Maldonado v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 16 July 2019
• Docket Number: Record No. 0254-18-1
• Citation: 70 Va.App. 554,829 S.E.2d 570
• Court: Virginia Court of Appeals
• Parties: Lamberto MALDONADO, a/k/a Lamberto Moldanado v. COMMONWEALTH of Virginia

70 Va.App. 554

829 S.E.2d 570

Lamberto MALDONADO, a/k/a Lamberto Moldanado

v.COMMONWEALTH of Virginia

Record No. 0254-18-1

Court of Appeals of Virginia, Norfolk.

JULY 16, 2019

Brandon L. Wilder (Bush & Taylor, P.C., on brief), for appellant.

Robert H. Anderson, III, Senior Assistant Attorney General (Mark R. Herring, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.

Present: Judges Humphreys, O’Brien and AtLee

OPINION BY JUDGE ROBERT J. HUMPHREYS

Following a bench trial on December 28, 2017, the Circuit Court of Northampton County ("circuit court") found appellant Lamberto Maldonado ("Maldonado") guilty of misdemeanor obstruction of justice, in violation of Code § 18.2-460(A).¹ The circuit court later sentenced Maldonado to twelve months in jail, with nine months suspended. On appeal, Maldonado argues that "[t]he [circuit] court erred in denying [his] motion to strike and finding him guilty of obstruction when the evidence was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that [he] either hindered the authorities’ ability to perform their job or made the authorities’ job more difficult."

I. BACKGROUND

The evidence reflects that on the evening and early morning hours of December 29-30, 2016, Maldonado’s son, Everardo, was at Kelly’s Pub in Cape Charles. Before arriving at Kelly’s Pub, Everardo picked up a friend, Justin Travis ("Travis"), in a Nissan pickup truck registered to Maldonado. Everardo and Travis then traveled to Kelly’s Pub and proceeded to consume alcoholic beverages.

Raven Brady ("Brady"), an acquaintance of both Everardo and Travis, was at Kelly’s Pub that same evening. Brady and Everardo exchanged phone numbers that night. According to Brady, both Everardo and Travis were drinking alcohol at Kelly’s Pub. She also described Travis as "extremely intoxicated—basically sleeping at the bar, and Everardo wasn’t as intoxicated, but there were indications that they were tipsy." Brady left Kelly’s Pub about the same time as Everardo and Travis. As Everardo and Travis left, Brady witnessed Everardo in the driver’s seat of the pickup truck and Travis in the passenger seat.

Brady received a telephone call from Everardo at approximately 2:33 a.m. According to Everardo, "there had been some type of accident." Everardo also asked Brady to "come and get him." Though Brady told Everardo that she would come and get him, she did not do so.

At approximately 3:10 a.m., Deputy Roger Pike ("Deputy Pike") of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to investigate a car accident off of northbound Route 184 in Northampton County. When Deputy Pike arrived at the scene of the accident, he saw that a Nissan pickup truck had lost control on the right side of the highway, rolled over, hit a ditch, and made several turns. The pickup truck came to rest approximately 100-200 feet off the highway. Deputy Pike stated that the pickup truck was not easily visible from the highway. Additionally, while Deputy Pike did not see anyone inside or around the scene of the accident upon his arrival, he found a cell phone inside of the pickup truck.

During Deputy Pike’s investigation, Maldonado’s daughter, Sonia, approached the scene of the accident and identified herself. Deputy Pike noted that Sonia arrived at the scene of the accident approximately ten minutes after he did. During this initial encounter, Deputy Pike explained to Sonia that he was attempting to find the driver of the pickup truck. Sonia told Deputy Pike that the pickup truck was registered to her father, Maldonado, but "that someone took the truck from her dad’s." Sonia also stated that she "didn’t know who had taken [the pickup truck], and then she started asking questions later on about how to report it stolen." Before leaving the scene of the accident, Sonia provided Deputy Pike with her cell phone number.

Deputy Pike spoke with Maldonado at approximately 3:47 a.m. at Maldonado’s home—the registered address for the pickup truck. Deputy Pike asked Maldonado if he knew where the pickup truck was or if anyone had taken it. Maldonado, however, only answered Deputy Pike’s questions with the assistance of Sonia as a translator. Further, Deputy Pike indicated that he did not know if Maldonado understood the questions that he asked. The record does not reflect any substance of the conversation between Deputy Pike and Maldonado.

Virginia State Trooper Daniel Wallace ("Trooper Wallace") also investigated the pickup truck accident. Similar to Deputy Pike, Trooper Wallace stated that the accident was not easily visible from the highway. Trooper Wallace called Sonia with the phone number that she provided to Deputy Pike. During the conversation, Sonia informed Trooper Wallace that the pickup truck was stolen from her father’s home and that she did not know who took the vehicle. Trooper Wallace also informed Sonia that she could be charged with obstruction of justice if she made any false statements to the police. Sonia subsequently became what Trooper Wallace "consider[ed] aggressive ... and insisted that the vehicle had been stolen."

At some point during the investigation, Trooper Wallace traced the cell phone discovered by Deputy Pike to Travis. When Trooper Wallace called Sonia a second time and asked if she knew Travis, Sonia denied knowing Travis "or why he would be inside of the vehicle."

Around 8:30 a.m. that morning, Trooper Wallace visited Maldonado’s home with Deputy William Lewis ("Deputy Lewis") of the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office. Trooper Wallace hoped to learn more about the pickup truck accident and locate the driver. At the time, it was Trooper Wallace’s understanding that Maldonado’s son, Everardo, also resided at the home. Upon arriving at Maldonado’s home, Trooper Wallace identified himself to Maldonado and spoke with him in English. When Trooper Wallace asked Maldonado if he knew the reason for the visit, Maldonado replied in "clear and precise" English that "[m]y truck was stolen." Maldonado also "made a gesture to a parking space that would be at the end of the [residence]." Additionally, when Trooper Wallace questioned Maldonado about his son Everardo and if Everardo was home, Maldonado responded by stating that he had not seen Everardo and that Everardo was not home.

Trooper Wallace stated that he "felt very confident that [Maldonado] understood that we were trying to speak to his son." Similarly, Deputy Lewis noted that he and Maldonado conversed in English and stated that he could understand Maldonado’s responses to his questions "perfectly."

After speaking with Maldonado "for a good ten to fifteen minutes," Trooper Wallace and Deputy Lewis asked Maldonado to see if Everardo was inside the house. Maldonado then "pulled his phone from out of his pocket" and stated "[w]e need to call my daughter Sonia." Maldonado subsequently held an extended, fifteen to twenty-minute conversation with Sonia in Spanish. Trooper Wallace also spoke to Sonia on Maldonado’s phone. Trooper Wallace explained to Sonia that he believed that Everardo was the driver of the pickup truck and that he wanted to speak with Everardo. After ending his phone call with Sonia, Maldonado went inside his home and spoke with someone out of the officers’ view for approximately ten minutes. Trooper Wallace and Deputy Lewis later identified the individual that Maldonado was speaking with as Everardo.

Maldonado eventually allowed Trooper Wallace and Deputy Lewis inside his home, where the officers immediately encountered Everardo. When Trooper Wallace and Deputy Lewis asked Everardo about his knowledge of the pickup truck accident, Everardo denied any involvement and explained that he never left home the night of the accident. According to Trooper Wallace, Everardo "was very shortcoming with us where he wouldn’t answer us directly on a lot of questions that we asked .... He’d just say, I don’t know." At one point during the conversation, Deputy Lewis noticed abrasions on one of Everardo’s hands and asked about the injury. Everardo quickly replied that he was "a water man" who "gets cuts all the time."

Later that same morning, Deputy Lewis learned from Travis’s employer that Travis was at Sentara Norfolk Hospital. Deputy Lewis subsequently spoke with Travis on the phone. He also met with Travis after Travis was discharged from the hospital. According to Deputy Lewis, Travis told him "what had happened" the night of the pickup truck accident.

On July 10, 2017, Maldonado was directly indicted on one count of providing a false report to a law enforcement official, in violation of Code § 18.2-461, and one count of obstruction of justice, in violation of Code § 18.2-460. During the subsequent bench trial, which took place on December 28, 2017, the Commonwealth called Brady, Deputy Pike, Trooper Wallace, Deputy Lewis, and Travis as witnesses, among others. During their testimony, both Trooper Wallace and Deputy Lewis noted Maldonado’s initial reluctance to aid the police with their investigation. Additionally, Travis confirmed that Everardo had been driving the truck on the night of the crash. Although he had very little recollection of the accident or the immediate aftermath, Travis recalled Maldonado telling him to wake up because there had been an accident. Travis was also certain that Maldonado had been at the accident scene, stating that Maldonado’s face was the only thing he recognized "at the whole scene."

After the Commonwealth rested, the circuit court granted Maldonado’s motion to strike the false report charge but denied it as to the remaining obstruction of justice offense. At the conclusion of all the evidence, the circuit court convicted Maldonado of misdemeanor obstruction of justice. This appeal follows.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

"In reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction, ‘the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential...