Opinion ID: 1375948
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Presence of the State's Investigator

Text: Defendant claims his right to a fair trial was violated because, after invoking the witness exclusion rule, Rule 9.3, the state's designated investigator, [3] who testified last in the state's case-in-chief, remained in the courtroom throughout the trial. Defendant contends that if the witness exclusion rule is to have validity, the state's designated investigator either should remain out of the courtroom until he or she testifies or should be the state's first witness in its case-in-chief. Defendant, however, failed to object to the presence of the state's designated investigator throughout the trial and failed to object when the state called him as the last witness. Consequently, Defendant waived his right to raise this issue on appeal, absent fundamental error. State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 154, 812 P.2d 626, 627 (1991). Error is fundamental only when it is `of such dimensions that it cannot be said that it is possible for a defendant to have had a fair trial.' Id. at 155, 812 P.2d at 628 (quoting State v. Smith, 114 Ariz. 415, 420, 561 P.2d 739, 744 (1977)). Under these facts, the error alleged hardly rises to that magnitude. Thus, even if there were error here, but see Rule 9.3(d), the error was waived.