Opinion ID: 1309759
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: prejudicial and irrelevant evidence

Text: Over defendant's objections, the court admitted into evidence exhibits 18 and 19 which were two sacks containing drug paraphernalia and a number of containers of suspected drugs. The exhibits were part of the evidence seized at the Marcus apartment. Defendant complains that the court erred in admitting the exhibits into evidence because no foundation was laid to show that all of the items in the exhibits were controlled substances. He also complains that rule 403 of the Utah Rules of Evidence required the court to exclude them because they were not relevant to the offenses charged, their probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice to defendant, they confused the jury, and they were needlessly cumulative evidence. The State's expert on controlled substance testing tested only a random sample of the items within the exhibit. The sample was approximately equal to the square root of the number of items. It is on this basis that defendant challenges the adequacy of the foundation for admitting the exhibits. We need not address the sufficiency of the testing procedure employed because other competent evidence also contributed to the foundation necessary for the admission of the exhibits. Marcus testified that the items were drugs. They were seized in a drug raid along with other known controlled substances. They were also packaged in the same manner as the other known controlled substances. The exhibits were relevant because they corroborated Marcus's and Stoddard's testimony that defendant was Marcus's supplier and that there was an enterprise (see section VI infra ). The exhibits were not needlessly cumulative because they helped establish the extent to which defendant and Marcus had created an enterprise for trafficking in drugs. We will not interfere with the trial court's ruling admitting assertedly inflammatory evidence unless it appears that the trial judge so abused his discretion as to create a likelihood that injustice resulted. State v. Danker, 599 P.2d 518 (Utah 1979). We find no abuse here.