BARNES, Judge.
Alvin Grisby appeals his conviction for Class B felony conspiracy to commit dealing in methamphetamine. We affirm.
Grisby raises three issues, which we restate as:
Grisby and Nathan Kirby were friends, and Christina Powell was Grisby's girlfriend. On January 15, 2013, Grisby and Kirby spoke on the telephone about purchasing boxes of pseudoephedrine. The two men drove around trying to obtain boxes of the pseudoephedrine from other people, but they were unable to find any. They picked up Powell and drove to Chris's Pharmacy in New Harmony. Grisby gave Kirby and Powell money, and all three of them purchased boxes of pseudoephedrine. They then drove to Grisby and Powell's house in Evansville where they took the pills out of the packaging. Kirby and Grisby drove to O'Reilly Auto Parts store and Menard's to purchase tubing, starter fluid, and batteries. They returned to Grisby and Powell's house, and Kirby spent the night there. The next morning, Grisby gave Kirby some methamphetamine.
On January 16, 2013, Detective Patrick McDonald with the Evansville Police Department learned from Detective Brock Hensley that methamphetamine was being manufactured in Grisby's house. Detective Hensley learned this from a confidential informant. Detective McDonald had worked with the confidential informant on one prior occasion. However, the confidential informant had worked with Detective Hensley and other agencies on several occasions and had provided credible information. Detective McDonald requested that uniformed officers go to the residence for a "knock and talk." Tr. p. 93.
While Kirby was using his methamphetamine, the officers arrived and started knocking on the door. Grisby and Kirby tried to hide the items used to manufacture methamphetamine and dumped things out into the sink. After about ten to fifteen minutes of knocking, Grisby answered the door, and Grisby and Kirby were handcuffed. The confidential informant had told Detective McDonald that a bag of trash had been removed from the house, and Detective McDonald located the bag and examined the contents. He found receipts for pseudoephedrine purchased at Chris's Pharmacy, casings from stripped batteries, and empty blister packs of pseudoephedrine. Detective McDonald then checked the NPLEx system for the receipt found in the trash. He applied for and was granted a search warrant for the residence. Detective McDonald and other officers then searched the residence and found numerous items associated with the manufacturing of methamphetamine.
The State ultimately charged Grisby with Class B felony conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Specifically, the State alleged that Grisby:
App. p. 45. Grisby filed a motion to suppress the evidence obtained as a result of the search warrant, but the trial court denied Grisby's motion. At Grisby's December 2013 jury trial, the trial court admitted recordings of jail telephone calls between Grisby and Powell over Grisby's objection. The trial court also admitted NPLEx reports regarding Grisby, Powell, and Kirby over Grisby's objection. The jury found Grisby guilty as charged, and the trial court sentenced him to fourteen years in the Department of Correction. Grisby now appeals.
Grisby argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting NPLEx reports concerning Grisby, Kirby, and Powell. We afford the trial court wide discretion in ruling on the admissibility of evidence.
Indiana Code Section 35-48-4-14.7 requires Indiana retailers to produce NPLEx reports when selling products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. Such a retailer must require the purchaser to produce a valid government-issued photo identification card and sign a written or electronic log. The retailer must maintain a record of each sale that includes the purchaser's name and address, the type of identification presented, the issuer of the identification, the identification number, and the amount of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine purchased. Retailers have limits on the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be sold to an individual. Beginning on January 1, 2012, retailers were required to electronically submit the required information to NPLEx.
The State sought to admit the NPLEx reports regarding Grisby, Kirby, and Powell. Grisby objected that the NPLEx reports were too "remote" because some of the reports went back several years and that, because Kirby had already testified that they purchased pseudoephedrine at Chris's Pharmacy, evidence of other purchases was irrelevant. Tr. p. 102. Grisby also argued that the reports were hearsay under Evidence Rule 803(6) and that they were a violation of the Confrontation Clause. The trial court overruled the objections, except it only allowed Grisby's NPLEx report pertaining to the ninety days prior to his arrest.
On appeal, Grisby argues that the NPLEx reports were inadmissible under Indiana Evidence Rule 404(b), Indiana Evidence Rule 801, Indiana Evidence Rule 803, and the Confrontation Clause. At trial, Grisby's objection related to relevancy, Evidence Rule 803(6), and the Confrontation Clause. Grisby did not object at trial based on Evidence Rule 801 or Evidence Rule 404(b). A party may not object on one ground at trial and raise a different ground on appeal.
We begin by addressing the argument regarding Evidence Rule 801. At the time of Grisby's trial, Evidence Rule 801(d)(2)(E) provided that a statement is not hearsay if the statement is offered against a party and is "a statement by a co-conspirator of a party during the course and in furtherance of the conspiracy."
Next, we address Grisby's argument regarding Evidence Rule 803(6), which concerns records of regularly-conducted business activity and at the time of Grisby's trial provided:
Grisby acknowledges that NPLEx reports were deemed admissible under the business records exception in
Next, Grisby argues that the reports regarding Powell and Kirby were inadmissible under Evidence Rule 404(b). Grisby makes no argument regarding the NPLEx report concerning his own pseudoephedrine purchases. At the time of Grisby's trial, Evidence Rule 404(b) provided: "Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident . . . ." Powell and Kirby were co-conspirators and the purchase of the pseudoephedrine was an overt act listed in the charging information against Grisby. As such, the NPLEx reports were intrinsic to the offense and were not evidence of "other crimes, wrongs, or acts."
Finally, Grisby argues that the admission of the NPLEx records violated his rights under the Confrontation Clause. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, made applicable to the States via the Fourteenth Amendment, states: "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him." U.S. Const. amend. VI. The Confrontation Clause prohibits the admission of an out-of-court statement if it is testimonial, the declarant is unavailable, and the defendant had no prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness.
Grisby acknowledges the holding in
Next, Grisby argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence discovered as a result of the search warrant. The trial court has broad discretion to rule on the admissibility of evidence.
On appeal, Grisby does not identify specifically which evidence he contends should not have been admitted. At the trial, he did not object to the admission of Exhibits 10 through 31, 33, and 34, which include photographs of evidence found at the residence as a result of the search warrant. The failure to object at trial waives an issue on appeal unless the appellant can show fundamental error.
Grisby's objection was based on his prior motion to suppress. In the motion to suppress, Grisby argued that Detective McDonald did not receive the information directly from the confidential informant, that Detective McDonald did not have substantial prior experience with the confidential informant, and that the knock-and-talk did not result in independent verification of the confidential informant's information. On appeal, he argues that there was no probable cause to support the search warrant because there was no independent corroboration of the confidential informant's information and Detective McDonald had only worked with this confidential informant once before.
"In deciding whether to issue a search warrant, `[t]he task of the issuing magistrate is simply to make a practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit . . . there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place.'"
"A warrant and its underlying affidavit must comply with the Fourth Amendment prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as Indiana constitutional and statutory law."
Grisby first argues that the information from the confidential informant was "double hearsay" because Detective McDonald learned the information from another officer, who had previously worked with the confidential informant. Appellant's Br. p. 14. However, "as long as participating officers seeking the issuance of a search warrant collectively have probable cause, their individual knowledge can be imputed to the officer signing the affidavit in support of the search warrant."
In general, "uncorroborated hearsay from a source whose credibility is itself unknown, standing alone, cannot support a finding of probable cause to issue a search warrant."
Here, the confidential informant had previously provided reliable, credible information to Detective McDonald, Detective Hensley, and federal agencies. The confidential informant told Detective Hensley that Grisby was manufacturing methamphetamine at the residence and that the confidential informant had placed trash from the residence in a nearby dumpster. A search of that trash revealed items used to manufacture methamphetamine and a receipt for the purchase of pseudoephedrine from Chris's Pharmacy. Detective McDonald reviewed NPLEx reports and learned that Powell had made the purchase described on the receipt and that Grisby and Kirby had made similar purchases near the same time. Based on this information, the affidavit demonstrated the confidential informant's credibility and contained other information corroborating the confidential informant's information. Consequently, probable cause existed to support the search warrant, and the trial court properly admitted the Exhibits 35 through 40, which were discovered during the search.
While Grisby was incarcerated, he had several telephone calls with Powell, which were recorded. However, in the original recording, the volume of Grisby's voice was low while Powell's voice was loud. Officer Tony Walker used an electronic system to adjust the volume of Grisby's voice to the same range as Powell's voice so that the recording could be understood. Grisby objected to the admission of the adjusted recording, and the trial court overruled the objection. The trial court concluded after listening to both recordings that the adjusted recording was admissible. The trial court noted that the content was not changed, that the tone was not changed, and that the adjusted recording was more audible.
On appeal, Grisby argues that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the adjusted recording. According to Grisby, enhancing or manipulating his voice on the recording gave "undue weight" to his voice and the things that he said in the recording. Appellant's Br. p. 17. Grisby relies on Indiana Evidence Rule 403, which at the time of his trial provided: "Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence." Grisby cites no cases to support his argument.
We disagree with Grisby's assertion that "undue weight" was given to his voice in the recording. Rather, the manipulation of the volume on the recording merely made it more audible and made the volume of his voice comparable to the volume of Powell's voice. The content and tone of Grisby's and Powell's conversation was unchanged. Grisby has failed to show that the relevance of the recording was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting the recording.
The trial court properly admitted the NPLEx reports, the evidence found as a result of the search warrant, and the adjusted recordings of Grisby's jail telephone conversations. We affirm.
Affirmed.
BRADFORD, J., and BROWN, J., concur.