State v. Nez

950 P.2d 1289, 130 Idaho 950, 1997 Ida. App. LEXIS 154
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 19, 1997
Docket23591
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 950 P.2d 1289 (State v. Nez) 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. Nez, 950 P.2d 1289, 130 Idaho 950, 1997 Ida. App. LEXIS 154 (Idaho Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

PERRY, Judge.

Salvador C. Nez appeals from the district court’s order revoking probation and ordering execution of Nez’s original sentence of five years indeterminate, with two years fixed, for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). I.C. § 18-8004. We affirm.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURE

Nez entered a guilty plea to felony DUI. The district court sentenced Nez to a unified five-year term, of which two years were fixed. The district court retained jurisdiction for 180 days. Thereafter, the district court suspended Nez’s sentence and placed Nez on probation for the balance of his five-year term. One condition of Nez’s probation required him to report to his probation officer every Tuesday until Nez obtained a permanent residence.

*953 During the time he was on probation, Nez had three probation officers: originally, Larry Jay; then officer Peace; and, finally, Gary Luck. On December 4, 1995, officer Jay filed a report of violation alleging that Nez had violated probation. The report stated:

At the time of defendant’s jurisdictional review, he did not have a permanent address. I requested that he be ordered to report at 9:00 a.m. every Tuesday until he could establish a permanent residence. Defendant called me on October 9, 1995 stating he had no transportation to get to Mountain Home. At that time, defendant reported he was staying at the Tahitian Motel Room # 8 in Nampa, Idaho. Defendant has made no attempt to contact this officer since that date. On November 21, 1995, I called the Tahitian Motel and was informed that the defendant had checked out approximately three (3) weeks prior. It would appear the defendant has willfully absconded supervision.

On December 15, 1995, a bench warrant was issued for Nez’s arrest. One year later, on December 18, 1996, a probation violation hearing was held with Nez present and in custody. Officer Luck, Nez’s current probation officer, testified that according to his probation file, Nez had only made one phone call to officer Jay and had not made any other contact with his probation officers. The district court revoked Nez’s probation and issued an order executing the original five-year sentence, with two years fixed. Nez appeals.

II.

ANALYSIS

Nez lists five issues in his statement of issues on appeal: 1 (1) the district court erred when it admitted irrelevant testimony regarding Nez’s failure to contact his probation officer after Nez’s initial violation; (2) character evidence given by Nez’s probation officer should have been excluded under I.R.E. 404(b); (3) Nez’s right to confront witnesses under the federal and state constitutions was denied by the district court; (4) the district court abused its discretion by not ordering an updated presentence investigation (PSI) report; and (5) the district court abused its discretion by not giving Nez an opportunity to exercise his right of allocution before sentencing.

1. Testimony of Probation Officer

Nez’s two evidentiary issues will be discussed together. Nez argues that officer Luck’s testimony was irrelevant to the violation charged and that it was character evidence that should have been barred by I.R.E. 404(b). Officer Luck testified that Nez never contacted Luck, nor Luck’s predecessors, officers Jay and Peace. Nez claims that only one incident is relevant to this appeal — the charged violation that Nez failed to contact Jay — and that any subsequent failure to contact his probation officers is irrelevant. Nez also claims that this testimony was character evidence of other wrongs which were offered to prove Nez acted in conformity with that character and was thus inadmissible.

It is important to note that a probation revocation hearing is altogether different from an actual criminal trial. The Idaho Rules of Evidence do not apply to a probation revocation proceeding. I.R.E. 101(e)(3); State v. Egersdorf, 126 Idaho 684, 685, 889 P.2d 118, 119 (Ct.App.1995). However, the admission of evidence is not unbridled; evidence should only be admitted at a probation revocation hearing if it is found to be credible and reliable. Id., 126 Idaho at 686, 889 P.2d at 120.

Nez’s contentions are without merit. The testimony by Luck was in regards to a continuing violation by Nez. Nez failed to *954 appear at his first meeting with his probation officer and then allegedly absconded for the duration of his time on probation. This conduct was all part and parcel of the probation violation for which he was charged. Therefore, the evidence was relevant and also was not evidence of “bad character” as contemplated by Rule 404(b).

Moreover, the evidence was credible and reliable. Nez has never asserted that he complied with the terms of his probation by meeting with his probation officers. The record presents no reason for the district court to disbelieve officer Luck’s testimony, which was corroborated by the report of violation filed by officer Jay. Thus, we conclude that the district court did not err when it allowed the introduction of officer Luck’s testimony at the probation revocation hearing.

2. Right to Confrontation^

Nez appears to argue that his right to confrontation was violated in two aspects. First, Nez alleges that he was denied his right to review his probation file before officer Luck testified regarding the file’s contents. Second, Nez contends that he was denied his right to confrontation because Luck testified regarding entries in the file made by his predecessor, officer Jay. Jay was not called to testify.

When the state questioned Luck regarding the contents of the probation file, Nez objected, claiming it was a violation of his due process rights and his right to confrontation. The following colloquy took place between the district court and Nez’s attorney:

[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, I would maintain that it — if the file exists and this witness has custody of them, that they be produced before he’s permitted to summarize the contents. I think that the defendant has a basic right of confrontation under the Idaho constitution and the federal constitution and that it would encompass being able to see the evidence rather than have this witness characterize it.
THE COURT: The witness has testified that he has the files in his possession. I note from looking at it that he has something in front of him. You’re certainly welcome to take a look at that. What we’re going to do is we’re going to go into recess. I’ll give you a chance to look through that file with Mr. Luck and satisfy yourself as to the contents of that file. We’ll be in recess.
THE COURT: We’re back on record in CR-MD-94-00512, State of Idaho versus Salvador C. Nez.
Have you had an ample opportunity to investigate the contents of that file or what’s going on at this point?
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: I have had ample opportunity to investigate the portion of the file that the probation officer was kind enough to point out to me as being the relevant portion he was referring to.

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Bluebook (online)
950 P.2d 1289, 130 Idaho 950, 1997 Ida. App. LEXIS 154, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-nez-idahoctapp-1997.