State v. Sandoval-Tena

• Decision Date: 05 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 27935.,27935.
• Citation: 71 P.3d 1055,138 Idaho 908
• Parties: STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Heriberto SANDOVAL-TENA, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

71 P.3d 1055

138 Idaho 908

STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Heriberto SANDOVAL-TENA, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 27935.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, February 2003 Term.

June 5, 2003.

Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Charles L. Wadams argued.

Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Kenneth K. Jorgensen argued.

SCHROEDER, Justice.

Heriberto Sandoval-Tena appeals from his conviction of trafficking in methamphetamine. Sandoval-Tena contends that the district court committed reversible error when (1) it permitted a police crime lab report to come into evidence under the "business records exception" to the hearsay rule, and (2) when it informed the prosecutor that he had failed to elicit testimonial evidence from the lab investigator as to the weight of the substances tested and then permitted the prosecutor to recall that witness.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Detective Todd Ericsson made contact with Alan Hunter and Marc Morgan regarding their suspected involvement in drug trafficking. In exchange for Detective Ericsson's promise to recommend that they not be prosecuted, Hunter and Morgan informed Detective Ericsson that they regularly obtained methamphetamine from Sandoval Tena, and that they were in fact expecting a delivery from him very shortly. They agreed to cooperate in the investigation, and soon thereafter led the police to the location where Sandoval Tena was to deliver the methamphetamine. Sandoval Tena was a passenger in the car identified to the police. There was a large quantity of methamphetamine in the car. Sandoval-Tena was arrested and charged with one count of trafficking in methamphetamine by possessing more than 28 grams.

At trial the State called a state police lab forensic technician, Donald Wyckoff. The district court allowed admission of the lab report produced by Wyckoff, which contains the weight of the substances in three baggies seized from Sandoval-Tena, and identifies the substances as methamphetamine. The State, however, did not ask Wyckoff the weight of the methamphetamine when he was on the stand. After Wyckoff's testimony, the district judge called for a recess and excused the jury. The judge explained to counsel that he was concerned about the fact that the prosecution had failed to ask Wyckoff the weight of the substance seized. His concern arose from his fear that if the admission of the lab report was overturned on appeal, the weight of the methamphetamine would not properly have been before the jury. He asked counsel what they wanted to do. Counsel for Sandoval-Tena renewed his objection to the report on the basis that it was inadmissible hearsay. He also moved for a mistrial, arguing that there had been judicial intervention with the State's case-in-chief. The State sought to recall Wyckoff. Sandoval-Tena objected on the grounds that the State had already rested its case and that the witness had already testified. The objection was overruled. The State subsequently asked Wyckoff in front of the jury the weight of the substance he had tested. The district court also denied the motion for mistrial. The jury convicted Sandoval-Tena as charged, and the district court sentenced him to the mandatory minimum of three years.

II. THE STATE POLICE LAB REPORT WAS NOT ADMISSIBLE UNDER I.R.E. 803(6), THE "BUSINESS RECORDS EXCEPTION" TO THE HEARSAY RULE

A. Standard of Review

Trial courts have broad discretion when ruling on the admissibility of evidence before them. Appel v. LePage, 135 Idaho 133, 135, 15 P.3d 1141, 1143 (2000). Therefore, this Court will only disturb a trial court's discretion to admit evidence under the business record exception upon "a clear showing of abuse." Beco Corp. v. Roberts & Sons Constr. Co., 114 Idaho 704, 711, 760 P.2d 1120, 1127 (1988), overruled on other grounds by Houghland Farms, Inc. v. Johnson, 119 Idaho 72, 803 P.2d 978 (1990)

; Appel, 135 Idaho at 135,

15 P.3d at 1143

Even if the district court used its discretion in error, such error, alone, does not constitute grounds for reversal. Unless an error "affect[s] substantial rights" of the parties, it should be disregarded. I.C.R. 52. An error is harmless if this Court is able to say, "beyond a reasonable doubt, that the jury would have reached the same result absent the error." State v. Norton, 134 Idaho 875, 879, 11 P.3d 494, 498 (Ct.App.2000). The burden of showing prejudicial error rests on the party asserting such error. State v. Rodriquez, 106 Idaho 30, 33, 674 P.2d 1029, 1032 (Ct.App.1983).

B. The lab report was not admissible.

Sandoval-Tena argues that the police crime lab report, which identifies the substance seized from him as methamphetamine and provides its weight, is inadmissible hearsay. The Idaho Rules of Evidence define hearsay as "a statement [oral or written], other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." I.R.E. 801(a) and (c). Hearsay statements are generally inadmissible as evidence, but "certain types of hearsay evidence ... are admissible because the circumstances behind their creation implies a high degree of veracity. Business records are one such legitimate and important classification." Christensen v. Rice, 114 Idaho 929, 934, 763 P.2d 302, 307 (Ct.App.1988). The "business records exception" to the hearsay rule reads as follows:

The following are not excluded by the hearsay rule, even though the declarant is available as a witness.

....

(6) Records of regularly conducted activity. A memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, in any form, of acts, events, conditions, opinions, or diagnoses, made at or near the time by, or from information transmitted by, a person with knowledge, if kept in the course of a regularly conducted business activity, and if it was the regular practice of that business activity to make the memorandum, report, record, or data compilation, all as shown by the testimony of the custodian or other qualified witness, unless the source of information or the method or circumstances of preparation indicate lack of trustworthiness. The term "business" as used in this paragraph includes business, institution, association, profession, occupation, and calling of every kind, whether or not conducted for profit.

I.R.E. 803(6).

The "public records exception" to the hearsay rule is relevant. It reads as follows:

(8) Public records and reports. Unless the sources of information or other circumstances indicate lack of trustworthiness, records, reports, statements, or data compilations in any form of a public office or agency setting forth its regularly conducted and regularly recorded activities, or matters observed pursuant to duty imposed by law and as to which there was a duty to report, or factual findings resulting from an investigation made pursuant to authority granted by law. The following are not within this exception to the hearsay rule: (A) investigative reports by police and other law enforcement personnel, except when offered by an accused in a criminal case; (B) investigative reports prepared by or for a government, a public office or an agency when offered by it in a case in which it is a party; (C) factual findings offered by the government in criminal cases; (D) factual findings resulting from special investigation of a particular complaint, case, or incident, except when offered by an accused in a criminal case.

I.R.E. 803(8). While, "traditionally, a proponent's inability to satisfy the requirements of one hearsay exception does not deny him the opportunity to attempt to meet the standards of another," United States v. Oates, 560 F.2d 45, 74 (2d Cir.1977), the crime lab report should either be excluded under both rules or admissible under both rules. Idaho Rule of Evidence 803(8)(B) expressly excludes from the public records exception "investigative reports prepared by or for a government, a public office or an agency when offered by it in a case in which it is a party." Under the language of subsection (B) of I.R.E. 803(8), the chemical analysis report was inadmissible under the public records exception. Also, investigative reports prepared by police and "other law enforcement personnel" are not admissible when offered by the prosecution. I.R.E. 803(8)(A). In United States v. Oates, 560 F.2d 45, 68 (2d Cir.1977), the court found that a report such as this one is inadmissible under a similar public records exception. The effect of the exclusion under 803(8) would be meaningless if the report were admissible under the 803(6) business records exception. See Cole v. State, 839 S.W.2d 798, 805-06 (Tex.Crim.App.1992)

. The report should not have been admitted. However, all the information obtained in the report was testified to by the forensic lab technician Donald Wyckoff. The report was a duplicate of testimony under oath. The error was harmless.

III. THE DISTRICT JUDGE DID NOT ERR IN COMMENTING UPON THE STATE OF THE EVIDENCE AND DENYING A MISTRIAL

A. Standard of Review

At trial Sandoval-Tena objected to alleged partiality of the judge and moved for a mistrial under I.C.R. 29.1, which motion was denied. The standard of review of a trial court's refusal to grant a mistrial has been set forth by the Court of Appeals.

[T]he question on appeal is not whether the trial judge reasonably exercised his discretion in light of circumstances existing when the mistrial motion was made. Rather, the question must be whether the event which precipitated the motion for mistrial represented reversible error when viewed in the context of the full record. Thus, where a motion for mistrial has been denied in a criminal case, the "abuse of discretion" standard is a misnomer. The standard, more accurately stated, is one of reversible error. Our focus is upon the continuing impact on the trial of the incident that triggered

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