State of Washington v. Leslie Melgar Moreno

529 P.3d 431
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided May 18, 2023·No. 38425-0·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

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FILED

MAY 18, 2023

In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division III

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

STATE OF WASHINGTON, ) No. 38425-0-III )

Respondent, )

)

v. ) PUBLISHED OPINION )

LESLIE MELGAR MORENO, )

)

Appellant. )

PENNELL, J. — Leslie Moreno was charged with first degree premediated murder but was convicted at trial of the lesser offense of first degree manslaughter. Ms. Moreno asserted a claim of self-defense based on a theory of either excusable or justifiable homicide. The jury was instructed on justifiable and excusable homicide as to first degree murder and two other lesser offenses. But Ms. Moreno’s attorney failed to request similar instructions as to first degree manslaughter. Ms. Moreno’s trial attorney repeatedly admitted on the record that they did not make this request based on their belief that the defenses of excusable and justifiable homicide did not apply to first degree manslaughter.

On appeal, Ms. Moreno argues her trial attorney provided constitutionally ineffective representation when the attorney failed to seek self-defense instructions

No. 38425-0-III State v. Moreno

applicable to first degree manslaughter. We agree. Trial counsel failed to recognize the defenses of excusable and justifiable homicide can apply to all forms of illegal homicide. As a result, the court’s jury instructions improperly suggested Ms. Moreno’s defenses did not apply to the offense of first degree manslaughter, of which she was ultimately convicted. Because counsel’s error sufficiently undermines our confidence in the outcome, we must reverse Ms. Moreno’s conviction.

FACTS

On December 28, 2018, Leslie Moreno called 911 and reported she was driving her boyfriend, Marcus Allessio, to the hospital because he had been stabbed. Ms. Moreno stated she could not remember what happened but she and Mr. Allessio had been fighting and struggling for control of a knife. Ms. Moreno said that Mr. Allessio was neither conscious nor alert and that her four-year-old daughter was in the back seat of the vehicle. Dispatch convinced Ms. Moreno to pull over and wait for help.

Law enforcement and paramedics met Ms. Moreno at a weigh station just outside Walla Walla and discovered Mr. Allessio inside Ms. Moreno’s Toyota Highlander. Mr. Allessio had succumbed to a single stab wound to the heart. A kitchen knife was found on the floor of the vehicle. Ms. Moreno accompanied law enforcement to the sheriff’s office where she agreed to an interview.

No. 38425-0-III State v. Moreno

In her interview, Ms. Moreno explained that Mr. Allessio had physically attacked her while the pair was inside her home and that he had threatened her with a knife. Ms. Moreno claimed Mr. Allessio had walked outside with the knife to Ms. Moreno’s Highlander. Ms. Moreno stated she followed him, a struggle for the knife ensued and, the next thing she knew, Mr. Allessio was covered in blood. Ms. Moreno further stated Mr. Allessio had a history of suicidal ideation and she wanted to prevent him from hurting himself.

Multiple law enforcement officers noticed Ms. Moreno had fresh facial injuries, including bruising and redness, a swollen lip encrusted with blood, and a developing black eye. Law enforcement deemed Ms. Moreno cooperative and released her.

Meanwhile, officers went to Ms. Moreno’s home for further investigation. The interior of the home showed signs of a physical altercation. Contact with a neighbor who lived across the street from Ms. Moreno resulted in acquisition of a security surveillance video. The video captured the altercation between Ms. Moreno and Mr. Allessio in the driveway at the time of the stabbing.

As summarized by one of the detectives at trial, the video revealed that:

[Mr. Allessio] can be seen coming out of the garage . . . . [H]e walks out to the [vehicle] and then [Ms. Moreno] is walking out shortly thereafter within a few seconds. He gets in the Highlander . . . . [A]nd she comes out with a knife in her hand or what appears to be the knife and she’s carrying it in her

No. 38425-0-III State v. Moreno

right hand and you can see her as he’s standing at the door, they’re yelling back and forth. They’re talking about problems with money and she doesn’t want him to go waste gas and that it’s her gas and her money and he’s saying he doesn’t care. And you know, he’s yelling, you know, [“]have you done anything for me,[”] [“]have you filled out any applications for me[”] .

. . . And she says [“]my fucking gas[”] and [“]my fucking money.[”] And while they’re having this exchange, she lifts the knife above her head with the blade pointed forward and [Mr. Allessio] kind of steps [or leans] back a little bit briefly and there was a little bit more arguing and then he sits in the [vehicle] and they argue back and forth a little bit . . . .

2 Rep. of Proc. (RP) (Feb. 8, 2021) at 637-38 (emphasis added) (some alteration in original).

At the point described above where Mr. Allessio stepped or leaned back, Ms. Moreno lowered the knife. Mr. Allessio got into the driver’s seat of the Highlander, and with the door open Ms. Moreno leaned her head, arms, and upper torso into the vehicle multiple times, entering the driver’s side where Mr. Allessio sat. The first time Ms. Moreno leaned back out of the vehicle, the knife was no longer in her right hand but her left hand was not visible. Ms. Moreno was the last one seen on the video holding the knife, though the footage does not show exactly what happened each time she leaned into the vehicle.

At some point, the Highlander’s horn honked and the reverse lights came on and the vehicle backed up slightly, indicating Mr. Allessio had started it. Then, three long muffled moans could be heard from Mr. Allessio while Ms. Moreno was leaning inside

No. 38425-0-III State v. Moreno

the vehicle. Within seconds, Ms. Moreno got out of the vehicle, stood upright and crossed her arms, paced for a moment, and then returned her upper body briefly into the vehicle’s interior. At that point, there was nothing in her hands. Ms. Moreno can then be seen running inside the house and, about 16 seconds later, she emerged with her daughter, who she secured in the back seat of the vehicle. Ms. Moreno then drove away seated on Mr. Allessio’s lap.

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State of Washington v. Leslie Melgar Moreno, 529 P.3d 431 (Wash. Ct. App. 2023).

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