boyfriend of Faith Hall's and had a history of harassing her. On August 15, 1994, Faith and a friend, Tammy Sneed, were returning to Sneed's Birmingham apartment after a day of shopping. When they reached Sneed's apartment, they hurried inside, having seen James behind them in the rearview mirror of their car. Inside the apartment, Hall, Sneed, and a neighbor, Bridget Gregory, discussed what they should do about James. Sneed's two children were also in the apartment. They decided they should notify the police. When Gregory left to telephone the police, James was at the apartment door and forced his way in as Hall and Sneed tried to hold the door closed. Once inside the apartment, James, armed with a pistol, accused Hall of being unfaithful. After initially putting the pistol in his waistband, James drew the weapon and, as the women tried to run from the room, shot Faith Hall. After she fell, James shot Hall again. Faith Hall died of multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, and abdomen.
Because we are compelled to reverse based on the first issue, only two issues will be discussed. We discuss the second issue, not because it is reversible error, but out of our concern that on retrial it could possibly lead to error warranting reversal.
James argues that the trial court erroneously admitted into evidence four police reports incriminating him in prior uncharged misconduct. Specifically, he argues the reports were inadmissible because, he says, they contained inadmissible hearsay.
In a pretrial proceeding, the prosecutor informed the trial court that he intended to introduce four "Incident/Offense" reports created by the Birmingham Police Department, which resulted from complaints filed by Faith Hall and her grandmother during the year preceding her death. There had been three harassment complaints and a burglary complaint. In each incident, the police responded to the complaint and, in the normal course of their duty, filed a police report, which included a synopsis of Ms. Hall's or her grandmother's complaint. The pertinent parts of the reports are as follows:
There was never any additional investigation, arrest, or a prosecution following any of the complaints. The prosecutor informed the court that he wished to introduce the police reports into evidence under Rule 404(b), Alabama Rules of Evidence, "for the purposes of proving intent, for purposes of proving motive, for purposes of proving preparation, plan and knowledge, and identity." (R. 150.) James objected to the introduction of the police reports on the basis that they were hearsay, noting the reports were being offered to prove that Ms. Hall's complaints documented in them were true. The prosecutor argued the reports were admissible as a business records exception to the hearsay rule. The trial court overruled James's objections and, after the prosecutor called the police officers who made the police reports as witnesses and laid a foundation for a business records exception, admitted all four police reports.
"Hearsay evidence is testimony in court, or written evidence, of a statement made out of court, the statement being offered as an assertion to show the truth of matters asserted therein, and thus resting for its value upon the credibility of the out-of-court asserter." Edward W. Cleary, McCormick on Evidence 584 (1972). Hearsay is not admissible except as provided by the Alabama Rules of Evidence or by other rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Alabama or by statute. Ala.R.Evid. 802. Hearsay is not admissible because it violates the right of confrontation and cross-examination guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. To overcome the inability to confront a witness, a statement by an out-of-court declarant must bear an "adequate indicia of reliability." Reliability can be inferred in a case where the evidence falls within a firmly rooted hearsay exception. Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990), quoting Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 65, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980).
The "firmly rooted hearsay exception" relied upon in this case was the business records exception found in Ala.R.Evid. 803(6). Under Rule 803(6), the following would not be excluded by the hearsay rule, without regard to the availability of the declarant:
"A [report] of acts, events, conditions opinions, or diagnoses, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted, by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the [report], as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness."
The underlying rationale behind this exception is that business records have the "earmark of reliability" or "probability of trustworthiness," because they reflect the day-to-day operations of the enterprise and are relied upon in the conduct of business. Palmer v. Hoffman, 318 U.S. 109, 63 S.Ct. 477, 87 L.Ed. 645 (1943).
In this case, the prosecutor called each police officer who created a police report as a result of a complaint from Ms. Hall or her grandmother. Each police officer testified that his or her report was filled out as part of the normal duties as Birmingham police officers; that each report was dutifully logged in to precinct headquarters, as required; and that each report was a true and accurate copy of the report the officer had filled out as a result of the complaint. Under cross-examination, the police officers all agreed that they had been dispatched in response to a complaint, and that their job was to take the complaint and to file the report. None could vouch for the credibility of Ms. Hall or her grandmother; none made an additional investigation to try and prove the complaints; and none took a sworn statement from the complainants. None of the officers were aware whether a warrant was ever made out against James as a result of the complaints.
In his objection at trial, James argued to the trial court that the police reports were inadmissible hearsay because they contained "factual information" and were being introduced to prove the truth of the matter therein. He pointed out that, while the police may have had a duty to create their reports, Ms. Hall was under no legal duty to make a complaint. (R. 153-54.) In other words, James was arguing that the hearsay within the hearsay was the actual reason for the state's offering the reports, and that, therefore, they should not have been admissible.
Ala. R. Evid. 805 states that hearsay included within hearsay is not excluded under the hearsay rule if each part of the combined statements comes within an exception to the hearsay rule. According to the...
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