Gregury, J. v. Greguras, S. ( 2018 )


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  • J-E02003-17
    
    2018 PA Super 261
    JOHN M. GREGURY AND BARBARA J.            :    IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF
    ROBEY                                     :         PENNSYLVANIA
    :
    Appellants             :
    :
    :
    v.                           :
    :
    :    No. 1467 MDA 2015
    SHIRLEY M. GREGURAS AND ESTATE            :
    OF ADOLF GREGURAS, AND JAMES              :
    T. YINGST AND GUTHRIE,                    :
    NONEMAKER, YINGST & HART                  :
    Appeal from the Judgment Entered August 17, 2015
    In the Court of Common Pleas of York County
    Civil Division at No(s): 2009-SU-003228-01
    BEFORE: GANTMAN, P.J., BENDER, P.J.E., BOWES, J., SHOGAN, J.,
    LAZARUS, J., OLSON, J., OTT, J., STABILE, J., and DUBOW, J.
    DISSENTING OPINION BY OTT, J.:                   FILED SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
    I respectfully dissent. While the Majority provides a thoughtful analysis
    of at-trial waiver of the attorney-client privilege, I believe the trial court did
    not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for mistrial in light of 42 Pa.C.S.
    § 5928, which permits the privilege to be waived “upon the trial by the client,”
    and the circumstances of this case. Furthermore, I am of the view that the
    trial court properly refused to admit into evidence unsigned, undated
    handwritten documents offered to prove Decedent’s testamentary intent on
    grounds of hearsay and relevancy. Therefore, I would affirm the judgment
    entered upon the grant of nonsuit in favor of Appellees.
    J-E02003-17
    The issue of attorney-client privilege was present in this case from its
    very inception. Decedent’s will, prepared by Yingst, was executed in March,
    2000.1 Based upon Appellants’ alternative allegations of breach of contract
    (third party beneficiary) and fraud in the amended complaint, Appellants
    needed to prove either that Yingst failed to adequately advise Decedent
    and Shirley regarding the effect of jointly-held property on the estate plan, or
    that Shirley committed fraud by manipulating assets into jointly-held accounts
    with right of survivorship to frustrate Decedent’s testamentary intent.2
    Section     5928     of   the     Judicial   Code,   governing   confidential
    communications to attorney, provides:
    In a civil matter counsel shall not be competent or permitted to
    testify to confidential communications made to him by his client,
    nor shall the client be compelled to disclose the same, unless in
    either case this privilege is waived upon the trial by the
    client.
    42 Pa.C.S. § 5928 (emphasis supplied).
    Pennsylvania law recognizes that “the right to assert the [attorney-
    client] privilege is that of the client.” Commonwealth v. McKenna, 213 A.2d
    ____________________________________________
    1 In March, 2000, Decedent would have been 80 years of age, based on his
    May, 1919 birth date. See Plaintiff’s Exhibits 5 and 6. Shirley would have
    been 75 years of age, as she was 90 years old at the time of the March, 2015
    trial. See N.T., 3/16-18/2015, at 58.
    2 It is unclear whether Appellants are contending Shirley acted fraudulently as
    to all jointly held assets or only as to the two certificates of deposit titled
    jointly with right of survivorship that were opened in 2004. See e.g.,
    Amended Complaint, 9/1/2010, at ¶¶ 29 and 31; Appellants’ Brief at 11.
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    223, 226 (Pa. Super. 1965), citing Estate of Dowie, 
    19 A. 936
     (Pa. 1890).
    See also Maleski by Chronister v. Corp. Life Ins. Co., 
    646 A.2d 1
    , 4 (Pa.
    Cmwlth. 1994) (“The purpose of the attorney-client privilege is to benefit the
    client, and accordingly, the client is the holder of the privilege.”).
    Furthermore, “[t]he failure to assert a privilege constitutes a waiver thereof.”
    Commonwealth v. Kauffman, 
    605 A.2d 1243
    , 1248 (Pa. Super. 1992). In
    addition, “absent other considerations, a right or privilege once waived is
    always waived and [] the defendant who waives a right or privilege cannot
    thereafter object to the use that is made of the formerly privileged
    communications.” Commonwealth v. Rosen, 
    42 A.3d 988
    , 995 (Pa. 2012)
    (citation omitted).
    In this case, attorney-client privilege arose during pre-trial discovery in
    two   contexts.       First,   Yingst   asserted   the   privilege   regarding   any
    communications with Shirley and Decedent. Second, Yingst did not assert the
    attorney-client privilege regarding communications with Shirley when her
    daughter was also present. Appellants’ counsel argued to the court prior to
    trial that there were “irregular assertions of attorney client privilege” where
    Yingst “disclosed some content of communications; but selectively declined to
    disclose content when he was ‘not certain whether [Shirley’s] daughter had
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    J-E02003-17
    been present’” and, therefore, “negative inferences are warranted from the
    selective attorney client communication disclosures.”3
    At trial, in his opening statement, Appellants’ counsel discussed the
    attorney-client privilege, as follows:
    ... Defendant Yingst claimed that he had gave [sic] a specific
    speech to each client regarding types of property and other such
    matters. However, when he was asked to provide a recitation of
    that speech in deposition, he said that it varied based on questions
    asked and declined to give one.
    He admitted differences in simultaneously executed wills by
    spouses was unusual. He then asserted attorney/client privilege
    as to what was or was not stated by [Decedent] or [Shirley] as to
    any information provided to them by either.
    This brings up a point, and I note it in the issue of credibility.
    Both Defendants exercised attorney/client privilege
    inconsistently in their depositions, and I believe in their
    testimony they will have to admit that they disclosed
    contents of communication regarding certain matters and
    chose not to regarding others. I believe that you may
    consider that in assessing their credibility.
    N.T., 3/16-18/2015, at 37 (emphasis added). Thereafter, counsel for Yingst,
    in his opening, told the jury:
    … You’ve got Shirley, who is going to testify. She recalls the
    meeting with Mr. Yingst. They went in to see him to draft wills.
    They were going to take care of each other. And in the event they
    both died at the same time, it would just spill down to their
    children, plain and simple.
    ____________________________________________
    3 Plaintiffs’ Trial Brief, 3/10/2015, at 12, 14 (capitalization removed; emphasis
    in original); Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to the Motions for Summary
    Judgment, 5/1/2014, at 12, 14 (capitalization removed; emphasis in original).
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    J-E02003-17
    You’re going to hear Mr. Yingst testify that he had the meeting
    with [Decedent].     He had the meeting with Shirley.        They
    described what their asset picture was, that Mr. Yingst said you
    understand jointly held assets, joint bank accounts, your checking
    account, savings account, anything that you are both owners on,
    they don’t come inside the will.
    
    Id.
     at 51–52.
    Following the conclusion of Yingst’s counsel’s opening, and after the jury
    had been excused for lunch, Appellants’ counsel moved for a mistrial, based
    on Yingst’s counsel’s implication that Shirley would waive the attorney-client
    privilege and Appellees would testify on matters they claimed were privileged
    at their depositions.     The trial court entertained argument and thereafter
    denied the motion, and allowed the trial to proceed. Based upon my review,
    I find no basis upon which to disturb the decision of the trial judge.
    “Generally, the granting or refusal of a mistrial is a matter within the
    discretion of the trial judge, and his or her decision will not be overruled by
    an appellate court except for manifest, clear, or palpable error amounting to
    an abuse of discretion.” Bugosh v. Allen Refractories Co., 
    932 A.2d 901
    ,
    914-15 (Pa. Super. 2007) (quotations and citation omitted). “An abuse of
    discretion may not be found merely because an appellate court might have
    reached   a   different    conclusion,   but   requires   a   result   of   manifest
    unreasonableness, or partiality, prejudice, bias, or ill-will, or such lack of
    support so as to be clearly erroneous.” Grady v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 
    839 A.2d 1038
    , 1046 (Pa. 2003).
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    J-E02003-17
    Here, for good reason, Shirley did not waive the privilege prior to trial
    since, once waived, she would not be able to reinvoke it. See Rosen, supra,
    42 A.3d at 995. However, as provided by statute, Shirley was free to waive
    her attorney-client privilege “upon the trial.” 42 Pa.C.S. § 5928. Therefore,
    it was reasonable that she would waive her privilege, if at all, only when
    Appellants’ counsel argued to the jury in his opening statement that Appellees
    “exercised attorney/client privilege inconsistently in their depositions” and the
    jury “could consider that in assessing [Appellees’] credibility.”          N.T.,
    3/16-18/2015, at 37 (emphasis added). Under these circumstances, counsel’s
    own trial strategy cannot create “unfair surprise.” Id. at 66.
    Furthermore, it is clear that Appellants’ counsel believed prior to trial
    that there had been “irregular” assertion of attorney-client privilege by
    Appellees during discovery, and raised this argument on three separate
    occasions — in deposing Yingst (Yingst Deposition, 9/13/2012, at 58) in
    Appellants’ brief in opposition to the summary judgment motions filed by
    Shirley and Yingst, and in Appellants’ trial brief.       As discussed above,
    Appellants’ counsel argued in his opening statement that Appellees’
    inconsistent exercise of attorney-client privilege was a credibility matter.
    Significantly, Appellants’ counsel explained to the court at sidebar that he “did
    not file a motion to overrule the assertion of attorney/client privilege for the
    simple reason that we are perfectly content to bind the parties to the
    testimony that they gave during the depositions.” N.T., 3/16-18/2015, at 66.
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    Given Appellants’ counsel’s belief there were “irregular” assertions of
    the privilege in discovery and his trial strategy to attack Appellees’ credibility,
    and in light of Section 5928 that allows waiver of the privilege “upon the
    trial,” Appellants’ counsel had every reason prior to trial to file a motion in
    limine to preclude Shirley’s waiver of the attorney-client privilege at the time
    of trial. He did not do so.
    The Majority states that Section 5928 is not dispositive of the issue and
    analyzes the timing of the waiver in this case “in the context of our discovery
    and pretrial rules.”4 I disagree with this approach and believe the cases cited
    by the Majority are not helpful to the circumstances of the instant case.
    The Majority cites Salsman v. Brown, 
    51 A.3d 892
     (Pa. Super. 2012),5
    which relied on Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co., v. Fleming, 
    924 A.2d 1259
    ,
    1265 (Pa. Super. 2007), for the proposition that “A litigant attempting to use
    attorney-client privilege as an offensive weapon by selective disclosure of
    favorable privileged communications has misused the privilege; waiver of the
    privilege for all communications on the same subject has been deemed the
    appropriate response to such misuse.” Salsman, 
    51 A.3d at
    895 n.3. Here,
    however, the issue does not concern the sanction of waiver for selective
    ____________________________________________
    4   Majority Opinion at 14.
    5   See Majority Opinion at 15.
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    disclosure, but rather concerns Shirley’s right to voluntarily waive the privilege
    “upon the trial” pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 5928.
    Likewise, the Allegheny County case, Haas v. Bowman, 62 D. & C. 4th
    1 (Allegheny Co. 2003), and certain federal cases cited therein, which are
    discussed by the Majority,6 are inapposite.       In Haas, the issue of at-trial
    waiver of Fifth Amendment privilege arose in the context of a request for
    sanctions against defendants who had asserted their Fifth Amendment
    privilege in response to discovery requests. The Honorable R. Stanton Wettick
    opined that “ordinarily, a party who has avoided discovery by asserting the
    Fifth Amendment privilege will not be permitted on the eve of trial to waive
    his or her Fifth Amendment protections for the purpose of testifying at trial.”
    Id. at 15. Judge Wettick further explained:
    at the request of a party, a court may set a time, based on a
    need of the parties to complete discovery, after which the party
    who has invoked the Fifth Amendment privilege will be barred
    from offering at trial his or her testimony on matters for which the
    Fifth Amendment was invoked to prevent discovery.
    Id. (emphasis supplied), citing United States v. 4003-4005 Fifth Avenue,
    
    55 F.3d 78
    , 85-86 (2d Cir. 1995); SEC v. Graystone Nash Inc., 
    25 F.3d 187
    ,
    191-92 (3d Cir. 1994); Gutierrez-Rodriguez v. Cartagena, 
    882 F.2d 553
    (1st Cir. 1989); Dunkin' Donuts Inc. v. Taseski, 
    47 F. Supp.2d 867
    , 872-
    ____________________________________________
    6   See id. at 15-16.
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    73 (E.D. Mich. 1999). Here, in contrast to Haas and the cited federal cases,
    there was no request for a pretrial ruling to preclude Shirley’s waiver at trial.
    The cases relied upon by Appellants in their brief,7 and discussed by the
    Majority,8 are also unpersuasive in my view. Domako v. Rowe, 
    475 N.W.2d 30
     (Mich. 1991), involved a Michigan statute, MCR 2.314(B)(1), that required
    a party to timely assert the physician-patient privilege, or the privilege would
    be lost. The Domako Court held the plaintiff had waived the physician-patient
    privilege when she signed authorization forms permitting the release of
    medical information, and she could not assert the privilege thereafter.        In its
    discussion, the Michigan Supreme Court noted MCR 2.314(B)(2) precludes
    waiver of physician-patient privilege regarding medical information once
    asserted by a party, and that the statute requires assertion or waiver at the
    pretrial stage. 
    Id.
     at 32 n.1, 35.         Here, in contrast to the Michigan statute,
    42 Pa.C.S. § 5928 allows waiver of the attorney-client privilege “upon the
    trial.”
    Furthermore, in Seattle Northwest Sec. Corp. v. Sdg Holding Co.,
    
    812 P.2d 488
     (Wash. App. 1991), and Int’l Tel. & Tel.Corp. v. United Tel.
    Co. of Florida, 
    60 F.R.D. 177
     (M.D. Fla. 1973), the issue of attorney-client
    privilege was raised and addressed by the court before trial.            In Seattle
    ____________________________________________
    7   See Appellants’ Brief, at 32.
    8   See Majority Opinion at 16-18.
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    Northwest, the trial court entered an order of contempt and imposed
    sanctions, including default judgment, for defendant’s failure to comply with
    discovery orders. The Court of Appeals of Washington reversed and held the
    discovery sought was protected by the attorney-client privilege, and
    remanded for a factual hearing as to whether respondent’s other contentions
    justified an order allowing discovery of the privileged documents or testimony.
    The court further required that on remand, defendants make an election
    whether or not to call counsel to testify.         Similarly, in Int’l Tel. and Tel.
    Corp., the issue of waiver arose in the context of a motion to compel
    discovery, and the Florida federal district court instructed, “if the defendant
    intends to waive the privilege at trial by introduction of evidence within the
    privilege, then the defendant will be required to allow discovery with regard
    to matters material to that testimony.” 60 F.R.D. at 186.         Thus, these cases
    discuss at-trial waiver in the context of discovery disputes.
    The Majority likens the instant situation to circumstances where there is
    late amendment of an expert report or an expert attempts to testify beyond
    the scope of the expert report.9          The Majority also relies on the duty to
    supplement ongoing discovery to challenge Shirley’s at-trial waiver. However,
    there is a substantive difference between the statute and discovery rules.
    While it may be laudable to require a party to choose between asserting or
    ____________________________________________
    9   See Majority Opinion at 19.
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    waiving privileged communications prior to completion of discovery, that
    policy goes beyond our discovery rules and our statutory privilege. This Court
    should not superimpose discovery rule concepts upon Section 5928 but
    instead leave that consideration to the Legislature or the Rules Committee.
    The record also reflects that during argument on the motion for mistrial,
    Appellants’ counsel requested a preclusion order or postponement of the trial
    to depose Shirley and Yingst since they were no longer asserting the privilege.
    See N.T., 3/16-18/2015, at 65. However, as pointed out by the trial judge in
    his Rule 1925(a) opinion, there had been six years of discovery in this case.10
    Thus, Appellants’ counsel had ample opportunity prior to trial to resolve the
    potential issue of waiver of attorney-client privilege that is permitted under
    our statute.
    Finally, I note that we apply a deferential standard of review to the
    denial of a motion for mistrial and, for the reasons set forth above, I discern
    no abuse of discretion by the trial court in denying Appellants’ motion for
    mistrial and requests for a preclusion order or continuance.11 I disagree with
    the Majority that “countenancing what occurred herein would only encourage
    ____________________________________________
    10   Trial Court Opinion, 8/10/2015, at 5 (unnumbered).
    11Because I do not believe the trial court erred in denying the motion for
    mistrial and alternative requests for relief, I do not reach the harmless error
    analysis.
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    parties to use privilege, which is not favored, to flout the discovery rules in
    order to gain an unfair tactical advantage.”12           The Majority has taken the
    position that last minute at-trial waiver of the attorney-client privilege violates
    discovery. I believe, however, that given Appellants’ counsel’s stated intent
    in his opening to use Appellees’ inconsistent exercise of the privilege to attack
    credibility, this case does not represent a case where we should adopt the
    Majority’s position against late waiver.           Rather, I believe that affirmance
    upholds the language of the statute and is warranted under the facts of this
    case.
    Nor do I agree that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to
    admit into evidence certain unsigned, undated handwritten notes proffered by
    Appellants.    These documents are described by Appellants as “documents
    which identified Decedent’s assets and one on which there was a handwritten
    calculation of what half of those assets would be.” Appellants’ Brief at 12.
    Prior to trial, Shirley and Yingst each filed a motion in limine to preclude
    the handwritten documents and oral testimony that they anticipated
    Appellants would seek to introduce at trial to show Decedent’s testamentary
    intent.    Regarding the handwritten notes, Appellants responded, “All are
    relevant and subject of proper authentication.” Plaintiffs’ Response to All
    Defendants’ Omnibus Motions in Limine, at 4.             Appellants maintained that
    ____________________________________________
    12   Majority Opinion at 22.
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    “[t]he handwritten documents separately and together support the express
    language of the will as intending ¼ of the joint property to pass to each of the
    Plaintiffs.” Id. at 6. The pre-trial judge granted Appellees’ motions in limine,
    ruling that the handwritten documents were inadmissible on the grounds of
    authentication, hearsay, and relevance.            See Order Granting Motions in
    Limine, 3/6/2015.
    While the coordinate jurisdiction rule applied to the pre-trial order,13
    Appellants’ counsel, at trial, made supplemental proffers of authentication
    evidence for the handwritten documents. See N.T., 3/16-18/2015, at 292-
    293, 405-407.        Following the testimony of John Gregury’s wife, Eileen,
    Appellants’ counsel acknowledged that there was “an exclusionary order for
    use of documents for the purpose of showing [Decedent’s] intent with regard
    to the disposition of property,” but sought to use two of the handwritten
    documents to “show value of the estate.” N.T., 3/16-18/2015, at 290.
    Appellants’ counsel proffered additional authentication testimony, and argued
    ____________________________________________
    13 “Generally, the coordinate jurisdiction rule commands that upon transfer of
    a matter between trial judges of coordinate jurisdiction, a transferee trial
    judge may not alter resolution of a legal question previously decided by a
    transferor trial judge.” Zane v. Friends Hosp., 
    836 A.2d 25
    , 29 (Pa. 2003).
    “Departure from the rule is allowed in ‘exceptional circumstances’ when there
    has been a change in the controlling law or where there was a substantial
    change in the facts or evidence.” 
    Id.
     (citation omitted). “In sum, while a
    judge must in most circumstances defer to the prior decision of another judge
    of coordinate jurisdiction, he or she is not required to do so in the limited and
    exceptional situation in which, inter alia, the prior judge’s order is clearly
    erroneous and would result in a manifest injustice.” Id. at 30.
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    J-E02003-17
    the date of death balances on the 2007 bank statements correlated to the
    numbers on the handwritten documents found in Decedent’s house in 2008.
    Yingst’s counsel objected, stating that the documents were undated, that they
    did not correlate, and that aside from the authentication issue, the documents
    were inadmissible based upon hearsay and relevance. The trial judge rejected
    the proffer and adhered to the pre-trial judge’s ruling.
    Later in the trial, after the testimony of Barbara Robey’s husband,
    Wayne, Appellants’ counsel made another proffer, offering additional
    authentication evidence that Wayne Robey would testify that Decedent gave
    him a piece of paper in 2000, with names of banks, and “[i]t had amounts in
    the bank, and it was on the same stationery as the other pieces of paper that
    John [Gregury] found in the house”      in 2008. Id. at 406. The trial judge
    sustained Yingst’s counsel’s objection and allowed his prior ruling to stand.
    Our standard of review is well settled:
    Admission of evidence is within the sound discretion of the trial
    court and we review the trial court's determinations regarding the
    admissibility of evidence for an abuse of discretion. To constitute
    reversible error, an evidentiary ruling must not only be erroneous,
    but also harmful or prejudicial to the complaining party.
    Czimmer v. Janssen Pharm., Inc., 
    122 A.3d 1043
    , 1058 (Pa. Super. 2015)
    (citation omitted).
    Here, Appellants proffered additional testimony of witnesses who could
    identify the handwriting and stationery as Decedent’s for authentication
    purposes,   and   therefore,   I   recognize    there   is   no   issue   regarding
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    authentication. However, aside from authentication, the trial court excluded
    the documents on grounds of hearsay and relevancy.14
    Under the Rules of Evidence, an out of court statement that is offered
    for the truth of the matter asserted is excluded as hearsay. Pa.R.E. 801(c).
    Statements include an oral or written assertion. Pa.R.E. 801(a). Hearsay is
    inadmissible unless an exception applies. Pa.R.E. 802.
    Appellants’ proffered evidence included one handwritten document that
    listed amounts of various assets and calculated one-half value of those assets.
    While the Majority finds that the handwritten documents are not hearsay
    because Appellants offered the handwritten documents “for the fact of their
    creation,”15 Appellants argue in their appellate brief these handwritten
    documents were proffered as proof of Decedent’s testamentary intent.16
    Therefore, because Appellants offered the handwritten documents and
    ____________________________________________
    14 In their brief, Appellants only address authentication and do not address
    the grounds for exclusion based on hearsay and relevance. See Appellants’
    Brief, at 26-28.
    15   Majority Opinion at 28.
    16 See Appellants’ Brief at 23 (“The Trial Court Err[ed] in Precluding Oral and
    Written Evidence of [Decedent’s] Testamentary Intent”); id. at 26 (“Plaintiffs
    proffered notes they found at [Decedent’s] house which included an accurate
    list of his assets with calculations consistent with the ½, ¼, and ¼ distribution
    scheme which was called for in the will.”); id. at 28 (“The handwritten
    documents separately and together support the express language of the will
    as intending all property of whatever kind to [Shirley] and each of the Plaintiffs
    in the designated portions.”).
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    calculations to show Decedent’s testamentary scheme — that is, the truth of
    the matter asserted — I conclude the documents were hearsay.
    While the hearsay rule is subject to exceptions, none appears to be
    applicable to these documents that are unsigned, undated, without a clear
    purpose and meaning. The Majority points to Pa.R.E. 803(3), which provides
    an exception for the declarant’s then-existing state of mind.17 However, as
    more fully discussed below, Decedent’s state of mind is not evident from the
    documents. Therefore, I do not agree that the exception applies herein.
    With regard to the issue of relevancy, Pa.R.E. 401 provides that
    “Evidence is relevant if: (a) it has any tendency to make a fact more or less
    probable than it would be without the evidence; and (b) the fact is of
    consequence in determining the action.” Furthermore, Pa.R.E. 402 states that
    “All relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by law.
    Evidence that is not relevant is not admissible.”        Here, the handwritten
    documents were not relevant because the date and reason for creation of the
    documents cannot be determined.
    Although the Majority posits it would be possible to determine a date for
    the documents based upon other evidence of bank statement balances,18 I do
    not believe the trial court was required to accept the handwritten documents
    ____________________________________________
    17   See Majority Opinion at 28 n.8.
    18   See Majority Opinion at 28 n.7.
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    based upon additional, proffered bank statements in the case. Moreover, the
    reason for the documents is an unanswered question.
    Appellants argued the documents show Decedent’s express intent had
    been frustrated because he did not understand right of survivorship of joint
    property. However, the documents do nothing to advance that issue. Even if
    the    trial    judge   had   determined       that   the   documents   were   properly
    authenticated and that they correlated to the 2007 bank account balance
    statements, the documents were properly excluded because they are not
    relevant to the issue of what happened in 2000, when Decedent and Shirley
    met with Yingst.
    The Majority states that “Once it was demonstrated that Decedent was
    the author of the documents, their relevance lay in the fact that Decedent
    thought there was a reason to calculate the value of one-half of the joint
    assets.        Such evidence was probative on the issue whether Attorney Yingst
    advised Decedent and Shirley about jointly-held property.”19 However, these
    documents only show a calculation for one-half of the joint assets. There is
    no dispositive language and no calculation for a one-fourth value of the joint
    assets. As such, these documents are not relevant to the issue of what advice
    Decedent received or understood regarding the right of survivorship in
    jointly-held property.
    ____________________________________________
    19   Id. at 28 n.8.
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    Furthermore, even if the documents show Decedent did a calculation,
    the document is not probative because it is impossible to tell whether the
    calculations stemmed from Yingst’s failure in 2000 to advise Decedent and
    Shirley that property titled as joint tenants with right of survivorship would
    not pass under the will, OR from Shirley’s actions to defraud Decedent, OR
    from other reasons, such as Decedent and Shirley either misapprehending
    Yingst’s advice OR forgetting Yingst’s advice in the four years between the
    execution of their wills and the creation of the 2004 jointly-held accounts.
    Therefore, in my view, the documents were inadmissible on grounds of
    hearsay and relevance, and the trial court acted properly within its discretion
    in refusing to admit the handwritten documents into evidence.
    Accordingly, I dissent.
    President Judge Gantman, Judge Lazarus and Judge Dubow join this
    dissenting opinion.
    Judgment Entered.
    Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.
    Prothonotary
    Date: 9/20/2018
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