Idaho State Court of Appeals denies Post-Conviction relief related to Drug Conviction

Mark Reinhardt- Boise Idaho Last month, the Idaho State Court of Appeals denied a petition for post-conviction relief relating to a Heroin Trafficking conviction. According to the opinion, these were the facts of the case, "FACTS AND PROCEDURE After a jury trial, Lopez was found guilty of conspiracy to traffic in heroin, Idaho Code งง 18-1701 and 37-2732B(a)(6). Prior to the trial, evidence in Lopez’s case was analyzed at the Idaho State Police forensic laboratory in Meridian, Idaho. Years later, letters from the Idaho State Police to Idaho prosecutors identified issues at the Idaho State Police forensic laboratory in Pocatello, Idaho. The letters indicated that employees at the forensic laboratory in Pocatello had wrongfully maintained a box of unaccounted for drugs used for training purposes and tour displays. Employees concealed this box during audits of the facility." According to the Idaho State Police training Manual on Forensic Analysis, this what was said about keeping evidence accounted for, In the argument issued by the Idaho State Court of Appeals, its analysis had addressed the issues brought before the court in cititing a Brady Violation during trial, "Lopez argues the information concerning abuses of state laboratory procedures at the Pocatello forensic laboratory would have assisted him in defending his case. The district court found that the drug testing in Lopez’s case was conducted at the Meridian, Idaho laboratory and the analyzing technician in Lopez’s case was not implicated in the issues at the Pocatello laboratory. Based on these findings, the district court determined the State did not commit a Brady violation because the evidence put forward by Lopez was not exculpatory. We agree." Lopez was denied his appeal, citing lack of preponderance of evidence, no word yet, on whether or not he plans to appeal to the Idaho State Supreme Court of to the Supreme Court of the United States.