McClain v. State

The store manager's testimony regarding her review of the store's video surveillance system recording, which had since been recorded over and was unavailable for viewing at the defendant's armed robbery trial, did not constitute inadmissible hearsay.

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Following trial, a jury convicted Damion McClain on two counts of armed robbery and one count of obstruction of a law-enforcement officer. McClain appeals his convictions and the denial of his motion for new trial, arguing that the trial court erred in allowing inadmissible hearsay testimony into evidence. For the reasons set forth infra , we affirm. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty verdict,1 the evidence shows that at around noon on November 11, 2005, McClain put on a ski mask, walked into a discount retail store that was located across the street from the extended-stay motel where he was residing, pulled out a gun, and demanded that the store manager open the store’s safe. When the manager was unable to open the safe quickly, McClain pointed his gun at a cashier and ordered her to open the cash register. After she complied with his demand, McClain emptied the cash register’s money drawer into a bag and fled from the store post haste, back toward his motel. Once outside, McClain removed his ski mask. As he ran across the store’s parking lot, McClain passed an ATM that was being used by the front-desk manager of the motel, who recognized McClain as a current resident.

A few minutes later, a member of the motel’s housekeeping staff entered an elevator at the complex just as McClain was exiting it. The housekeeper —who likewise recognized McClain as a resident of the motel —noticed that McClain was sweating, that he was not wearing a shirt, and that he dropped a large amount of change on the elevator floor. As he rushed past her, McClain told the housekeeper that she could keep the dropped change but added, “You didn’t see me.” Subsequently, the housekeeper saw McClain run back downstairs to the motel’s parking lot and leave the complex in a newer model black Camaro.

McClain v. State

The store manager's testimony regarding her review of the store's video surveillance system recording, which had since been recorded over and was unavailable for viewing at the defendant's armed robbery trial, did not constitute inadmissible hearsay.

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