Where the Wild Things Aren't

The Court issued two opinions last Thursday. My apologies for not posting them sooner. Both dealt with the admissibility of evidence.

In the first case, the Court upheld convictions for misdemeanor offenses of possession of wild or exotic animals and possession of deleterious exotic animals without a permit. (It is not clear from the opinion precisely what kinds of animals were being possessed, but I'm pretty sure they were Wild Things.)

The first issue on appeal was whether Payette County's passage of an ordinance banning the possession of wild or exotic animal after the defendant had already purchased property to construct a zoo violated the impairments of contract clause. The Court did not reach this issue because it found there was not sufficient evidence of a contract.

The second issue was whether the court erred in excluding copies of orders from the bankruptcy court. The Court held that there was no error because the documents, although public records, where not certified copies as defined in IRE 902(4) and required by IRE 1005(a).

State v. Korn, http://www.isc.idaho.gov/opinions/State%20v.%20Korn%20-%20FINAL.pdf

In the second case, State v. Watkins, http://www.isc.idaho.gov/opinions/State%20v.%20Watkins%20-%20FINAL.pdf, the Court reversed a conviction for L&L. At trial, the court permitted a DNA expert to testify about test results even though she was not the person who conducted the tests.

The Court held that was error to allow the expert to testify about the chain of custody because she was not the one who received the evidence. The Court also held that the expert's testimony about the results was not admissible as either a Record of Regularly Conducted Activity (IRE 803(6)) or under IRE 703 (Basis of Opinion Evidence by Experts).

Congratulations to Erik Lehtinen of SAPD!