State v. Gonzales

• Decision Date: 09 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 24,724.,24,724.
• Citation: 11 P.3d 131,129 N.M. 556,2000 NMSC 28
• Parties: STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rudy Anthony GONZALES, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: New Mexico Supreme Court

11 P.3d 131

129 N.M. 556

2000 NMSC 28

STATE of New Mexico, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Rudy Anthony GONZALES, Jr., Defendant-Appellant.

No. 24,724.

Supreme Court of New Mexico.

August 9, 2000.

Marc H. Robert, P.C., Marc H. Robert, Albuquerque, NM for Appellant.

Patricia A. Madrid, Attorney General, Max Shepherd, Assistant Attorney General, Santa Fe, NM for Appellee.

OPINION

SERNA, Justice.

{1} Defendant Rudy Gonzales Jr. appeals his convictions of first degree deliberate intent murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and tampering with evidence. On appeal, Defendant argues eight separate grounds for reversal: (1) the trial court improperly admitted the State's polygraph evidence because the State did not provide the requisite notice to Defendant under our Rules of Evidence; (2) the trial court erred in denying Defendant's motions for a mistrial after the State presented testimony of two of Defendant's prior bad acts; (3) defects in the audiotape recording of the trial deprived Defendant of a meaningful right to appeal his convictions in violation of his right to due process; (4) the jury's verdict was a product of intimidation from extraneous information; (5) the State violated the rules of discovery by failing to disclose the polygraph evidence; (6) Defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial; (7) prosecutorial misconduct violated Defendant's right to a fair trial; and (8) there was insufficient evidence to support Defendant's convictions. Defendant finally claims, as an alternative to reversal on any single ground, that the cumulative errors of the trial court deprived him of a fair trial and mandate reversal of his convictions.

{2} We address in this opinion Defendant's first two points of error only. We have thoroughly examined the facts and law applicable to Defendant's remaining claims and summarily conclude that they are without merit. With respect to Defendant's claim concerning the admission of polygraph evidence, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining that Defendant had an adequate opportunity to prepare rebuttal to the polygraph evidence and suffered no prejudice from the State's late disclosure of the evidence. With respect to the prior bad acts, we conclude that the trial court properly cured any harm from the inadvertent presentation of one prior bad act with an admonition to the jury not to consider the evidence, and we conclude that the testimony concerning Defendant's other prior bad act amounts to harmless error. The minor errors committed in the course of the trial did not deprive Defendant of a fair trial, and we therefore decline to apply the doctrine of cumulative error. We affirm Defendant's convictions.

I. Facts

{3} On June 24, 1993, Gerald Chavez called the police to report his girlfriend, Lisa Duncan, missing. After arriving at Ms. Duncan's house and inspecting the scene, the police determined that criminal activity had likely taken place. The police then interviewed Mr. Chavez on several occasions about his relationship with Ms. Duncan and the circumstances surrounding his discovery that Ms. Duncan was missing. Mr. Chavez was initially reluctant to disclose the nature of his relationship with Ms. Duncan because he was married, and the police initially considered him to be a suspect in her disappearance, though not high on a list of suspects.

{4} The police also spoke to Ms. Duncan's ex-husband, Donald Duncan. Mr. Duncan initially emerged as the most obvious suspect. Mr. Duncan had been convicted in 1985 of six counts of criminal sexual penetration and incest in relation to incidents involving his step-daughter, Heidi Rodriguez, and a daughter from a previous marriage. Ms. Duncan testified against Mr. Duncan at his trial. After Mr. Duncan served approximately eight years of his sentence for these crimes, the district court granted Mr. Duncan habeas corpus relief on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel, which this Court affirmed, see Duncan v. Kerby, 115 N.M. 344, 851 P.2d 466 (1993)

. The State subsequently entered a nolle prosequi on the indictments against Mr. Duncan.

{5} After his release from prison in April of 1993, Mr. Duncan had contact with Ms. Duncan on several occasions. The police learned that the two had at least one argument in the months immediately preceding Ms. Duncan's disappearance. As a result, the police devoted a considerable amount of time during their initial investigation on Mr. Duncan.

{6} The police also attempted to speak to Heidi Rodriguez, Ms. Duncan's daughter. At the time, Ms. Rodriguez had a relationship with Defendant, and she was living with Defendant and his family, including his father, Rudy Gonzales Sr., at their home in Bernalillo, New Mexico. Although the police were able to interview Ms. Rodriguez once at the Gonzaleses' house, police detectives faced some difficulty speaking to Ms. Rodriguez because they were frequently intercepted by Defendant's father. Rudy Gonzales Sr. told the police that he had formerly been in law enforcement and that he wanted to know why the police were interested in speaking to Ms. Rodriguez.

{7} At Ms. Duncan's house, the police had discovered a handcuff key in a hallway. In addition, the police determined Ms. Duncan's house to be an organized crime scene, which indicated to police a likelihood that the crime was planned and that the perpetrator knew the victim. Because of these facts, the police became suspicious of Rudy Gonzales Sr. due to his past experience in law enforcement. The police also suspected that Ms. Rodriguez might have some knowledge about the crime due to her relationship with Rudy Gonzales Sr.

{8} As a result of suspicions about Mr. Chavez, Mr. Duncan, and Ms. Rodriguez, the police requested that each of them take a polygraph examination, to which they all agreed. Additionally, the police surmised the approximate time of the suspected crime from the time Ms. Duncan left her place of employment and from a store receipt found in her car that listed the time of purchase as 10:12 p.m. on June 21, 1993. The police investigated the whereabouts of Mr. Chavez and Mr. Duncan during the approximate time that Ms. Duncan disappeared. The police concluded that, although Mr. Duncan had the most obvious motive to harm Ms. Duncan, he did not have the opportunity to commit the crime. Similarly, the police determined that Mr. Chavez did not have the opportunity to commit the crime. During the interview process, the police determined from an investigatory standpoint that Mr. Duncan's personality-type was probably more likely to result in a disorganized, or violent, crime scene rather than the organized crime scene found at Ms. Duncan's house. The police also believed that Mr. Duncan was the least likely of the suspects to have had handcuffs. As a result of the interviews, the polygraph tests, and other aspects of the investigation, the police compiled a preliminary list of suspects, with Rudy Gonzales Sr. as the primary suspect, followed by Mr. Chavez and then Mr. Duncan.

{9} The police located Ms. Duncan's body on September 30, 1993, buried underneath a piece of concrete in a shallow grave in a remote area of Sandoval County. Her hands were handcuffed behind her back, several of her bones were broken, and her head was severed from the rest of the body. The medical investigator determined that the cause of death was a single gunshot to the head.

{10} After finding Ms. Duncan's body, the police continued with their investigation. However, the police were unable to make any substantial progress, and the investigation was essentially stagnant until September of 1996. At that time, the police learned from Leroy Gutierrez's mother that Leroy, who was a friend of Defendant and his father, was having nightmares and making references to a killing in his sleep, such as, "Why did they choke her?" The police then interviewed Leroy Gutierrez. As a result of the interview, the police arrested Defendant and Rudy Gonzales Sr. and searched the Gonzales home.

{11} Leroy Gutierrez, who had been fifteen years old at the time of Ms. Duncan's disappearance and was eighteen years old at the time of Defendant's trial, testified against Defendant. Leroy explained that he lived near the Gonzaleses and had spent a great deal of time at their house from age eleven. He testified about two incidents between Ms. Duncan and the Gonzaleses leading up to Ms. Duncan's disappearance. During the first incident, Ms. Duncan arrived at the Gonzales home with a police officer. She was visibly very upset and wanted to speak to Defendant and her daughter because she believed they had stolen a ring from her. Although Ms. Duncan did not find Heidi Rodriguez or Defendant at that time, Leroy testified that they were both inside the Gonzales home. Heidi Rodriguez also testified at Defendant's trial and related a similar version of this incident.

{12} The second incident also involved Ms. Duncan's stolen ring. According to Leroy, he drove Rudy Gonzales Sr. and Ms. Rodriguez to a jewelry store in Albuquerque to meet Ms. Duncan approximately two weeks before her disappearance. Rudy Gonzales Sr. gave Leroy a gun and told him to pull out the gun and start shooting if he saw Rudy Gonzales Sr. signal him. Rudy Gonzales Sr. then went into the jewelry store to meet Ms. Duncan while Leroy and Heidi Rodriguez stayed outside in Rudy Gonzales Sr.'s truck. After a few minutes, Ms. Duncan exited the store with Donald Duncan, and an argument ensued between Mr. Duncan and Rudy Gonzales Sr. After Leroy saw Rudy Gonzales Sr. signal him, he got out of the truck and gave the gun to Rudy Gonzales Sr., but they left shortly afterward without further incident. Heidi Rodriguez and Donald Duncan gave similar testimony about the incident at the jewelry store. According to Mr. Duncan, Rudy Gonzales Sr. told Ms. Duncan that he would return her ring only if she paid him, so Ms. Duncan asked Mr. Duncan to...