People v. Ortega

2015 COA 38, 370 P.3d 181, 2015 Colo. App. LEXIS 540, 2015 WL 1657087
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 9, 2015
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 12CA1340
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 2015 COA 38 (People v. Ortega) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Ortega, 2015 COA 38, 370 P.3d 181, 2015 Colo. App. LEXIS 540, 2015 WL 1657087 (Colo. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

Opinion by

JUDGE WEBB

1 Everyone agrees that the Fifth Amendment prohibits compelling a defendant's testimony, but does not preclude evidence of the defendant's physical characteristics, Still, where a trial court orders a defendant to speak solely for voice identification by the jury, does the procedure involve improper testimonial or proper physical evidence? And even if the identification involves only physical evidence, is the procedure impermis-sibly suggestive because the jury hears only the defendant's voice? These questions are unresolved in Colorado,

T2 A jury convicted Ramon Anthony Ortega of distributing less than five pounds of marijuana. He appeals on two grounds. First, by forcing him to provide a live voice exemplar to the jury, the trial court violated his constitutional rights against self-inerimi-nation and to due process, and also admitted unfairly prejudicial evidence contrary to CRE 408. Second, by playing to the jury's concern about crime in the community during closing argument, the prosecutor committed misconduct. © Because we conclude that the voice identification procedure was proper and the prosecutor's comments were harmless error, we affirm, tot

1, The Voice Identification Procedure Was Proper

A. Background

3 This case began at a public park, where an:undercover police officer, who was wearing a wire, bought marijuana from a man. After the officer asked whether anyone sold eocaine at the park, the man replied: "Actually, they were here earlier but they were drunk." The officer then met with a detective, who had observed the transaction and recorded their conversation from her undercover car nearby, and described the man. The detective believed that the man was Ortega and produced Ortega's photograph, The officer agreed that the person in the photograph matched the seller,

[ 4 Weeks later, Ortega was arrested. He did not testify but defended on the basis of misidentification and offered alibi evidence.

15 At trial, the prosecutor moved to have Ortega read either a "generic" statement or a statement that was audible from the detective's recording of the drug buy-portions of which were garbled-to "allow the jury the opportunity to match up the defendant's way of speaking with the person speaking on that recording." Defense counsel objected, arguing that the statement was "communicative in nature," "tantamount to a one-on-one show up identification," and "far outweighed by any probative value [sic]." The court overruled the objection, concluding that the statement was not "forced incrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendment," and the "unfair danger of unfair prejudice [wals minimal." It did not address. the one-on-one confrontation issue.

[184]*184T6 Even so, the court offered to "explain [to the jury that it was] ordering Mr. Ortega , to say thle] sentence." But because defense counsel did not want to "draw| ] undue attention to an implication that he d[id] not want to do it or he [wals fighting against doing it," the court agreed to only ask the People if they had any other witnesses. At the end of the prosecution's case, Ortega stayed at defense counsel's table and read the statement, "Actually, they were here earlier but they were drunk." Earlier, the entire recording had been played for the jury.

B. Preservation and Standard of Review

17 Ortega preserved this issue by arguing that the procedure violated the right against self-incrimination, the right to due process, and CRE 403, Although the Attorney General argues that defense counsel did not preserve the due process argument, we conclude that her comparison "to a one-on-one show up identification" sufficiently "alertled] the trial court to the particular issue." People v. Cordova, 293 P.3d 114, 120 (Colo.App.2011).

T8 We "defer to the trial court's findings of historical fact," People v. Rabes, 258 P.3d 937, 940 (Colo.App.2010), but review de novo Ortega's contention that the court "violated his privilege against self-incrimination," People v. McBride, 228 P.3d 216, 227 (Colo.App.2009). Relying on People v. Davis, 312 P.3d 193, 201 (Colo.App.2010), aff'd, 2013 CO 57, 310 P.3d 58, the Attorney General urges us to review the Fifth Amendment claim for an abuse of discretion. But because Davis, id. at 198, involved a prosecutor's references during cross-examination and closing arguments to defendant's post-arrest silence, we are not persuaded to depart from the general rule that "where constitutional rights are concerned," law application "is a matter for de novo appellate review," People v. Matheny, 46 P.3d 453, 462 (Colo.2002). This is especially so where, as here, the facts are undisputed. People v. Valdes, 969 P.2d 208, 211 (Colo.1998) ("When the controlling facts are undisputed, the legal effect of those facts constitutes a question of law which is subject to de novo review.").

T9 Also, we defer to the trial court's factual findings but review de novo whether the court violated Ortega's right to due process by allowing an impermissibly suggestive identification procedure. See United States v. Thompson, 524 F.3d 1126, 1135 (10th Cir.2008) ("We review de novo the constitutionality of identification procedures, but we review for clear error the factual basis for the district court's decision." (internal quotation marks omitted)); cf. Bernal v. People, 44 P.3d 184, 190 (Colo.2002) (reviewing the "constitutionality of pretrial identification procedures" as a mixed question of law and fact).

T10 In contrast, "[albsent an abuse of discretion, the trial court's [CRE 408] ruling will not be disturbed on appeal." People v. Rubanowitz, 688 P.2d 231, 245-46 (Colo.1984), Thus, "we will not overturn its ruling unless it is manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, or unfair," People v. Melillo, 25 P.3d 769, 774 (Colo.2001).

C. Right Against Self-Inerimination

"11 Ortega first contends the trial court violated his Fifth Amendment right against self-inerimination when it required him to read the excerpt from the transeript of the drug buy. We reject this contention.

1. Law

112 "The privilege against self-incrimination protects the accused only from providing the state with evidence of a testimonial nature." People v. Renfrow, 193 Colo. 131, 135, 564 P.2d 411, 414 (1977). But while "the privilege is a bar against compelling 'communicationg' or 'testimony,' " it provides no protection when the accused is "the source of real or physical evidence." Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 764, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966); see Sandoval v. People, 172 Colo. 383, 388, 478 P.2d 722, 724 (1970) (no protection against "a compulsion to exhibit physical characteristics").

2. Application

13 To begin, Colorado cases cited by the parties as being controlling do not involve the precise question presented in this appeal-whether the voice exemplar provided [185]*185by Ortega was testimonial or physical evidence.

{14 Based on Serratore v. People, 178 Colo., 341, 497 P.2d 1018 (1972), disapproved of by People v. Ramirez, 199 Colo.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2015 COA 38, 370 P.3d 181, 2015 Colo. App. LEXIS 540, 2015 WL 1657087, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-ortega-coloctapp-2015.