Ayala v. State

• Decision Date: 23 May 2007
• Docket Number: No. 943, Sept. Term, 2005.,943, Sept. Term, 2005.
• Citation: 923 A.2d 952,174 Md. App. 647
• Parties: Mario AYALA v. STATE of Maryland.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

923 A.2d 952

174 Md. App. 647

Mario AYALA v. STATE of Maryland.

No. 943, Sept. Term, 2005.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

May 23, 2007.

Piedad Gomez (Nancy S. Forster, Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, for appellant

Diane E. Keller (J. Joseph Curran, Atty. Gen., on the brief), Baltimore, for appellee.

DAVIS, DEBORAH S. EYLER and JAMES A. KENNEY, III ^* (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

DAVIS, J.

A jury in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County convicted Mario Ayala (Ayala), the appellant, of first-degree murder. The court sentenced Ayala to life in prison and he filed this appeal.

ISSUES

Ayala presents the following arguments for this Court's review:

I. The trial court erred in allowing the State to present irrelevant, incompetent, and inflammatory gang evidence.

II. The trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress Mr. Ayala' s statements to the police.

III. The trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury to consider Mr. Ayala's mens rea separately from that of the other participants in the crime.

IV. The trial court erred in admitting prejudicial photographs.

Finding no merit in any of these arguments, we shall affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTUAL SUMMATION

Ayala's conviction stems from the beating death of Ashley Antonio Urias, a 38-year old father of three who resided in Silver Spring, Maryland. At trial, the State established that Ayala and two other young men—Ayala's cousin, Alexis Ayala, and their friend, Everec Alvarez Chacon— befriended Urias on May 24, 2004, then drove him to a cemetery in Chacon's pick-up truck for what was to be a night of drinking. Two baseball bats and a golf club were stowed in the truck. At the cemetery, Chacon and Alexis Ayala beat Urias with the baseball bats. Mario Ayala struck Urias several times with the golf club.

The State presented evidence that Ayala and his two accomplices were members of "MS-13," a violent Latino gang. The State theorized that the three men killed Urias because they believed—possibly mistakenly—that he was a member of a rival gang known as the "18th Street gang."¹

Ayala did not dispute that he participated in the killing. The defense argued that one of Ayala's pre-trial statements indicated that Urias had taken one of the bats from Chacon's pick-up truck and was the aggressor in the fight, and that the accomplices wrestled the bat from him and retrieved the other bat and the golf club from the truck. The defense contended that the golf club had then been dropped on the ground, and that Ayala picked it up and used it in self defense or defense of others. The defense also contended that Ayala was intimidated by the other two members of the gang and believed he would face retaliation if he did not assist them in the beating. Additional facts will be provided, infra, as warranted.

DISCUSSION

I

Admissibility of Gang Evidence

—Trial Court's Rulings—

Prior to trial, the defense moved in limine to bar any evidence regarding the MS-13 gang and Ayala's membership therein. Defense counsel argued, in essence, that evidence regarding the gang would amount to evidence of bad character or prior bad acts, and would serve "no real purpose other than to prejudice Mr. Ayala." Counsel reasoned:

Because [the] probative value is questionable at best and the prejudicial impact would be high and extremely unfair, the evidence, anything to do with MS-13 whether it's expert testimony, pictures of tattoos, clothing, spoken references by witnesses, anything that has to do with gang membership or the term MS-13, specifically should be excluded from being presented at trial.

The trial court disagreed and stated:

I'm going to deny the motion in limine[.] [I]f you weigh the imbalance of probative value versus the prejudice[,] ... I think it has significant probative value. I appreciate th[at] motive is not an element of the crime[,] ... [but] certainly motivation is a significant part of the State's case. And to bar that evidence would be unfair. Accordingly, having said that[,] the motion in limine [is denied]....

At trial, the court granted defense counsel's continuing objection to evidence regarding gang membership but reiterated:

I think that the gang evidence has probative value beyond the prejudice because it goes to the theory of the State's case as to motive. I appreciate that motive is not an element of the crime, but certainly the absence or presence of motive is a factor for the jury to consider. I think the State is entitled to prove their case ....

—Presentation of Gang Evidence—

Thereafter, over defense counsel's objection, the trial court permitted the State to introduce evidence as to the contents of two pre-trial statements made by Ayala. Detective Felipe Ordono, a member of the Prince George's County Police Department's Regional Gang Unit, testified that, in Ayala's first statement, he admitted that he was a member of the MS-13 gang and indicated that Alexis Ayala and Chacon were members of the gang as well. Detective Gregory McDonald of the Prince George's County Police Department, who was the lead investigator in the Urias case, testified that, in the second statement, Ayala revealed that Urias had told the three men that he was a member of the 18th Street gang. A video recording was made of the second statement, and portions of the video recording were played and interpreted for the jury.² In one portion, Ayala stated that he had been beaten by a member of the 18th Street gang and still had a cut on his forehead from the beating.

Also over defense counsel's objection, the trial court accepted Detective Michael Porter of the Fairfax County, Virginia Police Department's Gang Investigation Unit "as an expert in the area on MS-13." Detective Porter related the history and customs of the MS-13 gang.

The detective stated that "MS" stands for "Mara-Salvatrucha." He explained, "Mara, I understand, refers to gang or gangs. Salvatrucha I have been told means anything from [(1)] here we come, [(2)] a river, [(3)] a slippery trout, and so forth." The detective added that the gang originated in Los Angeles, where Latino gangs "fall under the Mexican Mafia prison gang when they go to the penitentiaries." He explained that the number 13 was added to the name of the gang because "the 13th letter of the Alphabet [is] M standing for Mexican Mafia."

Detective Porter testified that MS-13 has many subgroups, or "cliques," throughout the United States and other countries, including "SLSW"—or "Sailors Loco Salvatrucha Western"—which is active in the "Maryland, D.C., and Virginia" area. According to the detective, "MS-13 is the header gang and below that are the cliques. In order to get into MS-13, you have to become part of one of the cliques." He explained that young men "have to be jumped into" a clique, meaning they receive "a 13-second beating from either three to five members of the gang, the clique that you want to get ... into." The purpose of this initiation process is to ensure that the prospective member is "willing to take a beating for them and from the[m]," which purportedly establishes that the member will be "willing to put in the work when the time comes."

Detective Porter explained that "the work" that members of MS-13 cliques are expected to "put in" consists of "getting at [the gang's enemies]." The detective stated, "18th Street is the chief rival of MS-13. MS-13 members are expected to, in their words, get at members of 18th Street, get the members of 18th Street. No questions. You see an 18th Street member, you get that 18th Street member." Detective Porter observed that the MS-13 gang is known for employing a variety of weapons in performing this work, including "[b]aseball bats, machetes, guns, any weapon they can use." He added, "If I am involved with a case where MS-13 is believed to have done something to an 18th Street member, that would automatically give me a motive because the rivalry between 18th Street and MS-13 is not only national but international." According to Detective Porter, "Reputation and respect is everything. The more you are willing to do for the gang, the more respect you have within the gang." In addition, "MS-13 disciplines their own members. For you not to backup one of your homeboys when he did something, MS-13 will punish you."

The detective observed that members of the MS-13 cliques wear, primarily, the colors blue and white, and often have the number "13" somewhere on their clothing. They may have tattoos that signify their affiliation with the gang, although "there are members that have no tattoos." Often, "the people that seem to have more tattoos seem to be the people that have been in longer." In addition, having tattoos on the neck or above may signify the commission of a crime or crimes of violence. Gang members will not wear the color red as a main color of their clothing; nor will they display the numbers "8," "18," or "14" on their clothing or person since those colors and numbers signify membership in the 18th Street gang. MS-13 members have developed a series of hand signals with which they can secretly communicate with one another.

Photographs seized from Ayala's home were admitted into evidence through Detective McDonald, who executed the search warrant on the home. The photographs depicted blue and white clothing with the number 13 on it, various persons, including Ayala making hand signals and gang-related tattoos on various persons, including Ayala. Subsequently, the prosecutor showed the photographs to Detective Porter while he was on the stand. In response to the prosecutor's questioning, Detective Porter expressed his opinion that Ayala was a member of MS-13. The detective acknowledged that he had reviewed the interview during which Ayala told police that the victim stated he was a member of the 18th Street gang. The prosecutor's subsequent questioning of the detective proceeded as follows:

Q ... Do you have an opinion to a...