Commonwealth v. Halsted

666 A.2d 655, 542 Pa. 318, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 995
CourtSupreme Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 20, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 666 A.2d 655 (Commonwealth v. Halsted) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Halsted, 666 A.2d 655, 542 Pa. 318, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 995 (Pa. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION

NIX, Chief Justice.

Appellant, Harry Eugene Halsted, was convicted by a jury of two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse1 and indecent assault2 and sentenced to five to ten years’ imprisonment. The Superior Court affirmed the conviction and sentence, and Appellant appealed to this Court. For the reasons that follow, we reverse.

On April 6, 1987, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Steven Danko went to the home of eleven-year-old B.M. to answer a [320]*320complaint of possible child abuse. Trooper Danko interviewed B.M. in the presence of his father. The -child told the trooper that while visiting Appellant’s home with eight-year-old G.W., Appellant’s grandson, Appellant performed oral sex on him in the presence of G.W. Trooper Danko then interviewed G.W., who stated that Appellant did perform oral sex upon -B.M. and that his grandfather had told him to stand guard so they would not be discovered. G.W. also told the trooper that Appellant had performed oral sex on him once when he was five years old and once when he was four years old. Trooper Danko contemporaneously recorded the boys’ statements verbatim at the time of the interviews. Danko prepared a typewritten police report verbatim from his interview notes with G.W. either that night or the following day.

Several days later, Trooper Danko and another officer interviewed Appellant. After being advised of his constitutional right to remain silent, Appellant admitted to having performed acts of fellatio on B.M. and G.W. and provided the officers with a signed statement. Appellant was charged with two counts each of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and indecent assault.

At trial, B.M. testified that Appellant had performed oral sex on him.3 G.W. also testified at trial; however, he claimed that he had not seen Appellant engage in oral sex with B.M., that he had not acted as a look out for such an act, that he had not been sexually abused by Appellant, and that he could not recall telling Trooper Danko that such abuse had occurred. The Commonwealth unsuccessfully attempted to refresh G.W.’s recollection by confronting him with the statement he had made to Trooper Danko.

In response to G.W.’s testimony, the Commonwealth called Trooper Danko as a witness to testify as to what G.W. had told him during their interview. Following an in camera hearing, Trooper Danko was permitted to read into the record the text of G.W.’s statement from his typewritten police report [321]*321as substantive evidence of the offense. Appellant’s written admission was then admitted into evidence.

The court of common pleas cited this Court’s decision in Commonwealth v. Lively, 530 Pa. 464, 610 A.2d 7 (1992), in holding that Trooper Danko’s typewritten report of the interview he had with G.W. was admissible as substantive evidence of the crimes charged. Commonwealth v. Halsted, Nos. 1987-279 and 280, slip op. at 4 (C.P. Crawford County Jan. 11, 1994). According to the trial court, “the statement was a contemporaneous verbatim recording of the witness’ statement and therefore pursuant to Lively was admissible as substantive evidence.” Id. (citation omitted). The Superior Court affirmed, holding that Trooper Danko’s report was admissible under Lively. Commonwealth v. Halsted, 438 Pa.Super. 694, 652 A.2d 407 (1994).

We granted allocatur to address the issue of whether Trooper Danko’s typewritten report was a contemporaneous, verbatim recording of G.W.’s prior inconsistent statement, and therefore admissible as substantive evidence of the crime charged against Appellant. We now reverse.

Appellant argues that Trooper Danko’s report was not a contemporaneous, verbatim recording of G.W.’s statement and that the trial court erred in admitting it as substantive evidence. According to Appellant, in order for a prior inconsistent statement to be admissible under Lively, that statement must reach a certain level of reliability and trustworthiness which the statement in question fails to meet. In support of his position, Appellant notes that Trooper Danko’s handwritten notes which were made during his interview with G.W. were never produced at trial and that there was uncertainty as to whether the notes still existed at the time of the trial. Additionally, Appellant claims that it is the material recording of a statement which furnishes the requisite reliability and trustworthiness. It is Appellant’s assertion that allowing this statement absent the actual recording impermissibly extends this Court’s holding in Lively.

[322]*322It is the Commonwealth’s position that the statement taken by Trooper Danko from G.W. was admissible as substantive evidence as it was a contemporaneous, verbatim recording of the child’s statement. According to the Commonwealth, Trooper Danko’s testimony was properly admitted.

In Commonwealth v. Brady, 510 Pa. 123, 507 A.2d 66 (1986), this Court reconsidered the long-standing rule that a prior inconsistent statement made by a non-party witness could not be admitted substantively. In overturning that rule of law, we held that such a statement could be used as substantive evidence provided the declarant is a witness at trial and is available for cross-examination. Id. at 125, 507 A.2d at 67. In allowing a tape recorded statement which was inconsistent with a witness’ trial testimony to be admitted as substantive evidence, we noted that the declarations made in the recording were made under highly reliable circumstances.4 Id. at 133, 507 A.2d at 71. Later, in Commonwealth v. Lively, 530 Pa. 464, 610 A.2d 7 (1992), this Court was called upon to consider our decision in Brady and determine under what circumstances a prior inconsistent statement may be admitted as substantive evidence.

In Lively, the appellant was charged with first degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime. At trial, three Commonwealth witnesses refused to implicate the appellant in the murder and were then confronted with prior inconsistent statements they had made. We held that such statements “may be used as substantive evidence only when the statement is given under oath at a formal legal proceeding; or [when] the statement ha[s] been reduced to a writing signed and adopted by the witness; or [when] a statement ... is a contemporaneous verbatim recording of the witness’s statements.” 530 Pa. 464, 471, 610 A.2d 7, 10 (1992). This was the standard to be used in determining whether the witnesses’ statements were made under highly reliable circum[323]*323stances such that they could be admitted as substantive evidence. Id. Two of the statements did not meet any of the criteria established and were therefore inadmissible as substantive evidence. Id. at 471-72, 610 A.2d at 10-11. One of these statements was a memorandum prepared by the interviewing detective. We held that although the witness’ statements were reduced to a writing, it had not been signed or adopted by him.

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Commonwealth v. Halsted
666 A.2d 655 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
666 A.2d 655, 542 Pa. 318, 1995 Pa. LEXIS 995, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-halsted-pa-1995.