Opinion
49435
04-17-2024
STATE OF IDAHO, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JAMEEL FAKHRI AL MUTHAFAR, Defendant-Appellant.
Erik R. Lehtinen, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for Appellant. Raul R. Labrador, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for Respondent.
Appeal from the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District of the State of Idaho, Ada County. Samuel Hoagland, District Judge.
Erik R. Lehtinen, State Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for Appellant.
Raul R. Labrador, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for Respondent.
On March 13, 2020, Kristi Springsteed was evaluated at both the St. Alphonsus emergency room as well as FACES of Hope following an assault. At the preliminary hearing, the State called Detective Ian Seavey and Sexual Assault Nurse examiner Casey Donahue as witnesses, but Springsteed did not testify. During Donahue's testimony, defense counsel objected to hearsay statements Springsteed made to Donahue which implicated Jameel Fakhri Al Muthafar, Springsteed's then-boyfriend, but that were admitted by the magistrate court under Idaho Rule of Evidence 803(4). After the preliminary hearing, defense counsel moved to dismiss the information, arguing that the magistrate court erred in allowing Donahue to testify regarding Springsteed's statements, and that without Donahue's testimony, there was no probable cause to continue proceedings. The district court denied this motion and the case proceeded to a jury trial where Al Muthafar was convicted of aggravated assault and attempted strangulation. He was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years, with five years fixed. Al Muthafar appeals his conviction, arguing that: (1) the district court erred in denying his motion to dismiss since Donahue's testimony should not have been admitted; (2) this error was not harmless and therefore his conviction should be vacated and a new trial ordered; and (3) even if this Court rejects the prior two arguments, the district court's sentence was excessive in light of the mitigating factors in this case.