Lead Opinion
Waylon Allen Cox (“appellant”) appeals an order of the Pulaski County Circuit Court (“trial court”) revoking his pre
I. BACKGROUND
On appeal, “we consider the evidence and all reasonable inferences flowing from that evidence in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth, the prevailing party at trial.” Williams v. Commonwealth,
On September 15, 2014, appellant appeared before the trial court for a probation violation proceeding, which arose from alleged breaches of the terms of his suspended sentences which had been entered in 2004 for convictions of robbery and malicious wounding. Appellant was charged with having violated his probation by failing to appеar for his drug screening on February 19, 2014, by testing positive for cocaine on January 15, 2014, and on February 11, 2014, and by failing to pay court costs.
At the hearing, the Commonwealth called probation officer Dana Manns (“Manns”) to testify as its sole witness. During direct examination, she admitted she did not know appellant. At the time of the alleged probation violations, appellant had been living in Bassett, Virginia, under the supervision of the Martinsville probation office. Because appellant wаs originally convicted in Pulaski County, however, the probation revoca
Over appellant’s objection, the Commonwealth offered into evidence Manns’s testimony concerning the contents of the probation violation report she received from Thomas E. Bullock, Jr. (“Bullock”), the Martinsville probation officer who had been supervising appellant’s probation. Appellant objected to his lack of opportunity to cross-examine Bullock, who purportedly authored the report,
This appeal followed.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW
“On appellate review, оrdinarily, ‘the determination of the admissibility of relevant evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial court subject to the test of abuse of that discretion.’ ” Henderson v. Commonwealth,
III. ANALYSIS
On appeal, appellant contends that the trial court erred when it “allow[ed] hearsay evidence over the objection of [ajppellant’s counsel.” Specifically, appellant argues the probation violation report is testimonial and its contents are therefore subject to his Fourteenth Amendment right to confrontation, unless good cause is shown. Appellant maintains that because the trial court failed to make a finding of good cause, this Court must conduct a de novo review of the record, and further contends that suсh a review will fail to substantiate the necessary finding of good cause.
In response, the Commonwealth argues that appellant’s assignment of error has been waived under Rule 5A:18 because appellant either failed to sufficiently state his objection during the probation hearing or waived his objection on cross-
A. Rule 5A:18
1. Preservation of Objection
On the issue of preservation, the Commonwealth argues that “Henderson makes clear that a defendant must not only object оn due process confrontation grounds but when overruled, ask the trial court to state on the record the specific ground upon which the court has relied for not allowing confrontation.” Appellee’s Br. at 11-12 (emphasis added). Because appellant only objected to his lack of confrontation but did not further ask the court to state its grounds for overruling the objection, the Commonwealth contends appellant’s objection was not preserved.
Appеllant counters that the objection was preserved. Specifically, he contends that the purpose behind the rule requiring contemporaneous objection is “so that the trial court has ‘an opportunity to rule intelligently on the issues presented, thus avoiding unnecessary appeals and reversals.’ ” Brown v. Commonwealth,
[The defendant] still has a right to cross examine, to due process right, and from the report we have, we have no idea about the — who did the test, what test was used, whether a chance — custody was maintained, you know, we just don’t have any testimony here.... [W]hen he is up for revocation hearing and he has this much time hanging over his head, I submit that the Commonwealth’s Attorney has an obligation to come forth with testimony that is subject to cross examination I would think.
Thereafter defense counsel specificаlly referenced the holdings of Henderson and Melendez-Diaz in support of appellant’s right to confrontation.
Nonetheless, the Court went on to review the record to determine whether “good cause” did exist. Id. Accordingly, violating the limited right to confrontation afforded in revocation hearings was deemed distinct from failing to articulate the good cause basis for allowing hearsay evidence. In the case at bar, aрpellant has not assigned error to the trial court’s failure to state its grounds for the record, but has assigned error to the violation of his right to confrontation.
Furthermore, Rule 5A:18 provides, in part, that in order to preserve an issue for appeal, “an objection [must be] stated with reasonable certainty at the time of the ruling.” (Emphasis added).
The purpose of Rule 5A:18 is to “enable the ruling court to take any necessary corrective action,” Saunders v. Commonwealth,38 Va.App. 192 , 195,562 S.E.2d 367 , 369 (2002), and to “rule intelligently on the issues presented,” Weidman v. Babcock,241 Va. 40 , 44,400 S.E.2d 164 , 167 (1991).
Johnson v. Commonwealth,
*516 [f]ormal exceptions to rulings or orders of the court shall be unnecessary.... [I]t shall be sufficient that a party, at the time the ruling or order of the court is made or sought, makes known to the court the action which he desires the court to take or his objections to the action of the court and his grounds therefor.
(Emphasis added).
Appellant’s objections at the hearing, asserting his right to confront the witness against him and contesting the validity of the written report, were sufficiently specific to give the trial court and the Commonwealth an opportunity to respond to the objection he raises on appeal. Appellant’s references to Henderson as well as rеferences to his right to cross-examine adverse witnesses and his right to due process, stated, with reasonable certainty, the grounds supporting his objection at the time of the trial court’s ruling. The Commonwealth and the trial court had ample opportunity to respond to these grounds and in fact did so. Accordingly, this Court finds appellant’s assignment of error has been properly preserved.
2. Waiver of Objection
The Commonwealth alternatively asserts that even if appellant sufficiently preserved his objection, he subsequently waived his objection by eliciting testimony from Manns about the report. Specifically, the Commonwealth argues appellant assumed a position inconsistent with his hearsay objection by cross-examining Manns, establishing that the report stated appellant completed a treatment program and had been employed for a period during his probation.
“The rule is that where an accused unsuccessfully objects to evidence which he сonsiders improper and then on his own behalf introduces evidence of the same character, he thereby waives his objection, and we cannot reverse for the alleged error.” Saunders v. Commonwealth,
have never held that the mere cross-examination of a witness or the introduction of rebuttal evidence, either or both, will constitute a waiver of an exception to testimony which has been duly taken. To constitute such a waiver the party objecting to the evidence must have gone further and introduced on his own behalf testimony similar to that to which the objection applies.
Culbertson v. Commonwealth,
In this case, the fact that appellant cross-examined Manns on the contents of the probation violation report does not constitute a waiver of appellant’s objection to its character as hearsay and the lack of opportunity to confront the witness against him. Notably, the report was introduced by the Commonwealth and not “invited by” the appellant; rather, the report was admitted over appellant’s objection. Furthermore, appellant did not go “further and introduce[] on his own behalf’ other similar hearsay testimony but was “merely cross-examining” the witness about the contents of the report. A reading of appellant’s cross-examination reveals his purpose was to highlight the lack of Manns’s personal knowledge — the very basis for appellant’s original objection — by asking certain questions such as “And of course you have no knowledgе about his work or where he was living or anything like that?” and “Do you know if it’s an in-house program, or anything like that?” This Court, therefore, finds appellant did not waive his objection to the evidence by cross-examining Manns on the contents of the report.
B. Fourteenth Amendment Due Process
On the merits, appellant claims that the trial court erred in admitting testimonial hearsay without making the requisite finding of good cause. The Commonwealth argues that although “[t]he record ... lacks sufficient information for this Court to” analyze the reliability of thе evidence or balance the
The United States Constitution provides that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const, amend. XIV. Therefore, although the full Sixth Amendment right to confrontation does not apply outside of a criminal trial, “a more limited right of confrontation [is] included in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, applicable to parole and probation revocation proceedings.” Henderson,
Despite the frequent admission of hearsay in revocation hearings, “hearsay that is testimonial in nature ... is subject to the limited confrontation right provided by the Fourteenth Amendment.” Henderson,
(a) written notice of the claimed violations of parole; (b) disclosure to the paroleе of evidence against him; (c) opportunity to be heard in person and to present witnesses and documentary evidence; (d) the right to confront and cross-examine adverse mtnesses (unless the hearing officer specifically finds good cause for not allowing confrontation); (e) a “neutral and detached” hearing body such as a traditional parole board, members of which need not be judicial officers or lawyers; and (f) a written statement by the factfinders as to the evidence relied on and reasons for revoking parole.
“Two tests have emerged for determining whether the denial of the right to confrontatiоn ... will comport with constitutional due process” to support a finding of good cause. Henderson,
In Henderson, the Supreme Court affirmed the trial court, finding there was good cause to admit the testimonial hearsay during the probation revocation proceeding.
In this case, however, we cannot infer the trial court was relying upon good cause when it admitted the probation violation report. In contrast to the trial court’s silence in Henderson, the trial court in this case stated its reason for overruling appellant’s objection and admitting the report. Instead of “specifically finding] good cause,” the court articulated that it was denying appellant’s right to confrontation because “this is a probation violation and this is very customary that the reports come from another jurisdiction.” This stated reason dispels any notion that the trial court made a ruling based upon “good cause.” Neither was any basis shown in the record for an implied finding that the report contаined substantial guaranties of trustworthiness or a finding that the interests of the Commonwealth outweighed the rights of appellant. In fact, as the Commonwealth conceded on brief, “[t]he record does not contain a reliability or balancing analysis as discussed in Henderson.... The record contains no proffer and lacks sufficient information for this Court to conduct such an analysis.”
Having concluded that the evidence was admitted erroneously, this Court must now determine whether that error was harmless. Code § 8.01-678; Walker v. Commonwealth,
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, this Court reverses the ruling of the trial court because appellant’s right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was violated, and remands for further proceedings if the Commonwealth be so advised.
Reversed and remanded.
Notes
. The report was signed by Manns on behalf of Bullock.
. Although this argument is not raised on appeal, it is worth noting that the safeguards recognized in Melendez-Diaz for "notice-and-demand” statutes, such as Code § 19.2-187.1, are only applicable to the prosecutor’s "intent to use an analyst’s report as evidence at trial.”
. Although this Court is nоt bound by concessions of law made by either party, Wright v. Commonwealth,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
I join entirely in the analysis and judgment of my colleagues in this case based upon our Supreme Court’s decision in Henderson v. Commonwealth,
The Supreme Court of the United States has yet to review either the “reliability test” or the “balancing test” used in the Commonwealth to determine whether “good cause” exists. I write separately to reiterate my position that a reliability test to establish “good cause” for denying the right of confrontation in a probation violation hearing is constitutionally problematic in the wake of Crawford v. Washington,
I realize that Crawford focuses on the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. “Nevertheless, the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process protections include a right to confrontation in revocation hearings that the courts of the Commonwealth must рrotect and we should provide some direction to the circuit courts of the methodology for doing so.” Henderson,
[a]dmitting statements deemed reliable by a judge is fundamentally at odds with the right of confrontation. To be sure, the Clause’s ultimate goal is to ensure reliability of evidencе, but it is a procedural rather than a substantive guarantee. It commands, not that evidence be reliable, but that reliability be assessed in a particular manner: by testing in the crucible of cross-examination.
The Clause thus reflects a judgment, not only about the desirability of reliable evidence (a point on which there could be little dissent), but about how reliability can best be determined.
Crawford,
Thus, if “reliability” no longer has any place in a Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause inquiry, I continue to fail to see how it could retain any vitality in its separate and diluted due process guise. See Henderson,
. Under the balancing test,
[t]he weight to be given the right to confrontation in a particular case depends on two primary factors: the importance of the hearsay evidence to the court's ultimate finding and the nature of the facts to be proven by the hearsay evidence.... [T]he more significant particular evidence is to a finding, the more important it is that the [probationer] be given an opportunity to demonstrate that the proffered evidence does not reflect “verified fact.”
Henderson v. Commonwealth,
