State v. Trujeque-Magana
| Decision Date | 06 February 2019 |
| Docket Number | 49601-1-II,49633-0-II |
| Court | Washington Court of Appeals |
| Parties | STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. MIGUEL A. TRUJEQUE-MAGANA, aka JORGE RICARDO GONGORA-CHI, Appellant. STATE OF WASHINGTON, Respondent, v. LUCIANO MOLINA RIOS, Appellant. |
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
In a consolidated case, Miguel Trujeque-Magana and Luciano Molina Rios appeal their convictions of multiple drug and firearm offenses. The convictions arose out of an investigative traffic stop during which officers found a large amount of heroin in a purse belonging to Trujeque-Magana's passenger, Juanna Santiago-Santos, and a subsequent search of an apartment leased to Trujeque-Magana and Molina Rios that revealed cocaine, methamphetamine, several handguns, and cash. The stop occurred after officers observed Molina Rios and Trujeque-Magana engage in activities that they believed were consistent with trying to set up a drug purchase.
We hold that (1) the trial court erred in failing to enter written findings of fact and conclusions of law after denying a motion to suppress evidence obtained because of the investigative stop, but the error is harmless because the court gave a detailed oral ruling; (2) the trial court did not err in denying the suppression motion because officers had reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative stop and Santiago-Santos consented to a search of her purse; (3) the State presented sufficient evidence to prove that both Trujeque-Magana and Molina Rios were accomplices to Santiago-Santos's possession; (4) the State presented sufficient evidence to prove that Trujeque-Magana constructively possessed the cocaine and firearms in the apartment; (5) the State presented sufficient evidence to prove that both Trujeque-Magana and Molina Rios each were armed with two firearms for purposes of sentencing enhancements for possession of cocaine and methamphetamine (6) the trial court did not err in denying Trujeque-Magana's motion to dismiss based on the failure to disclose evidence because the evidence was not exculpatory; (7) the trial court did not err in ruling that the State was not required to disclose the identity of the confidential informant (CI) who assisted law enforcement; (8) the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the officers' opinion testimony; (9) RCW 9.41.171(3) and RCW 9.41.175, the statutes governing the offense of alien in possession of a firearm, do not violate equal protection under the facts of this case; (10) the trial court did not err in ruling that several of Trujeque-Magana's convictions did not constitute the same criminal conduct (11) the trial court did not err in applying the double penalty provisions of RCW 69.50.435(1); and (12) the criminal filing fee imposed on Molina Rios as a mandatory legal financial obligation (LFO) must be stricken.
Accordingly we affirm Trujeque-Magana's and Molina Rios's convictions and sentences, but we remand for the trial court to strike the criminal filing fee imposed on Molina Rios and amend his judgment and sentence.
In October 2015, Oregon law enforcement received information from a CI that a person, later identified as Molina Rios, was selling drugs. Oregon officers, including Detective Joshua Zwick, Deputy Kevin Jones, and Deputy Matt Ferguson, and Vancouver officers, including Detective Shane Hall, began an investigation. Working with the CI, they conducted two controlled buys from Molina Rios at his apartment in Clark County. Trujeque-Magana initially was not involved in this investigation.
The CI later told officers that Molina Rios was going to the Seattle area to obtain drugs. On November 4, Jones and Ferguson followed a gray Scion that they recognized as Molina Rios's car to the Everett area. Jones and Ferguson were in separate vehicles. Molina Rios went to a train station parking lot and parked and re-parked in different spaces, but did not get out of his car. While he was there, a person walked up to the car and then left. Molina Rios then drove to a strip mall and parked. In the parking lot, Molina Rios met up with two people, later identified as Trujeque-Magana and Santiago-Santos, who were in a white Honda. They all went in to a restaurant.
When they left the restaurant, Molina Rios and Trujeque-Magana got into the same car and sat together for a long period of time. At first they were talking on their cell phones. Then they had their heads down toward the center console area. Although Jones could not see any money, he believed based on his training and experience that they were counting money. After that, Molina Rios and Trujeque-Magana moved their cars so they were parked next to each other. They did not interact with anyone else in the parking lot. Santiago-Santos slept in the Honda during part of this time.
Next Molina Rios and Trujeque-Magana left in tandem and drove to a store parking lot a few blocks away. They parked and met outside their cars and talked with each other, but did not meet with anyone else or go into the store.
Molina Rios and Trujeque-Magana then followed one another to a shopping mall, where they parked on opposite sides of the mall. They went into the mall together and stayed inside for a few hours before exiting together. They went to their separate cars, met in a central driveway, and exited the mall parking lot together. The officers lost track of them when both vehicles ran a red light and it was unsafe for the officers to follow.
People parking in parking lots, seemingly not doing anything, and moving to other parking lots was something that Ferguson had observed during drug investigations. A suspect might park to see if they are being followed and might be directed to different buy locations that change repeatedly to avoid being followed by police. Running red lights or other erratic driving also is a way that suspects attempt to avoid being followed.
Jones and Ferguson relayed their observations of Molina Rios and Trujeque-Magana to Zwick, who in turn discussed them with Hall.
Jones and Ferguson next observed the two cars a few hours later travelling southbound on Interstate 5 in the Chehalis area. The two vehicles appeared to be driving in tandem, with the Scion in front and the Honda directly behind with no cars in between. The officers followed the cars southbound on Interstate 5 back to Clark County. After receiving reports from Jones and Ferguson, Zwick and Hall decided to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicles.
Under Hall's direction, patrol cars stopped the two vehicles in Clark County for an investigative search. Trujeque-Magana and Santiago-Santos gave consent for the officers to search the Honda. Santiago-Santos took her purse with her when she got out of the car and placed it on the ground. Hall asked Santiago-Santos if he could search her purse and she consented. Hall found a large bag of heroin inside the purse.
Hall obtained a search warrant for the apartment. Inside the apartment, officers found a document signed by Molina Rios Trujeque-Magana, and a third person stating that they had leased the apartment. The lease term was from May 19, 2015 through April 30, 2016.
In one bedroom, officers found an identification card belonging to Molina Rios. In that bedroom were bags of methamphetamine and cocaine. Officers also found a handgun (9 mm Walther) under the pillow at the head of the bed and a semiautomatic pistol (.45 caliber Taurus) in a dresser drawer.
In another bedroom, officers found a bag on the floor of the closet that contained cocaine. They also found two handguns: a 9 mm Glock with a loaded magazine and a 9 mm Ruger. That bedroom also contained male clothing. One of the shirts in the bedroom was a blue and white, long sleeve plaid shirt. Detective Hall later found a photograph on Facebook in which Trujeque-Magana was wearing that shirt.
The State charged Trujeque-Magana with possession with intent to deliver heroin as both a principal and an accomplice (count 1), possession with intent to deliver cocaine while armed with a firearm and within 1000 feet of a school bus route stop (count 4), two counts of first degree unlawful possession of a firearm (counts 6 and 7), and being an alien in possession of a firearm without an alien firearm license (count 8).
The State also charged Molina Rios with possession with intent to deliver heroin as both a principal and an accomplice (count 1), possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine while armed with a firearm and within 1, 000 feet of a school bus route stop (count 2), possession with intent to deliver cocaine while armed with a firearm and within 1, 000 feet of a bus stop (count 3), and being an alien in possession of a firearm without an alien firearm license (count 9).[1]
Trujeque-Magana filed a motion to suppress all evidence obtained after the investigative stop on the basis that the police did not have reasonable suspicion to conduct the stop. He also argued that Santiago-Santos's consent to search her purse was invalid. He sought to suppress the heroin found in Santiago-Santos's purse and all evidence discovered in the search of the apartment.
The trial court held a CrR 3.6 hearing on Trujeque-Magana's suppression motion. The court concluded that the State had reasonable suspicion to conduct an investigative stop on both of the cars and that the State's search of Santiago-Santos's purse was lawful. As a result, the court denied Trujeque-Magana's motion to suppress. The court did not enter written findings of fact and conclusions of law. But the court's oral ruling included a detailed narrative of the facts regarding the officers'...
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