State v. Lopez

174 P.3d 1216
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided December 31, 2007·No. 58475-8-I·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

174 P.3d 1216 (2007)

STATE of Washington, Respondent,
v.
Justo Farias LOPEZ, aka Justo Lopez Farias, Appellant.

No. 58475-8-I.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1.

December 31, 2007.

*1218 Eric J. Nielsen, Andrew Peter Zinner, Nielsen Broman & Koch PLLC, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

William Leonard Doyle, King County Prosecutors' Office, Seattle, WA, for Respondent.

AGID, DWYER and BAKER, JJ.

PER CURIAM.

¶ 1 Justo Lopez appeals his judgment and sentence, claiming for the first time on appeal that the trial court erred by not granting a mistrial, finding that his two assault counts did not constitute the same criminal conduct, and imposing psychological evaluation and treatment as a condition of community custody. He also contends there is insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict finding him guilty on two counts of second degree kidnapping. Finally, he asserts in his statement of additional grounds that he was denied a fair trial because the prosecutor engaged in misconduct and solicited perjury, and his counsel was ineffective.

¶ 2 Lopez has failed to show that denying his mistrial motion prejudiced him. Nor did the State commit misconduct or solicit perjury, and Lopez has failed to show that his counsel made an error that prejudiced the outcome of his trial. Because the trial court *1219 did not abuse its discretion and the record contains overwhelming evidence to support the jury's verdict, we affirm the judgment and sentence. However, because there was no basis in the record for the trial court's ruling imposing the mental health evaluation, we reverse that portion of the sentence.

FACTS

¶ 3 Justo Lopez married his wife, Yvonne, in 1997, and they had three children — Julio, Justo, and Jalina. About two years into their marriage, Lopez and Yvonne also took in Lopez's daughter, Jessica, whose mother was Lopez's ex-wife, Reyna Gonzales.

¶ 4 The record shows that Lopez was jealous, domineering, and vigilant about Yvonne's whereabouts during the course of the marriage. He also verbally and physically abused her. After an incident in 2004 which resulted in charges on two counts of assault, an arrest warrant was issued for Lopez. To avoid being arrested, Lopez moved Yvonne and his children from Washington to Miami, Florida. They lived there for about a year, during which time Emily Torres, a close friend of Jessica's, moved into their home with her parents' permission.

¶ 5 Lopez continued to abuse Yvonne in Miami. Because of that abuse and Yvonne's concerns about how Lopez was beginning to treat Jessica, Yvonne left for Washington with Jessica, Emily, and Jalina. Yvonne testified that she left their two boys with Lopez because he had told her earlier that he would kill her if she took the boys.

¶ 6 Lopez learned that Yvonne was staying with Reyna Gonzales in Federal Way. He took a bus back to Washington. At trial he testified that his intent was to ask Yvonne to return to Miami with him to reunite the family.

¶ 7 On the morning of July 28, 2005, Lopez and two male friends surprised Yvonne and the children at Gonzales's apartment. Around 10 a.m., Emily answered the door to find two men she had never seen. Lopez jumped out of the bushes and rushed into the apartment. He told Emily not to move. When Yvonne awoke to find Lopez in the room, she screamed, and before she could jump up from the couch, Lopez jumped over the coffee table, pushed her into the couch, and forcefully covered her mouth. She testified that he told her he would kill her if she did not stop screaming. He told Yvonne and Emily that he had the apartment surrounded and had been trailing them for three days. Lopez took Yvonne to the back bedroom to talk with her, and Emily heard shouting. A neighbor came by the apartment asking if everyone was okay. Although Jessica said, "yes" she shook her head "no."

¶ 8 Yvonne testified that Lopez threatened to kill her and to then kill himself if she did not pack up the children and leave with him. A short time later, Lopez and his friends packed the family in two vehicles and left the apartment. Lopez told his daughter Jessica that she had betrayed him by leaving him and that she was "dead" to him. As punishment Lopez told Jessica she could not have contact with him and left her with her mother, Reyna. Lopez told Reyna and Jessica he was taking the others back to Miami.

¶ 9 Over the next few hours, the two vehicles carrying Lopez, Yvonne, the children, and the two males made several stops at homes and businesses. At one point, Lopez split up Yvonne and Emily in different vehicles and left the two men behind. Lopez told Yvonne to follow him and warned her she was being followed. After they left the home of Joye McMullen, one of Lopez's acquaintances, McMullen called 911 and reported Lopez had kidnapped Yvonne and the two children. An Amber Alert was later issued.

¶ 10 As the two cars headed toward Fife, Yvonne noticed about 20 police cars surrounding the vehicle she was driving with Jalina as her passenger. The police stopped Yvonne, handcuffed her, but released her when they realized she was one of the victims. Lopez left the scene and drove Emily around, seeking her help in locating a man named Carlos, who Lopez believed was Yvonne's new boyfriend. Later that night, Lopez checked into a motel where he and Emily stayed for the night. The next morning, an anonymous tip led police to find Lopez and Emily at an auto repair shop where Lopez was arrested.

*1220 ¶ 11 The State charged Lopez with three counts of second degree kidnapping — domestic violence, one count of felony harassment — domestic violence, and two counts of second degree assault — domestic violence. The jury found him guilty on all but the felony harassment charge. The jury also found that he committed one of the assault counts with a deadly weapon. At sentencing, the court imposed high end, concurrent standard range sentences and the mandatory deadly weapon enhancement.

SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

¶ 12 Lopez argues that the State did not prove each element of two of the three second degree kidnapping counts. We disagree.

¶ 13 Evidence is sufficient to support a conviction if, viewing it in the light most favorable to the State, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.[1]

¶ 14 A person commits kidnapping in the second degree if he or she intentionally abducts another person under circumstances not amounting to kidnapping in the first degree.[2][3] The statute defines "abduct" to mean "to restrain a person by either (a) secreting or holding him in a place where he is not likely to be found, or (b) using or threatening to use deadly force."[4]

"Restrain" means to restrict a person's movements without consent and without legal authority in a manner which interferes substantially with his liberty. Restraint is "without consent" if it is accomplished by (a) physical force, intimidation, or deception, or (b) any means including acquiescence of the victim, if he [or she] is a child less than sixteen years old . . . and if the parent, guardian, or other person or institution having lawful control or custody of [the child] has not acquiesced.[[5]]

A parent acts without legal authority within the meaning of RCW 9A.40.010

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State v. Lopez, 174 P.3d 1216 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

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