Ish involuntary manslaughter conviction sent back to District Court

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK)-The Idaho Supreme Court has vacated the involuntary manslaughter conviction against Martin Edmo Ish and remanded the case for a new trial.

Ish was charged in the June 2009 killing of Eugene Lorne Red Elk in Pocatello. Ish was convicted in April of 2017.

The District Court denied Ish's motion to dismiss, which was based on police destruction of a VHS video tape. The Supreme Court found that the District Court acted correctly on that issue and that the tape was not destroyed in bad faith.

Using a "Batson" challenge during jury selection, Ish asserted that the Bannock County Prosecutor had unconstitutionally used its peremptory challenges to exclude all minorities from the jury pool. The district court denied the challenge. According to the Idaho Supreme Court summary statement, Ish appealed and asserted error in the jury-selection process, evidentiary rulings, rulings on destruction of evidence, and jury instructions.

The high court found the "Batson" issue determinative and found clear error in the court's finding that the prosecution did not have discriminatory intent when it used a peremptory challenge on a specific juror.