State v. Juan Roberto Jimenez

362 P.3d 541, 159 Idaho 466, 2015 Ida. App. LEXIS 90
CourtIdaho Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 2, 2015
Docket42155
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 362 P.3d 541 (State v. Juan Roberto Jimenez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho 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. Juan Roberto Jimenez, 362 P.3d 541, 159 Idaho 466, 2015 Ida. App. LEXIS 90 (Idaho Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

GUTIERREZ, Judge.

Juan Roberto Jimenez appeals from his judgment of conviction after he was found guilty of aggravated battery with a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, as well as being a persistent violator. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Jimenez and his brother, Jorge Alvarado, had a tense relationship. On February 9, 2013, the two engaged in several heated telephone conversations, concluding with Alvarado telling Jimenez he was coming over to Jimenez’s house. In response to this perceived threat, Jimenez secured a gun from a friend. When Alvarado arrived, he got out of his car in front of Jimenez’s house. The details of the events following Alvarado’s arrival are disputed. During trial, Jimenez testified that he discharged warning shots into the ground in response to Alvarado’s threats and advances and that Alvarado was armed and pointing a gun at his head. In *469 contrast, Alvarado testified that he was unarmed, having left his gun in his car, and that Jimenez shot him twice initially and then another three or four times after Alvarado tripped over a curb and fell to the ground. Alvarado sustained two bullet wounds in each leg and one bullet wound in his lower back.

Jimenez was charged with aggravated battery enhanced with the use of a firearm in its commission, Idaho Code §§ 18-903, 18-908, 19-2520, and with unlawful possession of a firearm with a persistent violator sentence enhancement, I.C. §§ 18-3316, 19-2514. Jimenez requested a self-defense instruction during the jury instruction conference. The court gave the pattern jury instructions for self-defense, Idaho Criminal Jury Instructions 1517, 1518, and 1519. Jimenez did not object to those instructions. Each of them referenced a “reasonable person” standard. During closing arguments, the prosecutor suggested that the jurors themselves were the “community ‘reasonable person.’” The jury found Jimenez guilty of aggravated battery with a weapons enhancement, unlawful possession of a firearm, and being a persistent violator of the law.

Prior to sentencing, Jimenez filed a motion for a new trial, citing to newly discovered evidence. He supported his motion with affidavits from two witnesses who swore to having conversations with Alvarado after the encounter at issue. The witnesses averred that Alvarado made statements regarding his stashing of the gun after being shot and his intent to harm Jimenez during the encounter. The district court denied this motion, finding that the newly discovered evidence would not probably produce an acquittal.

The district court sentenced Jimenez to a unified sentence of twenty-eight years with eight years determinate on the aggravated battery conviction and a concurrent sentence of five years determinate for the unlawful possession of a firearm conviction. Jimenez appeals.

II.

ANALYSIS

Jimenez raises four issues on appeal. First, Jimenez contends that the district court committed fundamental error by providing an erroneous self-defense jury instruction. Second, he contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct during closing arguments by mischaracterizing the “reasonable person” standard and that this misconduct constituted fundamental error. Third, Jimenez argues that the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a new trial. Finally, Jimenez asserts that the district court abused its sentencing discretion. We address each issue in turn.

A. Jury Instructions

Jimenez argues the trial court committed fundamental error by providing an erroneous jury instruction relating to his self-defense claim. Whether the jury has been properly instructed is a question of law over which we exercise free review. State v. Severson, 147 Idaho 694, 710, 215 P.3d 414, 430 (2009). When reviewing jury instructions, we ask whether the instructions as a whole, and not individually, fairly and accurately reflect applicable law. State v. Bowman, 124 Idaho 936, 942, 866 P.2d 193, 199 (Ct.App.1993). Here, Jimenez requested the court give the jury a self-defense instruction and did not object to the pertinent jury instruction at trial.

Generally, issues not raised below may not be considered for the first time on appeal. State v. Fodge, 121 Idaho 192, 195, 824 P.2d 123, 126 (1992). However, when a defendant fails to object to a jury instruction before the trial court, we will still review the jury instruction for fundamental error. State v. Adamcik, 152 Idaho 445, 472, 272 P.3d 417, 444 (2012). To prove fundamental error, a defendant must persuade the court that the alleged error: (1) violated one or more of the defendant’s unwaived constitutional rights; (2) is clear or obvious without the need for reference to any additional information not contained in the appellate record; and (3) affected the outcome of the trial proceedings. State v. Perry, 150 Idaho 209, 226, 245 P.3d 961, 978 (2010).

The instruction Jimenez takes issue with is the standard Idaho Criminal Jury Instruction 1517. This instruction enumerates the *470 five elements required to find that a defendant acted in self-defense: (1) the defendant must have believed that the defendant was in imminent danger of bodily harm; (2) the defendant must have believed that the action the defendant took was necessary to save the defendant from the danger presented; (3) a reasonable person, under similar circumstances, would have believed that the defendant was in imminent danger of bodily injury and believed that the action taken was necessary; (4) the defendant must have acted only in response to that danger and not for some other motivation; and (5) the defendant’s right of self-defense ends when there is no longer any reasonable appearance of danger. I.C.J.I. 1517. Once a defendant asserts self-defense, the burden is on the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant has not established at least one of the elements of self-defense. I.C.J.I. 1517.

Jimenez argues the fourth element of the standard instruction misstates the law by instructing the jury that self-defense is only available where the defendant acts in response to the danger presented and “not for any other motivation.” He contends that this instruction suggests that a defendant’s use of self-defense is not justifiable if the defendant, in addition to responding to the danger presented, is also motivated to act by some other factor. According to Jimenez, this alleged misstatement effectively diminished the State’s burden of proof, allowing the State to disprove Jimenez’s affirmative defense by showing that he also acted out of “anger or to teach [Alvarado] a lesson.” Jimenez avers that diminishing the State’s burden of disproving his affirmative defense violated his constitutional right to due process, thereby satisfying the first prong of the Perry

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Bluebook (online)
362 P.3d 541, 159 Idaho 466, 2015 Ida. App. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-juan-roberto-jimenez-idahoctapp-2015.