State of Idaho, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Jerome L. Korn, Defendant-Appellant

Summary

The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed Jerome Korn's convictions for possessing exotic animals in violation of a Payette County ordinance and for possessing deleterious exotic animals without a permit. It held that his contract-clause challenge to the ordinance failed because he produced no substantial, competent evidence that his agreements with his mother or with DDR existed before the ordinance took effect, and the contract clauses protect only obligations already in existence when the disputed law is enacted. It further held that the magistrate court did not abuse its discretion in excluding uncertified copies of two bankruptcy court orders, because proving their contents—as a factual predicate for the necessity defense—required certified copies under the Idaho Rules of Evidence's public-records exception.