State of Washington v. Uriel Ortiz

Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided August 22, 2013·No. 30198-2·Unpublished

Opinion

FILED

AUGUST 22, 2013

In the Office of the Clerk of Court W A State Court of Appeals, Division III

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

STATE OF WASHINGTON, )

) No. 30198-2-111

Respondent, )

)

v. )

)

URIEL ORTIZ, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION )

Appellant. )

KORSMO, C.J. - Uriel Ortiz challenges his convictions for two counts of second degree assault and two counts of felony harassment on the basis of evidentiary sufficiency, evidentiary and instructional error, and prosecutorial misconduct. We find no error, and affirm.

FACTS

Late in the evening of May 21,2011, Uriel Ortiz was atthe store with his teenage son, Abraham Ortiz, when a friend informed him that Sarah Humphries had gone to Mr. Ortiz's residence to speak with Mr. Ortiz's wife, Patricia Rivera. Mr. Ortiz, who was

No. 30 198-2-II1 State v. Ortiz

engaged in an extra marital affair with Ms. Humphries, became visibly upset and declared he was going to find and kill Ms. Humphries.

During this time, Ms. Humphries contacted Ms. Rivera at the family residence.

Ms. Humphries expressed concern that Mr. Ortiz would return, so the women walked down the street. Mr. Ortiz, Abraham, and the friend returned to the family residence where they searched for Ms. Rivera. Abraham noticed Mr. Ortiz was wearing a holster with a handgun in it. The only weapon the family had in the house was a BB rifle.

Mr. Ortiz spotted the women down the street, contacted them, and threatened Ms.

Humphries by pointing a gun toward her feet. Ms. Humphries stepped back and both women appeared scared. Ms. Rivera stepped in front of Ms. Humphries and attempted to push the gun away. Mr. Ortiz told Ms. Humphries she had better not come around and threatened to kill her.

After threatening Ms. Humphries, Mr. Ortiz returned to the family residence and told Abraham to go get Ms. Rivera. Ms. Rivera returned to the residence and Ms. Humphries left the area. According to Abraham, Mr. Ortiz told Ms. Rivera to avoid Ms. Humphries and knocked Ms. Rivera down when she tried to leave the room, telling her he was going to find and kill Ms. Humphries. According to Ms. Rivera, Mr. Ortiz pushed her down and proceeded to hit and kick her before pulling out the gun and telling her he would shoot her. He also told her that he was going to kill Ms. Humphries, and that he would kill Ms. Rivera if she left the family residence.

No. 30198-2-111 State v. Ortiz

After Mr. Ortiz left, Ms. Rivera called the police. The police took Ms. Rivera and her children to the police station, and attempted to locate Mr. Ortiz. They eventually spoke with Mr. Ortiz on Abraham's cell phone and arranged to meet with him at the family residence approximately 45 minutes after the 911 call.

Mr. Ortiz immediately told the police the gun he used to threaten Ms. Humphries was a toy gun and directed the officers to a revolver-type BB gun lying on the ground outside the house. He was not wearing a holster. He also told the police he confronted the women with the BB gun and acted like he was going to slap Ms. Humphries with it. He denied hitting or threatening Ms. Rivera.

Mr. Ortiz was charged with two counts of second degree assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of felony harassment. Prior to trial, the State moved to admit evidence of two prior incidents of domestic violence committed by Mr. Ortiz against Ms. Rivera; one incident occurred in March 2011 and the other on May 20, 2011. Over objection, the trial court ruled the evidence was admissible under ER 404(b) to prove Ms. Rivera's reasonable fear and reasonable apprehension of bodily injury as well as to assist the jury in assessing Ms. Rivera's credibility. The defense did not request a limiting instruction.

Neither Ms. Humphries nor Mr. Ortiz testified at trial. After the State presented its case, Mr. Ortiz moved to dismiss all charges, arguing the State had failed to show he used a deadly weapon to threaten the women and that there was insufficient evidence to

No. 30 198-2-III State v. Ortiz

prove he committed felony harassment of Ms. Humphries. The trial court denied the motion and the jury subsequently found Mr. Ortiz guilty on all four counts.

He timely appealed to this court.

ANALYSIS

Mr. Ortiz alleges the trial court erred by admitting evidence of Mr. Ortiz's prior acts of domestic violence. He also claims the prosecutor committed misconduct, challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, and contends the trial court violated his right to a unanimous jury verdict. We address each argument in tum. l ER 404(b) Evidence Mr. Ortiz first argues the trial court erred by admitting evidence of his prior acts of domestic violence against Ms. Rivera under ER 404(b). He claims the prosecutor did not establish the purpose for which the evidence was admitted and also that the trial court failed to conduct the required ER 404(b) balancing test. We conclude that the prior acts of domestic violence were properly admitted under ER 404(b) to assist the jury in assessing Ms. Rivera's credibility and state of mind.

A defendant's prior acts of domestic abuse against the alleged victim are admissible under ER 404(b) to assist the jury in assessing the victim's credibility as a witness and the victim's state ofmind. State v. Grant, 83 Wn. App. 98, 106-08,920 P.2d

1 Mr.Ortiz also raises a cumulative error argument, but because we conclude there were no errors, there is no basis for finding cumulative error.

No.30198-2-II1 State v. Ortiz

609 (1996); State v. Barragan, 102 Wn. App. 754,9 P.3d 942 (2000). A victim's knowledge ofthe defendant's past behavior is highly probative evidence that bears directly on the reasonableness of the victim's fear. See, e.g., Barragan, 102 Wn. App. at 759; State v. Ragin, 94 Wn. App. 407,411,972 P.2d 519 (1999); State v. Binkin, 79 Wn. App. 284, 291, 902 P.2d 673 (1995), abrogated by State v. Kilgore, 147 Wn.2d 288,53 P.3d 974 (2002).

The decision to admit evidence under ER 404(b) is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. State v. DeVincentis, 150 Wn.2d 11, 17, 74 P.3d 119 (2003). A trial court abuses its discretion if it fails to abide by the rule's requirements. State v. Foxhoven, 161 Wn.2d 168, 174, 163 P.3d 786 (2007). Discretion is also abused ifit is exercised on untenable grounds or for untenable reasons. State ex reI. Carroll v. Junker, 79 Wn.2d 12, 26,482 P.2d 775 (1971).

The court held a pretrial hearing on July 26, 2011, to determine the admissibility of prior incidences of domestic violence committed by Mr. Ortiz against his wife. The first incident occurred in March 2011, and resulted in Ms. Rivera calling the police. The second occurred on May 20, 2011.

The trial court ruled that the evidence of Mr. Ortiz's prior assaultive conduct toward Ms. Rivera was admissible under ER 404(b) for two reasons. The court noted:

So in general there are two separate legal theories that require the admissibility of prior threats and acts of domestic violence. One, to assess the domestic violence situation dynamics of the relationship to determine

No.30198-2-III State v. Ortiz

whether the victim should be granted credibility. And the other independent basis is that the defendant's charged with harassment and the-part of that charge, one of the elements is the establishment of a real threat and a reasonable apprehension of~that the harm-the threat will be carried out.

Report of Proceedings July 26, 2011 at 25.

We agree that the evidence of Mr. Ortiz's prior assaultive conduct toward Ms.

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