State v. Palafox
| Decision Date | 07 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | DA 21-0179 |
| Citation | 2023 MT 26 |
| Parties | STATE OF MONTANA, Plaintiff and Appellee, v. DOMINGO JOSE PALAFOX, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
For Appellant: Pete Wood, Attorney at Law, Boise, Idaho
For Appellee: Austin Knudsen, Montana Attorney General, Tammy K Plubell, Assistant Attorney General, Helena, Montana
Marcia Jean Boris, Lincoln County Attorney, Libby, Montana Laurie McKinnon Justice
¶1 Domingo Jose Palafox (Palafox) appeals his conviction and sentence entered in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court Lincoln County, for two counts of felony tampering with witnesses, in violation of § 45-7-206, MCA. We affirm.
¶2 We restate the following issues for review:
¶3 In spring of 2020, Palafox showed a video to Gideon Davis (Gideon), his long-time friend. The video depicted Palafox tying his dog to a tree and lighting it on fire. Gideon told Palafox he had gone too far, angering Palafox. At some point Palafox and Gideon discussed the video again. Gideon told Palafox that people knew Palafox had done it and that a lynch mob would likely show up at his door if he was not careful.
¶4 A few weeks after Palafox showed Gideon the video, Palafox told Gideon that if anyone spoke up about the video, he would put a $10,000 hit on their head. At the time, Gideon was still contemplating whether he should speak up about the video, and Palafox's threat concerned him. Gideon understood the threat to mean anyone who snitched "was dead" and knew that Palafox had the ability to carry out the threat. Gideon stopped socializing with Palafox after this interaction. On June 11, 2020, Palafox and his girlfriend Winter Haugen (Haugen) drove to Gideon's family home. When Palafox pulled up to the house, he began honking and yelling at Jeremiah Davis (Jeremiah), Gideon's brother. This incident and an incident occurring shortly thereafter at the local Town Pump serve as the basis for the State's charges of witness tampering.
¶5 Palafox was eventually charged with two counts of tampering with witnesses, felonies, in violation of § 45-7-206 MCA, and aggravated animal cruelty, a felony, in violation of § 45-8-217, MCA. Palafox pleaded guilty to aggravated animal cruelty. On December 23, 2020, a nonjury trial was held on the witness tampering counts. At the close of the State's case, Palafox moved to dismiss both counts for insufficient evidence, which the District Court denied. The District Court found Palafox guilty of each count of witness tampering and imposed a sentence of ten years on one count and a consecutive ten-year sentence on the second count. Only the sentence for the second witness tampering count was suspended. The District Court also imposed two years on the count charging aggravated animal cruelty. The sentences on all counts were run consecutively. Palafox appeals only his convictions for witness tampering.
¶6 During the bench trial, Jeremiah testified that on June 11, 2020, Palafox and Haugen drove to Gideon's house and Palafox began yelling he was going to have Gideon taken care of, that he was a snitch, and that he would see him in court. Gideon testified that Palafox yelled at him that he and his family "were done for" and that Gideon testified that Palafox was not only threatening him directly, but also Jeremiah since Jeremiah is "a member of my family," and he did not "see how [Jeremiah is] not being threatened if he says your family is done."
¶7 Palafox called one witness at trial, his partner Haugen. Haugen testified that she was in the car with Palafox and witnessed the encounters between Palafox, Gideon, and Jeremiah. She testified that first Jeremiah came out of the house and Palafox told him "tell your brother I know he's a narc and I'll see him in court," and then when Gideon walked outside, Palafox told him "I know you are a narc I'll see you in court." According to Haugen, Palafox did not say anything else to Gideon or Jeremiah. Haugen testified that before this incident, Palafox tried to contact his lawyer "to see what he could do about slander charges" against Gideon and so "see him in court" referred to a legal matter. However, Jeremiah testified that Palafox never mentioned a lawsuit, slander, or lawyers.
¶8 A few minutes after this incident at the house, another incident occurred between Palafox and Jeremiah at the local Town Pump. Jeremiah testified that while at the Town Pump for gas, Palafox drove up and began threatening Gideon, "[s]aying he was going to have him taken care of, and I'll see you in court and a bunch of other stuff." Jeremiah confronted Palafox and followed him into the Town Pump as Palafox was "running his mouth." Inside, Palafox "was talking and yelling and he was spitting in [Jeremiah's] face," so Jeremiah pushed him away. Jeremiah was charged with assault, but ultimately pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace. Jeremiah testified that he interpreted Palafox's threats to mean Palafox would "have us dealt with, send someone out to beat us up or something like that," rather than take his family to court.
¶9 Conversely, Haugen testified that she observed the entire Town Pump incident while sitting in their vehicle parked on the side of the road. According to her, after they parked, Palafox did not speak to anyone. She testified that there was no interaction between Palafox and Jeremiah outside the Town Pump. Instead, Palafox first walked into the store alone. After he entered, Jeremiah ran inside after him. Haugen testified that as far as she saw, Palafox did not taunt or threaten Jeremiah in any way, nor did he interact with Jeremiah until after Jeremiah ran inside. On cross-examination, Haugen was questioned about her observations and a surveillance video, which was not entered into evidence, as follows:
¶10 Haugen also testified that she knew Palafox was angry when they drove to the house that day. She said he was upset because he had discovered Gideon was "saying stuff" about how Palafox had hurt one of their dogs. When asked on cross-examination how Palafox knew Gideon was saying things, Haugen responded she told Palafox about it after she found out on Facebook. Additionally, Haugen testified that she knew Palafox had been accused of lighting the dog on fire but that she did not believe it was their dog. Text messages on Haugen's seized cellphone, however, demonstrated that she knew the dog was hers.
¶11 Although Gideon did not make a report of the video until after the Town Pump incident, he had contacted an individual on the Troy Montana website to try to get the contact information of the City's Chief of Police, Katie Davis. Gideon testified that later, Chief Davis contacted him after discovering he was trying to reach her and he discussed the video with her.
¶12 Chief Davis investigated the animal cruelty incident and reviewed the surveillance video of the Town Pump incident. Chief Davis testified that the video showed Palafox walking towards the Town Pump store and turning and talking towards the fuel pumps where Jeremiah was. Chief Davis stated that Jeremiah "went from pumping fuel to being instantly upset and going in afterwards." Further, the following exchange took place regarding Haugen's testimony about the incident:
¶13 Chief Davis testified that she first received a report about a distressed dog on March 9, 2020. Chief Davis found the dog curled up under a pine tree in very bad shape and very weak. The dog had multiple injuries. Chief Davis took a photo of the dog and sent it to the city Facebook page to find the dog's owner. The dog was eventually fostered by the Pet Connection Sanctuary. Chief Davis also testified that there was a lot of publicity about the incident and that she received tips that Palafox was the dog's owner. Around the end of March or beginning of April, Chief Davis followed up on the tips and attempted to contact Gideon. Gideon's father answered the phone and told Chief Davis that she would not be speaking with Gideon because Gideon had been told to watch his back, which Chief Davis interpreted to mean that Gideon was afraid to speak with her.
¶14 In mid-May, a few weeks before the June 11 incident between Palafox, Jeremiah, and Gideon, Chief Davis contacted Palafox to inform him there was a pending investigation into what happened to the dog. She testified it...
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