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State v. Cook4/12/1991
nclude the full requirements for notice set forth in R.C. 119.07. Because there is not substantiasevidence supporting the elements of the crime for which appellant was convicted in the lower court, the lower court could not "* * * reasonably conclude that all the elements of an offense have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Eley (1978), 56 Ohio St.2d 169, 10 O.O.3d 340, 383 N.E.2d 132, at syllabus. Appellant's first assignment of error is well taken.
In his second assignment of error, appellant contends that he was denied a fair trial because the BMV report which was admitted into evidence was prejudicial hearsay evidence. In support of that contention, appellant argues that the BMV report was not a public record or report pursuant to Evid.R. 803(8) because there was no extrinsic evidence of authenticity associated with the report, and because the certification page was faulty in three ways: (1) the certification page was signed by someone without apparent authority; (2) the certification page lacks a discernible seal; and (3) there was no specific listing of exactly what documents were attached to be certified. In addition, appellant contends that the report was not admissible because it contained irrelevant information such as correspondence to and from Allstate Insurance Company regarding the accident which occurred in 1988, an accident not in issue at trial, and because it contained a report of a pretrial suspension of appellant's license for driving under the influence . While appellant's contentions that the report constitutes hearsay and contains irrelevant information may be correct, appellant's second assignment of error does not appear to be well taken because appellant has failed to specify any prejudicial effect the admission of the report had upon appellant. The arresting officer testified at trial that he had learned appellant's driver's license was suspended after reading a printout sheet from the BMV. The officer identified the printout sheet during his testimony. Therefore, an independent source existed to verify that appellant's driver's license was suspended at the time of his arrest for driving under the influence. The Supreme Court of Ohio has stated:
"Error in the admission of evidence in criminal proceedings is harmless if there is no reasonable possibility that the evidence may have contributed to the accused's conviction. In order to hold the error harmless, the court must be able to declare a belief that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt." State v. Bayless (1976), 48 Ohio St.2d 73, 2 O.O.3d 249, 357 N.E.2d 1035, paragraph seven of the syllabus, vacated on other grounds (1978), 438 U.S. 911, 98 S.Ct. 3135, 57 L.Ed.2d 1155.
Since the remainder of the evidence complained of by appellant consists of a pretrial suspension of appellant's license for driving under the influence , a charge the jury rejected when it found appellant not guilty of driving under the influence, and of correspondence between Allstate Insurance Compansand the BMV relating to the insurance company's query about the existence of an accident report, a report appellant admitted at trial he never filed, this court is able to declare the belief that any error committed when the evidence was admitted was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Appellant's second assignment of error is not well taken.
Because appellant's first assignment of error is well taken, the judgment of the Bowling Green Municipal Court is reversed. Appellee is ordered to pay the court costs of this appeal.
Judgment reversed.
HANDWORK, P.J., GLASSER and MELVIN L. RESNICK, JJ., concur.
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