Court Opinion

ID: 9844233
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 02:59:20.286374+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:15:30.590345
License: Public Domain

ON DENIAL OF PETITION FOR REHEARING
McFADDEN, Justice.
Appellant has petitioned for rehearing setting forth therein three points for reconsideration. After studying the petition and accompanying brief the court is of the view that appellant misunderstood the thrust of the opinion and a clarification is warranted.
The opinion viewed appellant’s prior conduct towards the children and the home situation generally as material issues at trial. It recognized, however, the problem of proof where several incidents occurred when the children were in appellant’s sole custody and yet the children (the best witnesses) were too young to testify. Exhibits L and M were relevant to the home situation issue and sufficient testimony came in without objection to also connect what the exhibits depicted to appellant’s actions.
The bloodstained dryer door was properly admitted in that it was connected to Mrs. Furney’s discovery of the bloodstained clothes dryer and her confrontation of appellant with the discovery. The discovery by his wife of the stains clearly prompted appellant to admit to placing Shane in the dryer. Thus, it was the evident prior knowledge by appellant that the stains existed that was crucial and not whether the bloodtype matched that of decedent.
Exhibit K, a picture of bloody fingerprints, was erroneously admitted because it was not shown to be connected to the dryer incident. The error cannot be viewed as prejudicial since exhibit G, a photograph which also depicted the prints shown in K was admitted earlier without objection.
The cases cited in the petition are not persuasive here. State v. Wheeler, 70 Idaho 455, 220 P.2d 687 (1950), and State v. Wilson, 93 Idaho 194, 457 P.2d 433 (1969), stand for the proposition that a defendant cannot be convicted by evidence *132pertaining to an issue that is irrelevant. State v. Ramirez, 33 Idaho 803, 199 P. 376 (1921), supports the opinion as issued in that on appeal this court must read the record to determine if on the whole defendant has had a “fair” trial. Ramirez clearly supports our position when it notes that certain evidentiary errors had been cured by subsequent events in the trial.
United States v. Wheeler, 434 F.2d 1195 (9th Cir. 1970), presented a situation where two procedural errors combined with a doubt by the appellate judges that the evidence had sufficient weight to cause reversal. In the case at hand one exhibit was improperly admitted. However, in view of the record that error does not warrant a new trial.
The petition for rehearing is denied.
McQUADE, C. J., and DONALDSON, SHEPARD and SPEAR, JJ., concur.