Court Opinion

ID: 9792546
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:30:36.580903+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:43.527797
License: Public Domain

WALTERS, Chief Judge,
concurring specially.
I concur in the foregoing opinion but deem one point in need of clarification. The appellant argues that proof of venue is an essential element to establish guilt in a criminal prosecution. Our opinion does not directly address that contention but merely holds that venue was established by a preponderance of the evidence, as permitted by I.C. § 19-301(2).
There is a division of authority among the courts upon the question of whether venue is an element of a criminal offense. See Annot., Necessity of Proving Venue or Territorial Jurisdiction of Criminal Offense Beyond Reasonable Doubt, 67 A.L. R.3d 988 (1975). Because Idaho’s statute, § 19-301, provides that venue is non-jurisdictional and may be proven by only a preponderance of the evidence, I conclude that Idaho is aligned with those states which hold that venue is not an element of a crime. Venue merely establishes the forum where the prosecution should take place. See I.C.R. 19. Any objection to that forum should be raised before the trial commences, or it is waived. See I.C.R. 22. Consequently, in the instant case, it was immaterial whether the state proved to the jury at trial that the crime occurred in Idaho County and the magistrate properly denied Wimer’s motion to dismiss asserting otherwise.