United States v. Matthew Wayne Tome

61 F.3d 1446, 42 Fed. R. Serv. 699, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 20405, 1995 WL 448878
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJuly 31, 1995
Docket92-2104
StatusPublished
Cited by122 cases

This text of 61 F.3d 1446 (United States v. Matthew Wayne Tome) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Matthew Wayne Tome, 61 F.3d 1446, 42 Fed. R. Serv. 699, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 20405, 1995 WL 448878 (10th Cir. 1995).

Opinions

OPINION ON REMAND

TACHA, Circuit Judge.

I. BACKGROUND

A jury convicted defendant Matthew Wayne Tome of aggravated sexual abuse in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153, 2241(c), and 2246(2)(A) and (B).1 In his appeal to this court, defendant challenged the admissibility of the hearsay statements relayed by six witnesses. Each witness related out-of-court statements made by the child victim (A.T.). We concluded that the testimony of these witnesses was admissible because it was not hearsay under the Federal Rules of Evidence and affirmed defendant’s conviction. United States v. Tome, 3 F.3d 342, 347 (10th Cir.1993), rev’d, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 696, 130 [1449]*1449L.Ed.2d 574 (1995). We reasoned that the government offered the testimony of these six witnesses to rebut defendant’s implied charge that the victim fabricated her allegations. Id. at 349. Consequently, we held that, even though A.T. made the statements after her alleged motive to fabricate had arisen, the statements were prior consistent statements admissible under Fed.R.Evid. 801(d)(1)(B). Id. at 351.

The United States Supreme Court reversed our decision. Tome v. United States, - U.S. -, -, 115 S.Ct. 696, 705, 130 L.Ed.2d 574 (1995). Specifically, the Court held that Rule 801(d)(1)(B) “permits the introduction of a declarant’s consistent out-of-court statements to rebut a charge of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive only when those statements were made before the charged recent fabrication or improper influence or motive.” Id.

The case is now before us on remand.2 Pursuant to our order, the parties have submitted supplemental briefs addressing the remaining issues.3 On remand, we must first determine whether the challenged evidence could have been admitted under another rule of evidence. See Fortier v. Dona Anna Plaza Partners, 747 F.2d 1324, 1331 (10th Cir.1984) (“We may affirm the rulings on admission of evidence if that evidence is admissible under any of the Federal Rules of Evidence.”). If we find that any of the statements were inadmissible, we must then assess whether the district court’s error in admitting them was nevertheless harmless. See United States v. Flanagan, 34 F.3d 949, 955 (10th Cir.1994).

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Evidentiary decisions rest within the sound discretion of the trial court, and we review those decisions only for an abuse of that discretion. United States v. Cestnik, 36 F.3d 904, 906 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 1156, 130 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1994). Our review is especially deferential when the challenged ruling concerns the admissibility of evidence that is allegedly hearsay. Id. at 906-07. “Finally, we consider the record as a whole in reviewing evidentia-ry rulings.” Id. at 907.

III. DISCUSSION

A. Testimony of Karen Kuper, Laura Reich, and Jean Spiegel

We first address the testimony of three pediatricians who examined A.T. In their testimony, the three doctors relayed statements made by A.T. either before or during the doctors’ physical examinations of the child. At trial, the district court admitted the doctors’ hearsay testimony under both Rules 801(d)(1)(B) and 803(4).

Although hearsay testimony is generally inadmissible, Fed.R.Evid. 802, the Federal Rules of Evidence contain a number of exceptions to the hearsay prohibition. See Fed.R.Evid. 803, 804. One of these exceptions, Rule 803(4), makes admissible “[s]tatements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment and describing medical history, or past or present symptoms, pain, or sensations, or the inception or general character of the cause or external source thereof insofar as reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment.” Fed.R.Evid. 803(4). This exception is premised on the theory that a patient’s statements to her physician are likely to be particularly reliable because the patient has a self-interested motive to be truthful: She knows that the efficacy of her medical treatment depends upon the accuracy of the information she provides to the doctor. United States v. Joe, 8 F.3d 1488, 1493 (10th Cir.1993), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 114 S.Ct. 1236, 127 L.Ed.2d 579 (1994). Stated differently, “a statement made in the course of procuring medical services, where the declarant knows that a false statement may cause misdiagnosis or mistreatment, [1450]*1450carries special guarantees of credibility.” White v. Illinois, 502 U.S. 346, 356, 112 S.Ct. 736, 743, 116 L.Ed.2d 848 (1992).

A declarant’s statement to a physician that identifies the person responsible for the declarant’s injuries is ordinarily inadmissible under Rule 803(4) because the assailant’s identity is usually unnecessary either for accurate diagnosis or effective treatment. Joe, 8 F.3d at 1494. This court held in Joe, however, that a hearsay statement revealing the identity of a sexual abuser who is a member of the victim’s family or household “is admissible under Rule 803(4) where the abuser has such an intimate relationship with the victim that the abuser’s identity becomes ‘reasonably pertinent’ to the victim’s proper treatment.” Id. at 1495. In so holding, we reasoned that

[a]ll victims of domestic sexual abuse suffer emotional and psychological injuries, the exact nature and extent of which depend on the identity of the abuser. The physician generally must know who the abuser was in order to render proper treatment because the physician’s treatment will necessarily differ when the abuser is a member of the victim’s family or household. In the domestic sexual abuse case, for example, the treating physician may recommend special therapy or counseling and instruct the victim to remove herself from the dangerous environment by leaving the home and seeking shelter elsewhere.

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Bluebook (online)
61 F.3d 1446, 42 Fed. R. Serv. 699, 1995 U.S. App. LEXIS 20405, 1995 WL 448878, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-matthew-wayne-tome-ca10-1995.