Idaho appellate court upholds battery conviction
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Idaho Court of Appeals says there was nothing wrong with the court testimony identifying a man who was found guilty of stabbing two people in a gang fight.
Lazarus Salazar was convicted of two counts of aggravated battery after Canyon County prosecutors said he was responsible for the stabbings outside a Nampa grocery store nearly three years ago. He was sentenced to up to 37 years in prison for the crimes, but appealed, contending that the jury was unfairly swayed by the testimony identifying him on a security videotape and that his sentence was excessive.
Salazar argued the prosecution's decision to use a police officer to identify him on the tape — instead of a lay person — prejudiced the jury. The appellate court rejected his claims in a ruling handed down Monday.
The criminal case focused on a fight between two rival gangs outside a Nampa grocery store nearly three years ago. The fight was caught on the store's video surveillance system, and after reviewing the security videos, police determined that Salazar was the man who committed the stabbings.
But Salazar contended the police detective who testified during the trial about Salazar's identity on the video tape wasn't any more qualified to identify him than the jury themselves would have been. Using the officer to make the identification was prejudicial, Salazar said, because it may have made the testimony — which anyone could have given — seem more valuable because it came from a police officer.
A lower court judge said the testimony was appropriate because the officer had interacted with Salazar once before, and because the prosecutor said Salazar had since changed his appearance, gaining weight, no longer shaving his head and sporting a full mustache instead of a goatee.
The appellate court agreed, finding that Salazar's complaint amounted to little more than an assertion that the jury believed the detective, and that it was detrimental to his case.
The appellate court also rejected Salazar's claim that his 15- to 37-year sentence was excessive. Salazar was 23 at the time of the offenses and was a gang member, the court noted.
"For one so young, Salazar has amassed a significant criminal record, including convictions for aggravated battery (twice), carrying a concealed weapon, resisting or obstructing officers, eluding an officer (twice), and disturbing the peace," Judge Karen Lansing wrote for the three-judge panel.
Salazar first stabbed someone when he was just 14, the court said, and had only been out of prison for a month when he committed the 2009 stabbings.
"This record shows Salazar to be exceptionally violent and dangerous, and undeterred by a previous imprisonment," Lansing wrote. "It does not show that his sentences for the present aggravated batteries are excessive."
Lazarus Salazar was convicted of two counts of aggravated battery after Canyon County prosecutors said he was responsible for the stabbings outside a Nampa grocery store nearly three years ago. He was sentenced to up to 37 years in prison for the crimes, but appealed, contending that the jury was unfairly swayed by the testimony identifying him on a security videotape and that his sentence was excessive.
Salazar argued the prosecution's decision to use a police officer to identify him on the tape — instead of a lay person — prejudiced the jury. The appellate court rejected his claims in a ruling handed down Monday.
The criminal case focused on a fight between two rival gangs outside a Nampa grocery store nearly three years ago. The fight was caught on the store's video surveillance system, and after reviewing the security videos, police determined that Salazar was the man who committed the stabbings.
But Salazar contended the police detective who testified during the trial about Salazar's identity on the video tape wasn't any more qualified to identify him than the jury themselves would have been. Using the officer to make the identification was prejudicial, Salazar said, because it may have made the testimony — which anyone could have given — seem more valuable because it came from a police officer.
A lower court judge said the testimony was appropriate because the officer had interacted with Salazar once before, and because the prosecutor said Salazar had since changed his appearance, gaining weight, no longer shaving his head and sporting a full mustache instead of a goatee.
The appellate court agreed, finding that Salazar's complaint amounted to little more than an assertion that the jury believed the detective, and that it was detrimental to his case.
The appellate court also rejected Salazar's claim that his 15- to 37-year sentence was excessive. Salazar was 23 at the time of the offenses and was a gang member, the court noted.
"For one so young, Salazar has amassed a significant criminal record, including convictions for aggravated battery (twice), carrying a concealed weapon, resisting or obstructing officers, eluding an officer (twice), and disturbing the peace," Judge Karen Lansing wrote for the three-judge panel.
Salazar first stabbed someone when he was just 14, the court said, and had only been out of prison for a month when he committed the 2009 stabbings.
"This record shows Salazar to be exceptionally violent and dangerous, and undeterred by a previous imprisonment," Lansing wrote. "It does not show that his sentences for the present aggravated batteries are excessive."
More to Explore
Learn about changes coming to commenting