People v. Zubiate

411 P.3d 757
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 9, 2013
DocketCourt of Appeals No. 11CA1939
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 411 P.3d 757 (People v. Zubiate) 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. Zubiate, 411 P.3d 757 (Colo. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Opinion by JUDGE HAWTHORNE

¶ 1 Defendant, Vanessa Ann Zubiate, appeals her convictions entered following a jury trial for aggravated driving after revocation prohibited (aggravated DARP) and driving while ability impaired (DWAI). She also appeals her driving under restraint (DUR) conviction entered following her guilty plea to that offense, and the sentence imposed. We affirm.

I. Background

¶ 2 Shortly after midnight on October 2, 2010, Officer Tom Rayside observed a car make a wide right turn in a residential area and began following it. The car made another right turn without signaling until after the turn had been completed, and the driver pulled over and stopped. No one exited the car for ten to fifteen seconds, and Officer Rayside approached it.

¶ 3 Defendant, the driver, was with two passengers. Officer Rayside smelled alcohol and marijuana in the vehicle. He asked defendant if she had been drinking, and she responded that she had a few drinks and had smoked marijuana earlier. She agreed to perform several roadside sobriety tests, which Officer Rayside determined were performed unsatisfactorily. He arrested her for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, advised her of Colorado's express consent statute1 , and informed her that she could refuse a chemical test or be taken to a local hospital to have blood drawn for a chemical test. According to Officer Rayside's police report, defendant "stated that she did not like needles and wanted to refuse a chemical test."2 Defendant was charged with aggravated DARP, driving under the influence (DUI), DUR, failing to provide proof of insurance, and failing to signal a turn.

*761¶ 4 Before her first trial, defendant pled guilty to DUR and stipulated to the aggravated DARP elements establishing her habitual offender status, her knowledge of that status, and her revocation.

¶ 5 During the first trial, Officer Rayside testified that defendant told him that she was afraid of needles and refused to take a chemical test. Defendant's theory of defense was that she was afraid of needles and had refused the chemical test for that reason, not because she was intoxicated. To support this theory, her friend, H.W., testified that defendant had refused pain medication during childbirth and when she broke her arm because she was afraid of needles.

¶ 6 The first jury found defendant guilty of failing to provide proof of insurance and failing to signal. The trial court declared a mistrial on the DARP and DUI charges because the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

¶ 7 Defendant was retried on the DARP and DUI charges. During the second trial, defendant again maintained that she had refused the chemical test because she was afraid of needles and not because she was intoxicated. However, during defense counsel's cross-examination of Officer Rayside, the prosecution moved to preclude the defense from eliciting testimony about defendant's statement concerning her fear of needles on the basis that it was inadmissible hearsay. The trial court agreed, sustained the prosecution's objection, and precluded defense counsel from questioning Officer Rayside about whether defendant had stated that she was afraid of needles. Defendant was convicted of aggravated DARP and DWAI, a lesser included offense of DUI.

¶ 8 This appeal followed.

II. Excluding Defendant's Out-of-Court Statement

¶ 9 Defendant contends that the trial court erred in excluding an out-of-court statement concerning her fear of needles, and, consequently, deprived her of her constitutional right to present evidence in her own defense. We disagree.

A. Law and Review Standard

¶ 10 Few rights are more fundamental than the accused's right to present evidence that might influence the jury's determination of guilt. People v. Richards, 795 P.2d 1343, 1345 (Colo.App.1989). However, the right to present a defense is not absolute; it requires only that the accused be permitted to introduce all relevant and admissible evidence. People v. Harris, 43 P.3d 221, 227 (Colo.2002) ; see Taylor v. Illinois, 484 U.S. 400, 410, 108 S.Ct. 646, 98 L.Ed.2d 798 (1988) ("The accused does not have an unfettered right to offer [evidence] that is incompetent, privileged, or otherwise inadmissible under standard rules of evidence.").

¶ 11 We review a trial court's evidentiary ruling for an abuse of discretion. People v. Ibarra, 849 P.2d 33, 38 (Colo.1993). A trial court abuses its discretion when its ruling is (1) manifestly arbitrary, unreasonable, or unfair or (2) based on an erroneous understanding or application of the law. People v. Casias, 2012 COA 117, ¶17, 312 P.3d 208.

B. Hearsay

¶ 12 Hearsay is "a statement other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." CRE 801(c) ; see People v. Huckleberry, 768 P.2d 1235, 1241 (Colo.1989). Hearsay is inadmissible unless it falls within an exception to the rule against hearsay. CRE 802. "The rule against hearsay exists because '[h]earsay statements are presumptively unreliable since the declarant is not present to explain the statement in context.' " People v. Newton, 966 P.2d 563, 572 (Colo.1998) (quoting Blecha v. People, 962 P.2d 931, 937 (Colo.1998) ).

¶ 13 Defendant argues that the court erred in excluding her statement to Officer Rayside concerning her fear of needles because it was (1) offered for a nonhearsay purpose, (2) a statement against interest, and (3) a statement concerning her state of mind. We address these arguments in turn.

*7621. Nonhearsay Purpose

¶ 14 Defendant argues that her statement was admissible for the nonhearsay purpose of providing context for her actions. We are not persuaded.

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Bluebook (online)
411 P.3d 757, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-zubiate-coloctapp-2013.