State v. Gonzales

• Decision Date: 04 August 1999
• Docket Number: No. 25,084.,25,084.
• Citation: 989 P.2d 419,128 N.M. 44
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Pedro GONZALES, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

989 P.2d 419

128 N.M. 44

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Pedro GONZALES, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 25,084.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

August 4, 1999.

Rehearing Denied September 3, 1999.

D. Eric Hannum, Albuquerque, for appellant.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Ralph E. Trujillo, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, for appellee.

OPINION

MINZNER, Chief Justice.

{1} Defendant Pedro Gonzales appeals from a conviction for first degree willful and deliberate murder, see NMSA 1978, § 30-2-1(A)(1) (1994), as well as from a conviction for second degree murder, see § 30-2-1(B), with a firearm enhancement, see NMSA 1978, § 31-18-16 (1993). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article VI, Section 2 of the New Mexico Constitution. On appeal, Defendant contends that the district court erred in admitting into evidence the hearsay declaration of an alleged co-conspirator as a statement against his interest and in limiting cross-examination of a State witness. He also contends that the State failed to introduce sufficient evidence to support the murder convictions. We affirm.

I.

{2} In the early morning of March 10, 1995, James Morgan and Debra April Jaramillo each died of a single gunshot wound to the head. At the time of death, Morgan was driving his green Ford Thunderbird; Jaramillo was a passenger. Investigators found two .25-caliber shell casings in the back seat and rear deck of the car, a fingerprint that implicated Francisco Cuellar outside the driver's side, and a shoe print that implicated Defendant within the car. Angelo Labadie¹ and Donald Gregory connected Defendant with the homicides.

{3} At trial, Labadie testified that in early March 1995, he ran away from Espanola to Albuquerque, where he sold crack cocaine for Defendant. Labadie explained that he accompanied Defendant on a delivery of crack to Jaramillo; Defendant allegedly gave Jaramillo the crack she had ordered and instructed her to pay the rest of the money she owed him (about $600) at some later time. Labadie testified further that on the morning of March 10, 1995, just after the killings occurred, he heard Cuellar "bragging" that he had been in the car with Morgan and Jaramillo while they were cruising around doing drugs, that he had shot Morgan and Jaramillo, and that Defendant had paid him eight rocks of crack for killing Jaramillo. Defendant objected to Labadie testifying about Cuellar's alleged statement, but the district court overruled the objection, holding that Cuellar's account of the killing was a statement against interest.

{4} Gregory testified on direct examination that around 4:00 a.m. on March 10, Defendant, Cuellar, Jaramillo, and Morgan departed Morgan's home in Morgan's green Thunderbird and that Gregory declined an invitation to accompany the group. Defense counsel attempted to impeach Gregory on cross-examination with evidence of his September 1996 plea agreement and conviction for criminal sexual contact of a minor. Defense counsel explained that he was not implying a deal was made, but that he should be allowed to inquire as to bias when the witness had received a benefit from the State. The district court ruled that defense counsel could not impeach Gregory with the specifics of the prior, unrelated conviction, noting that although such information may have been somewhat relevant, its relevance was outweighed by the dangers of unfair prejudice and confusion.

II.

{5} Defendant asserts that Cuellar's declaration should have been excluded under the hearsay rule, because it did not qualify as an exception to the rule. See Rule 11-802 NMRA 1999. The trial court admitted the declaration as a statement against interest. See Rule 11-804(B)(3) NMRA 1999. We review for an abuse of discretion. See State v. Torres, 1998-NMSC-052, ¶ 15, 126 N.M. 477, 971 P.2d 1267

.

{6} A statement against penal interest is a recognized exception to the hearsay rule; however, this exception is available only if the declarant is unavailable. See Rule 11-804(B)(3). Our rules of evidence define a statement against penal interest as one that "at the time of its making ... so far tended to subject the declarant to ... criminal liability... that a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have made the statement unless believing it to be true." Id. Defendant does not argue that Cuellar was available at trial. We therefore assume, without deciding, that Cuellar was an unavailable declarant for purposes of Rule 11-804(B)(3). See Torres, 1998-NMSC-052, ¶ 16,

126 N.M. 477,

971 P.2d 1267 ("[Defendant] does not argue on appeal that [the declarant] was not unavailable as that term is defined in Rule 11-804(B)(3), so we deem that argument to be abandoned."). We agree with the State that Cuellar's declaration qualifies as a statement against penal interest.

{7} We considered a statement against penal interest in State v. Torres, 1998-NMSC-052, ¶¶ 19-19, 126 N.M. 477, 971 P.2d 1267. In that case, we accepted the defendant's argument that, in applying Rule 11-804(B)(3), we should follow the federal practice of conducting statement-by-statement analyses of declarants' narratives and holding as inadmissible purely "collateral statements." Id. ¶ 14 (citing Williamson v. United States, 512 U.S. 594, 600-03, 114 S.Ct. 2431, 129 L.Ed.2d 476 (1994)). Defendant contends that "Cuellar's alleged assertion that he had been paid by Defendant is not a necessary part of his tale. It is a separate, freestanding, hearsay statement. Having already admitted to killing two people, it cannot reasonably be viewed as a statement against Cuellar's penal interest." We disagree. Defendant "dissect[s] [Cuellar's statement] in such a way that [it] lose[s] any contextual meaning." Id. {8} Common law courts have long recognized the statement-against-interest exception to the hearsay rule. See 5 John Henry Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law § 1455, at 323 (James H. Chadbourn rev. ed.1974). Although these courts originally interpreted the exception broadly, they eventually precluded declarations against penal interest from qualifying and limited the exceptions to declarations implicating proprietary or pecuniary interests. See id. § 1476, at 349-58. Influential commentators criticized the judicial rejection of statements against penal interest, see, e.g., id. § 1477, at 359, and overtime, many American courts came full circle in recognizing these statements as appropriate exceptions to the hearsay rule, see id. § 1477, at 360-62 & n. 7. New Mexico has joined the majority of American jurisdictions in following the federal judiciary's lead by returning to a broad interpretation of the statement-against-interest exception. See David F. Binder, Hearsay Handbook § 29.02, at 516-18 (3d ed. 1991 & Supp.1998).

{9} A broad interpretation of the exception is appropriate. "The basis of the exception is the principle of experience that a statement asserting a fact distinctly against one's interest is unlikely to be deliberately false or heedlessly incorrect, and is thus sufficiently sanctioned, though oath and cross-examination are wanting." 5 Wigmore, supra, § 1457, at 329; accord Williamson, 512 U.S. at 599,

114 S.Ct. 2431; 4 Christopher B. Mueller & Laird C. Kirkpatrick, Federal Evidence § 496, at 813-15 (2d ed.1994); 5 Jack B. Weinstein & Margaret A. Berger, Weinstein's Federal Evidence § 804.06[1], at 804-46 (Joseph M. McLaughlin ed., 2d ed.1999). The basis of the exception applies whether a declaration implicates proprietary, pecuniary, or penal interests. The trial court's decision to admit Cuellar's statement is consistent with the basis for the exception.

{10} Cuellar's declaration that Defendant paid him for the killings qualifies as a statement against penal interest on two grounds. First, the assertion implicates Cuellar for the crime of first degree willful and deliberate murder, see § 30-2-1(A)(1), and exposes him to liability for other crimes, including conspiracy to commit first degree willful and deliberate murder, see id.; NMSA 1978, § 30-28-2 (1963), and possession of a controlled substance, see NMSA 1978, § 30-31-23 (1990). Second, in context, the assertion provides a motive and supports an inference that Cuellar deliberately and willfully killed Jaramillo, if not both victims.

{11} Defendant argues that "[w]hile ... an admission to killing for hire increases the likely penalties a declarant could expect, it is equally plausible that Cuellar could have believed that killing at the behest or instruction of another somehow decreased his own culpability." We are not persuaded. The admission provides a factual basis for first degree willful and deliberate murder, see § 30-2-1(A)(1), rather than the lesser included offenses of second degree murder, see § 30-2-1(B), and voluntary manslaughter, see NMSA 1978, § 30-2-3(A) (1994). Thus, "the degree of detail included in [Cuellar's] statement, including the identity of his co-conspirator[ ], would significantly aid law enforcement officials in securing criminal liability." Torres, 1998-NMSC-052, ¶ 17, 126 N.M. 477, 971 P.2d 1267.

{12} Defendant urges us to take notice of gang culture in assessing whether Cuellar's statement was truly against his penal interest: "Within the twisted cultural framework of young gang members, such a statement is likely to be viewed as an opportunity to increase prestige, machismo, and `respect.'" Defendant misapprehends the appropriate standard. The standard is not whether a gang member might have made such a declaration under similar circumstances; rather, the standard "is whether the statement is so far contrary to the declarant's penal interest that `a reasonable person in the declarant's position would not have made the statement unless believing it to be true.'" Torres, 1998-NMSC-052, ¶ 14, 126 N.M. 477, 971 P.2d 1267 (quoting Rule 11-804(B)(3)). Our Court of Appeals has held that a reasonable person would understand the disserving nature of an incriminating...