United States v. Trujillo
| Decision Date | 18 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | No. CR 20-0221 JB,CR 20-0221 JB |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. ROBERT TRUJILLO, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of New Mexico |
THIS MATTER comes before the Court on the Amended Petition for Revocation of Supervised Release, filed July 27, 2020 (Doc. 39). The Court held an evidentiary revocation hearing on August 31, 2020. Violation of Supervision Proceedings Minute Sheet, filed August 31, 2020 (Doc. 53); Notice of Hearing on August 31, 2020, filed August 4, 2020 (Doc. 138)(text-only entry). The primary issues are: (i) whether the preponderance of the evidence supports that Defendant Robert Trujillo's alleged conduct -- punching his girlfriend, J. Trujillo, on the nose and threatening her with an AK47 rifle -- constitutes battery of a household member, and therefore violates the supervised release condition that he not commit a federal, state, or local crime; and (ii) whether the preponderance of the evidence supports that R. Trujillo's failed five drug tests for illegal controlled substances since he began supervised release, establishes that R. Trujillo violated the supervised release condition that he refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance. The Court concludes that: (i) the evidence is insufficient to support a determination that R. Trujillo committed a federal, state, or local crime by allegedly punching J. Trujillo on the nose and threatening her with an AK47 rifle; and (ii) the preponderance of the evidence establishes that R. Trujillo failed five drug tests for illegal controlled substances and thus violated the mandatory condition that he refrain from unlawfully using controlled substances. Accordingly, because R. Trujillo committed a Grade C Violation and has a criminal history category of IV, the United States Sentencing Guidelines recommend a range of 6 to 12 months imprisonment.
On July 9, 2019, R. Trujillo was incarcerated in the Santa Fe County Detention Center, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a state probation violation. See Criminal Complaint ¶¶ 4-5 at 2, filed September 4, 2019 (Doc. 1)("Criminal Complaint"); Plea Agreement at 5, filed January 22, 2020 (Doc. 26). Two days later, on July 11, 2019, a corrections officer searched R. Trujillo and found strips of Suboxone (buprenorphine), a controlled substance. See Criminal Complaint ¶¶ 6-7 at 3; Plea Agreement at 5-6. On January 22, 2020, R. Trujillo pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute Suboxone, Count 1, and possessing contraband in prison, Count 2. See Plea Minute Sheet, filed January 22, 2020 (Doc. 28); Plea Agreement at 5-6. On April 27, 2020, the Court sentenced R. Trujillo to two concurrent terms of imprisonment of 7 months and nine days, or time served, whichever was less, and placed him on three years of supervised release. See Sentencing Minute Sheet, filed April 27, 2020 (Doc. 32); Judgment, filed May 1, 2020 (Doc. 33).
On June 30, 2020, while R. Trujillo was on supervised release, the United States Probation Office ("USPO") filed a report, alleging R. Trujillo had twice tested positive for opiates on urinalysis tests. Report on Offender Under Supervision No Court Action Recommended at 1, filed June 30, 2020 (Doc. 34)("Noncompliance Summary"). The Noncompliance Summary alleged R. Trujillo had admitted to using heroin on June 19, 2020. See Noncompliance Summary at 1. The Noncompliance Summary recommended that the Court take no action. See Noncompliance Summary at 2.
On July 13, 2020, the USPO filed a petition with the Court, alleging that R. Trujillo hadviolated his conditions of supervised release by testing positive for illegal controlled substances. See Petition for Revocation of Supervised Release, filed July 13, 2020 (Doc. 35)("Petition"). In the Petition, the USPO alleges R. Trujillo has violated a condition of his supervised release: "You must refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance." Petition at 1. The USPO alleges that R. Trujillo tested positive five times for illegal controlled substances since June 19, 2020. Petition at 1. The Petition alleges that three urine samples taken on June 26, June 28, and July 8, 2020, had all tested positive for opiates, with one of those samples testing positive for morphine and codeine. See Petition at 1. The Petition further alleges R. Trujillo did not have a valid prescription to substantiate any of the positive results. Petition at 1.
The Court issued an arrest warrant for R. Trujillo. Arrest Warrant, filed July 21, 2020 (Doc. 37); Sentencing Memorandum at 1-2, filed August 26, 2020 (Doc. 50); Amended Petition for Revocation of Supervised Release at 2, filed July 27, 2020 (Doc. 39)("Amended Petition").
On July 27, 2020, the USPO filed an Amended Petition for Revocation of Supervised Release. Amended Petition. In the Amended Petition, in addition to alleging that R. Trujillo tested positive five times for illegal controlled substances, the USPO alleges that R. Trujillo has violated another condition of his supervised release: "You must not commit another federal, state, or local crime." Amended Petition at 2. The Amended Petition alleges that the State of New Mexico arrested and charged R. Trujillo with battery against a household member. Amended Petition at 2. Specifically, the Amended Petition alleges that R. Trujillo punched his girlfriend, J. Trujillo, on the nose, that she had dry blood on the bottom of her nose and left sleeve, and that shewas locked in a car and unable to get out because, R. Trujillo had an AK47 rifle and was threatening to kill her. See Amended Petition at 2.
The Amended Petition states that R. Trujillo's maximum statutory penalty is two years imprisonment and lifetime supervised release, and the revocation range of imprisonment is between 6 and 12 months. See Amended Petition at 2.
The Court held an evidentiary revocation hearing on August 31, 2020. See Violation of Supervision Proceedings Minute Sheet, filed August 31, 2020 (Doc. 53); Notice of Hearing on August 31, 2020, filed August 4, 2020 (Doc. 138)(text-only entry). At the hearing, R. Trujillo stated that he intended to deny the Amended Petition's allegations. See Transcript of Hearing at 4:25-5:5 (taken August 31, 2020)(Court, Pugh)("Tr.").1
The United States called only one witness, Robert Vigil, R. Trujillo's federal probation officer, to testify. See Tr. at 5:8-6:5 (Court, Castellano). The United States did not call J. Trujillo. See Tr. at 1-26. The United States sought to admit R. Trujillo's five positive urinalysis test results. See Tr. at 12:21-24 (Castellano). R. Trujillo did not object to the admission of the urinalysis test results, and the Court admitted the test results. See Tr. at 13:22-25 (Court, Pugh); U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Test Result Final Report at 1-5 (August 31, 2020)(United States Hearing Exhibit 1)(" Test Results"). The United States also sought to admit a State of New Mexico criminal complaint alleging that R. Trujillo committed battery against a household member. See Tr. at 12:21-24 (Castellano). The state criminal complaint alleges that R. Trujillo committed battery against a household member when he "punched [J. Trujillo] on the nose" causing her to bleed, andthat J. Trujillo "was unable to exit [a] car because her boyfriend Robert Trujillo ha[d] an AK47 rifle and [was] threatening to kill her." State of New Mexico Criminal Complaint at 1 (dated August 31, 2020)(United States Hearing Exhibit 2)("New Mexico Complaint"). R. Trujillo objected both to the admission of the New Mexico Complaint and Vigil's testimony describing the alleged altercation between R. Trujillo and J. Trujillo. See Tr. at 9:5-10:16 (Castellano, Vigil, Pugh, Court); id. at 13:8-21 (Castellano, Vigil, Pugh, Court). The Court provisionally admitted the New Mexico Complaint and related testimony, stating that it needed to take the issue under advisement determine whether the evidence was admissible. See Tr. at 10:10-16 (Court); id. at 14:1-4 (Court). The Court concluded the hearing by stating that it needed take the matter under advisement to determine whether R. Trujillo violated the mandatory supervised release conditions. See Tr. at 25:25-26:17 (Court).
The Court held an evidentiary hearing on the revocation of supervised release. See Violation of Supervision Proceedings Minute Sheet; Notice of Hearing on August 31, 2020. The Court makes the following findings of fact related to the issues. Rule 12(d) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure requires the Court to state its essential findings on the record when deciding a motion that involves factual issues. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 12(d) (). The findings of fact in this Memorandum Opinion and Order shall serve as the Court's essential findings for rule 12(d)'s purposes. In making these findings, the Court does not consider any evidence or testimony from the hearing that violates the balancing test that the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit adopted in United States v. Jones, 818 F.3d 1091, 1098 (10th Cir. 2016). See United States v. Hernandez, 428 F. Supp. 3d 775, 788 (D.N.M.2019)(Browning, J.)("When applying the balancing test, the Court must weigh the defendant's interest in cross-examining and confronting [a] witness with the government's good cause for not presenting the witness.")(citing United States v. Jones, 818 F.3d at 1098)). Accordingly, the Court finds:
1. On January 22, 2020, R. Trujillo entered a plea agreement in which he pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute Suboxone, Count 1, and possessing contraband in prison, Count 2. See Plea Minute Sheet at 1; Plea Agreement ¶¶ 3, 11-12 at 2, 5-6.
2. On April 27, 2020, the Court sentenced R. Trujillo to two concurrent terms of...
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