People v. Zapata

443 P.3d 78
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 19, 2016
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 13CA2155
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 443 P.3d 78 (People v. Zapata) 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. Zapata, 443 P.3d 78 (Colo. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Opinion by JUDGE J. JONES

*80¶ 1 Defendant, Nicholas Javier Zapata, appeals the judgment of conviction entered on jury verdicts finding him guilty of attempted second degree murder and first degree assault. We affirm.

I. Background

¶ 2 Defendant's ex-girlfriend told him that she had been sexually harassed by the owner of the convenience store where she worked in Littleton. She also told defendant that the store owner had touched her crotch, buttocks, and breasts. However, she did not tell defendant everything that had happened because she "was worried about any actions that [defendant] would take." Nevertheless, defendant was "mad" and "upset" about what she had told him.

¶ 3 One evening, defendant sent her text messages telling her, "Don't be there." Approximately thirty minutes later, defendant and Jose Murillo walked into the convenience store. Defendant and Mr. Murillo had known each other for six months. The evidence indicated that defendant and Mr. Murillo had taken the light rail together from downtown Denver to Littleton, and then they walked together from the light rail station to the convenience store.

¶ 4 Mr. Murillo quickly walked behind the counter and stabbed the store owner's son with a knife. The prosecution's theory was that defendant and Mr. Murillo mistakenly believed that the person behind the counter was the store owner who had sexually harassed and assaulted defendant's ex-girlfriend.

¶ 5 A struggle ensued between Mr. Murillo and the store owner's son. Defendant, who was the only other person in the store, watched the struggle from the other side of the counter. On the high-quality surveillance video, someone can be heard saying, "Get him, get him, get him good." When the store owner's son began hitting Mr. Murillo in the head with a hammer, Mr. Murillo said, "[H]elp me." Defendant quickly left the store and fled. Mr. Murillo suffered permanent brain damage from the fight.

¶ 6 The People charged defendant with conspiracy to commit first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and first degree assault. The People charged Mr. Murillo in a separate case.

¶ 7 Mr. Murillo pleaded guilty in his case and testified at defendant's trial. He testified that because of his brain damage, he did not remember the convenience store attack. But he also testified that he had known defendant for six months before the attack; the convenience store surveillance video showed him and defendant; they were not there to rob the store; and he was testifying because defendant had left him at the store to die.

¶ 8 The defense theory at trial, and what defendant told detectives during pretrial interviews, was that defendant went to the convenience store hoping to see his ex-girlfriend, and that he did not know that Mr. Murillo was going to attack the person behind the counter. The defense also emphasized that Mr. Murillo regularly used heroin at that time.

¶ 9 The jury found defendant guilty of attempted second degree murder and first degree assault.

¶ 10 On appeal, defendant contends that the district court erred by (1) not requiring the prosecution to disclose statements Mr. Murillo allegedly made during competency evaluations in his separate case; and (2) admitting evidence, as res gestae, of defendant's prior controlling and threatening behavior toward his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, and her mother.

II. Competency Report

¶ 11 We first address defendant's contention that the district court erred by not requiring the prosecution to disclose statements Mr. Murillo allegedly made during competency evaluations in his separate case. Defendant alternatively argues that the district court erred by failing to review the *81competency evaluations in camera before making its decision.

A. Further Background

¶ 12 In the case against Mr. Murillo, Mr. Murillo's counsel raised the issue of Mr. Murillo's competency, and two competency evaluations were completed.

¶ 13 In this case, at a pretrial hearing, defendant's counsel requested that the prosecution produce any statements Mr. Murillo may have made during a competency evaluation about the underlying facts of the case. The court said that defendant was entitled to exculpatory and inculpatory information, but not any findings about medical issues. The prosecutor said that the People would be willing to produce the competency evaluation with redactions, but that "essentially what he says is he doesn't remember anything about the incident."

¶ 14 Later, Mr. Murillo withdrew his claim of incompetency in his case.

¶ 15 At a subsequent hearing in this case, defendant's counsel told the court that the prosecution had still not produced the competency evaluations. Defendant's counsel also told the court that Mr. Murillo had made a proffer in his case making statements about his involvement in this case. Another hearing was set for Mr. Murillo's counsel to be present.

¶ 16 At that hearing (held on the same day that Mr. Murillo entered a guilty plea in his case), defendant's counsel argued that the competency evaluations must be produced pursuant to section 16-8.5-104, C.R.S.2015; Crim. P. 16 ; and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963). Mr. Murillo's counsel objected, arguing that Mr. Murillo had not waived his "privilege" as it related to defendant's case, and that Mr. Murillo had already withdrawn his incompetency claim in his case. The prosecutor agreed with Mr. Murillo's counsel that the competency evaluations should not be discoverable and added, "Your Honor, I can tell the Court as an officer of the court there is, I think, maybe two lines about the actual incident in this competency evaluation, and there is nothing in the competency evaluation that is not in the proffer that we've already discovered anyway."

¶ 17 The court denied defendant's request for production of the competency evaluations, explaining,

First of all, the statute does not anticipate a codefendant in a separate case having access to this report. Second, I just took a plea from [Mr. Murillo] in which he indicated he was competent.... And he previously has withdrawn any defense he had that he was not competent as a result [of] ... what happened to him during the incident.... I'm going to find this is not Brady material.

¶ 18 Defense counsel then requested that the court conduct an in camera review of the competency evaluations to determine whether Mr. Murillo had made any inconsistent statements that might implicate defendant's confrontation rights. The court also denied that request, explaining,

This statute was enacted because people have a right to privilege to things they say to a physician or a psychologist or psychiatrist; therefore, there needs to be a law to waive. And that's the privilege. And it's inviolate. I think there's case law that says it's inviolate.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
443 P.3d 78, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-zapata-coloctapp-2016.