State v. Wilson
| Citation | 128 P.3d 968,142 Idaho 431 |
| Decision Date | 18 January 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 30360.,30360. |
| Parties | STATE of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Michael R. WILSON, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Idaho |
Molly J. Huskey, State Appellate Public Defender; Eric D. Fredericksen, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Eric D. Fredericksen argued.
Hon. Lawrence G. Wasden, Attorney General; Rebekah A. Cudé, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. Rebekah A. Cudé argued.
Michael D. Wilson appeals from his judgment of conviction for delivery of a controlled substance. Because we conclude that the trial court did not adequately consider whether the State should have been compelled to disclose the identity of a confidential informant who participated in the drug transaction, we remand this case for further proceedings.
An individual facing misdemeanor assault and theft charges informed police that he was interested in working as a confidential informant in exchange for leniency and that he could purchase illegal drugs from Wilson. Law enforcement officers agreed to use the informant's services, took him to a local bar where the transaction was to occur, equipped him with a body wire to transmit any conversation to monitoring officers, and gave him pre-recorded buy money. A detective observed the informant from a location approximately two hundred feet distant from the bar's entrance. The informant placed a phone call and soon thereafter, a yellow vehicle arrived at the bar. The informant spoke to the car's occupants. The yellow vehicle departed. The informant stood outside the bar until the yellow vehicle returned forty-five minutes later, this time occupied by only a driver. The detective observed the informant approach the vehicle and, although the body wire transmission was unclear, heard what he believed to be "drug talk" concerning quality and quantity. The detective was able to discern that the driver of the vehicle was male but was unable to discern the driver's hair color or other physical characteristics. Two other officers who had monitored the yellow vehicle that night were also unable to describe the driver's characteristics. After the yellow vehicle left, the informant brought officers a baggie containing methamphetamine. Approximately seven days later, officers arrested Wilson and charged him with delivery of a controlled substance, Idaho Code § 37-2732(a)(1)(A).
At Wilson's trial, the State did not call the informant to testify, but relied entirely upon the testimony of the law enforcement personnel. One officer testified that Wilson had made a confession during interrogation at the jail. According to the officer, Wilson described two drug deals in which he had participated over the last two months. Wilson indicated that during one of those deals, he had driven the yellow vehicle to locations that corresponded to the locations where police had observed that vehicle on the night in question. The officer testified that Wilson also admitted that he had delivered methamphetamine to an individual matching the informant's description and had received a sum of money equal to that which police had provided to the informant.
On cross-examination of a detective, Wilson's counsel asked the detective to identify the confidential informant. The prosecutor objected, asserting that the State did not have to disclose the informant's identity because the informant was not going to testify. The district court sustained the State's objection. Defense counsel was able to elicit testimony from the detective that the assault charge against the informant had been dismissed in exchange for his services. At the close of the evidence, the jury found Wilson guilty.
On appeal, Wilson argues that the district court erred in allowing certain exhibits into evidence without a sufficient foundation and in failing to conduct an in camera proceeding pursuant to Idaho Rule of Evidence 509(c)(3) to determine whether the identity of the informant should be disclosed to the defense. Wilson contends that in addition to violating I.R.E. 509(c)(3), the failure to conduct such an in camera proceeding violated his constitutional rights to confront his accuser, to due process, and to effective assistance of counsel.
We first address Wilson's argument that the district court abused its discretion by admitting into evidence the baggie of methamphetamine alleged to have been delivered to the informant and a lab report indicating that the substance was methamphetamine. Wilson contends that there was an insufficient foundation to show a connection between Wilson and the methamphetamine.
A trial court's determination that evidence is supported by a proper foundation is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. State v. Gilpin, 132 Idaho 643, 646, 977 P.2d 905, 908 (Ct.App.1999). We have stated that when a physical object is offered in evidence and a question of fact arises as to its connection with either the defendant or the crime, generally the object should be admitted for such weight and effect as the jury decides to give it, unless it is clearly irrelevant. State v. Simmons, 120 Idaho 672, 678, 818 P.2d 787, 793 (Ct.App.1991). Here, an adequate foundation was laid because the State's evidence showed that the baggie of methamphetamine offered into evidence was the one that was delivered to the confidential informant during the transaction which formed the basis of the charge. Wilson's argument that the methamphetamine was not adequately connected to him goes less to the adequacy of the foundation for the evidence than to the sufficiency of the trial evidence to identify Wilson as the perpetrator of the offense. Even if, as Wilson contends, evidence tying him to the drugs was necessary before the exhibits could be admitted, that foundation was provided here. According to the State's evidence, Wilson admitted to being involved in a drug transaction that matched the details of the transaction involving the confidential informant. Wilson has not shown the evidence lacked foundation or was irrelevant.
Wilson next asserts error in the trial court's failure to conduct an in camera proceeding to determine whether the State should be required to disclose the identity of the informant. An informant's identity need not always be disclosed in a criminal trial nor in a preliminary proceeding to determine probable cause for an arrest or a search. Idaho Criminal Rule 16(f)(2) provides that disclosure of a confidential informant's identity is required only if the informant will be a witness at a hearing or trial or if otherwise ordered by the trial court. Idaho Rule of Evidence 509 gives the State a qualified privilege to refuse to disclose the identity of an informant.1 The nondisclosure policy exists to preserve anonymity and to encourage citizens to communicate their knowledge of crime to law enforcement. State v. Hosey, 132 Idaho 117, 119, 968 P.2d 212, 214 (1998); State v. Kopsa, 126 Idaho 512, 518, 887 P.2d 57, 63 (Ct.App.1994).
Nevertheless, the State's interest in maintaining the secrecy of an informant's identity must give way where the informant has information that is relevant and helpful to an accused or is essential to a fair determination of a cause. Hosey, 132 Idaho at 119, 968 P.2d at 214. When the privilege has been invoked by the State, the rights of the parties and the procedure to be followed by the court are set forth in I.R.E. 509(c)(3), which states:
If it appears in the case that an informer may be able to give testimony relevant to any issue in a criminal case . . . and the informed public entity invokes the privilege, the court shall give the public entity the opportunity to show in camera facts relevant to determining whether the informer can, in fact, supply that testimony. The showing will ordinarily be in the form of affidavits, but the court may direct that testimony be taken if it finds that the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily upon affidavit. If the court finds there is a reasonable probability that the informer can give the testimony, and the public entity elects not to disclose the informer's identity, in criminal cases the court on motion of the defendant or on its own motion shall grant appropriate relief, which may include one or more of the following: (A) requiring the prosecuting attorney to comply, (B) granting the defendant additional time or a continuance[,] (C) relieving the defendant from making disclosures otherwise required of the defendant, (D) prohibiting the prosecuting attorney from introducing specified evidence, or (E) dismissing charges.
Under this rule the defendant must make a threshold showing that the informant may be able to give relevant testimony, and the in camera proceeding then provides an opportunity for the State to show that the informant's knowledge is not of such relevance that disclosure should be ordered. As the Idaho Supreme Court explained in Hosey, 132 Idaho at 119, 968 P.2d at 214: "The in camera hearing provides the trial court with an opportunity to determine the nature and extent of the benefit to the defendant from disclosure of a confidential informer's identity; it is desirable and proper to hold such a hearing before ordering or denying disclosure." Once the in camera examination has been conducted, the decision whether to require disclosure of the informant's identity is committed to the discretion of the trial court. Kopsa, 126 Idaho at 518, 887 P.2d at 63; State v. Fairchild, 121 Idaho 960, 965, 829 P.2d 550, 555 (Ct.App. 1992).
In the present case, the district court initially addressed the State's objection to disclosure under I.C.R. 16, which governs discovery. The district court concluded that the rule did not require disclosure because the informant was not going to testify at trial. Before resuming the trial the...
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...for the evidence than to the sufficiency of the trial evidence to identify Glass as the perpetrator. See State v. Wilson, 142 Idaho 431, 434, 128 P.3d 968, 971 (Ct.App.2006) (holding as much where defendant argued there was not sufficient foundation tying him to a bag of methamphetamine tha......
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...privilege to refuse to disclose the identity of a confidential informant who is not providing testimony. See State v. Wilson, 142 Idaho 431, 434, 128 P.3d 968, 971 (Ct.App.2006). The nondisclosure policy embodied in I.R.E. 509 exists to preserve anonymity and encourage citizens to communica......