Title: State v. Sparks
Citation: 238 N.W.2d 777
Docket Number: 58490
State: Iowa
Issuer: Iowa Supreme Court
Date: February 18, 1976

238 N.W.2d 777 (1976) STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. James Allan SPARKS, Appellant. No. 58490. Supreme Court of Iowa. February 18, 1976. *778 Robert M. Benton, of Rex Darrah Law Office, Des Moines, for appellant. Richard C. Turner, Atty. Gen., Thomas D. McGrane, Asst. Atty. Gen., and Ray A. Fenton, County Atty., for appellee. Submitted to MOORE, C. J., and RAWLINGS, UHLENHOPP, REYNOLDSON and McCORMICK, JJ. McCORMICK, Justice. Defendant appeals his conviction and sentence for delivery of amphetamines in violation of § 204.401(1), The Code. The sole question presented is whether he was denied a fair trial by trial court rulings which permitted the prosecutor to ask him on cross-examination about the source of the drugs he admitted he delivered. We affirm the trial court because we do not find he was denied a fair trial. Defendant's theory of defense was entrapment. He testified at length on direct examination about his close relationship with the government's agent. He emphasized the agent's blandishments, ingratiating conduct, and persistence in asking him to obtain drugs. He added color to this portrait of the agent's aggressiveness by claiming unfamiliarity with drug trafficking and uncertainty about his ability to carry out the requested transaction. This is illustrated by part of his testimony on direct examination: Later in his testimony on direct examination this exchange occurred: On cross-examination the assistant county attorney asked defendant whom he got the pills from. Defense counsel objected on the ground of relevancy, and the objection was overruled. Defendant said the man's name was John but he could not remember his last name. He asserted this was the first time he had ever been to that place. When asked whom he had called to find out who might have pills, he first said he did not recall, then over unsuccessful defense objection on the grounds of relevancy and scope of cross-examination identified the man he called as "Frank". He said he was not sure but thought his last name was Aldrich. Later he testified the purchase had to be made before 2:00 p. m. because he guessed that is when John went to work. When asked where John worked he was required to answer over another objection based upon relevancy. He identified a bar where he believed John worked. Defendant contends the trial court erred in overruling his objections to these questions. All objections raised an issue of relevancy and one was addressed to the scope of cross-examination. The basic test of relevancy is whether the evidence offered would render the desired inference more probable than it would be without the evidence. State v. Mathias, 216 N.W.2d 319, 322 (Iowa 1974). In this case, assuming without deciding the evidence was not necessary to prove the fact of delivery, State v. Ostrand, 219 N.W.2d 509, 513 (Iowa 1974), it was nevertheless probative in refuting defendant's entrapment defense. Although we are committed to the objective test of entrapment, State v. Mullen, 216 N.W.2d 375 (Iowa 1974), this does not render the circumstances surrounding the defendant's participation in the drug transaction irrelevant. As pointed out in Mullen: The conduct of the government official or agent must be evaluated in its context, not in a vacuum. Under this principle the State had a right to test defendant's claim of unfamiliarity and uncertainty concerning the transaction by cross-examination of the kind involved here. The jury was not bound to accept his version of the transaction. Defendant alleges any probative value of the evidence was outweighed by its undue prejudicial effect so that it should also have been excluded on that basis. His trial court objections were insufficient to preserve error on this contention. State v. Harmon, 238 N.W.2d 139 (Iowa 1976). We find no merit in his claim he was denied a fair trial by the trial court's rulings on his relevancy objections. Nor do we find merit in his objection that the trial court abused its discretion in overruling his objection that the question relating to the identity of the person he called to obtain information about a source of pills exceeded the scope of proper cross-examination. Under the standard discussed in State v. Jensen, 189 N.W.2d 919 (Iowa 1971), we believe this matter was sufficiently introduced on direct examination to permit the challenged inquiry on cross-examination. No reversible error appears. Affirmed.