Keiver Rivas Arroyo v. State

CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJune 21, 2024
DocketA24A0483
StatusPublished

This text of Keiver Rivas Arroyo v. State (Keiver Rivas Arroyo v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Keiver Rivas Arroyo v. State, (Ga. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

SECOND DIVISION MILLER, P. J., MARKLE and LAND, JJ.

NOTICE: Motions for reconsideration must be physically received in our clerk’s office within ten days of the date of decision to be deemed timely filed. https://www.gaappeals.us/rules

June 21, 2024

In the Court of Appeals of Georgia A24A0483. ARROYO v. THE STATE.

LAND, Judge.

After a jury trial, Keiver Rivas Arroyo was found guilty of rape. His motion for

new trial was denied, and he appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in instructing

the jury, that the evidence against him was insufficient, and that trial counsel was

ineffective. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

“On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most

favorable to the verdict, with the defendant no longer enjoying a presumption of

innocence.” Reese v. State, 270 Ga. App. 522, 523 (607 SE2d 165) (2004). We neither

weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only whether,

after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, “any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable

doubt.” (Emphasis omitted.) Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307, 319 (99 SCt 2781, 61

LEd2d 560) (1979).

So viewed, the record shows that on May 18, 2019, the victim, a 19-year-old

college student, joined her friends at a house party in Savannah. According to the

victim, she drank between two to four cups of vodka while at the house party, and her

last memory of the evening was sitting on her friend’s porch.

The victim and her friends left the house party and went to a club. While at the

club, the victim approached Arroyo1 and his friends and invited them to talk and

dance. The victim and Arroyo danced and kissed, and then the two left the club.

Arroyo drove the victim to a gas station, where they purchased water and condoms.

Arroyo then drove to a hotel. While on the way to the hotel, Arroyo was stopped for

speeding by Garden City police. The victim was asleep during the traffic stop.

Arroyo and the victim arrived at the hotel at approximately 3:00 a. m. Arroyo

went inside by himself, paid for a hotel room with his credit card, and left his phone

number with the hotel clerk. Arroyo then returned to his car and brought the victim

1 At the time of the offenses, Arroyo was 20 years old. He testified that he did not drink that night. 2 inside the hotel. Surveillance footage from the hotel shows the victim walking

unsteadily in the hotel parking lot. The hotel clerk testified that Arroyo reentered the

hotel lobby while holding hands with the victim, who “looked like she was possibly

drunk” because “she was not walking real straight.”

Arroyo testified that, once inside the hotel room, the victim first wanted to

“have relations, but, then, she wanted to sleep” and that he offered to leave but that

the victim asked him to stay. While in bed, Arroyo took several “live” photos of

himself with the victim partially undressed in the background. Her face is not visible

in the photos, and she is lying on the bed. According to Arroyo, he asked the victim

multiple times if she was “sure” she wanted to have sex. Arroyo testified that he then

attempted to penetrate the victim twice but stopped when she said it hurt. Arroyo

testified that there was blood and that he helped the victim into the bathroom to clean

up and take a shower. The victim and Arroyo left the hotel at approximately 4:50 a.

m. A still photo from the hotel’s surveillance footage shows the victim walking

unassisted through the lobby.

The hotel clerk testified that although “it didn’t look like there was anything

wrong,” she also thought the couple’s brief stay was “strange.” The hotel clerk went

3 up to the hotel room to look for damage, where she found blood on the sheets and

comforter and three “used condoms” on the floor. The hotel clerk took a video of the

room, which was played for the jury.2

Arroyo testified that, after leaving the hotel, the victim fell asleep while he

drove her back to her dorm. When Arroyo arrived at the victim’s dorm, he was

greeted by a security guard. When the victim would not wake up, the security guard

called EMS “for them to make a medical evaluation.” Arroyo stayed with the victim

until EMS arrived. The victim remained unconscious despite efforts from EMS, and

she was transported to the hospital at approximately 5:25 a. m. on May 19 to be treated

for acute alcohol intoxication. She was discharged from the hospital at 9:15 that same

morning.

The victim testified that she has no memory of the evening between sitting on

the porch at her friend’s house and waking up at the hospital. After noticing blood

when urinating, the victim returned to the hospital’s emergency department at

approximately 5:41 p. m. on the evening following the incident and requested

2 The hotel clerk testified that she did not call the police because it appeared that Arroyo and the victim were “just on a date, and maybe she was on her period or something.” 4 pregnancy and STD testing. The victim declined a rape exam. She was diagnosed with

a urinary tract infection and discharged from the hospital for the second time at

approximately 8:20 p. m. on May 19.

Later that evening, the victim received a call from Arroyo. The victim did not

want to talk with Arroyo on the phone, so the two exchanged text messages. Arroyo

asked the victim how she was doing. The victim told Arroyo that she did not

“remember anything” and asked him repeatedly whether they had sex. Arroyo told

the victim that they “tried, but nothing happened” and that the victim had consented.

The victim again asked whether they had sex, stating that she “need[ed] to know”

because she was a virgin. The victim then told Arroyo that he raped her.

After exchanging text messages with Arroyo, the victim told a SCAD security

guard that she had been “possibly[] raped” and called 911 at the security guard’s

direction. A sexual assault nurse examiner (“SANE”) was not available, so the next

morning, the victim went to a different hospital for a rape examination. While waiting

for the SANE, the victim met with a Savannah Police Department SVU detective.

The victim told the detective that she did not remember anything that had happened

between attending a party on the evening of May 18 and waking up at the hospital the

5 next morning. The victim provided the detective with Arroyo’s name and contact

information.

A SANE then interviewed the victim, who told her that she did not recall any

part of the event. The SANE then took photos of the victim and examined her.3 The

victim had a circular burn on her right palm and abrasions and bruising on her lower

legs. An internal exam revealed that the victim had three “internal vaginal injuries,”

including an abrasion “very common . . . after intercourse or a sexual assault,” and

bruising and a blood clot on her hymen. The SANE was unable to fully examine the

victim’s cervix, however, because the victim could not tolerate a speculum exam. As

to the victim’s injuries, the SANE testified that although “[y]ou don’t always have

to have injury for a sexual assault[,] [t]he latest literature tells you that two or more

injuries is consistent with a sexual assault.” When asked whether the victim’s injuries

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Keiver Rivas Arroyo v. State, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/keiver-rivas-arroyo-v-state-gactapp-2024.