State v. Aguilar

308 P.3d 778, 176 Wash. App. 264
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedAugust 20, 2013
DocketNo. 30738-7-III
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 308 P.3d 778 (State v. Aguilar) 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 v. Aguilar, 308 P.3d 778, 176 Wash. App. 264 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

Kulik, J.

¶1 After confronting his wife about her telephone conversation with another man, Sebastian Cortes Aguilar1 stabbed and killed his wife. Mr. Cortes also cut his daughter as she attempted to block her father from attacking her mother. A jury found Mr. Cortes guilty of first degree murder of his wife and second degree assault of his daughter. Mr. Cortes appeals. He contends that the evidence was not sufficient to establish the premeditation element of first degree murder. He also contends that the evidence was not sufficient to establish that he intentionally assaulted his daughter. Finally, Mr. Cortes challenges the condition of community custody that prohibits him from contacting his children for 10 years. We conclude that Mr. Cortes’s challenges are without merit and affirm the trial court in all respects.

FACTS

¶2 In August 2011, Mr. Cortes and his wife, Ortencia Arroyo Alejandre, argued in their Chelan County home. Mr. Cortes stabbed Ms. Arroyo Alejandre at least five times. She died at the home from her injuries. The couple’s 13-year-old daughter was also cut during the argument. Wenatchee police arrested Mr. Cortes and charged him with first degree murder of Ms. Arroyo Alejandre and first degree assault — domestic violence of their daughter.

¶3 At trial, Officer Keith Kellogg testified that he interviewed Mr. Cortes regarding the death of Ms. Arroyo [268]*268Alejandre. Mr. Cortes told Officer Kellogg that Ms. Arroyo Alejandre was holding a knife to peel a cucumber when Mr. Cortes voiced his suspicions about her talking to a man on the telephone. Ms. Arroyo Alejandre became upset and struck out at Mr. Cortes with the knife, cutting him on the hand. Mr. Cortes told Officer Kellogg that Ms. Arroyo Alejandre threatened to kill him so he grabbed the knife and attacked her to prevent being harmed or killed. Mr. Cortes stated that he intended to stab Ms. Arroyo Alejandre in the throat but did not think that he would kill her if he stabbed her in that area. Mr. Cortes said that he acted out because of Ms. Arroyo Alejandre’s words and actions. Officer Kellogg testified that he saw cuts to Mr. Cortes’s hand and shoulder, which, according to Mr. Cortes, came from Ms. Arroyo Alejandre.

¶4 During the interview, Mr. Cortes also said that he remembered his daughter getting in the middle of the argument but did not remember cutting her during that process and that it must have been an accident. He said everything happened very quickly.

¶5 The daughter witnessed the violent argument between her parents. She testified that she was listening to the television and could hear her parents arguing in another room. When she heard a bottle crack, she turned off the television and ran into the living room. She witnessed her father punching her mother and beating her mother with a belt. Her father ran into the kitchen, and the daughter attempted to pick up her mother and take her away from the house. The daughter testified that she knew her father was going to get a knife because she had observed him do it before.

¶6 The daughter said her father caught up with them and pulled them into a corner. The daughter positioned herself in front of her mother. Her father then “started, like, throwing the knife, like, trying to punch her and I was trying to hit him so he would stop.” Report of Proceedings (RP) at 330. The daughter saw her father hit her mother [269]*269with the knife. When the daughter turned around, she saw her mother covered in blood. The daughter’s arm was cut during the attack, although she did not realize it at the time. She did not believe that her father was aiming the knife at her.

¶7 The couple’s son also witnessed the argument and testified at trial. He stated that he was in the kitchen when he heard the bottle crack. He went into the living room and saw his sister trying to protect his mother. He also saw his father pulling his mother’s hair. When Mr. Cortes went to get a knife, the son called 911. He heard his mother screaming. When he saw his mother next, she was bleeding from the neck and unconscious.

¶8 A neighbor testified that he saw a man, covered in blood, come out of the residence and drive away from the scene in a hurry. He also saw a girl come out and yell, “ ‘Daddy, don’t leave.’ ” RP at 313.

¶9 The children’s godfather, Jorge Torres Cortes, testified that Mr. Cortes called him and asked to hide in his garage. Mr. Torres asked what happened, and Mr. Cortes responded that he killed his wife.

¶10 Officer Jared Reinfeld was the first officer to arrive at the scene. He testified that the daughter came out of the basement of the home, screaming and soaked in blood. Officer Reinfeld followed the daughter as she ran back inside. The daughter was holding her mother in her lap, screaming that her mother was dead. When Officer Reinfeld asked the daughter who did it, she responded that her dad killed her mom.

¶11 Emergency medical technician Aaron Jacobs testified that he was dispatched to the scene. When he entered the apartment, he saw the daughter clinging to her mother and crying hysterically. He also noticed that both Ms. Arroyo Alejandre and the daughter were completely covered in blood, as were the walls where they were located. Mr. Jacobs and his team initiated basic life support but [270]*270were unable to resuscitate Ms. Arroyo Alejandre. Ms. Arroyo Alejandre was pronounced dead at the scene.

¶12 Dr. Jonathan Kim, an emergency medicine physician, testified that on the date of the incident, he treated a stab wound on a 13-year-old girl. He stated that she was tearful and emotional when he observed her. She made a statement that her father had become drunk and slit her mother’s throat because he thought her mother had been cheating on him. She said she was trying to hold her mother and, at some point in the process, she was cut. Dr. Kim testified that the girl’s wound was deep and serious. He believed that the wound was caused by a knife.

¶13 Forensic pathologist Dr. Gina Fino performed the autopsy of Ms. Arroyo Alejandre. She testified that multiple sharp force injuries were present on Ms. Arroyo Alejandre’s body. The first wound that Dr. Fino described was a penetrating stab wound to the anterior of the neck, caused by a knife. This wound continued under the collarbone and appeared to end in the right anterior upper lung lobe, making a visible cut mark in the lung. The wound was about six inches deep.

¶14 The second wound was a two-inch curved penetrating stab wound to the upper right chest. The wound was six inches deep, punctured the right lung, and left tool marks on the rib. Dr. Fino also testified to three other upper body stab wounds, ranging from three to six inches deep. One of the stab wounds that punctured Ms. Arroyo Alejandre’s lung caused blood to accumulate in her chest cavity.

¶15 Dr. Fino testified to other superficial sharp force injuries on Ms. Arroyo Alejandre’s upper chest area. She also testified to an injury to Ms. Arroyo Alejandre’s forehead that went completely through her skin and made a mark on her skull. Dr. Fino found defensive wounds on Ms. Arroyo Alejandre’s hand and arms. She associated these wounds with Ms. Arroyo Alejandre using parts of her body to block an injury.

[271]*271¶16 Dr. Fino concluded her testimony by saying that the mechanism of death was bleeding from the stab wounds. She also recognized damage to the lungs. Her conclusion was that Ms.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State Of Washington, V. Alexander Semaj Isaiah Carson
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2026
State of Washington v. Sebastian Cortes Aguilar
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2026
State Of Washington, V. Guillermo Raya Leon
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2026
Personal Restraint Petition Of John Paul Beckmeyer
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2026
State Of Washington, V. Kevin Laurence Lewis
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
State Of Washington, V. Scott Gregory Davis
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024
State Of Washington, V. Wendell Allen Wilson
553 P.3d 678 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024)
State Of Washington, V. John Patrick Kelly
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024
State of Washington v. Andrew Houston Pointer, III
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024
State Of Washington, V. Dustin L. Zapel
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2022
State of Washington v. Mark Reynolds Worth
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State Of Washington, V. Erick Chapmon
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State Of Washington, V. Dustin A. Griffin
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
State Of Washington, V Arkangel D. Howard
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State Of Washington v. Donald L. Hogan
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State of Washington v. Abdul Rahman Sweidan
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State Of Washington v. Jacob Skylar Allyn Lee
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
State of Washington v. Francisco Javier Munoz Quintero
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2018
State Of Washington v. Jaspal Singh Gill
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2017
State Of Washington v. Bruce Allen Hummel
383 P.3d 592 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2016)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
308 P.3d 778, 176 Wash. App. 264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-aguilar-washctapp-2013.