In Re People v. Elmarr

2015 CO 53, 351 P.3d 431, 2015 WL 3947098
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 29, 2015
DocketSupreme Court Case 14SA35
StatusPublished
Cited by230 cases

This text of 2015 CO 53 (In Re People v. Elmarr) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re People v. Elmarr, 2015 CO 53, 351 P.3d 431, 2015 WL 3947098 (Colo. 2015).

Opinion

JUSTICE MARQUEZ

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

T 1 In this original proceeding pursuant to C.A.R. 21, we consider the trial court's determination regarding the admissibility of alternate suspect evidence offered by the defendant, Kevin F. Elmarr. In 2009, a jury found Elmarr guilty of first degree murder after deliberation for strangling his ex-wife. In an unpublished decision, the court of ap *435 peals reversed Elmarr's conviction and remanded for a new trial, concluding that the ~- trial court erred by excluding evidence of two alternate suspects. People v. Himarr, No. 09CA2462, 2013 WL 589827 (Colo.App. Feb. 14, 2013). Before the new trial, the People moved to exclude evidence of similar acts by one of those alternate suspects, as well as out-of-court statements made by that alternate suspect implicating himself in both the other similar acts and the charged crime. Following a motions hearing, the trial court, relying largely on the court of appeals' decision remanding the case, denied the People's motion to exclude the other acts evidence and the out-of-court statements.

T2 The People now. petition this court for relief under C.AR. 21, arguing that the trial court failed on remand to conduct the proper analysis to determine the admissibility of the alternate suspect evidence-in particular, evidence of other similar acts committed by the alternate suspect and statements made by the alternate suspect to law enforcement. The People contend that this area of the law has generated considerable confusion and ask this court to clarify the proper framework for examining the admissibility of such evidence.

T 3 We agree with the People that the trial court failed to conduct the proper analysis and thus make absolute our rule to show cause. The trial court understood the court of appeals' decision remanding the case to require admission of the alternate suspect evidence, We conclude, however, that the court of appeals, relying on People v. Muniz, 190 P.3d 774 (Colo.App.2008), applied an incorrect framework for analyzing the admissibility of alternate suspect evidence. We set forth the proper framework below and remand this case to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Facts and Procedural History

T 4 On May 23, 1987, hikers discovered the body of Carol Murphy near a campsite in Boulder County's Lefthand Canyon. Murphy had been killed by ligature strangulation, her throat had been cut, and branches and foliage had been placed over her body. The day before, Murphy had told several people that she and her "ex" were going to the mountains on his motorcycle for a picnic. That same day, Elmarr, Murphy's ex-husband, told his sister that he and Murphy were going on a picnic in the mountains. Two witnesses identified Elmarr as the man who had accompanied Murphy on the day the prosecution believes she was killed. Nearly twenty years later, on February 1, 2007, the prosecution charged Elmarr with first degree murder for Murphy's death.

T5 Before trial, Elmarr notified the court that he intended to introduce evidence pertaining to several alternate suspects. This list included Curtis Murphy, the victim's husband, whom she was in the process of divore-ing; William Taylor, the victim's boyfriend; Clifton St. Denis, a homeless man who had been camping near where the victim's body was discovered; Andrew Lloyd, who had previously threatened the victim; Blaine Luzm-oor, who had been in a prior romantic relationship with the victim; and an unidentified man named "Billy." The People moved to exclude all alternate suspect evidence. Following a hearing, the trial court issued an order excluding evidence of all alternate suspects. 1 Only the evidence regarding St. Denis at issue here.

16 Elmarr sought to introduce evidence suggesting that St. Denis murdered the vie-tim. In addition to evidence linking St. Denis to the crime seene, Elmarr sought to introduce statements St. Denis made to detectives purportedly confessing to the murder and evidence of two other crimes committed by St. Denis involving acts of strangulation in the same calendar year as the homicide in this case.

T7 St. Denis was considered a suspect in the case for several years. He was camping in the area where the victim's body was found. Detectives interviewed him about a year later while he was confined at a state mental hospital. St. Denis admitted to being in the area when the murder occurred. He described the location where the victim's body was found and stated that a suitcase *436 found near the crime seene belonged to him. He also admitted that he usually carried survival knives. St. Denis stated that the night the victim died, he had stabbed a tall, thin man who arrived in the area in a green pickup truck. He also recalled seeing a mo-toreycle. He stated that someone told him that a woman was killed near where he had stayed that night and that he "coulda" done it because he "got violent that night." He stated that a fight occurred "across the creek." When asked if he killed the victim, he responded "Ye[alh." He later confessed in the interview that he "believe[d] [he] did that [killed the victim] ... in a blacked out state."

T8 During the interview, St. Denis also made statements about having killed his roommate, Molly Currier, in New York. When asked if the victim in this case "got it the same way that Molly did in New York," he replied, "[Yle[alh, in the end ... that's why I said I think it was me. In the end when I think she was sereamin' I had her...." He stated, "I don't know if I stabbed her or not. I don't remember." St. Denis acknowledged being under the influence of drugs when he was interviewed. He later recanted his confession to killing the victim in this case.

T9 Currier was found dead in her apartment in February 1987. St. Denis admitted to strangling her and later entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in that case. 2 In December 1987, St. Denis also strangled and threatened his roommate and girlfriend, Holly Lutz, with a knife. He confessed to her attempted murder, and, after he waived a jury trial, the court found him not guilty by reason of insanity. St. Denis has since died.

110 In its pretrial order analyzing the admissibility of this evidence, the trial court discussed People v. Muniz, 190 P.3d 774 (Colo.App.2008), in which the court of appeals distinguished between alternate suspect evidence offered to show motive or opportunity and alternate suspect evidence bearing on the issue of identity. Muniz held that where a defendant wishes to present alternate suspect evidence that bears on the issue of identity, proof of some other act directly connecting the alternate suspect to the charged crime is not required in order to admit evidence that an alternate suspect committed a similar offense. Id. Rather, it held that the test for admissibility under such cireumstances is one of relevancy, and the relevance of the evidence should be determined by considering the totality of the civeumstances. Id. at 780-81.

{11 The trial court determined that the evidence regarding St.

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2015 CO 53, 351 P.3d 431, 2015 WL 3947098, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-people-v-elmarr-colo-2015.