State v. Lopez, C7-97-1848
| Decision Date | 10 December 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. C7-97-1848,C7-97-1848 |
| Citation | 587 N.W.2d 26 |
| Parties | STATE of Minnesota, Respondent, v. Ignacio LOPEZ, Appellant. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
It is not an abuse of discretion for a trial court to deny a criminal defendant's request for a jury instruction on "voluntary intoxication" when the evidence presented at trial does not support the proposed instruction.
John M. Stuart, Minnesota State Public Defender, Sharon E. Jacks, Assistant State Public Defender, Minneapolis, for Appellant.
Hubert H. Humphrey, III, State Attorney General, St. Paul, Michael Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney, Minneapolis, Paul R. Scoggin, Asst. Hennepin Co. Atty., for respondent.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
Appellant Ignacio Lopez was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(1) (1996) for the August 27, 1996, shooting death of Dennis Mejia. In this appeal, Lopez raises the issue of whether the trial court committed prejudicial error when it refused to instruct the jury on "voluntary intoxication." 1 We affirm based on our conclusion that, on the facts presented here, Lopez was not entitled to a voluntary intoxication instruction.
During the summer of 1996, Amy Tanner met Lopez and became friends with him. Through Lopez, Tanner met Mejia, a 17-year-old Honduran immigrant. Tanner and Mejia began dating and eventually began living together. On the afternoon of August 27, 1996, Lopez shot and killed Mejia while Mejia was walking home from a Minneapolis park with Tanner and her young daughter. At trial, Tanner testified that she saw Lopez jump out of the passenger door of a car carrying a "big gun." Tanner called out to Lopez, begging him not to shoot. Mejia began running back towards the park. Lopez raised his gun, pointed it at Mejia, and fired. The bullet struck Mejia in the head, and he fell face down in the street.
The events leading up to the shooting were described at trial as follows. Lopez spent most of the 24-hour period before the shooting partying with a group of his friends. On August 26, Lopez was at a river party where some of the partygoers were drinking beer and smoking marijuana. However, there was no direct evidence presented at trial indicating that Lopez was one of the people drinking or smoking marijuana at this river party. Around dusk, Lopez, along with Tanner, her sister Rolanda Laroque, a friend named Hugo, and an unnamed friend, decided to drive to Chicago. When the group left Minneapolis, Hugo, the driver, made a wrong turn, and ended up driving north instead of east. When they realized their error, the group abandoned the trip to Chicago and, instead, drove to a party in Minneapolis. After the police broke up that party, the group headed to Tanner's house, where the partying continued.
Around 4:00 a.m., Mejia arrived at the house and, at some point, got into an argument with Lopez about Tanner's plan to go to Chicago with Lopez. The argument escalated into a fight, and Mejia cut Lopez with a knife. Lopez was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) where he had his wounds treated. After leaving HCMC, Lopez went to another party in South Minneapolis, arriving around 9:30 a.m. Lopez was angry about the fight with Mejia and told people at the party that he was going to "kill [Mejia]," and asked people at the party for a gun he could use to shoot Mejia. Lopez was given a gun and was seen loading it. As he loaded the gun, Lopez was heard saying, "[Mejia] you shouldn't have done that" and that he was "going to shoot him."
Lopez left the party with the gun, looking for Mejia. When he returned, approximately 20 minutes later, he was laughing, saying "it's over" and using hand gestures suggesting a "head exploding." Lopez also told one partygoer that he shot Mejia "between the eyes." Later that same evening, Lopez was watching the evening news with Laroque. As reports of Mejia's murder were being broadcast, Lopez hugged Laroque and said that he was sorry that Tanner and her daughter had to see the shooting. The next morning, Lopez told Laroque he was leaving for California.
A friend of Lopez received a voice-mail message indicating that the speaker had shot Mejia. That friend, and another, who listened to the message, identified the voice of the person who left the message as belonging to Lopez. Lopez was eventually arrested in Chicago and returned to Minneapolis to stand trial for Mejia's murder.
While there was testimony at trial indicating that the group of people Lopez was with on August 26 and 27, 1996, had been drinking beer and smoking marijuana and that Lopez may have done some of the drinking, there was no testimony or other evidence presented as to the quantity he may have drunk or of his being in an intoxicated state. And there was no testimony or other evidence even suggesting that Lopez was using marijuana.
Before the trial court instructed the jury, Lopez's defense counsel, arguing that Lopez was too intoxicated to form the requisite intent required for a first-degree murder conviction, asked the trial court to instruct the jury on voluntary intoxication. Based on the evidence presented, the trial court concluded that Lopez failed to present any evidence at trial that he was intoxicated at the time of the shooting and denied the request. Lopez now argues that the trial court's denial was in error because it prevented him from presenting a complete defense based on his contention that there was ample evidence that he was intoxicated at the time of the shooting.
"No error results from a [court's] refusal [to give a requested jury instruction] where the evidence does not support the proposed instruction and no abuse of discretion is shown." 2 However, a defendant is entitled to an instruction on "his theory of the case if there is evidence to support it." 3
Minnesota Statutes section 609.075 provides:
An act committed while in a state of voluntary intoxication is not less criminal by reason thereof, but when a particular intent or other state of mind is a necessary element to constitute a particular crime, the fact of intoxication may be taken into consideration in determining such intent or state of mind. 4
Before the intoxication defense comes into play, a defendant must offer intoxication as an explanation for his actions. 5 "The mere fact of a person's...
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Reed v. State
...sealed by the court, not used by appellate counsel, and unseen by Reed until after his direct appeal. Reed asserts that State v. Lopez, 587 N.W.2d 26 (Minn.1998), supports his contention. We disagree. In Lopez, the defendant was essentially unable to prepare a pro se supplemental brief on d......
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State v. Wilson, A11–1041.
...law enforcement the “actions of all participants lucidly and precisely, without any reference to his own intoxication”); State v. Lopez, 587 N.W.2d 26, 29 (Minn.1998) (“Lopez's failure to present any evidence of intoxication, beyond some possible drinking, constitutes a failure to offer int......
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State v. Shane
...A criminal defendant “is entitled to an instruction on his theory of the case if there is evidence to support it.” State v. Lopez, 587 N.W.2d 26, 28 (Minn.1998) (quotation omitted). Generally, a mistake of the law is not a defense. State v. Jacobson, 697 N.W.2d 610, 615 (Minn.2005). However......
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State v. Torres
...does not create the presumption that a defendant is thereby rendered incapable of intending to do a certain act. State v. Lopez, 587 N.W.2d 26, 28-29 (Minn.1998). Nevertheless, it may be that there is some point at which evidence of a defendant's intoxication, whether by consumption of into......