Gonzalez v. State
| Decision Date | 10 April 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. 08-14-00293-CR,08-14-00293-CR |
| Parties | JUAN ANTONIO GONZALEZ, Appellant, v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, Appellee. |
| Court | Texas Court of Appeals |
Appeal from 346th District Court of El Paso County, Texas
This case returns to us on remand from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Appellant was indicated for the capital murder of a police officer. He was convicted of the lesser charge of murder, indicating that the jury did not believe the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt either that the police officer was killed during the performance of his duties, or that Appellant knew the decedent to be a police officer (or possibly both). In his appeal to this Court, Appellant raised fifteen issues challenging the murder conviction. We previously resolved two of the fifteen issues, sustaining one issue which granted Appellant a new trial. Gonzalez v. State, No. 08-14-00293-CR, 2017 WL 360690, at *8 (Tex.App.--El Paso Jan. 25, 2017, pet. granted)(not designated for publication). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, however, reversed that holding and remanded for our consideration the remaining thirteen unaddressed issues. Gonzalez v. State, 544 S.W.3d 363, 375 (Tex.Crim.App. 2018). We do so and affirm the conviction below.
BACKGROUND
This case arises from an incident on September 25, 2012 involving the decedent (twenty-eight year old policeman Jonathan Molina) and three youths (Juan Gomez, Alan Medrano, and Appellant, Juan Antonio Gonzalez). The incident occurred while the youths were walking along the sidewalk of a busy residential street, and one of them, Juan Gomez, is claimed to have "keyed" several parked vehicles, including that of the decedent Jonathan Molina.
Molina emerged from his residence and accused Juan Gomez of keying his car. As we describe in more detail below, the encounter escalated into a fight, during which Appellant used a Judo move to take Molina to the ground and in the process Molina struck his head on the sidewalk. The blow led to a fatal brain injury. The details of what occurred that day were presented through two of the three youths, several passersby, and through Appellant's later Facebook posts. We recount the differing versions of events as testified to before the jury.
The Passersby
Mario Ramos was driving westbound along Trowbridge Avenue that afternoon when he noticed two males involved in an argument. He pulled over about two or three houses down to observe through his side view mirror and watched for about two to three minutes. He noticed a teenager and older male face to face and apparently arguing. The two other teens were several feet back and one was motioning as if to gesture, let's leave. The teenager engaged in the argument took a couple of steps towards the older man, causing him to move back a couple ofsteps. Ramos then saw the teenager punch the older male.1 He agreed that he lost sight of both men while he parked his vehicle, and because the teen had his back to Ramos, he did not have an unobstructed view of the older male. Both the teen and the older male then fell. About ten seconds later, the three teens began walking away, and later broke into a run. The teen who was involved in the actual fight was the tallest of the three teens. Mr. Ramos circled around with his car, saw that the older male was on the ground apparently seizing, and he called 911. Later at the police station, Mr. Ramos picked out a picture of Appellant as one of the teens, but qualified the identification: Appellant was "one of the guys that was in the group but not sure."
Laura Mena was also westbound on Trowbridge that afternoon. She saw a confrontation between three younger males and one older male. She made a U-turn to come back and by the time she parked and got out of her car, the three younger males were already walking down the street. The older male was on the ground apparently seizing and she also notified 911. She called out to the youths to come back, but the tallest of the three threw his hand up in the air and pointed his index finger skyward.
Erin Lile was driving eastbound on Trowbridge at that time. She saw what looked like an after-school fight. Two males were in close proximity and facing each other in an apparent verbal confrontation. She continued to observe as she drove by, and was eventually looking at the events through her rear view mirror. She saw arm movements, and the two broke away from each other, separating apart in distance. The younger male then "bum rushed" the older man, which Lile described as one person running into the chest of another. This lifted the older man off his feet and forced him to the ground. She then saw the younger man get on top of and "pummel" the older man (which she described as punching him in the face repeatedly). Lilemade a U-turn and stayed at the scene until the police arrived. The older man was making a snoring sound but was attempting to get up. His forehead was knotted up and his whole face was "blown up." She also saw the three youths walk away from the scene.
The Participant's Version of Events
The three younger males referenced above included Appellant, then age 17, Tony Gomez, age 18, and Alan Medrano, age 19. Appellant stood 6'2" and easily was the tallest of the three youths. The older male was El Paso Police Officer Jonathan Molina.2 He stood six feet tall and weighed 275 pounds. At trial, Alan Medrano testified for the State, but as a hostile witness. As we note below, his trial testimony strayed at times from a written and videotaped statement that he gave shortly after the incident. Appellant also testified to the events of that day. The other youth, Tony Gomez, invoked his right not to incriminate himself and was never questioned in front of the jury. We recount Alan Medrano and Appellant's testimony as presented to the jury.
Alan Medrano
Alan Medrano, Tony Gomez, and Appellant were walking home from school and were all friends of each other. As they were walking along the sidewalk on Trowbridge, Medrano noticed that Tony Gomez had a piece of metal and was scratching a car. Gomez scratched another car, which turned out to be Officer Molina's. As they were crossing the street, Officer Molina came out of a house and yelled at them to come back. He testified that Molina was madand aggressive. Medrano originally told the police, however, that Officer Molina was not mad and just yelled "Hey bro." The three ignored him and kept walking.
When they were in the next block down, Officer Molina then pulled up beside them in his car. Officer Molina confronted Gomez, saying Gomez denied he did so and the two argued until Officer Molina started to curse at Gomez, referring to him as a "little kid" and a "fag." While both Appellant and Medrano testified that Officer Molina used the word "fag" (and Appellant also recalled him using the word "faggot"), Medrano's statements to the police never included that pejorative. Officer Molina continued to accuse Gomez of scratching his car and Gomez continued to deny it.
Appellant then got in between Officer Molina and Gomez. Appellant first tried to calm the situation by telling Officer Molina to "chill out."3 But they started arguing and got progressively closer to each other. At one point, Officer Molina told Appellant and Medrano to leave, but Appellant replied that it was a public sidewalk. As the argument progressed, Officer Molina then identified himself as a police officer but when Appellant asked to see a badge, Officer Molina responded, "I don't have to show you shit." Medrano's prior statement to the police, however, indicated that when Appellant asked to see Molina's badge, Molina told an elderly woman sitting on the porch of an adjacent house to "call the cops, call the police."4
The argument continued with Officer Molina and Appellant being about three inches from each other, nose to nose, until Officer Molina pushed Appellant with his shoulder. At trial Medrano testified that Appellant responded immediately by hitting Officer Molina. But Medrano also acknowledged that in his earlier police statement, he stated that Officer Molinahad turned his attention away from Appellant and began to yell at Gomez, when Appellant "hit him, because he got mad."
Medrano testified that after being hit, Officer Molina raised his hands "like he was ready to fight" and Appellant hit him again. Medrano had not made this claim in his police statement. Then according to Medrano, Appellant took Officer Molina down by "kind of trip[ing] him." As Medrano explained it: "That's when [Appellant] picked him up from the legs and dropped him." He also described the take down as a tackle.
When Officer Molina went to the ground, Appellant went down next to him and then got on top of Officer Molina, punching him two or three times in the face. At trial, Medrano testified that Officer Molina was putting his hands up as Appellant was hitting him but his earlier statement had also not mentioned that fact. When Officer Molina stopped responding, or possibly at the urging of his friends, Appellant broke off and got up. Medrano told the police that Officer Molina looked "stiff" and was just lying there with his eyes closed.
The three youths walked to end of the block, ignoring the call of someone to come back, and then they started to run. Medrano testified that Appellant was "really, really mad," as Officer Molina had "really pissed [him] off." Appellant had complained to Medrano that Officer Molina was yelling at him for no reason, cussing at him, that and Officer Molina was not his father, and was "no one to be yelling at him like that." .
Medrano was apprehended by the police within ten minutes of the event.
Appellant's testimony
Appellant similarly described walking home from school with his friends. As they were walking along Trowbridge, he claimed that Officer Molina came out of his house and first called out, "You fucking faggots."...
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