Wangsness v. Aldinger

KONENKAMP, Justice.

[¶ 1.] In this .appeal, we must decide if, absent testimony from the person who performed the analysis, a coroner’s record of a blood alcohol test result was admissible against the decedent’s estate in a wrongful death action. We conclude that under both the public and business records exceptions to the hearsay rule, the test result was properly admitted. We also affirm the trial court’s jury instruction on the blood alcohol presumption as applied to the defendant driver.

Facts

[¶ 2.] On November 28, 1994, DeWayne Wangsness, was working at his bar in Glenham, South Dakota. At…