State v. Golphin8/25/2000
t admission of the robbery report violated his Confrontation Clause rights.
Next, we turn to whether admission of the robbery report violated the Rules of Evidence. Kevin objected to the introduction of the robbery report without specifying the grounds for the objection; therefore, we rely on the rules governing general objections. We have previously stated that a general objection is "ineffective unless there is no proper purpose for which the evidence is admissible. The burden is on the defendant to show that there was no proper purpose for which the evidence could be admitted." State v. Young, 317 N.C. 396, 412, 346 S.E.2d 626, 635 (1986) (citation omitted); see also State v. Moseley, 338 N.C. 1, 32, 449 S.E.2d 412, 431 (1994), cert. denied, 514 U.S. 1091, 131 L. Ed. 2d 738 (1995).
"Relevant evidence" is "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 401; see also State v. Perry, 298 N.C. 502, 510, 259 S.E.2d 496, 501 (1979) (holding, " enerally, evidence is relevant if it has any logical tendency, however slight, to prove a fact in issue in the case"). Evidence which has no tendency to prove a fact in issue is, however, inadmissible. See N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 402 (1999); Perry, 298 N.C. at 510, 259 S.E.2d at 501. Pursuant to Rule 403, "the determination of whether relevant evidence should be excluded is a matter left to the sound discretion of the trial court, and the trial court can be reversed only upon a showing of abuse of discretion." Wallace, 351 N.C. at 523, 528 S.E.2d at 352-53; see also Pierce, 346 N.C. at 490, 488 S.E.2d at 587.
Furthermore, evidentiary rules define hearsay as "a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." N.C.G.S. § 8C-1, Rule 801(c) (1999). Out-of-court statements offered for purposes other than to prove the truth of the matter asserted are not considered hearsay. State v. Thomas, 350 N.C. 315, 339, 514 S.E.2d 486, 501, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 145 L. Ed. 2d 388 (1999). We have held "statements of one person to another to explain subsequent actions taken by the person to whom the statement was made are admissible as non-hearsay evidence." Id.; see also State v. Morston, 336 N.C. 381, 399, 445 S.E.2d 1, 11 (1994); State v. Coffey, 326 N.C. 268, 282, 389 S.E.2d 48, 56 (1990).
The robbery report in the instant case is relevant evidence. The statements made to Lt. Kirby were vital to the identification of Kevin and Tilmon as the suspects in the armed robbery. The declarant provided the background information in order to show his knowledge of the suspects. Moreover, the report does not indicate the Fayetteville police actually discovered drugs in Kevin's luggage. The declarant merely informed Kevin and Tilmon that if the police discovered drugs in the luggage, then the luggage would not be returned to them. In addition, the report was admissible for non-hearsay purposes. The report was not offered to prove the truth of the statements made by the declarant to police, but to help explain the subsequent actions taken by Lt. Kirby in traveling to the home of Kevin and Tilmon's grandparents, which in turn furthered the investigation of this case. As we have found that the robbery report was admissible, Kevin has not met his burden of showing "there was no proper purpose for which the evidence could be admitted." Young, 317 N.C. at 412, 346 S.E.2d at 635. Therefore, we conclude Kevin's general objection was ineffective, and the trial court did not err in admitting the robber
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