State v. Betancourt

Decision Date13 February 2015
Docket Number108,944.
Citation301 Kan. 282,342 P.3d 916
PartiesSTATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Eli A. BETANCOURT, Appellant.
CourtKansas Supreme Court

Carl F.A. Maughan, of Maughan Law Group LC, of Wichita, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.

Matt J. Maloney, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were with him on the brief for appellee.

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by LUCKERT, J.:

Thirteen-year-old Miguel Andrade died from gunshot wounds

suffered as he opened the door of his family's home. The State charged four men with crimes related to Miguel's death. One of those men, Eli A. Betancourt, brings this appeal after a jury convicted him of premeditated first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building. He raises five issues related to (1) the admission of his statements to law enforcement officers, (2) the admission of certain hearsay statements, (3) the trial court's failure to give an instruction on eyewitness testimony, (4) sufficiency of the evidence, and (5) allegations of ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In response, the State initially raised a jurisdictional question regarding the timing of Betancourt's notice of appeal but subsequently withdrew its argument; in addition, the State argued and maintains that the trial court committed no errors. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we conclude Betancourt's arguments lack merit, and, therefore, we affirm his convictions and sentences.

Facts and Procedural Background

Besides Betancourt, the State charged Betancourt's half brother, Alejandro Betancourt, Jr.; Edward Laurel; and Gregory Patton with crimes related to Miguel's death. Patton entered into a plea agreement with the State under which Patton agreed to testify in the prosecution of the other men in exchange for reduced charges. Alejandro's and Laurel's cases went to trial, and jurors convicted them as charged. Both men appealed, and their convictions were affirmed. See State v. Laurel, 299 Kan. 668, 325 P.3d 1154 (2014) ; State v. Betancourt, 299 Kan. 131, 322 P.3d 353 (2014). Although the general facts of the crimes are discussed in those opinions, we will discuss the evidence at Betancourt's trial because he raises a sufficiency and other fact-based arguments. Betancourt's jury learned the details of the crimes through the testimony of a detective who interrogated Betancourt shortly after the shooting, several eyewitnesses, forensic experts, Patton, and Betancourt himself.

Betancourt's Statements to Detectives

According to Betancourt's statements to law enforcement officers, the night before the shooting he, Alejandro, Laurel, Patton and many other individuals attended a birthday party. During the party, several individuals challenged Betancourt to avenge a previous “attack” on Daniel Betancourt, Eli's half brother and Alejandro's brother. As these discussions progressed, Laurel indicated he knew where one of the individuals associated with the attack had been staying. In the early morning hours, Betancourt left the party with Alejandro and Patton. Betancourt drove the other two men to another location where they picked up Laurel, who directed Betancourt to a house occupied by Miguel's family. The group merely drove by Miguel's house and then went to another location where Laurel retrieved two guns. The group returned to Miguel's house, this time with Alejandro in the driver's seat.

En route to Miguel's house, Laurel gave Betancourt one of the guns, which Betancourt described as a “Beretta.” Betancourt told detectives that Laurel kept a “real small” gun with a “long” barrel. While they drove, Betancourt texted a female friend, saying, “I'm gonna go do something,” and “If I don't see you for a while ... I don't want you to think that I'm just gonna disappear.”

When the men got to Miguel's house, Betancourt and Laurel got out of the car and approached the front door. Betancourt held open the screen door with his leg, and Laurel banged on the main door with his gun. When the knob began to turn and the door began to open, Laurel said, [G]et him.” Laurel started shooting, and Betancourt followed suit. According to Betancourt, he aimed his shots for the middle of the door. After the shooting, they ran up the street, and the others picked them up. Betancourt gave his gun back to Laurel.

Alejandro drove until they dropped off Laurel, who took both guns with him. Betancourt took over the driving and within minutes noticed a police car following him. He pulled over, and the three friends were taken into custody. Later that day, Laurel was located and taken into custody as well. The guns were never recovered.

Betancourt's Testimony

At trial, Betancourt relayed a somewhat different version. He told the jury he went to Miguel's house with Laurel and the others only because he wanted to get an address to give to his father, who had been conducting his own investigation of the assault on Daniel. When the men drove by the house the first time, it was too dark to see the house numbers, so they left. After drinking until it got brighter outside, they returned to “look in the window for some bald-headed guy that was in the fight.” Betancourt testified that, as far as he knew, they did not have guns on this second driveby. They still could not see the address, so they kept going “and started drinking some more.” Betancourt told the jury that after a night of partying and drinking he was intoxicated to a level of 8 on a scale of 10.

As the sun began to rise, the group made a third trip to Miguel's house. This time, Laurel brought guns. Betancourt testified that he agreed to “just get it”—the address—“and go.” Someone handed him a gun—he thought it was a Beretta—“just in case.” He denied that there was a plan to kill anyone, asserting that he only took a gun for “precaution reasons.”

Betancourt put the gun under his shirt and walked up to the house with Laurel, while Alejandro drove a short distance away. Laurel told Betancourt, [L]et's just walk up there, ... see if we can find some numbers somewhere and that was it.” When he and Laurel stepped up to the front door, Betancourt pulled on the screen door as he tried to balance himself while looking into the front window located to the left of the door. He could not see anything because of the window coverings. Laurel then suggested that they knock on the door, and Betancourt said “no,” “I'm done,” and “I'm not stickin' around.” Betancourt started walking away as Laurel knocked on the door. Halfway back to the driveway, Betancourt “heard a gunshot” and “froze.” At first Betancourt thought Laurel was shooting at him because Laurel was angry that he had walked away. Then, he heard more shots, so “I just put my arm back and was just ... shooting the gun.” He told the jury he did not know what direction he was shooting, but he denied shooting at the center of the front door. He testified, “I just panicked, I got scared, freaked out.”

Other Evidence

The State presented evidence from other witnesses who incriminated Betancourt.

Patton testified that Laurel told the others that he “wanted to get back at these guys” by shooting somebody. When they got to the house, Patton knew a shooting was about to take place and told Betancourt three times that we shouldn't do this.”

But Betancourt insisted on going forward. After the shooting, Laurel told them, “I got him.” Patton noticed that both Betancourt and Laurel had a gun.

Neighbors who observed the scene were able to describe what happened and to give descriptions of the two gunmen who resembled Betancourt and Laurel. They saw two Hispanic men walk up to the house; one was wearing a white shirt—like the one Betancourt was wearing when arrested—and the other a red shirt. One of the men either knocked on the door or rang the doorbell while the other looked into a window. The two men started shooting at the door when it appeared that someone inside the house was approaching the door. One neighbor saw a man near the driveway, and it looked like he was firing a weapon. Another neighbor reported seeing one gunman in a red shirt fire first, followed by the other gunman in the white shirt; the one in the white shirt was “running backwards, firing,” and moving towards the driveway. Some neighbors identified Betancourt as one of the shooters.

A crime scene investigator testified that at least 10 shots from a .22 caliber gun and a .9 mm gun were fired into the main door. Other shots flanked the door. Eyewitness testimony and other corroborating evidence suggested that Betancourt fired the .22 caliber bullets and Laurel fired the .9 mm bullets. The location of casings suggested the .9 mm gun was fired closer to the house than the .22 caliber casings (linked to Betancourt). Upon examination of the body, the coroner was able to recover a .9 mm bullet, but the coroner could not attribute the death to any particular bullet. Miguel suffered injuries to his abdomen, legs, and hand.

The State filed an information charging Betancourt with one count of premeditated first-degree murder, or, in the alternative, one count of felony first-degree murder, and one count of criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied building. A jury found him guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm. The court sentenced him to a hard 25 life sentence for murder and a consecutive 13–month sentence for criminal discharge of a firearm.

No Error In Admission of Statements

Betancourt argues the trial court erred in admitting into evidence his statements to the detectives. He suggests that his age, his intellect, the influence of alcohol, sleep deprivation, and the “long isolation and detention” in the interview room rendered his confession involuntary.

Additional Facts

Betancourt first raised this issue before trial by filing a motion to suppress, and the State filed a motion requesting admission of the statements and an ...

To continue reading

Request your trial
52 cases
  • State v. Logsdon
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • 1 de abril de 2016
    ...while the conspiracy was in progress; and (4) the statement must be relevant to the plan or its subject matter.” State v. Betancourt, 301 Kan. 282, 298, 342 P.3d 916 (2015).As we noted above, the district court never ruled on this exception but instead decided to instruct the jury to disreg......
  • State v. Williams
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • 30 de novembro de 2018
    ...even add facts or make inferences the evidence does not support. We, of course, cannot do any of those things. See State v. Betancourt , 301 Kan. 282, 290, 342 P.3d 916 (2015).We conclude Williams has not established mutually exclusive verdicts.3. The district court did not err in setting o......
  • Khalil-Alsalaami v. State
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • 14 de maio de 2021
    ...without counsel's unprofessional errors, the result would have been different. Strickland , 466 U.S. at 694 ." State v. Betancourt , 301 Kan. 282, 306, 342 P.3d 916 (2015). To establish deficient performance under the first prong, "the defendant must show that counsel's representation fell ......
  • State v. McLinn
    • United States
    • Kansas Supreme Court
    • 26 de janeiro de 2018
    ...among our cases have repeatedly recognized that premeditation has other hallmarks as well. See, e.g., State v. Betancourt , 301 Kan. 282, 302, 342 P.3d 916 (2015) ; State v. Smith-Parker , 301 Kan. 132, 153, 340 P.3d 485 (2014). And we have recently approved of a jury instruction listing ci......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT