Gutierrez v. State

2015 Ark. App. 516, 472 S.W.3d 147, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 612
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedSeptember 30, 2015
DocketCR-14-1036
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 2015 Ark. App. 516 (Gutierrez v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gutierrez v. State, 2015 Ark. App. 516, 472 S.W.3d 147, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 612 (Ark. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

ROBERT J. GLADWIN, Chief Judge

|! Appellant Emilio Gutierrez appeals his convictions by a Sevier County jury on charges of trafficking a controlled substance — methamphetamine; simultaneous possession of drugs-and firearms; maintaining a drug premises; and possession of drug paraphernalia. Appellant argues that the circuit court erred by denying his motion in limine and overruling his objections by allowing a video of law-enforcement officers firing a weapon found in the search of his home to be played for the jury and admitted into evidence. We affirm.

On January 28, 2014, the Sevier County Sheriffs Office, relying upon information provided by a confidential informant, executed a search warrant on a residence owned by appellant at 261 West Line Road in DeQue'en, Arkansas. Upon entry, officers found Maria. Mosqueda and a minor child in the home. After conducting a search of the premises, law enforcement located in the home approximately 1,389 grams. of methamphetamine, drug ^paraphernalia, and ammunition, along with several weapons-including a .22-cali-ber rifle, a 30-06 rifle, and a modified AR-15 rifle.

Following the search, appellant was arrested upon his return from work .and taken to the Sevier County Sheriffs Office. Later that day, officers, acting on information provided by a different confidential informant, returned to. the premises .after obtaining a second search'warrant, conducted "a second search of the home, and discovered an additional amount of methamphetamine.

At trial, the State produced the controlled substances found in the home, as well as the weapons seized, and they were introduced into evidence. In addition, the State’s witness, Agent Greg Davignon, a member of the South Central Drug Task Force, testified in detail, without objection, regarding the items discovered during the search, including the admittedly legal enhancements and specific firing rate of the AR-15 rifle. At trial, there was no testimony that the gun had been used for any illegal purpose.

Then, over objection from appellant’s counsel prior to its introduction, the circuit court allowed the video of task-force officers firing the modified AR-15 rifle to be presented and played for the jury. The video depicted the agents holding and loading the AR-15 rifle with rounds secured from a source other than appellant or his home and were not those seized in the search leading to his arrest. The video showed the agents emptying the magazine loaded in the weapon using the gun’s automatic-fire setting.

|3On August 14, 2014, appellant was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to a total term of seventy-three years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. On September 15, 2014, appellant timely filed his notice of appeal.

The decision to admit or exclude evidence is within the sound discretion of the circuit court, and we will not reverse a circuit court’s decision regarding the admission of evidence absent a manifest abuse of discretion. See Paschal v. State, 2012 Ark. 127, 388 S.W.3d 429; Williams v. State, 2011 Ark. App. 521, 2011 WL 4067412. When reviewiiig a denial- of a motion in limine or a refusal to take judicial notice, we use the abuse-of-discretion standard: Mhoon v. State, 369 Ark. 134, 251 S.W.3d 244 (2007). An abuse of discretion is a high threshold; it does not simply require error in the circuit court’s decision, but requires that the circuit court acted improvidently, thoughtlessly, or without consideration. Williams, supra.

Rule 402 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence (2014) states that “[a]ll relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by statute or by these rules or by other rules applicable in the courts of this State. Evidence which is not relevant' is not admissible.” Further, • Rule 403 of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence states that, “[although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the, danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.” Our supreme court in Lard v. State, 2014 Ark. 1, 431 S.W.3d 249, stated,

As a general matter, • all relevant evidence is admissible. Ark. R. Evid. 402. Relevant evidence is evidence that has a tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more, or, less probable than it would be without the evidence. Ark. R. Evid. 401. Evidence, although relevant, may be |4excluded if, its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Ark. R. Evid. 403.

Id. at 19-20, 431 S.W.3d at 264. Additionally, video evidence is admissible if it is relevant, helpful to the jury, and. not prejudicial. Hickson v. State, 312 Ark. 171, 847 S.W.2d 691 (1993). The same requirements for the admission of photographs apply to the admission of video evidence. Williams v. State, 374 Ark. 282, 287 S.W.3d 559 (2008). Because a videotape can give the jury' a different perspective on the crime scene, a videotape can be helpful to a jury’s understanding of the case. See Hamilton v. State, 348 Ark. 532, 74 S.W.3d 615 (2002). It is well recognized that the balancing of probative value against prejudice is a matter left to the sound discretion of the circuit court. Chapman v. State, 343 Ark. 643, 38 S.W.3d 305 (2001).

Agent Davignon testified without objection that he was familiar with the AR-15 rifle and furthermore to the enhancements made to the weapon found in appellant’s residence. In his testimony, he set out each enhancement, including ■ the laser sight, firing-rate selector, rounds used in the weapon, and the various magazines that can be used with the weapon and those found with or near the weapon. Agent Davignon further stated that law enforcement had no reason to believe that the weapon had been illegally obtained and that both the weapon and the enhancements nn ■ the weapon were legal. His testimony indicated that there was no evi-dencé that appellant had fired the weapon for any illegal purpose.

To sustain a charge of simultaneous possession of a firearm and drugs under Arkansas Code Annotated .section 5-74-106 (Supp. 2013), the State must prove that appellant was in possession of the firearm in a home while he also possessed a felony amount of a controlled | Ssubstance. The statute under which appellant was charged does not require that the weapon be firea-ble, and no defense was asserted by appellant, as set out in the statute, as to his accessibility to the rifle. Likewise, none of the other offenses with which appellant was charged require that the weapon be fireable, or even possessed. Appellant contends that the presentation of the video of law enforcement officers firing the ÁR-15 rifle was not required for a finding of guilty under the charges for which he was being tried.

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Bluebook (online)
2015 Ark. App. 516, 472 S.W.3d 147, 2015 Ark. App. LEXIS 612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gutierrez-v-state-arkctapp-2015.