State v. Medina, Docket No. 45117
| Decision Date | 27 August 2019 |
| Docket Number | Docket No. 45118,Docket No. 45117 |
| Parties | STATE OF IDAHO Plaintiff-Respondent, v. JERSSON NEFTALY ROQUE MEDINA Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | Idaho Supreme Court |
Karel A. Lehrman, Clerk
Appeals from the District Court of the Sixth Judicial District of the State of Idaho, Bannock County. Stephen S. Dunn, District Judge.
The district court's judgment of conviction of trafficking heroin is affirmed. The judgment of conviction of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act is vacated and remanded.
Nevin, Benjamin, McKay & Bartlett, Boise, for appellant Jersson Neftaly Roque Medina. Dennis Benjamin argued.
Lawrence G. Wasden, Idaho Attorney General, Boise, for respondent State of Idaho. Jeffery D. Nye argued.
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Following a jury trial, Jersson Neftaly Roque Medina (Medina) was convicted of trafficking heroin and conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.1 The charges were brought through two separate cases that arose out of the same set of facts. The two cases were consolidated and tried together. Medina now appeals his convictions, arguing that (1) fundamental error occurred when he appeared before the jury in chains; (2) fundamental error occurred when the jury instruction listing possible overt acts made in the furtherance of theconspiracy listed numerous acts that did not constitute a proper basis for him to have been found guilty; and (3) there was insufficient evidence to establish the agreement element of the conspiracy charge. For the following reasons, we affirm Medina's judgment of conviction on the trafficking charge and vacate the judgment of conviction on his conspiracy charge.
After a police-initiated heroin buy, both Medina and Sharon Bernal-Valadez (Valadez) were arrested in Chubbuck, Idaho, on April 14, 2016. The facts are as follows.
In May of 2015, Logan Joyce (Joyce), a heroin dealer in the Pocatello area, would travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to purchase heroin to sell in Idaho. Joyce would then return to his home in Chubbuck and sell the heroin in Pocatello. Joyce purchased the heroin in Salt Lake City at a homeless shelter. After doing this for some time, Joyce got to the point where he wanted to sell more than his then-supplier could provide. At this point, Joyce's supplier introduced him to Medina. By late March 2016, Joyce would contact Medina every couple of weeks to purchase substantial quantities of heroin. Joyce would tell Medina how much money he had, and Medina would inform him how much heroin Joyce could purchase with that amount of money. Medina would typically transport the corresponding quantity of heroin from Salt Lake City to Chubbuck, where Joyce would pay Medina the agreed-upon amount. A typical transaction at that point in time involved approximately 130 grams of heroin for $8,000. On occasion, Joyce would travel to Salt Lake City to pick up the heroin.
On either April 9 or 10 of 2016, Joyce met with Medina at Joyce's apartment in Chubbuck to buy heroin. Joyce paid Medina $8,000 for approximately 130 grams of heroin. The transaction was set up through an exchange of text messages.
Unbeknownst to Joyce, months prior to this transaction, Detective Lee Edgley (Edgley) received information that Joyce had been distributing heroin and began investigating Joyce. During the investigation, undercover law enforcement officers made several controlled purchases of heroin from Joyce. After the controlled buys, a search warrant was obtained and law enforcement searched Joyce's residence on April 12, 2016, a few days after Joyce's meeting with Medina. Approximately 153 grams of heroin were seized from Joyce's apartment. Joyce was arrested.
In his post-arrest interview, Joyce showed Edgley a text message conversation referencing Joyce wiring money to an account in Valadez's name in order to pay Medina for theheroin. At that time, Joyce also showed Edgley the most current phone number he had to contact Medina.
On April 13, 2016, after Joyce was booked into jail and a search warrant for Joyce's phone was obtained, Edgley began a text conversation with the number Joyce had told him was Medina's. Edgley arranged to purchase 130 grams of heroin, which would be delivered to "Joyce" the next day for $8,000, with $7,000 paid upfront and an additional $1,000 that would be paid at a later time. The text from Medina's number replied that 130 grams of heroin would be delivered around 5:00 p.m. on April 14, 2016.
On April 14, 2016, after receiving a text message informing him the delivery was close, Edgley, along with other detectives, saw a vehicle registered to Valadez pull into Joyce's apartment complex. The detectives then surrounded the vehicle and removed Valadez and Medina. As Medina was getting out of the vehicle, Edgley seized Medina's phone. He then used Joyce's phone to call the number he had been texting to set up the drug deal. Medina's phone rang, demonstrating that it had been used, presumably by Medina, on the other end of the drug deal.
A canine unit was called and alerted on the car; Medina and Valadez were handcuffed and placed in the back seat of a marked police car. Unbeknownst to Medina and Valadez, the police were recording their conversation. While in the police car, Medina asked Valadez if the officers had found "it" on her. Valadez told Medina to "be quiet." Medina apparently asked again if Valadez still had the drugs. Valadez replied, "Yes, it's here."
Eventually, a female officer arrived and took Valadez from the police car. The officer searched Valadez. That search uncovered approximately 126 grams of heroin (in gross weight including the packaging). Valadez testified that she had placed the package of heroin in her pants at the direction of Medina, knowing the package contained drugs.
On May 19, 2016, a Criminal Information was filed charging Medina with the crime of trafficking in heroin, a violation of Idaho Code section 37-2732B(a)(6)(C). The information alleged that Medina possessed, manufactured, delivered, or knowingly possessed at least twenty-eight grams of heroin. On June 16, 2016, a separate case arose from a second Criminal Information charging Medina with the crime of conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, pursuant to Idaho Code sections 37-2732 and 18-1701. That Information alleged that Medina conspired with Valadez, Joyce, or other unnamed people, and agreed to trafficheroin on or between April 2 and 14, 2016. The two separate charges arose from the same set of facts.
After a hearing and upon stipulation of the parties, the district court ordered the two cases be tried together. A jury found Medina guilty of both charges. On April 20, 2017, the district judge entered judgments of conviction and sentenced Medina to twenty years in the penitentiary with fifteen years determinate, on each charge. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Medina timely appealed both convictions.
Alleged constitutional errors during trial that are not followed by a contemporaneous objection "must be reviewed under the fundamental error doctrine." State v. Bernal, 164 Idaho 190, 193, 427 P.3d 1, 4 (2018) (citing State v. Perry, 150 Idaho 209, 228, 245 P.3d 961, 980 (2010)). (The fundamental error standard is produced below.) This Court reviews issues of law de novo. State v. Eliasen, 158 Idaho 542, 546, 348 P.3d 157, 161 (2015) (citing State v. Goggin, 157 Idaho 1, 4, 333 P.3d 112, 115 (2014)).
At trial, Joyce identified Medina in the courtroom by stating that Medina was "wearing a white long-sleeve shirt, orange Crocs, chains, and a tan jumpsuit." (Italics added.) A second witness, Sergeant Todd Orr (Orr), corroborated Joyce's identification. Medina concedes that no objection was made when he appeared before the jury in chains and jail garb2 and that the fundamental error test controls. He nevertheless maintains that all three elements of the fundamental error test have been satisfied and a new trial is required. The State counters that Medina has failed to prove any elements of the fundamental error test.
Perry, 150 Idaho at 228, 245 P.3d at 980 (2010); see also State v. Hall, 163 Idaho 744, 821, 419 P.3d 1042, 1119 (2018), reh'g denied (June 28, 2018) (unobjected-to use of physical restraints reviewed for fundamental error). Here, Medina cannot satisfy the first prong of the fundamental error test because there is no evidence that he was compelled by the district court to wear shackles.
Medina claims that he had a constitutional right to be free from shackles in front of the jury and that he did not waive that right. Medina relies on Deck v. Missouri, 544 U.S. 622 (2005) for the articulation of this right. In response, the State relies on Estelle v. Williams, 425 U.S. 501 (1976) for the proposition that in order to establish constitutional error, the appearance in shackles had to be compelled. The State thus posits that Medina cannot demonstrate constitutional error satisfying the first prong of the fundamental error test because his failure to object to his shackles necessarily undermines his ability to show he was compelled to appear at trial in shackles. For this conclusion, the State argues the compulsion requirement regarding...
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