State v. Guzman

2004 UT App 211, 95 P.3d 302, 502 Utah Adv. Rep. 21, 2004 Utah App. LEXIS 61, 2004 WL 1403426
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJune 24, 2004
Docket20030019-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 2004 UT App 211 (State v. Guzman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Guzman, 2004 UT App 211, 95 P.3d 302, 502 Utah Adv. Rep. 21, 2004 Utah App. LEXIS 61, 2004 WL 1403426 (Utah Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

OPINION

ORME, Judge:

¶ 1 Defendant appeals his conviction for aggravated robbery, a first degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-302 (2003), and aggravated kidnaping, a first degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-302 (2003), 1 growing out of a home invasion robbery. Defendant primarily challenges the trial court’s decision to let the victim testify how certain she was of her several identifications of Defendant. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

¶2 On April 18, 2001, the victim in this case, a young woman, was driving home from work to her South Salt Lake townhouse, where she lived with three roommates. Meanwhile, Defendant and six others, including Fernando Fernandez and a woman named Miguella, met at a park where they ingested cocaine and methamphetamine. The group decided they were going to raid a “known” drug house for cocaine and money. Defendant and Miguella were to gain entry first and then telephone the others to follow. The group parked down the street from the targeted house, and Defendant and Miguella walked toward the house while the others remained in the van.

¶ 3 As the victim approached her townhouse and turned into the driveway, she saw a man and woman, who were later identified as Defendant and Miguella, walking along the road toward her house. The victim pulled into her garage, shut off the engine of her car, and gathered her belongings. Defendant and Miguella entered the victim’s garage, and Defendant knocked on the driver’s side window of her ear. The victim rolled down her window, and Defendant demanded money and drugs, showed her a handgun, and told her to shut the garage door. Defendant opened the car door, showed the victim that the gun was loaded, and put the gun to her head as he ordered her out of the car.

¶ 4 After the victim exited the car, Defendant took her cell phone and cigarettes, then pushed her onto the garage floor, and Migu-ella tied her hands and feet together while Defendant continued to point the gun at her and demand money and drugs. The victim offered the six dollars in her wallet and tried to explain that only she and her roommates lived there, and they had no money or drugs.

¶ 5 Unpersuaded, Defendant went inside the house, leaving Miguella in the garage with the victim. Soon thereafter, the victim heard several other people moving around inside her house. Three of those individuals, one of whom had a “clown-jester-type” tattoo and was later identified as Fernandez, came to the doorway of the garage and peeked at the victim. After fifteen to twenty minutes of rummaging through the house, the group determined they were in the wrong house. They finally departed, taking some jewelry and an old cell phone. They left the victim tied up in the garage, and she eventually worked herself free, went inside to the kitchen, and vomited.

¶ 6 The victim reported the incident to the police, and an officer arrived, gathered some information, and enlisted the services of a crime scene technician. On May 23, 2001, *305 more than a month after the incident, Detective Jewkes met with the victim and showed her a group of photographs. She promptly identified Defendant as the gunman. At trial, the victim testified that at the time of the identification she rated her confidence in her identification as a “10” on a scale of one to ten, and she stated that “[she] will never forget his face.” She further testified that the man in the photo she picked had one eye that was “just kind of deformed,” like the gunman’s, and that “[everything about his face” was consistent with her memory of the gunman. Additionally at trial, Jewkes testified that at the time of the identification, the victim stated she was “100 percent positive” of her identification.

¶ 7 From a second photo array, the victim identified another man, Fernandez, as one of the robbers who had stood in the doorway of the garage. At trial, the victim testified that at the time of the photo lineup, she rated her confidence in this identification as a “six or seven,” because she “didn’t get to see his face very long,” but added that she “will never forget [his] tattoo.” Eight months later, the victim went to an in-person lineup at the police station, and she again identified Defendant as the gunman. At trial, she testified that she was “100 percent” certain of this identification and was able to identify Defendant within “[s]eeonds, as soon as he walked out.”

¶ 8 Both Fernandez and Defendant were originally charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnaping, with weapons and “gang” enhancements. Fernandez entered into a plea agreement, and pursuant to the agreement, he pled guilty to one count of simple robbery in exchange for his testimony against Defendant.'

¶ 9 Before trial, Defendant filed a motion in limine seeking to preclude testimony about the victim’s level of confidence in her two pretrial identifications of Defendant. The trial court heard oral arguments on this issue and denied the motion, concluding that the witness’s confidence in her identifications was a factor that the jury could legitimately consider in evaluating the evidence.

¶ 10 At the close of trial, the court refused to give a jury instruction, requested by Defendant, concerning the jury’s evaluation of Fernandez’s testimony. 2 The trial court determined that the instruction would direct the jury to pay special attention to a particular witness and, therefore, use of the jury instruction would be improper. However, the court did include an instruction regarding the jury’s role in evaluating and weighing the credibility of all the witnesses. 3 After due deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of *306 guilty on both the aggravated kidnaping and the aggravated robbery charges. It also found that Defendant used a firearm and acted in concert with two or more persons, subjecting him to enhanced penalties under Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-3-203 and -203.1 (Supp.2000). 4 Defendant was subsequently sentenced to consecutive terms of six years to life imprisonment for aggravated robbery and fifteen years to life for aggravated kid-naping. This appeal followed.

ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW

¶ 11 Defendant argues that it was error to allow the victim and Detective Jewkes to testify as to the certainty of the victim’s identifications of Defendant. The standard for

reviewing a trial court’s decision to admit eyewitness identification testimony requires us to consider the record evidence and determine whether the admission of the identification is consistent with the due process guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and article I, section 7 of the Utah Constitution.

State v. Hubbard, 2002 UT 45,¶ 22, 48 P.3d 953. Thus, our review employs “a correctness standard, which incorporates a clearly erroneous standard for the review of subsidiary factual determinations.” State v.

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Bluebook (online)
2004 UT App 211, 95 P.3d 302, 502 Utah Adv. Rep. 21, 2004 Utah App. LEXIS 61, 2004 WL 1403426, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-guzman-utahctapp-2004.