The 2009 conviction of a Salt Lake man was upheld by the Court of Appeals today (the Court of Appeals refers to the case as State v. Long but refers to the man only as C.D.L.).

The man had been convicted of aggravated assault in an incident in which he ramed his wife’s car with his own car.  The interesting thing about this case was that the man was convicted even though his wife did not testify against him.

The Court of Appeals did not know why the wife did not testify and was forced to speculate on the issue.  In domestic violence cases, victims of domestic violence frequently refuse to testify.  That is because they have reconciled with their spouse and don’t want to see their spouse go to jail.

In this case, the prosecutor admitted a tape recording of the wife making the 911 call.  The prosecutor also had several other driver’s who witnessed the incident.

The man challenged the admissibility of the 911 tape.  He claimed that it was hearsay.

The Court of Appeals disagreed.  It held that the 911 tape met an exception to the hearsay rule and ruled that its admission during trial was proper.

The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction.