What constitutes reasonable efforts to locate a deported witness in Utah criminal trials? State v. Medina Explained

In State v. Medina, the Utah Court of Appeals addressed when a witness becomes unavailable for trial purposes under Utah Rule of Evidence 804(a)(5), particularly in cases involving deportation. This decision provides crucial guidance for prosecutors and defense attorneys dealing with witnesses subject to federal immigration enforcement.

Background and Facts

Sergio Medina was charged with murdering Hope Gabaldon and obstructing justice. A key witness, Luis, faced deportation on unrelated federal charges. The state obtained a material witness warrant and recorded Luis’s testimony via conditional examination before he was ultimately deported to Mexico. By the time of trial in March 2022, the state could not locate Luis despite multiple efforts, including contacting his wife, immigration attorney, and federal officials. The defense presented weak evidence suggesting Luis might still be in Utah based on Facebook posts, but the trial court found Luis unavailable and permitted the recorded testimony.

Key Legal Issues

The primary issue was whether the state made sufficient efforts to locate Luis under Utah Rule of Evidence 804(a)(5), which requires that a party “has not been able, by process or other reasonable means, to procure the declarant’s attendance.” Medina also claimed ineffective assistance of counsel for failing to call a rebuttal expert and request a unanimity instruction.

Court’s Analysis and Holding

The court applied an abuse of discretion standard to the unavailability determination and found the state’s efforts sufficient. These efforts included: contacting Luis at his last known location in Mexico through a shared village phone, speaking with his wife who had lost contact, consulting his immigration attorney, coordinating with federal immigration officials, and investigating flight arrangements. The court distinguished weak social media evidence presented by the defense as insufficient to demonstrate Luis’s presence in Utah. On the ineffective assistance claims, the court applied correctness review and found no deficient performance or prejudice under the Strickland standard.

Practice Implications

This decision establishes that reasonable efforts to locate a deported witness must be comprehensive but need not be exhaustive. Practitioners should document all attempts to contact witnesses through family members, attorneys, and government agencies. The court’s emphasis on the state’s proactive preservation of Luis’s testimony through conditional examination highlights the importance of anticipating witness unavailability in immigration cases. Defense attorneys should present concrete evidence of a witness’s presence rather than speculative social media posts when challenging unavailability determinations.