State v. Luis
| Docket Number | 38350-4-III |
| Decision Date | 28 December 2023 |
| Parties | STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. FELIPE LUIS JR. Appellant. |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
1
STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent,
v.
FELIPE LUIS JR. Appellant.
No. 38350-4-III
Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3
December 28, 2023
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
PENNELL, J.
Felipe Luis Jr. appeals his judgment and sentence, imposed as a result of his conviction for first degree manslaughter. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTS
On December 9, 2018, Felipe Luis Jr. was housed in the Yakima County jail's Norteno gang unit, along with Julian Gonzales, Deryk Donato, and Jacob Ozuna.
At around 11:30 p.m., a corrections officer looked into the unit and saw an inmate on the ground, surrounded by other inmates. After calling for backup, several officers and medical staff entered the unit and found Mr. Ozuna on the floor unconscious, but still alive, and with extreme blunt force injuries. Officers observed pools of blood, as well as blood streaked on the walls, floor, and stairway, and on the hands of Mr. Luis, Mr. Donato, and Mr. Gonzales. Mr. Ozuna was transported to the hospital where he died shortly after.
Description of the incident
The attack on Mr. Ozuna was captured by nonaudio surveillance cameras. Video footage revealed Mr. Ozuna on the second floor of the unit talking to another inmate. Mr. Luis, Mr. Donato, and Mr. Gonzales were downstairs and can be seen talking and shaking hands. Mr. Luis and the two other men then went upstairs, approached Mr. Ozuna from behind, and initiated an attack. For 12 minutes, the three men continuously punched, kicked, and stomped on Mr. Ozuna. When Mr. Ozuna tried to get away, he was cornered and taken to the ground. When Mr. Ozuna appeared to lose consciousness, the beating did not stop; the three assailants kept punching and kicking Mr. Ozuna's body, including his face. Mr. Luis, Mr. Donato, and Mr. Gonzales briefly took a break to drag Mr. Ozuna along the hallway to the top of the stairs. When Mr. Ozuna started to move again, the beating resumed until Mr. Ozuna became nonresponsive. The three men then dragged Mr. Ozuna by his feet down the stairs of the unit, causing him to hit his head on each individual stair. Once at the bottom of the stairs, Mr. Ozuna appeared to move his arm. In response, Mr. Luis and his companions repeatedly kicked Mr. Ozuna in the face until he stopped moving.
During the attack, another inmate, Lindsey Albright, took items from Mr. Ozuna's cell and brought them back to his own cell. When officers later asked for the items,
Mr. Albright handed them, among other things, a document listing the "14 bonds" of the Norteno gang. 1 Rep. of Proc. (RP) (Nov. 12, 2020) at 125-26.
Mr. Ozuna's autopsy revealed swelling around his head and face, bleeding in his nose and mouth, minor injuries to his hand and wrist, bruising on his neck, bruising on his chest, bruising and abrasions on his upper extremities, bruising on his right abdomen and pelvic areas, broken ribs, a liter of blood in his chest cavity, a bruise to his heart lining, contusions to his lungs, a hemorrhage near his kidneys, a one and one-half inch laceration on his scalp, and bruising and impact injuries on his skull. Although he had no skull fractures or major vessels torn, the beating caused Mr. Ozuna's brain to move around inside his skull and swell to the point where it cut off its own blood supply. Mr. Ozuna's official cause of death was rapid swelling of the brain resulting in respiratory failure. His official manner of death was homicide.
Charges
Mr. Luis, Mr. Donato, and Mr. Gonzales were each charged with Mr. Ozuna's murder. Their cases were joined for trial until the court granted a motion to sever.
The information filed against Mr. Luis charged two offenses. Count 1 charged aggravated first degree murder. One of the alleged aggravating circumstances was a gang aggravator under RCW 10.95.020(6). This aggravator alleged the murder was "committed
to obtain or maintain [Mr. Luis's] membership or to advance [his] position in the hierarchy of an organization, association, or identifiable group." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 4. Count 2 charged Mr. Luis with unaggravated first degree murder.[1] This charge carried a gang enhancement that alleged the murder was committed "with intent to directly or indirectly cause any benefit, aggrandizement, gain, profit, or other advantage to or for [any] criminal street gang as defined [by] RCW 9.94A.030, its reputation, influence, or membership." Id. at 5.
April 10, 2019 motion to continue
Mr. Luis was arraigned on January 2, 2019. On January 31, 2019, Mr. Luis appeared in court and waived his right to a speedy trial. Although there is no transcript of the January 31 hearing in the record on review, the parties agree the purpose of the continuance was to perform DNA testing.[2] Mr. Luis signed a speedy trial waiver, agreeing to a trial date of May 6, 2019, with a readiness hearing set for April 10, 2019.
The parties appeared as scheduled on April 10. At the beginning of the hearing, counsel for the State explained the Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory was not done with its DNA analysis and the process would not likely be complete until June. The defense voiced concern that the State had not identified what efforts had been made to obtain the DNA testing in a timely manner. The State's attorney did not provide an explanation, but stated that if Mr. Luis "wants to go to trial . . . we can go to trial" so long as defense counsel represented he was ready. 1 RP (Apr. 10, 2019) at 9. Mr. Luis's attorney did not say he was ready for trial, but he also did not specifically ask for a continuance. Rather, defense counsel said, "We're not asking for [a continuance] at this time. We're asking for the DNA [analysis]. And we're asking for what efforts they've made to get the DNA [testing] done in a timely manner." Id. at 9-10. Given defense counsel's statements, the prosecutor asked for a continuance to allow for the completion of DNA testing. The court then found good cause for a continuance. The court asked defense counsel if there would be any prejudice to Mr. Luis by the continuance. Defense counsel stated, "No." Id. at 11. The court then continued the trial date to August 12, 2019.[3]
At a June 19, 2019, readiness hearing, the court was informed the DNA analysis had been received.
Brady[4] motion
On April 13, 2021, Mr. Luis filed a Brady motion for discovery. Mr. Luis specifically asked for any exculpatory or impeaching evidence related to Mr. Ozuna and his purported murder of Dario Alvarado. The State affirmed it had complied with the Brady requirements.
Motion in limine and Knapstad [5] motion
In a motion in limine, the State moved to admit gang association evidence to establish its theory for motive. The State asserted Mr. Ozuna's killing was gang related. Evidence revealed Mr. Ozuna had been in custody for the alleged murder of Dario Alvarado on May 10, 2018. The State claimed both Mr. Ozuna and Mr. Alvarado were members of the Norteno gang. Expert testimony regarding the Nortenos revealed they had a "constitution" called the "14 bonds." 1 RP (Nov. 12, 2020) at 233. Norteno members must abide by the 14 bonds or risk being punished. The State theorized Mr. Ozuna had broken one of the bonds by killing Mr. Alvarado, a fellow Norteno, and thus needed to
be disciplined. Testimony revealed Mr. Luis and his codefendants are also Norteno gang members, who, the State claimed, were ordered to carry out the discipline. According to the State's evidence, if a Norteno receives no repercussions for violating a bond, one could assume the bond was approved.
Mr. Luis objected to the State's motion, arguing the evidence failed to establish a nexus between Mr. Luis's gang affiliation and the crime, and was prejudicial. Mr. Luis also joined his codefendants in filing a Knapstad motion to dismiss count 1, the aggravated murder charge, claiming the police testimony and gang expert testimony provided insufficient evidence, standing alone, to support an aggravating factor.
The trial court held a consolidated hearing on the two motions, ultimately denying Mr. Luis's motion to dismiss count 1 and granting the State's motion to admit gang evidence.
Trial
The case proceeded to a jury trial. The jury viewed the surveillance videos along with photographs depicting the scene and of Mr. Ozuna's injuries. The jury also heard testimony from various law enforcement officers about gang membership and the State's theory that Mr. Ozuna was killed for gang-related reasons. This testimony was consistent with what had been set forth in the motion in limine.
In the defense case, Mr. Luis presented testimony from employees of the Yakima County Department of Corrections who admitted Mr. Alvarado into custody in 2018. According to the witnesses, Mr. Alvarado identified himself as a "drop" during the intake process. 4 RP (Jun. 4, 2021) at 1762-63, 1768; Ex. 87. This meant he was no longer affiliated with a gang and should not be housed in a gang area. Id. Mr. Alvarado's intake paperwork noted he had not been affiliated with a gang for approximately 10 years. Ex. 87.
Jury instructions, conviction and sentencing
The court granted a defense request for a jury instruction on manslaughter in the first degree, but denied an instruction based on manslaughter in the second degree, finding it was factually unwarranted. The jury convicted Mr. Luis of first degree manslaughter. It did not return a verdict on the gang enhancement.
Sentencing
The defense filed a motion requesting an exceptional sentence below the standard guideline range based largely on Mr. Luis's youth. The court recognized it had discretion to grant the motion, but declined to do so.
The court reasoned Mr. Luis was "more sophisticated than most 19-year olds." RP (Jul. 15, 2021) at 42-43. Given the prolonged nature of the attack, the court found
Mr. Luis had not acted impetuously or without recognizing the...
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