State v. Sanchez
| Decision Date | 29 June 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. A-20-351.,A-20-351. |
| Parties | STATE OF NEBRASKA, APPELLEE, v. ANTHONY A. SANCHEZ, APPELLANT. |
| Court | Nebraska Court of Appeals |
(Memorandum Web Opinion)
Appeal from the District Court for Douglas County: GARY B. RANDALL, Judge. Affirmed.
Thomas C. Riley, Douglas County Public Defender, and Christine A. Mori for appellant.
Douglas J. Peterson, Attorney General, and Nathan A. Liss for appellee.
Anthony A. Sanchez was convicted by a jury of second degree murder, second degree assault, and two counts of use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony. The district court for Douglas County sentenced Sanchez to consecutive terms of imprisonment totaling 40 to 65 years. On appeal, Sanchez argues that the district court erred in denying his motion in limine and motions to suppress, in overruling his motion for a mistrial, and in imposing excessive sentences. Sanchez also alleges that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
On the evening of July 15, 2018, a group of individuals from Crete, Nebraska, traveled to a nightclub in Omaha, Nebraska, to go dancing. As the group from Crete walked through the parking lot toward the entrance, they encountered four men from Omaha who had exited the nightclub. The two groups began to exchange words which led to a fight. After a few minutes of fighting, Edgar Gonzalez-Mendez was shot in the cheek while his brother, Franco Gonzalez-Mendez, was killed by a shot that went through his chest. Franco was also shot in the leg.
Testimony of Omaha Group.
Franco, Edgar, Victor Serrano, and Omar Moreno (the Omaha group) spent July 15, 2018, together swimming, eating out, and drinking alcoholic beverages. The Omaha group went to a nightclub around 10 p.m. On their way into the nightclub, they were patted down by a security guard. They stayed for a period of time, drank beer, and then left around 11:30 p.m.
According to the testimony of Edgar, as the Omaha group left the nightclub, Franco and Serrano walked ahead of Edgar and Moreno. Edgar explained that he saw approximately six men coming toward the entrance of the nightclub. Edgar remembered what two of the men looked like. He described "one [as a] chubby guy, glasses, a little dark-skinned, then one that was bald, a little light-skinned, was wearing like a white shirt." Edgar saw someone bump into Moreno and then saw Moreno exchange words with that same person. Edgar attempted to keep walking away. Initially, only Moreno and the man with glasses were exchanging words. However, more men came forward and the Omaha group "[was] getting a little rowdy because of the beer that [they] had in [them]." Edgar decided to punch the guy with the glasses. After Edgar's first punch, it turned "into a brawl." Edgar continued fighting with two or three guys. He heard Serrano yell "get the gun" and felt a gunshot to the right side of his face. He testified that at the moment he was shot, he was fighting with the chubby man wearing glasses and, as such, knew he was not the man with the gun. After he was shot, he "blacked out" for a moment and heard more gunshots from where Serrano and Franco had been fighting with the bald man. Edgar saw the other group of men running and noticed that one of them was now shirtless. He noticed this man reach toward his waistline, either tucking something in or pulling his pants up. On cross-examination, he acknowledged that his testimony at trial was the first time that he recounted seeing the shirtless man reach toward his waistline. Edgar testified that he ran to a bystander's vehicle in the parking lot to borrow a cell phone to call his wife before returning to the area where the fight occurred as police and medical personnel arrived on the scene. He was then given medical attention and taken to the hospital by paramedics. He was released from the hospital after a stay of 2 to 3 days.
Serrano testified that he remembered three of the men describing one as bald, one that had glasses, and one as "the short one." Serrano testified that the bald man was hit by one of the Omaha group, apparently startling him. He then saw the bald man reach back. He punched the bald man because he thought the man was reaching for a gun. Serrano stated that at that point he saw a gun and began to wrestle with the bald man to prevent him from getting to the gun. Serrano saw the gun fall and yelled that there was a gun on the ground. He attempted to physically restrain the bald man from grabbing the gun and yelled at Franco to get the gun. Franco instead ran up to the bald man and punched him while Serrano had him restrained. Serrano then attempted to flip the bald man onto his back, but the man slipped out of his shirt and ran toward the gun. Serrano dropped the shirt and started toward the gun, but upon realizing that the bald man would beat him there, yelled at everyone to run. Serrano ran toward the entrance of the nightclub. On cross-examination, Serrano admitted that he did not see anyone actually pick up the gun. Once he was out of the viewof the parking lot, Serrano fell to the ground and heard a couple of gunshots in rapid succession. He re-entered the parking lot after police arrived.
Testimony of Crete Group.
On July 15, 2018, Elvin Flores and Ingrid Flores, along with their neighbors, Gregorio Espinoza and his significant other Gloria Romero, planned to travel from Crete to Omaha to go dancing at the nightclub. Before they left, three additional men, Rene Perez, Anthony Sanchez, and Elvin's Uncle Lucio were invited to join them. They took two vehicles, with Elvin and Ingrid along with the three men taking Elvin's Dodge Ram truck and Espinoza and Romero taking their Nissan Altima. Once the Crete group arrived at the nightclub, Elvin and Ingrid walked ahead of everyone toward the entrance of the nightclub. According to Elvin, as they were walking, a group of men leaving the nightclub began to make comments toward Elvin. Then the group of men who were exiting began to exchange words with Sanchez and Perez. This prompted Elvin to stop and approach the group arguing. According to Elvin, all of the men in the Crete group became involved except for Lucio. Elvin saw Perez, who was wearing glasses, get punched. A brawl ensued. Elvin was engaged in fighting with one member of the Omaha group and did not see what anyone else was doing during the fight. He did not see anyone in either group holding a gun. However when he heard gunshots, he ran to his truck. As soon as all of the Crete group had returned to their vehicles, they returned to Crete. According to Elvin, they did not speak to each other on the way home. When they arrived back in Crete, Elvin spoke with Sanchez outside his home. Elvin saw Sanchez holding "something that looked like a gun." As they spoke, Sanchez told Elvin that he "shot at the ground." Elvin did not ask Sanchez any other questions about the gun. Sanchez told Elvin "not to say anything." Elvin reported that he perceived Sanchez' statement to be a threat.
Espinoza testified that upon the Crete group's arrival in Omaha, Elvin and Ingrid were the first to start walking toward the nightclub. He saw Elvin begin to exchange words with a group of men in the parking lot who appeared to be leaving. He then saw Perez and Sanchez become involved in the standoff. When the fight began, Espinoza saw two people holding Sanchez, punching him and attempting to remove his shirt. Espinoza then entered the fight and engaged with one of the persons who was fighting Sanchez and Perez. After a short period of fighting, Espinoza heard three gunshots that sounded like fireworks. Once the shots were fired, the fighting stopped. Espinoza then saw Sanchez, shirtless, shooting up in the air. Sanchez then put the gun in his pants pocket and everyone in the Crete group ran back to their vehicles and left. On the way home, he realized that he had lost his cell phone.
Ingrid testified that on the way into the nightclub, there was an altercation. However, she did not watch the fistfight. She testified that her first indication that it was more than an argument was when she heard the gunshots. After hearing the shots, she ran back to the Dodge Ram pickup. On the way home, she sat next to Sanchez. She noted that Sanchez was not wearing a shirt, but she did not see a gun. A few minutes after arriving back home, Ingrid drove Perez and Sanchez home.
Romero testified that she and Espinoza were the last to start in toward the nightclub. She saw the fight ahead that involved several men from the Crete group and persons unknown to her. When Espinoza entered the fight, she walked closer to the nightclub, eventually joining Ingrid. After hearing the shots fired, she ran back to the car where Espinoza joined her. They then followed the Dodge Ram out of the parking lot and returned to Crete.Bystander Testimony.
At trial, the State called Edith Garcia, who was parked on the street near the nightclub talking to her boyfriend on the phone when she heard gunshots. She then saw people running. A man who was injured and bleeding from what she believed to be his neck came up to her vehicle and asked to use her cell phone. She reported that she saw a black truck and a small white vehicle that she believed to be a Honda Civic leave in a hurry after the shots were fired. She also noted that the injured man was bald with a beard and had a torn shirt from the back, as if he had been fighting.
Sanchez called two bystander witnesses to testify, Lizbeth Cortez and Maria Tapia. Cortez was in her vehicle at the nightclub when she heard gunshots. She saw a substance in the air that she believed to be smoke or gunpowder and an individual wearing a black shirt. Tapia testified that she...
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