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 transcript of Singh’s preliminary hearing based on the official audio recording and its inherent authority to ensure the record conformed to the proceedings. The court also held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by providing the jury with the correction to the transcript.

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 transcription error because it listened to the official audio recording, the recording was clear, no party disputed what was said, and the district court was not inferiorly positioned to make the correction.
3. The district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting its correction to the preliminary-hearing transcript without separately establishing foundation under Idaho Rules 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 transcript when the preliminary hearing occurred in 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.

Disposition

affirmed