Rodriguez v. State
| Decision Date | 08 October 1992 |
| Docket Number | No. 75978,75978 |
| Citation | 609 So.2d 493 |
| Parties | 17 Fla. L. Weekly S623 Juan David RODRIGUEZ, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Geoffrey C. Fleck of Friend, Fleck & Gettis, South Miami, for appellant.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Ralph Barreira, Asst. Atty. Gen., Miami, for appellee.
Juan David Rodriguez was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit a felony, attempted armed robbery, armed burglary with an assault, aggravated assault, and attempted first-degree murder. The charges which stem from two incidents occurring on consecutive days were tried together. Rodriguez appeals his convictions and the attendant sentences, including a sentence of death imposed in connection with the first-degree murder. We have jurisdiction, article V, section 3(b)(1), Florida Constitution, and affirm the convictions and sentences.
According to his testimony at trial, on April 22, 1988, Ramon Fernandez was introduced to the defendant at a bail bondman's office by Carlos Sponsa. Sponsa asked Fernandez to give the bondsman the title to his car for a few hours, so Rodriguez could go get some money to pay his bail. Fernandez complied with the request; however, Rodriguez never returned with the money.
On May 13, 1988, Fernandez met with Sponsa and Rodriguez and asked Rodriguez to pay the bondsman so his car would be returned. Rodriguez told Fernandez and Sponsa that he knew where he could get the money and told them to follow him. The two followed Rodriguez, who drove a blue Mazda, to a shopping center. According to Fernandez, Rodriguez went to the door of an auto parts store in the shopping center and talked to a man inside. Rodriguez then came over to their vehicle and told Fernandez and Sponsa to wait in front According to Fernandez, Rodriguez then described the events leading up to the murder. Rodriguez explained that he shot Saladrigas first in the leg and then in the stomach because the victim would not surrender his briefcase and watch. After being shot, the victim threw the briefcase at Rodriguez and began screaming. Rodriguez shot him again in an attempt to get the watch. After the victim ran behind a car, Rodriguez shot him the final time and took the watch.
while he drove around to the back of the shopping center to wait for the owner of the auto parts store. Instead of waiting in the car, Fernandez went up some stairs to the other end of the shopping center, where he saw the owner exit the store through the front door carrying a briefcase. The owner, Abelardo Saladrigas, began walking to the back of the shopping center. When Fernandez could no longer see Saladrigas, he heard two shots. As Fernandez was coming down the stairs, he heard a third shot and then saw Rodriguez chasing the victim with a gun in one hand and the victim's briefcase in the other. Rodriguez was yelling, "Give me the watch; give me the watch." The victim ran behind a car where Rodriguez shot him a fourth time, grabbed the victim's watch and ran to the Mazda. Fernandez also ran to the Mazda and left with the defendant. After fleeing, Rodriguez and Fernandez met Sponsa who had fled as soon as the first shots were fired. Rodriguez opened the briefcase which contained papers, keys, a revolver, and $1,200 in cash. He gave $600 to Sponsa and kept the other $600 and the victim's Rolex watch
There was also testimony from another witness that pleas of "Don't do this to me, please" were heard coming from the back parking lot prior to the shots being fired.
Jose Arzola, an employee of the murder victim, testified that he was the man who spoke to the defendant at the front door of the auto parts store. Although Rodriguez's appearance had changed, Arzola made an in-court identification of him. Arzola further testified that he had seen Rodriguez at the shopping center on two or three occasions prior to the murder, standing on the side of the stairwell next to the entrance to the auto parts store.
Several witnesses testified concerning Saladrigas' dying declarations. A woman who worked in the shopping center testified that at approximately 7:00 p.m. on the day of the murder, she heard an argument in the back lot and heard four muffled gunshots. According to the witness, a few seconds after hearing a scream, Saladrigas came to the front of the shopping center and fell near the door to her shop. When she went to him, Saladrigas told her that he had been shot by a Mulatto, that he had been robbed of his watch and purse, and that they had left in a blue Mazda.
The victim's sister-in-law testified that when she arrived at the scene, Saladrigas told her, When she asked him if he knew the robbers, he told her, He also told her, "They go away in a blue Mazda."
Officer Jans testified that he overheard Saladrigas describe the shooting. According to the officer, Saladrigas said a couple of Mulatto males robbed him in the back parking lot. The man who shot him was taller than average, 5'10"' or 5'11," and very skinny. The robbers left in a small blue car which was either a Mazda or a Toyota. They took his briefcase and Rolex watch. As he approached his car, they tried to get his briefcase. There was a struggle, and he was shot a couple of times.
Saladrigas died a short time after being taken to the hospital. According to the medical examiner, although there were six separate gunshot wounds on the body, these wounds were consistent with four separate projectiles having struck the victim. The victim had two wounds to the right arm; one wound to the upper left chest; one wound one inch above the right knee; and two wounds to the right chest, one of which was fatal.
Francisco Reyes, who met Rodriguez in the county jail prior to trial, testified that Testimony concerning the attempted home invasion came primarily from Fernandez and another of the participants in that incident. According to Fernandez, the day after the murder, he, the defendant, and several other young men went to a residence intending to invade it and rob the occupants who according to Sponsa had large amounts of drugs and cash. Fernandez and two of the men went in one vehicle; Rodriguez and the other two went in a separate vehicle. Fernandez and the two men who rode with him went to the door. When a man answered, the three attempted to push their way in. However, when the man's wife brought him a gun, the three ran from the house. The attempted robbery victim shot at the three and one of them returned fire. Although Fernandez was carrying the murder victim's revolver during the attempted home invasion, he did not fire it. Fernandez dropped the revolver on the front lawn while fleeing.
Rodriguez told him that Fernandez was a "snitch" and because of him Rodriguez was "facing the chair." According to Reyes, Rodriguez also told him Fernandez could not have seen him commit the murder because he had told him to wait around the corner and if Rodriguez could "get rid" of Fernandez, "they would never know he was the one that killed or murdered." Reyes also testified that the defendant offered to pay him $3,000 if Reyes would testify that Fernandez confessed to Reyes that he committed the murder
Sergio Valdez, a participant in the attempted home invasion, who rode to the scene with the defendant, also testified. Valdez' account of the attempted home invasion was generally consistent with that of Fernandez. He explained that he, Rodriguez, and another man circled the residence while the other three men went to the door. According to Valdez, Rodriguez told him it was their job to tie up the people in the house and search for money and drugs after the others gained entry. Valdez also testified that while in route to the residence, Rodriguez admitted that he "had done a job" at an auto parts store the day before, and that he had stolen a thousand dollars and the Rolex watch he was wearing from the victim.
Three weeks after the attempted home invasion, Fernandez was arrested. He confessed to his involvement in both crimes and told police that Rodriguez shot the victim at the auto parts store. Rodriguez was arrested and ultimately charged in a single indictment with first-degree murder and the other offenses stemming from the robbery/murder and the attempted home invasion.
Rodriguez was found guilty of all charges which were tried together. By a vote of twelve to zero the jury recommended that he be sentenced to death in connection with the Saladrigas murder. The court followed this recommendation, finding three aggravating factors: 1) prior conviction of violent felony; 2) the murder was committed during a robbery and for financial gain; and 3) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, and one nonstatutory mitigating factor: Rodriguez had a good marriage and family life.
Rodriguez raises the following four claims in connection with the guilt phase of his trial: 1) it was error to compel him to proceed without the presence of a defense witness and to refuse to permit him to introduce that witness's prior deposition testimony; 2) it was fundamental error to conduct a joint trial for the first-degree murder and the charges stemming from the attempted home invasion; 3) it was error to admit the victim's sister-in-law's identification testimony; and 4) inadmissible hearsay testimony was introduced to improperly bolster the testimony of the State's chief witnesses.
As his first claim, Rodriguez contends that it was error to require him to proceed without the presence of a subpoenaed defense witness and to exclude that witness's deposition testimony. Some fourteen months after the murder, defense counsel deposed Jose Montalvo, who had been listed on the State's discovery list as someone having knowledge of the...
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