Forrest v. State

721 A.2d 1271, 1999 Del. LEXIS 8, 1999 WL 9768
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedJanuary 6, 1999
Docket509, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 721 A.2d 1271 (Forrest v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Forrest v. State, 721 A.2d 1271, 1999 Del. LEXIS 8, 1999 WL 9768 (Del. 1999).

Opinion

WALSH, Justice:

In this appeal from the Superior Court the appellant, Edward Forrest (“Forrest”), challenges his conviction, after a jury trial, of two felonies — Exploitation of an Infirm Adult and Theft. His principal claim of error concerns the admission under Delaware Rules of Evidence 803(3) of evidence relating to the existing state of mind of the alleged victim. Forrest contends that the admission of these statements violated his confrontation rights under both the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. I, § 7 of the Delaware Constitution. Additionally, Forrest asserts a double jeopardy claim, attacks the sufficiency of the evidence and complains of prosecutorial misconduct.

We find that the admission of the victim’s statements pursuant to D.R.E. 803(3) and D.R.E. 403 was not an abuse of discretion by the Superior Court. We further find no merit in Forrest’s contention that the limiting instruction regarding these statements was insufficient to obviate the risk of unfair prejudice. We hold that the exception to the hearsay rule for statements of a declarant’s then existing state of mind, emotion, sensation or physical condition is a “firmly rooted” hearsay exception satisfying the requirement for Confrontation Clause purposes that such statements bear adequate indicia of reliability.

We also find no merit to Forrest’s claims of double jeopardy, insufficiency of the evidence or prosecutorial misconduct. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.

. I.

Forrest’s convictions stem from an incident which occurred on December 1, 1994 involving Ivan Sebesan (“Ivan”) who lived on Washington Avenue in Claymont, Delaware. Ivan was approximately eighty years old. His wife had died in 1992, and his two children lived out of state. There was testimony that supported a finding that Ivan was exhibiting symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in December, 1994, even though his family physician saw nothing indicating a problem during a visit on December 5,1994.

A neighbor testified that on December 1, 1994 he saw a green pick-up truck parked in front of Ivan’s house in the early afternoon, and there was a ladder leaning up against the front of the house. The neighbor testified that he saw three men and they were there “a half hour to an hour at the most.” The neighbor further testified that the pickup truck bed was empty, and he observed no tools or equipment in the area. Later that day a paint can lid and paint can labels were found in the gutter in front of Ivan’s residence.

On the same day, at approximately 2:00 p.m., Forrest attempted to cash a check for $2700 at the Wilmington Trust bank in Clay-mont. The check was made out to Forrest and had been signed by Ivan, but the amount and payee were not in Ivan’s handwriting. A bank employee asked Forrest for a local address because he had presented an out of state driver’s license. The employee, who was acquainted with Ivan, also asked Forrest if he had done some work for Ivan and was told that he had done “roof repair.” The employee then discovered there were insufficient funds in the checking account to cover the check. The cheeking account had a balance of $840.47 that day. Ivan also had over $13,000 in an “instant access” savings account that permitted a transfer of funds to the checking account to prevent an overdraft if the bank received authorization.

After becoming suspicious, the employee called Ivan’s son, Dennis, whom she knew, to see if he wanted to authorize a transfer of funds from the savings account to cover the check. Dennis had a power of attorney for his father and was a joint party on the bank *1275 account. Dennis informed the employee that he had just visited with his father and did not believe that the roof needed repair. Dennis indicated that he would call Ivan to “see what’s going on.” During the time he was at the bank, Forrest became “nervous and jumpy.” Dennis called the bank employee back and instructed her not to cash the cheek. The employee decided to keep the check to prevent it being cashed elsewhere. Forrest left the bank after being informed that the bank would retain the check.

Dennis testified that when he called his father to inquire about the check, Ivan told him, “a man was driving by my house and saw a hole in my roof and came and told me about it. I had him fix it and I paid him for it.” Dennis explained to his fathei that he believed there was nothing wrong with the roof and that he was not going to authorize payment on the check. Ivan became upset with Dennis and stated that “this man was his friend,” although subsequently admitting that he did not know him. According to Dennis’ testimony, Ivan further stated to him, “he was up there for a couple of hours, and I heard him on the roof and he fixed my roof, and I owed him the money, therefore I gave him the check and they ought to cash it at the bank.” Dennis testified that Ivan was angry, stubborn and argumentative and stated “[w]hy the hell are you acting the way you’re acting and why are you doing what you’re doing, and he did a damn good job on repairing the roof.”

After talking with Ivan, Dennis called relatives and asked them to go to Ivan’s house and to call the police. After talking to Ivan, one relative testified he went outside and looked at the roof and it “looked the same as it did prior to that day.” The investigating police officer similarly testified that he did not observe any foreign substances or changes to the roof.

II.

Forrest contends that the trial court erred by admitting the statements of Ivan through the testimony of Dennis pursuant to the state of mind exception to the hearsay rule found in D.R.E. 808(3). Forrest argues that the challenged statements, having their source in the memory of a person suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, were “highly detrimental ... because it was the only evidence connecting him to the premises of the victim.” Forrest additionally claims that the limiting instruction given to the jury that the statements may be considered only for the purpose of determining the issue of Ivan’s state of mind, and not for their truth, was insufficient to “obviate prejudice” because it was “sheer fantasy” to believe that the jury could ignore the contents of the statements.

In admitting the disputed statements, the Superior Court ruled that in the overall context in which the statements were made, the proffered evidence could appreciably aid the jury in determining whether Ivan suffered from a mental defect and thus were “materially probative” of Ivan’s then existing state of mind. The court further ruled that the probative value of the statements were not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. D.R.E. 403.

A.

This Court follows an abuse of discretion standard when reviewing a trial court’s decision on* the admissibility of evidence. Williamson v. State, Del.Supr., 707 A.2d 350, 354 (1998); Longfellow v. State, Del.Supr., 688 A.2d 1370, 1372, cert. denied, — U.S. —, 117 S.Ct. 2524, 138 L.Ed.2d 1024 (1997). D.R.E. 803(3) provides an exception to the hearsay rule regardless of whether the declarant is available to testify, for a then existing mental, emotional or physical condition.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Milner
Superior Court of Delaware, 2023
Rivers v. State
183 A.3d 1240 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2018)
Graham v. State
Supreme Court of Delaware, 2017
State v. Maxwell
Superior Court of Delaware, 2017
State v. Payne
Superior Court of Delaware, 2017
State v. Rivera
Superior Court of Delaware, 2016
Goode v. State
136 A.3d 303 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2016)
Rickett v. State
Supreme Court of Delaware, 2015
Johnson v. State
983 A.2d 904 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2009)
Harris v. State
956 A.2d 1273 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2008)
State v. Greene
2006 UT App 445 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2006)
Reyes v. State
819 A.2d 305 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2003)
Jones v. State
798 A.2d 1013 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2002)
State v. McKinney
33 P.3d 234 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2001)
McGriff v. State
781 A.2d 534 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2001)
Capano v. State
781 A.2d 556 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2001)
Green v. Alfred A.I. DuPont Institute of the Nemours Foundation
759 A.2d 1060 (Supreme Court of Delaware, 2000)
People v. James
717 N.E.2d 1052 (New York Court of Appeals, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
721 A.2d 1271, 1999 Del. LEXIS 8, 1999 WL 9768, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/forrest-v-state-del-1999.