State v. Perez

• Decision Date: 26 August 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2002-241-C.A.,2002-241-C.A.
• Citation: 882 A.2d 574
• Parties: STATE v. Victor PEREZ.
• Court: Rhode Island Supreme Court

882 A.2d 574

STATE v. Victor PEREZ.

No. 2002-241-C.A.

Supreme Court of Rhode Island.

August 26, 2005.

Christopher R. Bush, for Plaintiff.

Janice M. Weisfeld, Providence, for Defendant.

Present: WILLIAMS, C.J., GOLDBERG, FLAHERTY, SUTTELL, and ROBINSON, JJ.

OPINION

ROBINSON, Justice.

A jury found defendant Victor Perez guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of his mother, Rosa Perez.¹ He was sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment. He has appealed to this Court, contending that the trial justice committed reversible error: (1) in permitting the state's psychiatric expert to be present in the courtroom and to observe the defendant testify before he provided his expert opinion about the defendant; (2) in allowing the same expert to render a particular medical opinion in purported violation of the discovery provisions of the Superior Court Rules of Criminal Procedure; (3) in denying the defendant's motion to suppress statements that he made to police at the time of his arrest, which motion contended that the state had violated his Miranda rights; and, (4) in denying the defendant's motion to dismiss based upon the state's alleged violation of his right to a speedy trial. We discern no reversible error, and we therefore affirm the judgment of conviction.

Facts and Travel²

In the late summer of 1998, defendant lived with his mother and his mother's friend, Lolo,³ in her eighth-floor apartment at Dexter Manor on Broad Street, Providence. During that period, defendant used marijuana and cocaine on a daily basis, and he occasionally used LSD and alcohol as well.

Victor testified that, on the morning of August 13, 1998, he smoked a combination of marijuana and "crack" before he dressed and went out for the day. While he was out, he smoked more marijuana and felt as if he were "tripping" on "acid," even though he had not used any LSD for two days. At some point later in the day, Victor returned to his mother's apartment. While his mother was in another room, Victor smoked marijuana in the living room with Lolo and a neighbor as they watched a Spanish movie on a videocassette. Before the movie ended, the neighbor left the apartment, and Lolo disconnected the VCR. Lolo then took the VCR into the bedroom that he and Rosa shared. Rosa followed Lolo into the bedroom, and shortly thereafter the couple began to quarrel.

According to Victor's testimony, he became angry when he heard Lolo screaming at his mother. He said that he feared for her safety because he knew that Lolo kept a knife in the bedroom. In reaction to the noise of the quarrel coming from the bedroom, Victor took a black-handled knife from the kitchen counter, concealed it in his waistband, and went into the bedroom to tell Lolo to leave his mother alone. Lolo told defendant to mind his own business. Rosa left the bedroom and went into the kitchen. Victor followed his mother out of the bedroom and went into the living room to sit on the couch. Lolo continued yelling at Rosa from the bedroom, and he threatened to leave her if she chose Victor over him.

Victor then went back into the bedroom and once again told Lolo to leave his mother alone. At this point, Lolo was getting dressed, and he told Victor that he was leaving. Victor told Lolo that he and his mother did not "need" him and that he was free to "leave any time he wanted." At some point, Rosa noticed that a knife was missing from the kitchen counter, and demanded that Victor give it to her. Victor told his mother that he did not have a knife, and he then went into the living room and again sat on the couch.

While Victor was sitting on the couch, Lolo emerged from the bedroom and went into the kitchen to give Rosa some money and to hug her before he left the apartment. As Lolo was reaching out to hug Rosa, Victor (according to his testimony) formed the belief that Lolo was trying to inflict physical harm on his mother. He leaped from the couch and ran towards Lolo while reaching for the knife in his waistband. Before defendant could reach him, Lolo left the apartment and closed the door. Meanwhile, the blade of the knife that defendant had been pulling out from his waistband broke away from the handle and fell to the floor. Rosa spotted the blade and tried to seize it before defendant could get to it.

Victor testified that, when he saw his mother reach for the blade, he thought she was trying to attack him and he lost command of himself. A struggle ensued between mother and son for control of the blade. When Rosa succeeded in reaching the blade before her son did, he immediately grabbed a wooden-handled knife from a nearby knife rack and began slashing at his mother.

Victor further testified that, when he turned around with the second knife in his hand, he came to believe that his mother was "the devil." He further testified that, because he believed that "the devil" was trying to kill him, he felt that he had to protect himself by "hitting him with the knife until I finally had a chance to get away * * *."

Victor's testimony continued with his statement that "the devil" fought back by cutting his hand and wounding his leg. He also said that when "the devil" dropped the knife blade and then tried to retrieve it, he threw his own knife to the ground and began to fight with "the devil" until "the devil slowed down." He said that "the devil" was still standing when he ran out of the apartment.

Rosa suffered two stab wounds and forty incised wounds. The medical examiner testified that "a stab wound is typically deeper than it is wide," whereas an incised wound, which "is more like a cut," is that it "typically is longer than it is deeper." He further testified that the cause of death was "bleeding due to injuries to the liver." The injuries to the liver had been caused by a five to six inch abdominal stab wound.

Gregory Vasquez, a neighbor and friend of Rosa's, lived on the ninth floor of the apartment building. He testified that on August 13, 1998, he went down to the eighth floor to check on his friend, Alba Martinez, at some point between 11 p.m. and midnight. While he was in the common area of the eighth floor, he observed Victor⁴ running in the opposite direction and away from Rosa's apartment. He then saw Victor run back towards his mother's apartment, enter it, and then unsuccessfully try to close the door. At that point, Victor rushed back out of his mother's apartment and ran past Gregory Vasquez. Mr. Vasquez said that Victor was "running like he was crazy, up and down, everywhere." Mr. Vasquez further described Victor's demeanor as follows: "He was all confused. He didn't know where he wanted to go." As Victor rushed past him, Mr. Vasquez noticed that he was wearing only jeans and blood-stained socks and that he was carrying something in his hand. He also observed bloody footprints and blood-stained twenty-dollar bills in the hallway.

Gregory Vasquez immediately went to Rosa's apartment to investigate. At the entrance to the apartment, he saw Rosa lying in a pool of blood, and he heard her asking for a pillow. Mr. Vasquez ran to the apartment of Alba Martinez and banged loudly on her door. When she opened the door, he told her to call for emergency assistance.

Alba Martinez testified that at approximately 11:30 that night, she woke up to the sound of banging on her door. When she answered the door, she was confronted by Gregory Vasquez, who told her that Rosa had been killed. Ms. Martinez immediately put her clothes on, grabbed her cordless telephone and dialed "911." She then rushed to the scene of the crime. At the apartment, Ms. Martinez saw Rosa lying on the kitchen floor. She observed that Rosa was moving her arms and calling out for help. Ms. Martinez testified as follows about what Rosa said to her at that moment: "I asked her, `Rosa, who did this to you?' And she answered me, `My son.'"

Meanwhile, Officer Michael Pinto of the Providence police arrived. Officer Pinto testified that he observed a female lying on the floor of the apartment in a very large pool of blood. He said that her eyes were open and that she was struggling to breathe. He asked her what had happened but, although she responded to his question, he could not comprehend what she was saying because he did not understand Spanish. He immediately radioed for rescue personnel, and he then secured the scene.

Officer Pinto described the apartment as being in a shambles, with blood everywhere. He said that he observed what appeared to be the blade of a knife on the kitchen floor as well as bloody footprints in the hallway going in both directions. Officer Pinto testified that two persons, whom he later determined to be Gregory Vasquez and Alba Martinez, approached him in a very excited state. Mr. Vasquez provided Officer Pinto with Rosa's name; and, despite the language barrier, he managed to inform Officer Pinto that he had heard Rosa and her son arguing loudly. In addition, Officer Pinto obtained an approximate description of Victor from Mr. Vasquez and Ms. Martinez through a series of hand gestures. He then radioed for further police assistance.

Once additional police officers and rescue personnel arrived, Officer Pinto along with Sergeant Joseph Lennon and Officer Jose Deschamps of the Providence police attempted to locate the person who was responsible for the bloody footprints that were visible in the hallway. Officer Pinto testified that, even though there were "dozens upon dozens of bloody footprints throughout the building, up and down various stairwells and various floors of the building," the police officers succeeded in determining that the footprints ultimately led to the entrance of an apartment on the second floor.⁵ Luis Rivera resided in apartment 207 on the second floor. He testified at trial that on the night of August 13, 1998, at approximately 11:25 p.m., he heard knocking on his door while he was watching television. As soon as he opened the door, Mr. Rivera realized...