State v. Quimayousie

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 15, 2016
Docket1 CA-CR 14-0749
StatusUnpublished

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

Bluebook
State v. Quimayousie, (Ark. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee,

v.

VINCENT QUIMAYOUSIE, Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CR 14-0749 FILED 3-15-2016

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR2012-148862-001 The Honorable Sam J. Myers, Judge

AFFIRMED

COUNSEL

Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix By Craig W. Soland Counsel for Appellee

Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, Phoenix By Terry J. Reid Counsel for Appellant STATE v. QUIMAYOUSIE Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Judge Patricia K. Norris delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Jon W. Thompson and Judge Maurice Portley joined.

N O R R I S, Judge:

¶1 Vincent Quimayousie appeals his convictions and sentences for first degree felony murder, attempted armed robbery, and misconduct involving weapons, arguing the superior court should have prohibited three witnesses from identifying him at trial; instructed the jury on their identifications; severed the misconduct charge from the other charges; granted his Batson challenge; declared a mistrial because of juror misconduct; barred the State from dismissing the first degree murder charge based on premeditation; and instructed the jury on certain lesser- included offenses. We reject these arguments and affirm Quimayousie’s convictions and sentences.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1

¶2 On the evening of September 13, 2012, Quimayousie approached the victim, the victim’s two younger sisters (including witness C.M., see infra ¶ 5), and two younger cousins as they walked through a city park; he demanded their money at gunpoint. For no apparent reason, Quimayousie then fired his gun at the victim, striking him in the chest and killing him. A jury found Quimayousie guilty on the charges specified above.

DISCUSSION

I. Witness Identifications

¶3 Quimayousie first argues the superior court abused its discretion when it allowed three witnesses—M.P., C.M., and C.G.—to identify Quimayousie at trial. State v. Moore, 222 Ariz. 1, 7, ¶ 17, 213 P.3d

1“We construe the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict, and resolve all reasonable inferences against the defendant.” State v. Greene, 192 Ariz. 431, 436, ¶ 12, 967 P.2d 106, 111 (1998) (citation omitted).

2 STATE v. QUIMAYOUSIE Decision of the Court

150, 156 (2009). Even if we assume the circumstances surrounding the pretrial identification were inherently suggestive (contrary to the superior court’s finding), the circumstances were not, however, otherwise unreliable. See infra ¶¶ 9-10. Thus, we reject this argument. State v. Dessureault, 104 Ariz. 380, 384, 453 P.2d 951, 955 (1969) (if defendant challenges proposed in-court identification, state must prove the circumstances surrounding any prior identification were not unduly suggestive); and see State v. Rojo-Valenzeula, 237 Ariz. 448, 450, ¶ 7 n.1, 352 P.3d 917, 919 n.1 (2015) (although Dessureault and other cases used the term “unduly suggestive,” supreme court used the term “inherently suggestive” for clarity and consistency; “[a]n inherently suggestive identification procedure triggers the need for a reliability analysis to determine whether the identification is admissible.”).

A. Factual Background 2

¶4 M.P. saw Quimayousie in the park before he shot the victim. It was “a little bit dark” when Quimayousie passed “very close” by her with a gun in his hand as she sat on a park bench with her daughter playing nearby. She became frightened and “scanned [Quimayousie] completely,” looked at his face, which was uncovered, and noted his features and clothing. She observed that Quimayousie appeared to be a thin Hispanic male, 5’ 6” to 5’ 8”, who wore a dark, black or navy blue hat.3 After he passed, M.P. watched Quimayousie interact with another person in the park and then walk out of sight. Shortly after, she heard gunshots.

¶5 C.M., then 11 years old, saw Quimayousie during the shooting itself. As noted, she was the victim’s sister and was with the victim, their sister, and two cousins in the park. C.M. watched Quimayousie approach the group and noted he wore a black hat, a black shirt, and jeans. She could see Quimayousie’s eyes even though he wore a bandana around his mouth and nose. She also noted that Quimayousie carried a revolver. It was “fairly dark,” but she could clearly see Quimayousie. Quimayousie demanded money from the group and shot the victim as C.M. stood approximately a yard and a half away. She then

2We review the ruling on a pretrial identification based solely on the evidence admitted at the evidentiary hearing. Moore, 222 Ariz. at 7, ¶ 17, 213 P.3d at 156.

3Althoughthe witnesses told police he appeared Hispanic, Quimayousie is Native American.

3 STATE v. QUIMAYOUSIE Decision of the Court

watched Quimayousie as he made his way through the family members and jogged away.

¶6 C.G. saw Quimayousie as he fled from the park and attempted to hide from police. She was on the outskirts of the park with her brother and another person, riding bicycles, when they heard shots. C.G.’s brother told them to “Go. Go.” because he saw who he believed was the shooter coming towards them, but the group continued to ride nonchalantly because they did not want Quimayousie to notice them or come over to them. Although Quimayousie was three to four houses away from her, C.G. watched him run to a house that was only “a couple” of houses from her own house. She watched Quimayousie pound on the door of the house and try to enter. She then went to her own house and continued to watch Quimayousie from the curb. Even though it was dark, security lights on the other house provided illumination. Quimayousie eventually “hunched down” and tried to hide. C.G. watched Quimayousie for what seemed to her like “forever,” but which she admitted could have been “minutes.” She described Quimayousie to police as a Hispanic male, approximately 5’ 5” tall, wearing a black shirt, black pants, and a black cap.

¶7 Police presented two people to each witness in separate one- on-one identification procedures about 30 to 40 minutes after the shooting. An officer gave each witness a form of the one-on-one identification admonition and then had each witness sit in a police vehicle while the police presented each subject in the vehicle’s spotlight.

¶8 M.P. was “80% sure” Quimayousie was the person she had seen. She said it was only 80% because he was no longer wearing a hat. C.M. was “absolutely positive” it was the same person even though Quimayousie was no longer wearing his bandana. C.G. was “sure” he was the person she had seen. All three witnesses said the other subject police presented was not the man they had seen.

B. Discussion

¶9 One-person “show-up” identifications, such as those used here, are inherently suggestive. State v. Williams, 144 Ariz. 433, 439, 698 P.2d 678, 684 (1985). Even if a superior court finds the circumstances surrounding a prior identification inherently suggestive, however, the court may still admit the prior identification if it determines the identification was otherwise reliable under the totality of the circumstances. State v. Osorio, 187 Ariz.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Batson v. Kentucky
476 U.S. 79 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Purkett v. Elem
514 U.S. 765 (Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Nelson
273 P.3d 632 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Moore
213 P.3d 150 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2009)
State v. Newell
132 P.3d 833 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2006)
State v. Davolt
84 P.3d 456 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2004)
State v. Hernandez
823 P.2d 1309 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1991)
State v. Osorio
931 P.2d 1089 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1997)
State v. Williams
698 P.2d 678 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1985)
State v. Greene
967 P.2d 106 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1998)
State v. Alvarez
701 P.2d 1178 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1985)
State v. Dessureault
453 P.2d 951 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1969)
State v. Bolton
896 P.2d 830 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Garland
953 P.2d 1266 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1998)
State v. Lopez
847 P.2d 1078 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1992)
State v. Hall
65 P.3d 90 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2003)
State of Arizona v. Nelson E. Nottingham
289 P.3d 949 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2012)
State of Arizona v. Johnathan Ian Burns
344 P.3d 303 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2015)
State of Arizona v. Sergio Arturo Rojo-Valenzuela
352 P.3d 917 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2015)
State of Arizona v. Shawn Patrick Lynch
357 P.3d 119 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Quimayousie, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-quimayousie-arizctapp-2016.