Opinion ID: 1701667
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did trial court err by admitting into evidence the criminalistics laboratory report?

Text: Defendant asserts admission of the report over his objections was error because it violated his sixth amendment right to confront his accusers and because an insufficient foundation was established. He is confronted at the outset with the strong presumption of constitutionality of regularly enacted statutes. State v. Kueny, 215 N.W.2d 215, 216 (Iowa 1974). The report was admitted into evidence pursuant to § 749A.2, The Code (set out in full in State v. One Certain Conveyance, 1971 Honda 350, Etc., 211 N.W.2d 297 [Iowa 1973] at 300) which defendant attacks as unconstitutional. Defendant concedes he had ample notice the report would be offered. He elected not to request the technician be produced as a witness because the statute in requiring him to give such notice, violated the constitutional right to confront the witness. The issue of the constitutionality of § 749A.2 compellingly invokes a comparison with § 232.31, The Code. See State v. One Certain Conveyance, 1971 Honda 350, Etc., supra at 301. We have construed § 232.31 to mean the juvenile, if seasonably advised that reports are to be offered, must establish he has exhausted process to secure presence of the desired witnesses in order to preserve a claim admission of such reports constitutes a denial of his constitutional right to confrontation. In re Meyer, 204 N.W.2d 625, 627 (Iowa 1973); In re Delaney, 185 N.W.2d 726, 732-733 (Iowa 1971). Defendant unsuccessfully seeks to distinguish the juvenile cases by arguing different standards apply there. See Delaney, supra at 729-731. Cf. Thomas v. State, Board of Parole, 220 N.W.2d 874, 878 (Iowa 1974). His further reliance on Davis v. Alaska, 415 U.S. 308, 315-316, 94 S.Ct. 1105, 1110, 39 L.Ed.2d 347, 353 (1974) is misplaced. The defendant in Davis was completely precluded from cross-examining on the specific issue of the witness' juvenile record. And while in Davis Alaska's interest in preserving the anonymity of a juvenile offender was out-weighed by defendant's right of confrontation, here we scale the possibility of a breakdown in processing criminal investigations (while idle criminalistics laboratory experts cool their heels in courtrooms around the state) against whatever alleged inconvenience might be occasioned defense counsel in making a simple request that the expert be produced as a witness. If the main and essential purpose of confrontation is to secure for the accused the opportunity of cross-examination, see Davis, supra at 353, 5 Wigmore on Evidence § 1400, p. 200 (Chadbourn rev. 1974), there is no constitutional infirmity in § 749A.2. Here defendant chose not to exercise his right to cross-examine. The lack of foundation contention is not really argued by defendant. The foundation issues raised below were directed at the technician's qualifications and expertise which are statutorily presumed. If the obscure reference to this contention in defendant's brief is meant to allege the report was inadmissible because it failed to show sufficient facts upon which the opinion was based (see Hedges v. Conder, 166 N.W.2d 844, 857 [Iowa 1969]), that issue was not specifically raised by the in-trial foundation objection and will not be considered now. We have considered defendant's other arguments related to the issue treated in this division and find them to be without merit. Under the issues posed here we find § 749A.2, The Code, passes constitutional muster. VI. Did trial court err by instructing the jury a criminalistics laboratory employee is presumed qualified and any report by such employee has the same force and effect as if testified to in person ? Trial court submitted the following instruction based upon § 749A.2, The Code: Under the law of Iowa, it is presumed that any employee of the State Criminalistics Laboratory possesses the required expertise to accomplish any analysis, comparison or identification done by such employee in the course of employment in the laboratory and that any report of such employee shall have the same force and effect as if the employee had testified in person. This presumption is not conclusive but should be considered and given the weight to which you believe it entitled in the light of all of the other evidence. Defendant objected on the grounds the statutory presumption was for the purpose of admission only and not for the purpose of jury instruction; the instruction on presumption placed undue emphasis on the technician, the report, and the weight it should be given; and it deprived defendant of due process and the right to confront the witness. The arguments made in defendant's brief appear largely unrelated to the exceptions taken to the instruction. If the instruction had any frailties, they are not pinpointed by defendant's arguments. We do not view the instruction as telling the jury as a matter of law that the report was credible. A fair reading of the instruction shows the jury was only told there was a rebuttable presumption the technician could properly perform any required analysis; not that he or she did, or that the conclusion reached was rebuttably presumed correct. Defendant finally argues While the instruction in this case did not create the presumption of truth, it created the presumption of an expertise which should have been determined by the jury. Of course expertise is a matter of admissibility, Hedges v. Conder, supra at 857, and admissibility is ordinarily the sole province of the judge, State v. Berch, 222 N.W.2d 741, 745 (Iowa 1974). Here admissibility as it turned on expertise was resolved by the statutory presumption. Assuming, without holding, defendant's criticism of the instruction was well taken, defendant was given the benefit of allowing the jury to reject the statutory presumption and consequently determine the admissibility of the report. He has no basis for complaint on this score. We find no reversible error with respect to the issue set out in this division.