Opinion ID: 6499827
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Officer Terlaje

Text: [62] Caso asserts that Officer Terlaje provided hearsay testimony that Brewer handed her methamphetamine after the controlled buy. Specifically, Caso argues that Officer Terlaje testified that Exhibit 13 contained methamphetamine even though she did not perform the laboratory test. Presumably, Caso is arguing that without personal knowledge of the laboratory test, Officer Terlaje lacked the personal knowledge to state that Exhibit 13 was methamphetamine. The People’s arguments are non-responsive to Caso’s arguments that Officer Terlaje’s testimony identifying the substance Brewer gave her as methamphetamine was hearsay.5 [63] Caso does not identify a particular statement by Officer Terlaje relating to her testimony that Exhibit 13 contained methamphetamine.6 Officer Terlaje testified that after Brewer, referred to as “she” or “SOI” (source of information), handed her the baggie, Officer Terlaje transported the evidence to the Mandaña Task Force office, where she conducted a field test kit for methamphetamines. Tr. at 81-83 (Jury Trial, Feb. 26, 2019). Officer Terlaje testified that the field test produced a presumptive positive for methamphetamines. This is all the testimony that Officer Terlaje gave as to the identity of the substance in Exhibit 13. Officer Terlaje did not testify about the results of the laboratory test conducted later by Cayton, but the results of the field test she conducted. Officer Terlaje had the personal knowledge to testify as to the results of the field test 5 The People address the statement as “the statement that Caso gave Brewer methamphetamine during the controlled buy . . . .” Appellee’s Br. at 26. Caso only argues that “[a]lthough [Officer Terlaje] did not conduct the laboratory test of Exhibit 13, Officer Terlaje gave the hearsay testimony that it was methamphetamine.” Appellant’s Br. at 22. Caso challenges no other testimony by Officer Terlaje as hearsay. 6 Caso cites only to Officer Terlaje’s testimony that “[s]he handed me a baggie, which contained crystalline substance.” Tr. at 80 (Jury Trial, Feb 26, 2019). Caso claims that Officer Terlaje never identified Brewer in court and thus never connected her with Exhibit 13. It is unclear how Caso intends this line of reasoning to allege hearsay. The record does not reflect that Brewer informed Officer Terlaje of what the baggie contained, nor did Officer Terlaje testify that the act of Brewer handing her the baggie was understood as a statement that the substance contained within the baggie was methamphetamine. Therefore, Caso must be challenging Officer Terlaje’s statement on the results of the field test which registered a presumptive positive for methamphetamine. People v. Caso, 2022 Guam 6, Opinion Page 27 of 27 she personally conducted. Officer Terlaje conducted the field testing, observed the results of the test, and testified in court as to the results. Therefore, Officer Terlaje’s statement was non-hearsay.