State v. Francisco Vasquez

Syllabus

The defendant, Francisco Vasquez (Vasquez), appealed from a judgment of conviction entered in the Superior Court following a trial at which the jury found him guilty on one count of first-degree sexual assault. On appeal, Vasquez argued that the trial justice erred in denying his motion to strike a DNA supervisor's testimony because she was not the analyst who performed the relevant DNA testing. Vasquez claimed the supervisor's testimony violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him, and his right under article I, section 10 of the Rhode Island Constitution because she was not the analyst who performed the testing. The Supreme Court held that the issue was not properly preserved for appeal, and that the novel rule exception to the raise or waive rule did not apply. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment of conviction.