State Of Washington, Respondent/cr-appellant V. Jose Antonio Nava, Appellant/respondent

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided June 14, 2021·No. 80948-2·Unpublished

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION ONE

STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 80948-2-I )

Respondent, )

)

v. )

) UNPUBLISHED OPINION NAVA, JOSE ANTONIO, ) DOB: 12/23/1987, )

)

Appellant. )

BOWMAN, J. — Jose Antonio Nava appeals his jury conviction for one count of first degree murder with a firearm enhancement. Nava alleges the State improperly minimized its burden during jury selection, the trial court erred in denying his motions for a mistrial after witnesses twice violated a pretrial order, the prosecutor committed misconduct by vouching for two witnesses, the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence, and the cumulative effect of these errors deprived him of a fair trial. He also asserts the trial court inadvertently imposed a DNA1 collection fee. We affirm Nava’s conviction but remand for the trial court to strike the DNA fee from his judgment and sentence.

FACTS

On February 19, 2018, Tye Burley won around $2,000 at a casino. He used some of the money to rent a hotel room in Marysville that he shared with his friend and

1 Deoxyribonucleic acid.

Citations and pin cites are based on the Westlaw online version of the cited material.

drug supplier Jeremy Dailey. Dailey saw Burley win the “jackpot” of money that night and began scheming ways to get his hands on it. He thought about taking Burley’s wallet while he slept but did not want to be the obvious suspect.

On February 20, Burley left the hotel with his girlfriend Kristin Schram. Dailey knew Burley planned to buy Schram a tattoo that day. Dailey met with two friends, Jared Evans and Jorge Nava Martinez Jr.2 Nava Martinez Jr. is Nava’s older brother. Dailey told Evans and Nava Martinez Jr. about Burley’s casino winnings.3 Evans did not know Burley very well but he “didn’t like him.” He was angry that Burley did not pay back some money he believed Burley owed him. Later, Nava joined them. Neither Nava Martinez Jr. nor Nava knew Burley.

According to Dailey, the men drove around in a white Dodge Durango owned by Nava’s girlfriend Tiffany Beston while they formulated a plan to rob Burley at the tattoo shop. They planned to mace Burley as he left the shop and steal his wallet. Nava Martinez Jr. said that if Burley “ ‘does anything dumb, I’ll shoot him.’ ” Nava Martinez Jr. told the group he planned to get a “cuete.”4 The four men aborted their original plan after seeing a police car drive by the tattoo shop. They decided to confront Burley back at his hotel instead. They drove to the hotel, sat in the Durango smoking methamphetamine, and waited for Burley to arrive. Dailey and Evans testified that Nava Martinez Jr. was driving and Nava was in the front passenger seat.

2 Dailey also regularly sold drugs to Evans. He said that he never sold drugs to Nava Martinez Jr.

but they did drugs together.

3 Dailey thought Bailey had as much as $7,000 in cash winnings.

4 “Cuete” can be slang for “gun” in Spanish.

Burley and Schram arrived at the hotel at around 7:00 p.m. and began walking to Burley’s room. Nava and Nava Martinez Jr. got out of the Durango and confronted them. They wore face coverings and hooded sweatshirts. One of the two pointed a gun at Schram. She remembered “seeing the hole of the gun” and that it was silver, and she had the impression that it was a handgun with “a pretty long barrel.” Schram screamed and ran away. Nava Martinez Jr. and Nava then beat Burley to the ground and robbed him. At some point, Nava Martinez Jr. shot Burley once in the back of the head. Burley died from the wound two days later.

The brothers ran back to the Durango. Nava Martinez Jr. got in the driver’s seat first, holding a silver handgun and yelling, “ ‘I shot him in the head.’ ” Nava got in the front passenger side a few moments later, crying Nava Martinez Jr.’s name and holding Burley’s wallet. They fled the scene and abandoned the Durango. The four spilt the money from Burley’s wallet between them.

Marysville police arrived and interviewed Schram. She told them that she suspected Dailey was involved in the attack. Detectives found Schram’s wallet and a can of bear mace at the scene. The next day, police interviewed Dailey and Evans. Everett police officers also found the abandoned Durango about a week later. Police never found Burley’s wallet or the gun used to shoot him.

A Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory (WSPCL) forensic scientist found Nava’s DNA on the gearshift of the Durango and “excluded” Dailey, Evans, and Nava Martinez Jr. “as the source” of the DNA. A WSPCL forensic scientist also traced Nava Martinez Jr.’s DNA to the steering wheel and the handle pulls and controls of the driver’s side interior door of the Durango and excluded Dailey, Evans, and Nava as the

source of the DNA. Surgeons recovered part of a bullet from Burley’s head. Testing by a WSPCL ballistics expert showed the bullet was fired from a .38 caliber handgun.5 Nava and Nava Martinez Jr. fled to California. On February 28, 2018, members of the Escondido Police Department arrested them and managed to identify Nava Martinez Jr. using facial recognition software. They discovered an active warrant from Washington. Marysville police detectives interviewed Nava in California. In his statement to police, Nava admitted that on February 20, 2018, he “wanted to . . . get high” and drove around Marysville in Beston’s Durango with Dailey and Evans to get drugs. “[B]ut they were short of money” so the three planned to wait outside a tattoo shop to rob someone. Nava also told detectives that he was not the driver and that they ended up at the hotel where Burley was shot because the robbery did not “ ‘work out.’ ” According to Nava, they sat in the car and smoked heroin, Dailey and Evans put on a “sweater or something,” and exited the Durango. Then he heard a “bang or something.” Nava never said Nava Martinez Jr. was with them.

The State charged Dailey, Evans, Nava Martinez Jr., and Nava with first degree murder with firearm enhancements. Dailey and Evans later agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for “truthful” testimony against Nava and Nava Martinez Jr. At their joint trial, Nava Martinez Jr. testified but Nava did not.

The jury convicted Nava of first degree murder and found that he was armed with a firearm when he committed the crime. The court imposed a standard-range sentence of 331 months. The court also ordered Nava to pay a $100 DNA collection fee. It

5 Detectives later learned that Nava’s girlfriend Beston owned a black and silver .38 caliber

Beretta and kept it in a lockbox at her home. When detectives asked to see her gun, she discovered it was “missing.” Beston testified that she and Nava lived together and the last time she saw the gun was about a week before the murder.

otherwise found Nava indigent and waived all discretionary legal financial obligations. Nava appeals.

ANALYSIS

Nava alleges the State improperly minimized its burden during jury selection, the trial court erred in denying his motions for a mistrial after witnesses twice violated a pretrial order, the prosecutor committed misconduct by vouching for two witnesses, and the trial court erred in admitting certain evidence. He argues that the cumulative effect of these errors denied him a fair trial. He also argues the court improperly imposed the DNA fee. We address each argument in turn. Jury Selection Nava contends the State improperly minimized its burden during jury selection by “repeatedly press[ing] jurors about finding a person guilty based on accomplice liability and ask[ing] them to declare the circumstances under which they would convict a person as an accomplice.” We disagree.

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