State Of Washington, Resp. v. Salvador A. Cruz, App.

CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedDecember 23, 2013
Docket66709-2
StatusUnpublished

This text of State Of Washington, Resp. v. Salvador A. Cruz, App. (State Of Washington, Resp. v. Salvador A. Cruz, App.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Of Washington, Resp. v. Salvador A. Cruz, App., (Wash. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

coo He CjO 7>.zrj IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON C3 1, ! m rn o c~> O-Tj ro }> --- STATE OF WASHINGTON, CO S=-o!~ 3>-cr, No. 66709-2-1 33' £>b Respondent, II

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SALVADOR ALEMAN CRUZ, UNPUBLISHED OPINION

Appellant. FILED: December 23, 2013 J

Becker, J. — A jury convicted Salvador Cruz of four counts of first degree child

rape, two counts of third degree child rape, and one count of communication with a

minor for immoral purposes. The trial court dismissed two other counts during trial after

jurors learned that a woman related to Cruz's case had climbed onto the courthouse

roof in an incident that garnered media attention. Cruz moved unsuccessfully for a

mistrial. He argues the trial court erred by denying him a new trial and by admitting

evidence of prior sex offenses. Finding no error, we affirm the convictions.

In 1997 and 1998, several young girls accused Cruz of sexually abusing them in

separate incidents that occurred between November 1993 and March 1998. In 1998,

Cruz left the United States. When he attempted to re-enter the country in November

2008, he was detained and charged. As a result of the delay, the girls were in their

twenties by the time they testified against him at trial in 2010.

Cruz represented himself with the aid of interpreters and standby counsel. The

jury found Cruz guilty of multiple counts of child rape and one count of communication No. 66709-2-1/2

with a minor for immoral purposes, and found six aggravating factors. The court

imposed an exceptional sentence of 636 months, or 53 years. This appeal followed.

MOTION FOR A MISTRIAL

Cruz contends the court erred by denying his motion for a mistrial after the

occurrence of a serious trial irregularity—the rooftop incident.

On Thursday, November 4, 2010, after five days of testimony, one of the

victims went through an unlocked door during a lunch recess and climbed onto

the roof of the King County courthouse, where she considered suicide. She had

not yet testified or appeared in court. Police and negotiators responded to the

incident and cordoned off the area. The trial court learned that some jurors had

seen on their media devices that there was an incident occurring at the

courthouse.

The trial court gathered the jurors and had the prosecutor and Cruz's

standby counsel on speaker phone as the court addressed the incident. Cruz

was not present. The court instructed the jurors to "take a news holiday" and

avoid any information about the incident:

I think I understand that some of you have seen on your electronic media that there's been a story about - - relating to this case in the courthouse today. I want to remind you that we have to decide this case based purely on the evidence produced here in court, not on anything that's going on outside of court anywhere, and so it's really important that you not get caught up in any news stories that may be related to this case at the courthouse today. And so I want you to please take a news holiday this weekend.

One juror remarked that jurors had not known the incident was related to No. 66709-2-1/3

the case:

JUROR: Just a comment. We knew that there was an incident at the courthouse, but we did not know it was related to this case. THE COURT: Okay. Yeah, well, it doesn't really have any bearing on the merits of the case, but it's certainly something that, you know, people might in some way relate to the case.

The court urged jurors to avoid speaking with anyone about the case and the

courthouse incident as they went home for the weekend.

On the following Monday, the prosecutor suggested the trial court question

each juror individually to determine what he or she knew about the incident. The

trial court agreed. Outside the presence of the jury, the State then moved to

dismiss the two counts of child molestation involving the young woman who had

gone on the courthouse roof. The court granted the motion. Cruz moved for a

mistrial. He asked how the court could consider continuing with the same jury.

The trial court and the parties questioned each juror separately to

determine what information each juror had about the incident, whether each had

avoided all media reports as the court had ordered, and whether each juror felt

he or she could be fair and decide the case solely on the evidence presented at

trial. At most, some jurors knew that a young woman had climbed on the roof of

the courthouse, and that the person or the incident was somehow related to

Cruz's case.

Cruz asked the trial judge why they were questioning jurors when the

judge himself told them the matter was related to his case. The judge said he

told the jury the matter was related to the case in order to explain why jurors No. 66709-2-1/4

needed to take special care to avoid all media.

When questioned, each juror said the incident would have no bearing on

how he or she considered Cruz's case. The trial court denied Cruz's motion for a

mistrial, finding no prejudice to his right to a fair trial.

When trial resumed, the court reminded the jurors to focus only on the

evidence presented at trial:

Just a couple of things I want to remind you of. There may be more media coverage of things related to this trial. I want to remind you, please, don't read anything about it, either in the paper or on the Internet, don't listen to any reports on the radio or the TV or whatever. I want to remind you the case needs to be decided just on the evidence that's admitted here in the courtroom.

On November 30, 2010, the trial court followed up by asking if "any of you read

anything or found out anything that would make you unable to be fair and

impartial?" The trial court asked two more times whether jurors had seen any

media coverage that would affect their ability to be fair and impartial. No juror

answered in the affirmative. The court then asked the jurors to contact the bailiff

ifany issue arose in this regard. The jurors did not contact the bailiff, and no

further issue about the rooftop incident arose as the trial proceeded. The young

woman involved did not testify.

Itwas a trial irregularity, not a trial error, for jurors to learn that the incident

involving a young woman on the courthouse roof was somehow related to the

case they were hearing. When a trial irregularity occurs, a new trial is warranted

only when the defendant has been so prejudiced that nothing short of a new trial

can ensure the defendant will be treated fairly. State v. Bourgeois. 133 Wn.2d No. 66709-2-1/5

389, 406, 945 P.2d 1120 (1997); State v. Russell. 125 Wn.2d 24, 85, 882 P.2d

747(1994). cert, denied, 514 U.S. 1129(1995). The granting or denial of a new

trial is a matter primarily within the discretion of the trial court, and the decision

will not be disturbed unless there is a clear abuse of discretion. Bourgeois, 133

Wn.2d at 406. "An abuse of discretion occurs only 'when no reasonable judge

would have reached the same conclusion.'" Bourgeois, 133 Wn.2d at 406,

quoting Sofie v. Fibreboard Corp., 112 Wn.2d 636, 667, 771 P.2d 711, 780 P.2d

260 (1989). In determining the effect of an irregularity, we examine "(1) its

seriousness; (2) whether it involved cumulative evidence; and (3) whether the

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