State v. Singh

Summary

The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed Diwakar Singh’s felony domestic-violence conviction. The court held that the district court had authority to correct a patent error in the preliminary-hearing transcript based on the official audio recording and did not abuse its discretion by admitting the correction at trial.

Holdings

1. Idaho Criminal Rule 5.2(c) does not preclude a district court from correcting a patent error in a preliminary-hearing transcript.
2. The district court had authority to correct the patent error in the preliminary-hearing transcript because it listened to the official recording, the recording clearly resolved the error, and no genuine dispute existed concerning what was said.
3. The district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting its correction to the preliminary-hearing transcript without separately establishing foundation under Idaho Rule of Evidence 901 or 902.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Idaho Criminal Rule 5.2(c) prohibited the district court from correcting a patent error in a preliminary-hearing transcript.
2. Whether the district court had authority to correct the preliminary-hearing transcript rather than requiring the correction to be made by the magistrate court.
3. Whether the district court abused its discretion by admitting its correction to the preliminary-hearing transcript at trial without separately laying an evidentiary foundation under Idaho Rules of Evidence 901 or 902.

Disposition

affirmed