In Re TY.B. and in Re Ti.B.; T.B., Appellant (D.C. 2005)

Summary

The court held that the trial court improperly admitted extensive hearsay statements attributed to the children's missing mother against their father, and that the father preserved his objections. Because the inadmissible hearsay was central and pervasive, the court could not conclude that the error was harmless, so it reversed the neglect adjudications and custody award and remanded. Judge Reid, dissenting, would have affirmed because substantial admissible evidence independently supported the neglect finding and made the hearsay error harmless.

Holding

Admissibility of the mother's statements as admissions of a party-opponent. The mother's out-of-court statements were not admissions of the father. A statement is admissible as a party admission when offered against the party who made it, and the parents' joint obligation to care for their children did not create a basis for admitting the mother's accusations against the father.

Preservation of the hearsay objection. The father adequately preserved his hearsay challenge. His initial objection, his later statement that the declarants were not party-opponents, and the trial judge's clear indication that further objections would be futile were sufficient.

Alternative hearsay exceptions. The trial court could not retroactively admit all of the statements under state-of-mind, present-sense-impression, or excited-utterance exceptions. The District did not properly offer the statements under those exceptions, no adequate foundation was laid, and the record did not establish that all statements satisfied any exception.

Harmlessness of the hearsay error. The erroneous admission of the hearsay was not harmless. The court lacked fair assurance that the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error because the hearsay constituted the greater part of the District's evidence and supplied the gravamen and meaning of the case.

Summary

Holding

Cited authorities