U.S. v. Salamanca
| Decision Date | 09 April 1993 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 91-3057,91-3058,s. 91-3057 |
| Citation | 300 U.S. App. D.C. 384,990 F.2d 629 |
| Parties | , 38 Fed. R. Evid. Serv. 760 UNITED STATES of America v. Jose B. SALAMANCA, Appellant. UNITED STATES of America v. Hector A. SALAMANCA, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Appeals from the United States District Court for the District Court of Columbia; CR-90-00354-01, CR-90-00354-02.
William J. Garber, Washington, DC (appointed by this Court), Dennis M. Hart, was on the brief, for appellant Jose B. Salamanca.
A.J. Kramer, Federal Public Defender, Washington, DC, for appellant Hector A. Salamanca.
Michael F. Tubach, Asst. U.S. Atty., with whom Jay B. Stephens, U.S. Atty., and John R. Fisher, Elizabeth Trosman, and Theodore A. Shmanda, Asst. U.S. Attys., Washington, DC, were on the brief, for appellee.
Before BUCKLEY, SENTELLE, and RANDOLPH, Circuit Judges.
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SENTELLE.
Jose B. Salamanca appeals his conviction on a variety of counts arising from a brutal attack with a two-by-four upon a Park Police Officer. We reject his argument that the trial court erred in denying his motions to suppress a statement he made to FBI agents and evidence seized from his apartment; his argument that there was insufficient evidence relating to his specific intent to murder or maim; and his argument that the court placed improper limits on examination of his medical expert. We remand the case to the district court, however, so it can clarify the factual findings upon which his sentence was based.
Hector A. Salamanca appeals from his conviction on some of the same counts for aiding and abetting his brother Jose's attack. We conclude there was insufficient evidence to sustain Hector's convictions for aiding and abetting and thus reverse his convictions on all counts.
According to the government's evidence in appellants' joint trial, on August 12, 1990, Jose B. Salamanca and his brother Hector A. Salamanca worked together at a construction site until about 7:00 p.m., together with Jose's girlfriend Olinda Martinez. After work, they stopped at a store and bought about 24 beers and drove in two cars to Grove 13 in Rock Creek Park and began drinking. At about 11:15 that night, Park Police Officer James Culver spotted several people by a parked car and stopped to talk with them because the park had been closed since dusk. Officer Culver parked his cruiser near the car he had seen, a red four-wheel drive vehicle. He noticed that Jose and Hector were sitting next to the car holding alcoholic beverages, in violation of park rules. Officer Culver performed a sobriety test on Jose and determined that he was not able to drive. He asked both men for identification, which they gave him. Before calling in their identities to determine if they had outstanding warrants, Officer Culver decided to take the keys to Jose's car and check the car for weapons. He intended to keep the keys overnight and allow Jose to pick them up the following day when he was sober. Officer Culver saw Ms. Martinez in the front seat of the car, and asked her if she had the keys. She said she did not. Officer Culver then asked Jose for the keys. That is the last thing Officer Culver remembers about the events that night.
Ms. Martinez testified that Jose then went to his car and told her, "I will not give him the keys." Tr. 11/30/90, at 136, 172. 1 He pulled out a two-foot long two-by-four from under the front seat and smashed it over Officer Culver's head. Ms. Martinez shouted at Jose to stop, but he ignored her. She covered her face and screamed, and heard the officer being struck, but did not see who was striking him.
When Jose Salamanca first struck Officer Culver, Hector Salamanca was standing about thirty feet away from Jose and the officer. At some point in time, when Officer Culver was lying on the ground, Ms. Martinez uncovered her eyes and saw Hector "[come] over and ben[d] over near the policeman, but I don't know what he was doing." Id. at 138-39, 176. Jose then put the board back into the car, and Hector said to Jose, "[L]et's go." Id. at 140-41, 176. Jose then helped push-start Hector's car. Each drove away in his own car, with Ms. Martinez riding in Jose's car. A week before trial, Jose called Ms. Martinez and asked her to change her testimony to say that she had been drinking on the night of the assault.
After the Salamancas and Martinez had driven off, Officer Culver managed to get back to his car and radio for help at 11:35 p.m. A number of officers responded. One testified that Tr. 11/28/90, at 113-15. Culver described the car as a red four-by-four Toyota and the suspects as two Hispanic men and one Hispanic woman.
A helicopter transported Culver to the Washington Hospital Center. En route, he nearly died from blood clotting in his throat. Officer Culver received emergency trauma treatment and underwent extensive surgery to repair the damage done to his skull and eye. Officer Culver lived, but suffered a depressed skull fracture and a broken jaw; three teeth were knocked out, and he permanently lost sight in his left eye.
At the scene of the crime, officers recovered Hector Salamanca's Virginia photo identification card and Jose Salamanca's D.C. driver's license. They also found numerous Budweiser beer bottles and two empty cardboard six-pack holders. Jose Salamanca's fingerprints were on the bag containing the six-pack holders, as well as on one of the beer bottles. Hector Salamanca's fingerprints were not found on either the beer bottles or the bag.
After the assault, appellants drove to Jose's apartment where Ms. Martinez lived, and dropped her off. Hector told her that she "shouldn't say anything." Tr. 11/30/90, at 145. Jose also told her "that [she] had not seen anything and that [she] should not say anything." Id. at 144. Jose and Hector then drove to the house of Martha Jimenez, their half-sister, in Hyattsville, Maryland, and hid Jose's car behind her house. Appellants left together in Hector's car.
The next day, Jose told Ms. Jimenez's son, Carlos Salamanca, that he was going back to El Salvador. At Jose's instruction, Carlos took the license plates, stereo, roof rack, seat covers, and other items out of Jose's car and kept them. Carlos then drove Jose's car to an isolated wooded area two or three miles from the house and left it there. Jose left the following morning. Tr. 11/29/90, passim.
The day after the assault, Hector was arrested at his apartment, after trying to flee out the back window. Two days later, Jose was arrested pursuant to a warrant at a bus terminal in Mobile, Alabama. Before he was presented to a magistrate the next day, he made a statement to the FBI in which he admitted drinking beer in Rock Creek Park on the night of the assault.
At trial, the government presented in evidence a pair of blood-stained blue jeans recovered from Jose's apartment. A forensic serologist testified that the blood stains were at most two to three weeks old, and that the blood was a rare type found in only one percent of the population. Officer Culver is of this blood type; Jose and Hector are not. Officers also recovered a blood-stained shirt from Hector Salamanca's car two days after the assault. Blood was also found on the side of Jose's car when it was recovered four days after it was abandoned. The serologist testified that the blood on the shirt and car was human, but that blood grouping tests were inconclusive.
Jose Salamanca did not testify at trial but called several witnesses. The manager of the apartment where Jose and Hector lived testified that Jose was the head janitor at the apartment and that she believed Jose was a good person, that no tenants had complained about Jose misbehaving, and that he would occasionally drink beer. Tr. 12/3/90, at 29-32. A neighbor testified that she thought Jose was a peaceful person and she had never seen him drink. Id. at 36-37. Jose's step-daughter, who lived with Jose from 1982 until 1984, testified that Jose occasionally got drunk on weekends and would argue when he was drunk, but would not assault anyone. She said that when he would sober up the next day, he would not remember having argued and would apologize when told he had done so. Id. at 42-44. Jose also called a psychologist, who was certified as an expert and testified that after performing psychological tests on Jose, he was of the opinion that Jose suffered from "diffused brain damage," which was consistent with alcohol abuse. Id. at 56-63. He also testified that someone who had performed as poorly on the tests as Jose would have been substantially impaired in his capacity to think after consuming seventeen beers over several hours. Id. at 75-76. Finally, Jose called a witness who testified that Ms. Martinez had said a week or two before the assault that she lived with Jose because she had no job and Jose paid the rent. Id. at 93-95.
Hector Salamanca did not testify and called only one witness on his behalf, a detective from the United States Park Police who testified that Ms. Martinez had falsely indicated on a job application form that she had been lawfully admitted into the United States for permanent residence. Id. at 101-03.
The jury found Jose Salamanca guilty of assault of a federal officer with a dangerous weapon while he was engaged in the performance of his official duties (18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 111(b)); assault within the special territorial jurisdiction of the United...
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