State v. Isaacson

2017 UT App 1, 391 P.3d 364, 829 Utah Adv. Rep. 4, 2017 WL 74864, 2017 Utah App. LEXIS 4
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJanuary 6, 2017
Docket20150591-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 2017 UT App 1 (State v. Isaacson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Isaacson, 2017 UT App 1, 391 P.3d 364, 829 Utah Adv. Rep. 4, 2017 WL 74864, 2017 Utah App. LEXIS 4 (Utah Ct. App. 2017).

Opinions

[365]*365Memorandum Decision

CHRISTIANSEN, Judge:

¶1 Douglas Ewald Isaacson (Defendant) appeals his conviction for one count of carrying a loaded and concealed dangerous weapon, a class A misdemeanor.1 See Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-504(2) (LexisNexis Supp. 2013). We affirm.

¶2 In October 2013, the Draper City police received a tip from a local library that Defendant was carrying a concealed weapon and that the library staff knew he did not have a concealed-carry permit.2 While en route to the library, the responding officers learned that Defendant had left the library and was likely headed to a nearby senior center. The officers found Defendant in the senior center’s cafeteria. Defendant admitted to the officers that he had a gun concealed inside his jacket, and he allowed one of the officers to remove the gun from his jacket. The gun was fully loaded.

¶3 At a bench trial, Defendant stipulated that he did not have a concealed-carry permit. According to Defendant, he believed he did not need a concealed-carry permit because he had “a Second Amendment right to bear arms.”

¶4 Before the first witness was called to testify, Defendant indicated that he planned to call two “reputation or ... character witnesses.” The State objected, observing that the witnesses were not present at the time the offense occurred and that their testimony “would not be relevant to proving the ease as far as any of the elements that the State need[ed] to prove since they were not present.” Defendant indicated that the witnesses would be testifying as to his reputation for truthfulness and his “comprehension abilities and propensities related to the concealed carry permit law and also relating to carrying a weapon.” The trial court reserved ruling on the issue.

¶5 One of the responding police officers testified for the State, and a body-camera video was introduced and admitted into evidence. The video showed that Defendant was carrying a concealed gun inside his jacket. Based on this evidence and the testimony presented at trial, the court found that the gun was fully loaded and could be fired “simply by pulling the trigger one time.”

¶6 Defendant testified that he had taken the concealed-carry class twice but that he had never obtained a concealed-carry permit. He also testified that he did not have a holster to carry his gun. Defendant further testified regarding his limited finances, explaining that he had “economized” to purchase his gun and to pay for the concealed-carry classes.

¶7 After Defendant testified, he again asked to call the two witnesses to testify regarding his reputation for truthfulness. The trial court ruled that the witnesses could not testify because “there ha[d] been no attack on [Defendant’s] reputation for truthfulness and so pursuant to the rule it would be hearsay to have any witness come in and testify further about [Defendant’s] reputation for truthfulness.” The court also ruled that further testimony concerning Defendant’s “knowledge of needing a concealed weapons permit and his feeling on the law” was neither relevant nor admissible.

¶8 Ultimately, the trial court found Defendant guilty of carrying a loaded and concealed dangerous weapon, see Utah Code Ann. § 76-10-504(2) (LexisNexis Supp. 2013), and sentenced him to one year in jail. The court suspended Defendant’s sentence, placed him on probation, ordered him to complete twenty-four hours of community service, and ordered him to pay a $ 100 re-coupment fee. Defendant appeals.

¶9 On appeal, Defendant contends that “the court erred when it did not allow [him] to call two witnesses who would have testi-[366]*366fled about [his] character for truthfulness.” We review a trial court’s evidentiary rulings for an abuse of discretion and its interpretation of evidentiary rales for correctness. State v. Alzaga, 2015 UT App 133, ¶ 31, 352 P.3d 107.

¶10 Rule 608 of the Utah Rules of Evidence provides:

A witness’s credibility may be attacked or supported by testimony about the witness’s reputation for having a character for truthfulness or untruthfulness, or by testimony in the form of an opinion about that character. But evidence of truthful character is admissible only after the witness’s character for truthfulness has been attacked.

Utah R. Evid. 608(a).

¶11 Here, Defendant testified in his own defense. Defendant testified that he had paid $300 for his gun. He testified that he had twice taken the concealed-carry class but that he had never obtained a concealed-carry permit, even though he had “heard about the need to have a permit.” Defendant further testified that it was difficult for him to save the money to take the classes and that he lived “paycheck to paycheck.” According to Defendant, after he took the concealed-cany classes he “was saving at the time to get the extra 50 bucks” for a concealed-carry permit, but he was hoping the concealed-carry law would change.

¶12 The prosecution cross-examined Defendant on various aspects of his testimony. The prosecution asked Defendant about his “restricted income,” and Defendant testified that he had been living on a Social Security-based restricted income for almost fourteen years. The following exchange occurred during the prosecution’s cross-examination of Defendant:

Q. And after the previous weapon was stolen you were able to pay $300 to buy this new [gun]; is that correct?
A. It took some time to save the money and he took it on time and—
Q. But you did manage to scrape up $ 300 to buy the [gun]?
A. Yep, took me some time, some months.
Q. And then, .,. how much did you pay for ... the first concealed carry class?
A. I think 50 bucks, maybe 60. I don’t know.
Q. And you stated you had to take it again?
A. Well, it runs out after six months or a year, I can’t remember what the time limit was. So [the instructor] let me do it again for 10 bucks.
[[Image here]]
Q. And you had been told that you needed to have a holster?
A. Yeah, that was months earlier.
[[Image here]]
Q. And you couldn’t afford a holster at that time?
A. No.

¶13 On redirect examination, defense counsel asked Defendant to further explain how he acquired the gun. Defendant testified that he had “basically economized” to purchase the gun and that it took “four or five months of economizing to buy the gun.” According to Defendant, he “stopped going to [Utah] Jazz games,” started eating at McDonald’s “[instead of going to [a sports bar],” and stopped going to movies. He also stated that it only took “a couple months of saving” to attend the classes.

¶14 On recross-examination, the prosecution asked Defendant about “how much it ... cost to go to a Jazz game” and whether he purchased food at the games he attended.

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Related

State v. Isaacson
393 P.3d 284 (Utah Supreme Court, 2017)
State v. Isaacson
2017 UT App 1 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2017 UT App 1, 391 P.3d 364, 829 Utah Adv. Rep. 4, 2017 WL 74864, 2017 Utah App. LEXIS 4, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-isaacson-utahctapp-2017.