West v. State
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of conspiracy to commit burglary. Defendant appealed, contending that the district court erred by refusing to order one of his co-conspirators to submit handwriting exemplars so that Defendant's expert witness could analyze whether the co-conspirator was the author of certain notes sent in jail. The district court concluded that there was no legal authority to require a non-party to appear before trial to provide handwriting exemplars. The Supreme Court disagreed with the district court but affirmed, holding (1) the subpoena procedure may be used to order a witness to provide handwriting exemplars; but (2) any error regarding Defendant's right to obtain handwriting exemplars from his co-conspirator was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.
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