State v. Huerta, 96-608
| Decision Date | 04 December 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-608,96-608 |
| Citation | 947 P.2d 483,285 Mont. 245,54 St.Rep. 1133 |
| Parties | STATE of Montana, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jose Antonio HUERTA, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Joseph P. Mazurek, Attorney General; Jennifer Anders, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Robert M. McCarthy, Silver Bow County Attorney, Butte, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
The defendant, Jose Antonio Huerta, was charged in the District Court for the Second Judicial District in Silver Bow County with one count of assault, a felony, in violation of § 45-5-201(1)(a) and (3), MCA. The State's information alleged that on August 19, 1995, Huerta inflicted bodily injury on a juvenile less than fourteen years of age. Following trial by jury, Huerta was convicted of the crime charged. Huerta appeals his conviction. We affirm the judgment of the District Court.
The issues on appeal are:
1. Did the District Court violate § 46-15-323(8), MCA, when it required that Huerta disclose summaries of witness testimony prior to trial?
2. Did the District Court violate Huerta's right to due process when it placed no reciprocal burden on the State to prepare and disclose summaries of witness testimony prior to trial?
3. Did the District Court err when it excluded testimony from defense witnesses on the basis of relevancy and on the basis that the testimony would constitute inadmissible character evidence?
4. Did the District Court err when it admitted testimony from the victim's treating physician which repeated out-of-court statements made to him by the victim?
5. Did the District Court violate § 46-13-104, MCA, and deprive Huerta of due process when it waited to decide the State's motion in limine until after the defendant had called his first witness?
6. Did the District Court deny Huerta's Sixth Amendment right to present a defense and his due process right to a fair trial when it disallowed testimony proffered by Huerta and commented regarding the merits of his defense?
The defendant, Jose Antonio Huerta, was involved in a relationship with Brenda, the mother of Thymer, age eight at the time of trial, and Bobby Jo, age seven.
On the morning of August 19, 1995, Brenda asked Huerta to take Thymer's bicycle to the pawn shop. Later that afternoon, Huerta called Brenda from his house and explained that he and Thymer had decided that Thymer did not have to sell the bicycle. Huerta also told Brenda that Thymer threw up on the floor of his house, and that he had Thymer clean it up.
When Brenda later arrived at a residence which Huerta was helping to repair, she testified that Thymer was sitting in the front seat of Huerta's car with his head down.
Brenda eventually took Thymer home where, according to her testimony, she first discovered his injuries. Brenda testified that, once in the house, Thymer said he was going to be sick and ran to the bathroom. Moments later, she found him lying on the bathroom floor. Brenda saw a large bump on his head and asked what had happened. Thymer said "I can't remember." According to Brenda, when she asked again, Thymer said "you promise that we never have to see Tony [Huerta] again?" When Brenda gave her promise, she testified that Thymer said "Tony [Huerta] did this to me." Brenda took Thymer to the police and then to St. James Hospital.
Dr. Dennis Salisbury, Thymer's treating physician, testified at trial that he spoke directly with Thymer outside of Brenda's presence to obtain information regarding Thymer's injuries for purposes of treatment. Dr. Salisbury testified that Thymer told him that "Tony [Huerta] pick[ed] me up by the hair" "lots" of times. When Dr. Salisbury asked Thymer how he came to have bruises on his body, Thymer answered that he thought it was from being picked up by the shirt. Thymer also allegedly told Dr. Salisbury that Huerta choked him and slapped him across the face.
According to testimony of the officer at the police station, Thymer told the officer that Huerta grabbed him by the hair, lifted him up off the ground, and dropped him. Thymer also told the officer that Huerta "body slammed" him onto the couch at Huerta's house.
At trial, Thymer testified that while they were driving to the pawn shop on the morning of August 19, 1995, Huerta pulled Thymer's hair and said "bad words" to him. He also testified that at Huerta's house Huerta spit in Thymer's face, made him stand at attention, then kicked him over while he was trying to clean up his own vomit. Thymer said that he passed out during the assault and when he came to, Huerta was slapping his face. Thymer testified that he did not know how he got the bruises or the knot on his head. Thymer testified that once they left Huerta's house, Huerta threatened to kill his family if he told his mother about what happened.
Thymer spent three days in the hospital under observation. Dr. Salisbury found tenderness in Thymer's scalp area where his hair was missing. He also found fresh abrasions under Thymer's left jaw, above his left eyebrow, on his chest, and above his knee. He found bruising under Thymer's left ear, under his right jaw, below his right shoulder blade, and on the front of his right leg. Thymer was also diagnosed with strep throat.
The defense theory of the case was that Brenda, not Huerta, inflicted the injuries to her son following an incident of vandalism the night before Huerta's alleged assault on Thymer. Huerta testified that Brenda disciplined her children with a paddle, which he had seen her use on Thymer. Huerta explained that Brenda was always having trouble with Thymer and typically punished him severely. According to Huerta, on the morning of the alleged assault, Brenda exhibited anger towards Thymer and used a hostile tone of voice when speaking to him. He further explained that Thymer wanted to get out of the house and away from his mother. Huerta testified that he and Thymer drove to his house where Huerta, a former marine, made Thymer stand at attention while he checked his phone messages. He also explained that Thymer threw up twice that day, once while lying on Huerta's couch and once in the bathroom of a rental unit in which they were working. Huerta testified that he heard a loud "thud" when Thymer was throwing up and assumed Thymer had slipped and hit his chin on the toilet bowl. He also testified that while at his house, Thymer slipped on his way to the bathroom and fell onto his back and hit his head on the newly polished wood floor. Huerta denied pulling Thymer's hair, slapping him, "body slamming" him, or kicking him, and told the arresting officer that Thymer liked to make up stories. At trial, all of the witnesses who saw Thymer that day testified that Thymer did not appear to be injured.
Eleven days prior to the date on which trial was originally scheduled, Huerta filed a list of twenty-six witnesses whom he intended to call at trial to establish that Brenda, Thymer's mother, had a habit of severely punishing Thymer. The State responded by filing a motion in limine to exclude the witnesses on the basis that their testimony would be inadmissible character evidence pursuant to Rule 608, M.R.Evid.
The District Court, concerned with the delay the number of witnesses would cause at trial, ordered Huerta to prepare summaries of the witnesses' testimony in the form of affidavits. Huerta objected, but complied with the court's order by providing affidavits from ten witnesses. In summary, these witnesses would have testified that: the children were not very well-behaved around Brenda; it did not appear that the children were afraid of Huerta; Brenda spanked Thymer, pulled his hair, and yelled at him often; Brenda always complained about her children's behavior; Brenda beat Thymer with a paddle on occasion; witnesses had observed bruises on Thymer's legs; Thymer told others that he did not like his mother; and that Brenda's attitude toward her children was indifferent.
In addition, one of the affidavits established that Brenda asked a babysitter to discipline Thymer, and he complied. The next day, after finding bruises on Thymer, Brenda went to the police and had charges filed against the sitter, which resulted in a deferred prosecution.
The District Court ruled that these witnesses would be allowed to offer an opinion as to Brenda's reputation for truthfulness or untruthfulness pursuant to Rule 608, M.R.Evid. However, the court held that evidence of Brenda's past disciplinary actions was irrelevant to any of the issues in the case. To the extent that the evidence might have been relevant, the court concluded that it was improper character evidence pursuant to Rule 608, M.R.Evid.
The standard of review of a district court's conclusions of law is whether the court's interpretation of law is correct. See Carbon County v. Union Reserve Coal Co. (1995), 271 Mont. 459, 469, 898 P.2d 680, 686. See also Kreger v. Francis (1995), 271 Mont. 444, 447, 898 P.2d 672, 674; Steer, Inc. v. Department of Revenue (1990), 245 Mont. 470, 474-75, 803 P.2d 601, 603. We have held that a judgment of conviction will not be reversed unless the error prejudiced or tended to prejudice the substantial rights of the defendant. See State v. Vanella (1910), 40 Mont. 326, 345, 106 P. 364, 371; State v. Rhys (1909), 40 Mont. 131, 134, 105 P. 494, 495. We have further held that in criminal cases no judgment will be reversed for technical errors or defects which do not affect the substantial rights of the defendant, and when the record is sufficient to establish the guilt of the defendant, a new trial will not be granted, even though there was error, unless it clearly appears that the error complained of actually impaired the defendant's right to a fair trial. See State v. Ray (1930), 88 Mont. 436, 446, ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Christensen
...evidence, for an abuse of discretion. State v. Kaarma , 2017 MT 24, ¶ 11, 386 Mont. 243, 390 P.3d 609 (citing State v. Huerta , 285 Mont. 245, 254, 947 P.2d 483, 489 (1997) ). ¶15 Jury instructions in a criminal case are reviewed for an abuse of discretion to determine whether the instructi......
-
In re GS
...a decision contrary to the party's position, and that failure to do so fails to preserve that issue for appeal. State v. Huerta (1997), 285 Mont. 245, 261, 947 P.2d 483, 493 (citing State v. Loh (1996), 275 Mont. 460, 479, 914 P.2d 592, 603-04). Moreover, we have concluded that "broad, gene......
-
State v. Kaarma
..., ¶ 7. ¶11 The Montana Supreme Court reviews a district court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. State v. Huerta , 285 Mont. 245, 254, 947 P.2d 483, 489 (1997). This includes the admissibility of character evidence. Huerta , 285 Mont. at 254–55, 947 P.2d at 489–90 ; accord State......
-
State v. Maier
...the prejudice that resulted from Maier's restricted cross-examination affected his right to a fair trial. See State v. Huerta (1997), 285 Mont. 245, 252, 947 P.2d 483, 487 (holding that when record establishes guilt a new trial will not be granted unless error impaired right to fair ¶56 The......