Idaho Supreme Court - Criminal Decisions 2023

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Tyler Reece Rambo was convicted on three counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer following an incident with police at a city park in Idaho. Rambo appealed his conviction, challenging several of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, defendant Douglas Shane Thompson was convicted for domestic violence, and a no-contact order was put in place prohibiting him from contacting his minor son. Thompson appealed against the decision, arguing…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the defendant, Patrick Nieves Augerlavoie, was charged with felony leaving the scene of an injury accident, misdemeanor making a false 911 report, and being a persistent violator due to his three prior…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Azad Abdullah was convicted and sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of his wife. He also received consecutive prison sentences for first-degree arson, three counts of attempted first-degree murder,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In June 2021, Kenneth Bernard Kimbley, III, was convicted on four counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and sentenced to four concurrent sentences, each for a determinate period of not less than fifteen years and an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Following the State’s dismissal of criminal charges against him, Nickolaus Oldenburg moved the district court to seal the criminal court file pursuant to Idaho Code section 67-3004(10). The State did not contest the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Rodney Harrell appealed his conviction for trafficking in methamphetamine, trafficking in marijuana, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Harrell argued his convictions should have been vacated because: (1) the district…

Justia Opinion Summary: While a passenger during an unrelated traffic stop, defendant-appellant Audrey Monroe was recognized by a Bingham County Sheriff’s deputy as having an outstanding warrant. Pursuant to the warrant, the deputy attempted to…

Justia Opinion Summary: While on patrol, Deputy Sheriff Brock Katseanes discovered an unattended car parked in the parking lot of a public boat launch. The car was unlocked, and its trunk and front windows were open. Katseanes learned the car…

Justia Opinion Summary: Edo, a dog used by the Boise Police Department to detect controlled substances, alerted on defendant-respondent Shawna Pendleton’s vehicle during a traffic stop. Videos of the incident raised questions about the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2017, Guy Bracali-Gambino pleaded guilty to possession of major contraband in a correctional facility. On direct appeal, the Idaho Court of Appeals, in an unpublished opinion, affirmed his conviction and sentence.…

Justia Opinion Summary: After methamphetamine was found on his person during a pat search, Appellant John Doe was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and two related misdemeanors under the Juvenile Corrections Act (“JCA”).…

Justia Opinion Summary: An Idaho district court denied Jared Head’s motion to strike certain evidence supporting a restitution order. Jared and his wife, Teresa, worked as onsite managers at the Village Inn Motel in Malad City, Idaho. Following…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2019, Officer Pallas was off duty and not in uniform when he noticed defendant-respondent Jonathan Bell at an Albertsons grocery store in Hailey, Idaho. Bell appeared to be unsteady on his feet, was having difficulty…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Robert Miller appealed his conviction for felony driving under the influence (“DUI”) and the district court’s application of a sentencing enhancement based on a prior conviction for felony DUI within…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Mark Lankford appealed for the third time his 1983 convictions for the first-degree murders of Robert and Cheryl Bravence near Grangeville, Idaho. Errors in Lankford’s first two trials in 1984 and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Brandon Bahr appealed a district court’s summary dismissal of his untimely petition for post-conviction relief. Bahr filed his untimely petition roughly two years after the one-year statute of limitations had expired.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Sean Anderson appealed his conviction and sentence for aggravated assault on a police officer. Anderson argued on appeal: (1) the district court erred by instructing the jury on a different theory of assault than what…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Stacy Ingraham appealed her convictions and sentences for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, destruction of evidence, and grand theft by possession of…

Justia Opinion Summary: A coalition of media companies petitioned the Idaho Supreme Court for a writ of mandamus or a writ of prohibition to vacate a nondissemination order issued by the magistrate court in the pending criminal action of State…

Justia Opinion Summary: When asked about recent negative behavior, defendant-appellant Jason Roberts’ fifteen-year-old son informed his mother that she would understand if she saw the signs that Roberts “was sexually hurting” him. A Children at…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jane Doe appealed a district court’s decision to uphold the magistrate court’s judgment that Doe committed a battery—placing Doe within the purview of the Juvenile Corrections Act. Doe argued the magistrate court erred…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Camille Pool pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI in 2020. In May 2020, approximately two months following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Pool was sentenced at a hearing conducted over Zoom which she…

Justia Opinion Summary: Thomas Hooley appealed a district court’s summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. In 2014, Hooley was convicted of aiding and abetting aggravated battery and kidnapping in the first degree. Hooley…

Justia Opinion Summary: Erick Hall appealed the district court’s dismissal of his successive petition for post-conviction relief regarding his death sentence, which he received for the murder of Lynn Henneman in September 2000. Hall contended…

Justia Opinion Summary: Officers from the Boise Police Department arrested Eduardo Plata Iniguez (“Plata”) outside his home for misdemeanor driving under the influence (“DUI”) without a warrant, and without witnessing the commission of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Darin Ogden appealed his conviction for possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. During a consensual encounter, officers searched Ogden’s vehicle outside of a business and arrested Ogden for felony…

Justia Opinion Summary: Kirby Dorff appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained after a police drug-sniffing dog jumped onto the exterior surface of his vehicle. Dorff argued the dog’s contact with his vehicle was a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Following a jury trial, Travis Leavitt was convicted for statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl. He was 34 years old at the time of the incident. After the trial had begun, the State disclosed new evidence regarding…

Justia Opinion Summary: In April 2018, a teller working at CapEd Credit Union called the Boise Police Department to report a suspicious situation: a man came into the credit union, made a large cash deposit, exited the building, and then…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Diwakar Singh was convicted for felony domestic violence. Prior to Singh’s trial, the State identified an error in the preliminary hearing transcript. The district court, citing its inherent authority…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jonathan Hernandez pled guilty to second-degree murder. He petitioned for post-conviction relief, arguing his trial counsel was ineffective for promising Hernandez he would not receive a sentence of more than ten to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jorge Rodriquez was convicted of domestic battery with traumatic injury in the presence of a child. His first trial ended with a hung jury. In the second trial, the jury found Rodriquez guilty of the charge. The district…

Justia Opinion Summary: Wayne Marsh was detained by police after an informant reported witnessing an attempted burglary and described him to dispatch as one of the two suspects. During the investigatory detention that ensued, police discovered…

Justia Opinion Summary: Prior to voir dire in George Cuenca’s trial for aggravated battery, taking place in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the district court ordered that everyone in the courtroom would wear masks, including witnesses.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Gilberto Roman-Lopez was convicted by jury on two counts of sexual abuse of a child and three counts of lewd conduct with a minor. Roman-Lopez argued the Idaho Supreme Court should vacate his judgment and remand for a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2021, Paul Greer pleaded guilty to felony domestic battery and was sentenced to a prison term of not less than two and not more than seven years. He appealed, arguing the district court abused its discretion when it:…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellant Robert Stark appealed the dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. Stark alleged his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance for failing to file a motion to suppress the contents of…