State of Idaho v. Gregory Clyde Hutton

── State of Idaho v. Gregory Clyde Hutton ── Court: Idaho Court of Appeals Date: May 06, 2026 Category: General IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Docket No. 51492 STATE OF IDAHO, ) ) Filed: May 6, 2026 Plaintiff-Respondent, ) ) Melanie Gagnepain, Clerk v. ) ) THIS IS AN UNPUBLISHED GREGORY CLYDE HUTTON, ) OPINION AND SHALL NOT ) BE CITED AS AUTHORITY Defendant-Appellant. ) ) Appeal from the District Court of the Third Judicial District, State of Idaho, Canyon County. Hon. Brent L. Whiting, District Judge. Judgment of conviction for trafficking in methamphetamine, affirmed. Erik R. Lehtinen, State Appellate Public Defender; Ben P. McGreevy, Deputy Appellate Public Defender, Boise, for appellant. Hon. Raúl R. Labrador, Attorney General; Kenneth K. Jorgensen, Deputy Attorney General, Boise, for respondent. ________________________________________________ TRIBE, Chief Judge Gregory Clyde Hutton appeals from his judgment of conviction for trafficking in methamphetamine. We affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Officers encountered Hutton in the early morning hours while he was in a city park. During the encounter, officers discovered Hutton was in possession of a bag containing a large quantity of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia and had a wallet with approximately $2800 in cash. At trial, Hutton testified that he was employed by the city parks and recreation department and claimed he found the bag of methamphetamine while performing his job duties. According to Hutton, because there was no training or protocol for handling drugs or paraphernalia, he took possession of the drugs to remove them from the park and dispose of them. The State presented 1 evidence indicating that the quantity of methamphetamine, the presence of paraphernalia, and the cash found on Hutton were inconsistent with innocent possession--this included a butane bottle (inside the bag) that had the initials “GH” engraved on it, a pipe and scale in the center console of the vehicle Hutton was driving, and a tin can under the driver’s seat with a spoon and another scale. During closing argument, Hutton emphasized his employment, his efforts to “pull[] himself up from his bootstraps,” and his claim that he was simply trying to do his job. In rebuttal, the prosecutor argued the jury should follow the law and the jury instructions regardless of personal views on drug laws and asserted that the jury should “care” about the case because of the park’s location, referencing children who use the baseball fields and walking paths throughout the park. Hutton objected, arguing the rebuttal closing argument constituted an improper appeal to sympathy. The district court overruled the objection. The jury found Hutton guilty of trafficking in methamphetamine, Idaho Code § 37-2732B(a)(4). Hutton appeals. II. STANDARD OF REVIEW When there has been a contemporaneous objection, we determine factually if there was prosecutorial misconduct and then determine whether the error was harmless. State v. Field, 144 Idaho 559, 571, 165 P.3d 273, 285 (2007); State v. Phillips, 144 Idaho 82, 88, 156 P.3d 583, 589 (Ct. App. 2007). Where a criminal defendant shows a reversible error based on a contemporaneously objected-to constitutional violation, the State then has the burden of demonstrating to the appellate court beyond a r