State v. Calderon

220 So. 3d 830, 16 La.App. 5 Cir. 690, 2017 WL 1365357, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 610
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 12, 2017
DocketNO. 16-KA-690
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 220 So. 3d 830 (State v. Calderon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Calderon, 220 So. 3d 830, 16 La.App. 5 Cir. 690, 2017 WL 1365357, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 610 (La. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

CHEHARDY, C.J.

I defendant, Emilio Calderon, appeals his convictions and sentences for second degree murder and first degree feticide. For the reasons that follow, we affirm his cofivictions and sentences, and remand the matter for correction of the commitment.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Katherine Martinez was found strangled to death in her apartment on June 7, '2014. She was eight months pregnant. Years before, in 2007, wh.en Katherine was sixteen years old, she immigrated to the United States with her mother, Orla Martinez. They initially settled in New York City;' but after Katherine had finished high school, she and her mother moved to Gretna in 2011, where Katherine got a job and began pursuing a career in nursing. Katherine also maintained a social life, befriending Santos Reyes, Juan Lozano, and Emilio Calderon, defendant. Although she was romantically involved with each of these men to varying degrees at various points in time, the evidence suggests Katherine established a steady relationship with Mr. Lozano sometime in. 2012 and became pregnant with his child in late 2013.1

On the night of Saturday, June 7, 2014, Katherine and Mr. Lozano were to pick up Katherine’s mother from the airport. Mrs. Martinez, who was in New York,, had spoken with Katherine that morning, but was unable to get in touch with her after 1:00 p.m. eastern time. Growing concerned, Mrs. Martinez called Santos Reyes around [832]*8325:00 p.m. central time to see if he could get in touch with Katherine. Mr. Reyes sent several text messages to Katherine but got no response. At Mrs. Martinez’s insistence, Mr. Reyes went to Katherine’s apartment looking for her. The lights were out and nobody answered the door, so he assumed she was not home and he left.

laMrs. Martinez arrived at the New Orleans airport around 11:00 p.m. Mr. Reyes picked her up and they went straight to Katherine’s apartment in Gretna. They forced open the door and found Katherine unresponsive on the kitchen floor. Mr. Reyes immediately began administering first aid, but soon realized that Katherine was stiff and cold to the touch. After failed attempts to revive her with fingernail polish remover, they called 9-1-1.

Detective Gabriel Faucetta of the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office (“JPSO”) responded to the scene around 1:00 a.m. on June 8, 2014. Katherine lay face up on the kitchen floor in only a brassiere, shorts, and underwear. Several of her acrylic fingernails were broken off, suggesting a struggle had occurred. She had sustained several stab wounds.

The autopsy later confirmed Katherine’s cause of death was asphyxia due to strangulation. This was also her unborn child’s cause of death. It was determined that the five stab wounds had not caused her death because she had not lost a fatal amount of blood. It was estimated that Katherine had been dead between four and twelve hours at the time she was found.

Through his investigation, Detective Faucetta was put in touch with Katherine’s boyfriend, Mr. Lozano, who agreed to meet with him at the detective bureau. Mr. Lozano was very cooperative: he answered the detective’s questions, allowed officers to search his cell phone, and provided a DNA sample. Mr. Lozano also removed his shirt and permitted officers to examine his body for injuries or scratches. None were found. Officers searched Mr. Lozano’s vehicle, house, and business, but located nothing of value. Through the use of cellular records, Detective Faucetta corroborated Mr. Lozano’s whereabouts on June 7, 2014. Mr. Lozano was ruled out as a suspect.

Similarly, Mr. Reyes agreed to meet with detectives, and was also very cooperative, allowing officers to search his cell phone, providing a DNA sample, |sand permitting an examination of his body, which did not reveal any injuries or scratches. Mr. Reyes’ whereabouts on June 7, 2014 were also corroborated with his cellular records. He too was ruled out as a suspect.

As detectives continued their investigation, Mrs. Martinez advised them of troubling conversations she had with defendant through Facebook and WhatsApp, a text messaging application. The evidence suggested that defendant and Katherine had a falling out and that Katherine cut off communication with him, blocking him on social media. This prompted him to reach out to her mother. In a Facebook conversation on October 26, 2012, defendant told Mrs. Martinez that Katherine had hurt him but that he still loved her and did not know what to do.2 Then, two days later, defendant messaged Mrs. Martinez asking for Katherine’s phone number, explaining that “despite the insults, the lies, everything, I still love her and cannot forget her.” On November 4, 2012, Mrs. Martinez relayed to defendant Katherine’s message that she did not want to hurt him but it was best for him to forget about her. Months later, [833]*833on April 7, 2013, defendant messaged Mrs. Martinez asking her to tell Katherine that he loved her, that she was the love of his life, and that he would wait his whole life for her. Over the next several months, defendant continued to communicate with Mrs. Martinez through Facebook, attempting to reunite with Katherine, with no success. Finally, in May of 2014, defendant asked Mrs. Martinez if Katherine was pregnant. Upon learning that she was, he responded with two emojis of crying faces.

Detective Faucetta decided to follow this lead and obtained defendant’s cellular records. Analysis of these records revealed that on the morning of June 7, 2014, defendant’s cell phone was in close range of the shipyard in Lafourche Parish where he was employed. As the day progressed, the records reflect that his cell phone gradually drew closer in range to the victim’s apartment. At 2:05 p.m., phis phone was within one mile of the victim’s apartment. Thereafter, the records indicate that his cell phone drew progressively distant from her apartment and closer to the shipyard, where it finally stopped.

■ With this information, on June 10, 2014, Detective Faucetta coordinated with the Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office to meet with defendant at the shipyard. Defendant agreed to accompany the detectives to the Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office, where he was advised of his rights, agreed to waive them, and spoke with the officers. Defendant gave four recorded statements that day. Though defendant is able to communicate in English, his primary language is Spanish. Accordingly, in defendant’s first two statements, Lieutenant Valerie Martinez of the Lafourche Parish Sheriffs Office assisted with translation. Detective Julio Alvarado of JPSO assisted in defendant’s third and fourth statements.

In his first statement, which began at 4:34 p.m. and concluded at 4:52 p.m., defendant explained that he had known Katherine for two years and that they had intermittent sexual relations, but that they had- not dated exclusively. He stated that he gave her money for a plane ticket to New York and $2,000 to buy a car. He claimed the last time he saw her was two weeks prior when they met in a hotel room to have sex. He denied being in Gretna over the weekend and stated that his cell phone was with him at all times over the weekend.

In his second statement, which began at 5:21 p.m. and concluded at 5:40 p.m., defendant began to change his story. He now acknowledged that he was in Gretna on June 7 because Katherine texted him and asked him to come to her apartment. He explained he went there around 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. to have sex with her.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
220 So. 3d 830, 16 La.App. 5 Cir. 690, 2017 WL 1365357, 2017 La. App. LEXIS 610, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-calderon-lactapp-2017.