People v. Cabrera Lozada

99 P.R. 669
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 5, 1971
DocketNo. CR-70-66
StatusPublished

This text of 99 P.R. 669 (People v. Cabrera Lozada) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Cabrera Lozada, 99 P.R. 669 (prsupreme 1971).

Opinion

PER CURIAM :

Carlos Cabrera Lozada was accused and convicted of the offense of statutory rape consisting in that on or about April 10, 1965, he had sexual intercourse with a fifteen-year-old girl, who1 at the time was handicapped by a mental defect for the purpose of consenting. He was sentenced to serve from three to seven years in the penitentiary.

The following persons testified at the trial (1) the prose-cutrix, in connection with the sexual intercourse which -ap-[671]*671pelíant had with her, the circumstances under which the act charged was performed, other of her actions and her school work; (2) neurologist, Dr. Luis Guzmán López, to the effects that the prosecutrix suffers from a chronic brain syndrome, a condition which produces an incapability to reason normally for which reason, in his opinion, she was incapable of consenting to a sexual act; (8) Dr. Carlos Alemañy about the examination of the prosecutrix after the occurrence of the events; (4) Erania Espaillat Félix, about her conversation ' with the prosecutrix who told her about the sexual act which appellant performed upon her; (5) Elisabeth Mangual about an admission which appellant made to her that he had lived with the prosecutrix; (6) the prosecutrix’s younger brother and (7) Dr. Paul N: Senior, clinic psychologist, who performed two tests on the prosecutrix, one of visomotor coordination which establishes how the person examined coordinates and understands reality and the other which measures her intelligence, in view of which, after his interview with the prosecutrix, this doctor concluded that the prosecutrix, “was functioning at the level of a feebleminded person, what we call an imbecile” however, she can learn to read and write and take dictation as it appears from a notebook of the prosecu-trix which was shown to him.

On appeal appellant assigns a series of contentions which we shall consider hereinafter. In our opinion we should not disturb the ruling in this case.

1. He assigns that the trial court erred in permitting that Dr. Guzmán be asked and state his view about whether the prosecutrix was legally incapable to consent to the sexual act.

He argues that the doctor was not- charged as to what is understood by legal consent; that he is a neurologist who had never performed any tests on the prosecutrix concerning her personality as this is not his field nor asked her questions about the sexual act and its implications.

[672]*672. The assignment lacks merit. Although it is true that the prosecuting attorney used the expression “legally”, he omitted it in repeating the question before the expert answered.

This expert, duly qualified as a neurologist, testified that on the basis of the history and his examination of the prosecutrix the latter suffered from a chronic brain syndrome accompanied by a convulsive-brain disorder; “that this condition produces in these children an incapacity to reason normally . . . .” It was on the ground of a detailed exposition of this situation that the expert later concluded that the prosecutrix was incapable to consent to the sexual act.

2-3. He argues that it constituted an error to permit witness Erania Espaillat Félix to testify about the alleged statements which the prosecutrix made to her and to decide that these statements were part of the res gestae and as such were admissible in evidence.

It is true that Mrs. Espaillat was the second person to whom the prosecutrix related the sexual act which was performed upon her person by appellant. The other one was her mother who was not able to testify against appellant as the latter was her husband. Such statements were made shortly after the events by a mentally disabled person, mechanically, without any coercion or pressure whatsoever. It was not the product of a calculated reasoning for the purpose of prejudicing appellant. Because she was unable to reason, the prosecutrix rather repeated, at anyone’s request, the experience had. We conclude that these were special circumstances which justified admitting Mrs. Espaillat’s testimony of corroboration. People v. Bonilla Vazquez, 98 P.R.R. 816, 818 (1970); People v. Echevarría Rivera, 96 P.R.R. 154, 155 (1968); People v. Aponte, 77 P.R.R. 870, 872 (1955).

4-5-6-7. He assigns that the trial court erred in undertaking, during the stage of the instructions to the jury, to analyze and confront the evidence of the prosecution with [673]*673the elements to be proven in cases of this nature; in referring in its instructions to evidence which was not introduced; and in referring in its instructions to particulars of the evidence which seek to establish the elements of the olfense charged notwithstanding the stipulation of the parties not to make a summary of the evidence, thus creating before the jury a situation of unbalance against defendant’s best interests. He specifically challenges the following part of the instructions:

(a) “The Court:.
. . . Now, what evidence has been introduced to you here seeking to corroborate the prosecutrix’s testimony? A lady surnamed Es-paillat Félix was brought to the witness stand, she owns a home for -children, where the girl’s mother, defendant’s wife, took the girl on April 11, that is, the day following the commission of-the events, during the afternoon, to try to shelter her there because of what had happened to her with defendant, what had happened to her, and then the girl explained what had happened to her ...(Italics in the original.)

Appellant argues that the phrases in italics give for granted that the facts were committed; that nowhere in the evidence does it appear that appellant’s wife took the prose-cutrix to Mrs. Espaillat’s house to be sheltered there.

We do not believe that the phrases in italics gave the impression that the court considered the facts as committed when by means of the instructions in general it was made clear to the jury that they were the only judges of the facts; that they were under the obligation to consider and weigh all the evidence and to determine whether to believe all or part of the testimony of each witness. Mrs. Espaillat testified that the prosecutrix’s mother asked her “Whether it was possible for me to give some shelter in my institution to that girl.”

(b) The second part of the instructions challenged refers to the testimony of Mrs. Mangual Rivera in relation to the admission made by appellant to her about his having lived with the prosecutrix. Appellant argues that reference was [674]*674not made to what was testified on cross-examination by that witness as to the fact that she was appellant’s enemy because she had had an action at the O.P.A. and had told appellant once that if he gave her $500 she would help him. Also, appellant assigns that said lady testified that appellant “asked her to help him in the case” but it does not appear that this was two days after she had signed a statement.

Reference to Mrs. Mangual’s testimony was made as another example of evidence of corroboration. Although we agree that it would have been preferable to have made some reference to her testimony that she was appellant’s enemy, such omission, in the light of the instructions as a whole was not substantially prejudicial to appellant as to warrant a new trial. The request for help made by appellant to the witness was obviously made while they were talking when she went to see him.

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99 P.R. 669, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-cabrera-lozada-prsupreme-1971.