Juventino Vargas-Rodriguez v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

• Court: Indiana Court of Appeals
• Decided: August 9, 2017
• Docket: 71A03-1609-CR-2118
• Status: Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any court except for the purpose of establishing Aug 09 2017, 9:28 am

the defense of res judicata, collateral CLERK Indiana Supreme Court estoppel, or the law of the case. Court of Appeals and Tax Court

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE Thomas P. Keller Curtis T. Hill, Jr. South Bend, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana

James B. Martin Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Juventino Vargas-Rodriguez, August 9, 2017 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No. 71A03-1609-CR-2118 v. Appeal from the Saint Joseph Superior Court State of Indiana, The Honorable Elizabeth Hurley, Appellee-Plaintiff Judge Trial Court Cause No. 71D08-1509-MR-13

Vaidik, Chief Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1609-CR-2118 | August 9, 2017 Page 1 of 5 Case Summary

[1] Juventino Vargas-Rodriguez appeals his conviction for murder. Ricardo

Ramirez shot and killed Jorge Garcia, and Vargas-Rodriguez was convicted of

murder as an accomplice. On appeal, he concedes that he is responsible for

Garcia’s death, but he contends that the evidence is insufficient to support a

murder conviction because the State did not prove that he intended for Garcia

to be killed or that he knew that Garcia would be killed. Instead, Vargas-

Rodriguez argues that he should be convicted only of reckless homicide.

Finding sufficient evidence, we affirm his conviction for murder.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] Around 3:00 a.m. on September 6, 2015, Garcia and his friends left a club in

South Bend. Vargas-Rodriguez was at the same club. As Garcia walked out,

he and Vargas-Rodriguez got into an argument. With encouragement from

friends, Garcia walked away in hopes of continuing his birthday celebration.

Garcia left in a gray truck being driven by his friend. They followed more

friends to a house party. Vargas-Rodriguez then left the club to go get his white

Chevrolet Impala to “ride around and drink” with his friend, Luis Gonzalez.

Tr. Vol. I p. 167.

[3] Later, Vargas-Rodriguez, while driving around, encountered the truck Garcia

was in. Vargas-Rodriguez and Gonzalez felt the truck was “trying to drive

[them] off the road.” Id. at 168. Eventually, Vargas-Rodriguez eluded the truck

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1609-CR-2118 | August 9, 2017 Page 2 of 5 and picked up two more friends, Manuel Vargas and Ricardo Ramirez, who

suggested that they “go find them” and “see if they want to fight.” Id. at 169-

70. Vargas-Rodriguez began searching for the truck with Gonzalez as the front-

seat passenger, Vargas as the right rear passenger, and Ramirez as the left rear

passenger.

[4] After Vargas-Rodriguez found the truck, he began chasing it southbound on

Harris Street. While on Harris Street, Ramirez fired at least nine shots at the

truck within three to four seconds. Most shots struck the back of the truck. The

truck turned west on Sample Street, and Vargas-Rodriguez continued to chase it

at seventy miles per hour. Ramirez announced that he found more bullets in

his pocket and loaded two into his gun. See Tr. Vol. II pp. 74-75. The truck

turned north on Olive Street, and Vargas-Rodriguez followed. Vargas-

Rodriguez pulled up “side by side” to the cab of the truck, and Ramirez fired

two more shots. Id. at 65. One bullet entered the driver’s door, and the other

struck Garcia in the head. Vargas-Rodriguez then proceeded ahead and pulled

over on the side of the road. He and his friends threw Corona bottles at the

truck as it passed.

[5] Garcia was taken to the hospital, where he later died from the gunshot wound

to his head. The State charged Vargas-Rodriguez with murder as an

accomplice to Ramirez.1 A jury trial was held. The jury was instructed on

1 Ramirez was also charged with murder and is currently awaiting trial.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1609-CR-2118 | August 9, 2017 Page 3 of 5 murder and reckless homicide; it found Vargas-Rodriguez guilty of murder.

The trial court sentenced Vargas-Rodriguez to fifty years in the Indiana

Department of Correction.

[6] Vargas-Rodriguez now appeals.

Discussion and Decision

[7] Vargas-Rodriguez contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his

conviction for murder. He concedes that the evidence is “sufficient to convict

him under accomplice liability for his involvement in the death of Jorge

Garcia”; however, he “disputes that the State proved that the crime committed

was Murder.” Appellant’s Br. p. 13. Rather, he claims that the evidence only

supports a finding of reckless homicide.

[8] When reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction,

appellate courts must consider only the probative evidence and reasonable

inferences supporting the verdict. Sallee v. State, 51 N.E.3d 130, 133 (Ind.

2016). It is the fact-finder’s role, not that of appellate courts, to assess witness

credibility and weigh the evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to

support a conviction. Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind. 2007). To

preserve this structure, when appellate courts are confronted with conflicting

evidence, we must consider the evidence most favorable to the trial court’s

ruling. Id. The evidence is sufficient if an inference may reasonably be drawn

from it to support the verdict. Id. at 147.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1609-CR-2118 | August 9, 2017 Page 4 of 5 [9] Murder occurs when a person “knowingly or intentionally kills another human

being.” Ind. Code § 35-42-1-1(1). “A person engages in conduct ‘knowingly’ if,

when he engages in the conduct, he is aware of a high probability that he is

doing so.” Ind. Code § 35-41-2-2(b). Here, Vargas-Rodriguez knew that

Ramirez had a gun when he turned west on Sample Street because of the volley

of shots fired into the back of the truck on Harris Street. Vargas-Rodriguez

continued to chase the truck at seventy miles per hour. Ramirez announced

that he found more bullets as he reloaded his gun, and Vargas-Rodriguez knew

that there was a high probability that Ramirez could kill someone when he

pulled his car next to the truck on Olive Street. Therefore, the evidence

presented at trial was sufficient for a reasonable jury to conclude that Vargas-

Rodriguez committed murder when he chased the truck, pulled up next to it,

and aided Ramirez to make his final two shots.

[10] Affirmed.

Bailey, J., and Robb, J., concur.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 71A03-1609-CR-2118 | August 9, 2017 Page 5 of 5