State v. Vasquez, 416 P.3d 108

In 2012 police investigated renewed sexual-abuse allegations by D.P.; evidence showed Ida Perez Vasquez coached D.P. in 2009, and Vasquez was charged with intimidating a witness.
Trial was set for December 2, 2014; the day before, counsel for both parties informed the court they stipulated to a bench trial. The court accepted counsel’s stipulation without obtaining any personal, on-the-record waiver from Vasquez.
The court conducted a bench trial, found Vasquez guilty, and sentenced her; Vasquez appealed but did not object at trial to the absence of a personal waiver.
The Court of Appeals vacated and remanded, holding the trial court erred by not obtaining Vasquez’s personal waiver; the State petitioned for review and the Idaho Supreme Court granted review.
While review was pending, the district court (on an IDOC request) entered an order terminating probation and dismissing the case; the Idaho Supreme Court treated the appeal on the merits and declined to dismiss as moot.
The Idaho Supreme Court vacated Vasquez’s judgment of conviction, holding failure to obtain a defendant’s personal waiver of jury trial is a structural constitutional error requiring automatic reversal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a defendant’s personal, on-the-record waiver of jury trial is required and, if not obtained, whether the error is harmless or structural	State argued Vasquez must show fundamental error and prejudice under Perry; bench trial permitted because counsel stipulated	Vasquez argued she never personally waived jury trial orally or in writing, so counsel’s stipulation was insufficient and raised a fundamental error requiring vacatur	Court held a personal, open-court or written waiver by the defendant is required; failure to obtain it is a structural defect that satisfies Perry’s third prong and requires automatic vacatur

State v. Perry, 150 Idaho 209 (Idaho 2010) (test for unobjected-to fundamental constitutional error)
Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (U.S. 1968) (jury trial in serious criminal cases is a fundamental right)
United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 548 U.S. 140 (U.S. 2006) (certain errors affecting the framework of a trial are structural)
Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279 (U.S. 1991) (distinguishing structural from trial errors and harmless-error analysis)
State v. Umphenour, 160 Idaho 503 (Idaho 2016) (discussion of Perry’s “in most instances” hedge)
State v. Bennion, 112 Idaho 32 (Idaho 1986) (jury-trial right is fundamental and must be jealously guarded)
Stockwell v. State, 98 Idaho 797 (Idaho 1978) (Idaho Supreme Court’s plenary appellate jurisdiction)