State of Iowa v. Daniel Dean Rainsong, 807 N.W.2d 283

Rainsong was charged with two counts of first-degree theft, one count of dependent adult abuse, and habitual offender status.
The State sought to depose Loren Radford, a potential witness, who resided in Oregon and was not listed as a defense witness.
Loren had health issues, including a stroke, making telephone deposition impracticable and raising travel concerns.
The State eventually conducted Loren’s deposition by video teleconference without participation by Rainsong or his counsel.
The district court precluded the State from using Loren’s deposition at trial; the State sought interlocutory review.
The Iowa Supreme Court held that Rule 2.13 did not authorize the deposition, so Loren’s statements were testimonial hearsay and could not be admitted.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether rule 2.13 authorized Loren's deposition	Rainsong	Rainsong	Not authorized; deposition invalid under rule 2.13
Whether Rainsong waived confrontation by not attending the deposition	State	Rainsong	Waiver not found; deposition invalid as testimonial hearsay

Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (U.S. 2004) (confrontation applies to testimonial hearsay)
State v. Gates, 306 N.W.2d 720 (Iowa 1981) (discovery rulings reviewed for abuse of discretion)
State v. Finn, 469 N.W.2d 692 (Iowa 1991) (interpretation of Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure; correction of errors)
State v. Grimme, 338 N.W.2d 142 (Iowa 1983) (liberal construction of discovery rules to disclose relevant information)
State v. Smith, 262 N.W.2d 567 (Iowa 1978) (depositions not authorized beyond plain rule language)
State v. Webb, 309 N.W.2d 404 (Iowa 1981) (deposition of non-listed witness not allowed absent justification)
State v. Weaver, 608 N.W.2d 797 (Iowa 2000) (victim deposition not mandated absent unavailable witness showing)
State v. Tangie, 616 N.W.2d 564 (Iowa 2000) (2.13 does not authorize pretrial deposition of rebuttal witnesses)
Jones v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 620 N.W.2d 242 (Iowa 2000) (Rule 2.13 applies to indictable offenses; not to simple misdemeanors)