State v. E Aragon

CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedMarch 23, 2009
Docket26,430
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. E Aragon (State v. E Aragon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. E Aragon, (N.M. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

1 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO

2 STATE OF NEW MEXICO,

3 Plaintiff-Appellee,

4 v. NO. 26,430

5 EUGENE ARAGON,

6 Defendant-Appellant.

7 APPEAL FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF SAN MIGUEL COUNTY 8 Jay G. Harris, District Judge

9 Gary K. King, Attorney General 10 Santa Fe, NM 11 Joel Jacobsen, Assistant Attorney General 12 Albuquerque, NM

13 for Appellee

14 Hugh W. Dangler, Chief Public Defender 15 Will O’Connell, Assistant Appellate Defender 16 Santa Fe, NM

17 for Appellant

18 MEMORANDUM OPINION

19 SUTIN, Chief Judge.

20 Defendant Eugene Aragon appeals from his conviction of second degree

21 murder. Defendant appeals based on (1) the denial of his motion to suppress evidence,

22 namely, bloody clothing; (2) the admission into evidence of a vial of Victim’s blood 1 without proper foundation; (3) the admission into evidence of a post-Miranda

2 statement; (4) the admission of a hearsay statement of an emergency medical

3 technician (EMT) to a police officer; (5) the district court’s refusal to grant directed

4 verdicts of acquittal on various charges; (6) insufficient evidence; and (7) cumulative

5 error. As to Issue (1), we conclude Defendant did not carry his burden to substantiate

6 a reasonable expectation of privacy in the space from which his clothing was taken.

7 As to Issues (2) through (5), we affirm.

8 BACKGROUND

9 After a day of working and drinking together, Defendant and Victim, Eddie

10 Woods, got into an argument over money. Defendant punched and kicked Victim.

11 At some point, a friend of one of Victim’s neighbors found Victim unconscious and

12 called the police. A detective who was at the scene observed “a lot of blood on the

13 floor,” and Victim was taken to the hospital. Victim died twelve days later. The

14 cause of death was blunt trauma to the head.

15 At trial Defendant’s brother, Valentin Aragon, testified. He testified that he,

16 Defendant, Victim, and another brother of Defendant and Valentin named Robert

17 Aragon spent the day working on Robert’s mobile home. Throughout the day, the

18 men drank a significant amount of beer. After finishing the work at some point in the

2 1 evening, Defendant, Valentin, and Victim spent some time at Victim’s apartment.

2 Victim’s apartment did not have electricity. As it got dark outside, it became difficult

3 to see inside the apartment. There was better light across the street at the park, so the

4 men walked to the park. Around this time Valentin left, though he later went back to

5 Victim’s apartment.

6 Defendant testified that, while at the park, he and Victim decided to buy more

7 beer, and that Defendant gave Victim forty dollars to buy beer, cigarettes, and some

8 food. According to Defendant, Victim walked from the park toward the convenience

9 store. Ten to fifteen minutes passed, Victim did not return, and Defendant decided to

10 walk back to Victim’s apartment.

11 Defendant went to Victim’s apartment and yelled Victim’s name from

12 downstairs. Victim answered, and Defendant went upstairs to Victim’s apartment.

13 Defendant did not see any beer. Defendant told Victim that if he did not buy beer,

14 Defendant wanted his money back. Defendant told Victim to pull out his pockets and

15 show Defendant that he did not have Defendant’s money. Victim pulled out his front

16 pockets, and Defendant did not see his money. Defendant testified that he then

17 attempted to pat down Victim’s back pockets, but Victim shied away from him.

3 1 Defendant testified that at this point he felt a strike, as though he had been

2 punched in the face around his nose. Defendant testified that he reacted and punched

3 Victim twice. Defendant testified that he also threw a “pushing kick” at Victim.

4 Defendant testified that this is all that happened during the fight, which lasted five

5 seconds, and at this point Valentin walked in. Defendant testified that Valentin got

6 in between him and Victim, who was “half up, half down.” Valentin testified that,

7 when he came through the door, Victim was down on one knee and had the other knee

8 up with his foot on the ground. Defendant and Valentin left and walked to

9 Defendant’s mother’s house, a block and a half away.

10 Victim’s downstairs neighbor, Maria Trujillo, testified. She testified that she

11 got home when it was getting dark, and shortly thereafter she saw Victim and two

12 other men sitting on the porch, one of whom was Defendant. She called a friend,

13 Kamera Dominguez, who eventually came over. Ms. Dominguez then left and came

14 back about thirty to forty-five minutes later.

15 Ms. Dominguez testified that as she was leaving Ms. Trujillo’s apartment

16 Defendant and his brother were standing in front of the door. She testified that

17 Defendant was standing under the porch light and his brother was right below the

18 steps, and she saw blood on both of them and their clothing. Ms. Dominguez testified

4 1 that she said “excuse me” as she walked by Defendant, he had to move aside in order

2 for her to walk by, she walked to her house two doors down, gathered some personal

3 items, drove to check on her brother, and returned to Ms. Trujillo’s apartment. When

4 she arrived back at the apartment, she told Ms. Trujillo that she saw two men on the

5 porch and that they both had blood on them. Ms. Dominguez testified that Ms.

6 Trujillo asked what the men looked like and described the men before Ms. Dominguez

7 could answer. Ms. Trujillo then asked Ms. Dominguez to check on Victim. Ms.

8 Dominguez, along with another neighbor, went up to Victim’s apartment with a

9 flashlight and found Victim unconscious and bloody on the floor. Ms. Dominguez

10 testified that there was change, such as pennies, thrown on or around him. She went

11 back to Ms. Trujillo’s apartment and called the police.

12 When police officers arrived to investigate, one of the women told an officer

13 that one of the men who had left the area was Defendant. Officer Donna Chavez

14 testified that she, through dispatch, received a possible address for Defendant, which

15 was his mother’s address, and three officers went to the house. The officers knocked

16 on the door, and Defendant opened the door wearing only boxer shorts. Defendant

17 appeared intoxicated, and the officers noticed a bloodstain on Defendant’s arm.

18 Officer Chavez asked if she could enter and speak with Defendant’s sister and mother,

5 1 who were also at the door. The women agreed, and the officer went in and eventually,

2 after Defendant attempted to leave the room to get dressed, asked one or both of the

3 women to get some clothes for Defendant. The officer accompanied the women as

4 they went downstairs to the basement to get the clothes, and on the way she asked

5 them to get the clothes that Defendant had on earlier that day. The women complied.

6 Defendant put on the clothes he had been wearing earlier, and two of the officers

7 testified that they observed blood stains on Defendant’s t-shirt. None of the officers

8 observed any visible injuries on Defendant’s face.

9 Officer Steve Encinias testified at a suppression hearing that after Defendant

10 had been advised of his Miranda rights, while still at his mother’s house, Defendant

11 told Valentin, “No digas nada,” while being escorted to a police car. At a later

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