State v. Ramos
| Decision Date | 01 June 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 83,480.,83,480. |
| Citation | 24 P.3d 95,271 Kan. 520 |
| Parties | STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. DANIEL RAMOS, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Debra J. Wilson, assistant appellate defender, argued the cause, and Jessica R. Kunen, chief appellate defender, was with her on the brief for appellant.
Sheryl L. Lidtke, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Nick A. Tomasic, district attorney, and Carla J. Stovall, attorney general, were with her on the brief for appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Daniel Ramos appeals his convictions for first-degree felony murder, criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling, and criminal possession of a firearm. K.S.A. 21-3401; K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-4219(b); K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-4204(a)(3).
Our jurisdiction is under K.S.A. 22-3601(b)(1) ().
The issues are whether the district court erred by: (1) denying Ramos' motion to suppress his statements made during a custodial interrogation, (2) imposing consecutive sentences, and (3) permitting the prosecutor's closing remarks.
Finding no error, we affirm.
Ramos was 16 years old when arrested. His parents separated when he was in 8th or 9th grade. He was essentially unsupervised by his mother. He left his mother's home to live with his father; then he ran away from his father's home. Ramos became an itinerant houseguest, living with one friend after another. In the fall of 1997, he lived with Jaime Valdez and Jaime's cousin Saul Hernandez.
Valdez and several of his cousins and associates were members of the "Central Thirteen" or "C-13's" gang. Membership in the 13's included Valdez' cousins, Saul Hernandez, Roy Garcia, and Israel Casares, and their friend Paul Scheina. The C-13's were enemies of the "Spanish Disciples" or "Folks." Brandon Parker and George Manning III were members of the Spanish Disciples gang.
Manning had known Valdez, Hernandez, Casares, and Scheina for years. He fought with Scheina once but with Casares on a regular basis. The gang conflict escalated beyond school yard fights. Hernandez described Manning as an enemy. He said, "We shoot at each other a lot." According to Manning, both the police and Garcia suspected that Manning, Parker, and another friend "shot up" Garcia's house. A couple of days before the drive-by shootings, Parker and Manning had called Valdez and bragged about shooting his house. Scheina testified that Parker shot at him the day before.
On the afternoon of January 13, 1998, Hernandez stole a 1989 Ford Taurus. Hernandez saw Ramos on the corner and told him to get into the car. When Ramos asked, "Whose car is this?" Hernandez told him not to worry about it. The two young men drove to Valdez' house. An older cousin got some beer for them, and they got drunk. Valdez, Hernandez, and Ramos smoked marijuana and listened to the radio. Later, Casares and Garcia joined them. Hernandez passed out before midnight and testified that he did not know what happened after that.
Ramos decided to visit his girlfriend. Casares agreed to go along. Casares asked Ramos where the car was. Ramos said they had parked it one street over, and Casares said, "[C]ome on, let's go get in the car, [and] go somewhere." Ramos agreed, and they went to Garcia's house, where they picked up Scheina. Ramos noticed that Casares had an SKS rifle.
Ramos testified that in the early morning hours of January 14, 1998, Casares and Scheina started talking about going to someone's house. Ramos testified that he did not want to go and tried to convince Casares to "chill out." Ramos said Casares pressured him to go along, calling him names, like "little bitch," until he agreed to go with them. Scheina drove to the home of Parker's grandmother, Janet Krulic, where Parker sometimes lived. Ramos testified that Scheina and Casares got out of the car and shot at the house. Ramos said he stayed in the car.
Scheina also testified that: (1) he and Casares did all of the shooting at the Krulic house, (2) Ramos stayed in the car, (3) Ramos did not want to go to the Krulic house, but he and Casares pressured him to go, and (4) Ramos was pulled into the conflict between the C-13's and the Spanish Disciples because he was hanging around with the C-13's.
The events of the evening led to a second shooting at the Mannings' house and a third shooting at a house on Central Street. After the shooting on Central Street, the young men returned to Garcia's house. Ramos testified that he and Valdez wanted to go home. Scheina refused to drive because of what had happened. Garcia took the keys. Ramos and Valdez left with him to go home. Garcia testified that they had guns, the SKS rifle, and a .410 gauge shotgun with them. Garcia was driving and Ramos was in the front passenger seat.
Garcia testified that he decided he wanted to go by the Mannings' house again because George Manning had previously threatened Garcia's aunt with a gun. Garcia stopped to let Ramos and Valdez out; however, he heard gunshots and drove away. Ramos and Valdez stayed in the car. Garcia said he did not see Ramos with the SKS rifle and never saw him shooting it.
Ramos testified that Garcia was not going the right way to take them home, and they ended up at the Mannings' house. He said Valdez shot out the back window of the car with the SKS rifle, but neither he nor Garcia shot at the house.
Valdez contradicted Ramos and testified that at the Mannings' house, Ramos leaned out of the car, over the hood, and shot the SKS rifle. Valdez admitted that he shot the .410 out of his car window. He said he shot at the Mannings' house because "they" shot at his house. He did not know whether any of Ramos' shots hit the house, and he admitted that Ramos could have been firing in the air. A neighbor testified that this shooting happened about 3:20 or 3:30 a.m. After she heard the shots, she got dressed and went to the Mannings' house. One of the Manning boys was running down the street, screaming, "They killed my mother." An officer at the scene heard George Manning say, "I got my mamma killed." Mrs. Manning had stayed up and watched television in the living room after the first drive-by shooting that evening. Her family found her lying on the floor after the second shooting. She died from a gunshot injury to her face.
The C-13's, still in the stolen car, were stopped by the police soon after the second Manning-house shooting. Ramos and Valdez got out of the car and ran. Garcia, the driver, stayed by the car. The police found an SKS semiautomatic rifle in the front seat and a single shot shotgun in the back seat. The bullet fragments in Mrs. Manning's head were tested and determined to have been fired by the SKS rifle. Ramos was identified as the person who ran from the front passenger side of the car. Valdez, 14 years old, was identified as the passenger in the back seat.
Officer Goehner testified that he tackled Ramos and cuffed his hands behind his back. Once Ramos was caught, he was put in a police van. The officer described Ramos as tired, weak, sweating, and bleeding from his mouth and right ear. When asked if he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Ramos said, "Yes." He had trouble walking and standing.
The police brought Ramos to the detective bureau at around 4:05 a.m. He remained in handcuffs. Officer Angell testified that Ramos was a "youth" or juvenile. As Ramos waited in a chair, he tried to sleep, but when he dozed off, officers would wake him. Interrogation began around 10:50 a.m. Detective Allen testified that he interviewed Ramos. He described him as well-mannered, polite, and nervous. Ramos was not given any food. He seemed to be sober. Allen read Ramos his Miranda rights. Ramos signed the form on which he said that he understood his rights and consented to talk to the police.
Detectives Allen and Golubski spoke to Ramos about 20 minutes concerning the events of the previous evening before turning on the tape recorder. Detective Allen wanted to hear what Ramos was going to say before he turned on the recorder. At trial, Ramos' taped statement was played for the jury.
Ramos' accounts of events were inconsistent. He told the detectives that he shot at the Krulics' house. At trial, he said Scheina did that shooting and that he had not used any weapons himself. In his taped statement and at trial, he said Casares shot at the Mannings' house the first time. Ramos admitted in his taped statement to shooting at the house on Central Street, but he denied that shooting at trial. He told the detectives that he and Valdez both shot at the Mannings' house the second time, but at trial he denied participating in the shooting. Ramos said he lied to the detectives because he "wanted to be cool."
According to Ramos, when the detectives started questioning him about the drive-by shootings before recording, he first told them that he was not there and did not know anything. However, he finally admitted that he was there. Ramos testified that the detectives told him that Valdez and Garcia had told them he was responsible for the shooting. He testified that he did not want to "snitch" on Valdez and Garcia and thought they should all have the same story, so he agreed that he was responsible.
Ramos testified that the detectives gave him the details of what happened, and then he agreed with them and repeated the details on tape. According to Golubski, the detectives interviewed Ramos about what happened off tape, and there was no recording of that interview. Golubski testified that he and Allen did interrogate Valdez and Garcia before they questioned Ramos, but he denied telling Ramos what Valdez and Garcia had said.
The detectives started the recorder and advised Ramos of his rights. Ramos said they were going to review everything he had already told them and record his statement, but he asked for an attorney after the recorder was turned...
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