Leonardo Rivas v. State

473 S.W.3d 877, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 8688, 2015 WL 4934564
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided August 19, 2015·No. 04-14-00180-CR·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by:

Rebeca C. Martinez, Justice

Leonardo Rivas appeals his convictions for the murder of Felix Flores and for conspiracy to commit Flores’ murder. He does not challenge his conviction for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon against a bystander. We overrule Leonardo’s issues on appeal and affirm the trial court’s judgments.

BACKGROUND

On the night of October 14, 2011, Leonardo Rivas, also known as “Lenny,” was at a party on Cedar Street in Hondo, Texas, along with his brother, Michael Rivas, and Adriana Benavides. During the party, Michael received a message that Eusebio “Chevio” Luna, a member of the Mexican Mafia, wanted to meet with him about some cocaine that he believed was stolen by Adriana. 1 Michael and Adriana left the party and drove to a house on 18th Street where Michael met with Chevio in front of the house. During their discussion, Felix Flores, the murder victim, drove up in a white van. Michael testified that Chevio instructed him to kill Adriana and when Michael refused, Chevio made a hand gesture to Felix and several other men who then began attacking Michael. Adriana testified that Felix had something in his hands which she could not see, but assumed was a knife, and he went toward Michael’s neck with it; she saw some bleeding afterward, but it was “not that bad.” Adriana admitted lying to the police when she said Michael was stabbed in other places too. Michael testified that he was stabbed three times during the fight, at least once by Felix; he stated he was stabbed in the neck, chest, and back of the neck. Michael was able to knock Felix down and run down the street where Adriana picked him up in her parents’ black Expedition. The severity of Michael’s injuries was the subject of conflicting testimony, but it is undisputed that he did not seek medical attention.

Michael and Adriana returned to the Cedar Street party, and Michael told Leonardo that he had been stabbed. Leonardo testified Michael was bleeding on his neck'and chest and was “scared.” Michael told Leonardo, “they got me.” Leonardo testified he argued with Michael, trying to convince him to go to the hospital or their sister’s house to get his injuries treated; Michael refused, saying “they would come get him.” Adriana stated that Michael was pacing back and forth and was mad; she stated Leonardo also sounded mad. After some discussion between the brothers, they got back in the Expedition with Adriana. Michael was driving, Leonardo was in the front passenger seat, and Adriana was in the rear passenger seat. There *881 was conflicting testimony about whether they were going to get Michael’s injuries “cleaned up” as Leonardo stated he wanted to do, were going “cruising” as Michael testified, or were going to find Felix. Adriana testified that she heard Leonardo say he “knew where Felix would be.” Leonardo, however, testified that he did not know it was Felix who stabbed his brother, and did not know where Felix lived. Adriana testified that Leonardo retrieved his gun before they left the party. Leonardo testified he always carries a gun because he has been attacked in the past. Adriana stated she heard “clicking noises” coming from the gun before they left the party. Adriana stated she also heard Leonardo tell Michael, “I’m going to make you a believer” when they were driving toward 12th Street. 2

At approximately 1:15 a.m., Felix Flores was at his brother Johnny Joe Flores’ house on 12th Street, where they were drinking beer and eating tacos around a cement slab in front of the mobile home; the cement slab was about eleven feet from the property line. Also present were Johnny Joe’s wife, Margie Gonzales, their sons and grandchildren, and Felix’s girlfriend Janie Aguilar- Felix told them he had been “jumped” by Michael Rivas, also known as “Mikeo,” and they observed a bump above Felix’s eye. After about ten minutes, a black Expedition drove up and stopped in front of the Flores yard, close to the property line and about three to four feet short of the stop sign. Johnny Joe heard a male voice from inside the vehicle say, “Yeah, that’s him,” and Felix said, “That’s them ... Mikeo and Lenny.” Margie testified the male voice inside the Expedition said, “There he is” before the vehicle came to a stop. Felix raised his hands up and yelled something in Spanish; Johnny Joe and Margie testified Felix yelled, “what’s up” in Spanish. Margie stated she heard the male voice from the vehicle say, “you mother f* *ker.”

• What happened next was the subject of conflicting testimony. The Flores family testified that Felix was standing in front of the slab and took, at most, two -steps, and that Leonardo reached down as if he were going to open the passenger door and exit the vehicle, but instead raised a gun and just started shooting at Felix out of the open passenger window. Leonardo testified that when the Expedition was at the stop sign he heard Adriana scream, “Look out, look out,” and when he turned he saw Felix at the passenger side window. Felix reached inside the open window and began “swinging” at him, Leonardo raised his hand to block Felix and “felt where he stabbed me.” Leonardo then screamed; “Oh shit.” Leonardo testified that he was “scared” and “panicked” because he was afraid Felix was going to kill him. Leonardo reached for his gun next to the console, and began shooting at Felix with the gun. extended through the open window. Michael testified that. when he stopped the Expedition at the stop sign he heard a male voice yell something, saw Felix and Johnny Joe approaching the vehicle, and then Felix was there at the passenger window attacking Leonardo; Michael stated “there was a strike” and he got “scared” and “panicked.” The next thing Michael knew,, he heard Leonardo firing the gun. Michael did not see if Felix had something in his hand. Both Leonardo and Michael testified that everything happened very fast. Adriana testi *882 fied that she saw Felix put his hands up ■ and say something in Spanish, that she yelled to Leonardo, “Look out, look out” when she recognized Felix, that Leonardo was shocked and said “oh shit” when he saw Felix, and that Leonardo just started shooting at Felix with the gun extended outside the window; she saw Felix fall backwards. Adriana testified that Felix did not approach the Expedition and did not get close enough to stab Leonardo, although Felix was close enough “to threaten;” she did not hear Felix make any verbal threats. At trial, Adriana admitted lying when she initially told police she saw Felix at the window and saw him stab Leonardo on the- arm. Adriana testified that she saw no weapons on Felix or anyone else in the Flores group at the 12th Street house.

It was undisputed that Leonardo fired the first gunshots at Felix. Some witnesses, including Johnny Joe Flores, Margie Gonzalez, and Janie Aguilar, testified that after Leonardo stopped shooting, Michael fired more shots. Michael denied ever shooting the gun, and Adriana stated she only saw Leonardo fire the gun. ■ Felix was shot nine times, with the majority of the gunshots to his front right torso. Johnny Joe Flores was shot in the upper thigh as he pushed his wife out of the way. No weapons were recovered at the scene.

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Leonardo Rivas v. State, 473 S.W.3d 877, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 8688, 2015 WL 4934564 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

473 S.W.3d 877 (Leonardo Rivas v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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