Aaron Browning v. David Hickman

In this civil appeal, the majority has upheld two evidentiary rulings made by the *651circuit court: one ruling admitted the audio recording of a 911 call and the other excluded opinion testimony by a law enforcement officer. For the reasons explained below, I strongly disagree with both of these conclusions.

A. Inadmissibility of 911 Recording

The circuit court found the 911 recording was admissible under West Virginia Rule of Evidence 803(1) as a “present sense impression.” In affirming this ruling, the majority found the recording was relevant, was not unfairly prejudicial, and met the criteria…