State v. Don Edward Collom

CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedSeptember 13, 2016
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Don Edward Collom (State v. Don Edward Collom) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Don Edward Collom, (Idaho Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO

Docket No. 43499

STATE OF IDAHO, ) 2016 Unpublished Opinion No. 678 ) Plaintiff-Respondent, ) Filed: September 13, 2016 ) v. ) Stephen W. Kenyon, Clerk ) DON EDWARD COLLOM, ) THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED ) OPINION AND SHALL NOT Defendant-Appellant. ) BE CITED AS AUTHORITY )

Appeal from the District Court of the Sixth Judicial District, State of Idaho, Franklin County. Hon. Mitchell W. Brown, District Judge.

Judgment of conviction for lewd conduct with a minor child under sixteen, affirmed.

May, Rammell & Thompson, Chtd.; Bron M. Rammell, Pocatello, for appellant. Bron M. Rammell argued.

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

GRATTON, Judge Don Edward Collom appeals from his judgment of conviction for lewd conduct with a minor child under sixteen. We affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Collom owned a resort and employed J.W., a fifteen-year-old boy, at the resort. J.W. alleged Collom molested him in one of the rooms at the resort. J.W. told his friend (Friend) about the alleged incident. The State charged Collom with lewd conduct with a minor child under sixteen, Idaho Code § 18-1508. Collom subpoenaed Friend to testify about J.W.’s reputation for truthfulness and inconsistencies in J.W.’s story. Before trial, the district court entered orders excluding witnesses from hearing the testimony of other witnesses under Idaho Rule of Evidence 615(a)

1 (I.R.E. 615 order) and preventing witnesses from speaking with each other about the case (case discussion order). At a pretrial conference, Collom informed the district court that J.W.’s mother (Mother) had violated the case discussion order by having a conversation with Friend in which she instructed Friend about how to testify. No remedy was requested. Before the presentation of evidence, Collom moved to exclude Mother from hearing the testimony of other witnesses pursuant to the district court’s I.R.E. 615 order because she was a witness. The court exempted Mother from its I.R.E. 615 order and allowed her to be in the courtroom as the family representative under I.C. § 19-5306(3). Before Friend testified, Collom’s attorney asked the court if he could question Friend about her pretrial conversation with Mother. The court resolved the matter outside the presence of the jury, and Collom’s attorney did not question Friend about her conversation with Mother. The jury found Collom guilty. Collom moved for a new trial. In Collom’s memorandum in support of his motion for a new trial, Collom’s attorney asserted, among other things, that he abandoned his examination of Friend because Friend was not testifying fully and freely. He attributed Friend’s reluctance in testifying to her conversation with Mother and Mother’s presence in the courtroom when Friend testified. The district court denied Collom’s motion for a new trial because he had not asserted statutory grounds for a new trial. Collom timely appeals. II. ANALYSIS Collom argues the district court deprived him of due process. Within his due process claim, Collom asserts the court erred in denying his motion to exclude Mother from the courtroom and designating Mother as the family representative. Collom also contends the prosecutor committed misconduct in his closing argument and cumulative error. A. Due Process Collom argues the district court deprived him of due process by allowing Mother to intimidate Friend. According to Collom, due process affords him the “right to present witnesses who can ‘freely and fully’ testify.” Collom claims Friend was unable to testify freely, fully, and truthfully because the court allowed Mother to intimidate Friend. Collom’s due process argument arises from three events that occurred in the district court. We first address any error Collom might claim the court committed at these events.

2 The first event occurred at a conference between the parties prior to trial.1 Collom informed the court that Mother had violated the case discussion order by having a conversation with Friend in which she instructed Friend to be honest, but limit her testimony to “yes” or “no” responses and not provide any details. Although the record is clear that Collom brought the conversation between Mother and Friend to the court’s attention, the record does not reveal a contemporaneous objection. Nor does the record show that Collom requested any relief or the district court issued an adverse ruling. Generally, issues not raised below may not be considered for the first time on appeal. State v. Fodge, 121 Idaho 192, 195, 824 P.2d 123, 126 (1992). “It is well settled that in order for an issue to be raised on appeal, the record must reveal an adverse ruling that forms the basis for assignment of error.” State v. Huntsman, 146 Idaho 580, 585, 199 P.3d 155, 160 (Ct. App. 2008) (citing State v. Amerson, 129 Idaho 395, 401, 925 P.2d 399, 405 (Ct. App. 1996)). Collom has shown no error related to the first event. The second event occurred during trial, prior to the presentation of evidence. Collom moved to exclude Mother from hearing the testimony of other witnesses pursuant to the district court’s I.R.E. 615 order because she was a witness. Collom’s attorney stated, “I just wanted to touch upon the ruling of this court excluding witnesses. . . . I just don’t see where it is that [Mother], as a called witness, is permitted to stay in the room.” The State responded that the court should allow Mother to be in the courtroom as a victim and family representative under I.C. § 19-5306(3). According to the State, the court could appoint a family representative because J.W.’s emotional state prevented him from being at the trial except to testify. Collom’s attorney asked the court to instead appoint J.W.’s father (Father) as the family representative because he was not a witness. The court found J.W.’s emotional state incapacitated him and prevented him from exercising his rights personally and there was no reason to reject Mother as the representative. Accordingly, the court exempted Mother from its I.R.E. 615 order and allowed her to be in the courtroom as the family representative. Whether to grant a motion to exclude witnesses is committed to the sound discretion of the trial court. State v. Danson, 113 Idaho 746, 748, 747 P.2d 768, 770 (Ct. App. 1987). Collom has not demonstrated an abuse of discretion in the district court’s decision to deny Collom’s

1 Although the record does not contain a transcript of this conference, Collom’s memorandum in support of his motion for a new trial and a colloquy between the parties prior to Friend’s testimony indicate the conference occurred and what the parties generally discussed at the conference. 3 motion to exclude Mother from the courtroom. The court acknowledged that appointing Mother as the family representative required it to exempt her from its I.R.E. 615 order. Moreover, the purpose of I.R.E. 615 is to allow courts to prevent witnesses from “shaping their testimony to conform to or rebut the prior testimony of other witnesses.” Huntsman, 146 Idaho at 589, 199 P.3d at 164. In this case, given the manner of presentation of evidence, there was no danger that Mother would have shaped her testimony to conform to or rebut the prior testimony of other witnesses. Finally, Collom did not contemporaneously provide any reason, other than the I.R.E. 615 order, why the court should exclude Mother from the courtroom.

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State v. Don Edward Collom, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-don-edward-collom-idahoctapp-2016.