State v. Trevino

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJune 11, 2024
Docket1 CA-CR 22-0517
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Trevino (State v. Trevino) 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. Trevino, (Ark. Ct. App. 2024).

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 UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.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

GUSTAVO TREVINO, JR., Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CR 22-0517 FILED 06-11-2024

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR2020-143740-001 The Honorable Jennifer C. Ryan-Touhill, Judge

AFFIRMED

COUNSEL

Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix By Gracynthia Claw Counsel for Appellee

The Law Office of Kyle T. Green, Tempe By Kyle Green Counsel for Appellant STATE v. TREVINO Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Presiding Judge Angela K. Paton delivered the decision of the Court, in which Judge Michael S. Catlett and Judge James B. Morse Jr. joined.

P A T O N, Judge:

¶1 Gustavo Trevino appeals his criminal convictions and sentences for assisting a criminal street gang, participating in a criminal street gang, solicitation of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, solicitation of possession of narcotic drugs for sale, possession of narcotic drugs for sale, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He also requests a new trial. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 We view the facts in the light most favorable to upholding the verdicts. State v. Burgess, 245 Ariz. 275, 277, ¶ 3 (App. 2018). In June 2020, Detective Hudson received information about Trevino’s involvement in criminal activity and began contacting him in an undercover capacity, pretending to be a cartel member. When they first spoke in October 2020, Detective Hudson asked Trevino if he needed heroin or fentanyl. Trevino told Detective Hudson he did not have any money for drugs at the time but would purchase drugs from Hudson in the future.

¶3 A few days later, Trevino texted Detective Hudson that he would rob people for money and move drugs for Hudson. Trevino assured Detective Hudson he had a good reputation as the leader of Savage Murder Crime Family 451z, also known as the Savage Crime Family (“SCF”), a criminal street gang. Detective Hudson told Trevino they would meet to discuss working for the cartel and then sent Sergeant Sanchez’s contact information to Trevino; Sergeant Sanchez also pretended to be a cartel member.

¶4 Trevino contacted Sergeant Sanchez, and Sanchez requested two fentanyl pills. Trevino brought the pills to their meeting, and they discussed work Trevino could do for the cartel. Trevino told Sergeant Sanchez about his involvement with SCF and discussed bringing other gang members to their next meeting. As Sergeant Sanchez drove Trevino home, Trevino told Sanchez he would “lock[] down his neighborhood[,]”

2 STATE v. TREVINO Decision of the Court

which Sergeant Sanchez believed meant Trevino would rob people selling drugs in his territory because they were taking “our money.” Because Trevino said “our money[,]” Sergeant Sanchez believed Trevino believed he was working for the cartel.

¶5 Trevino later called Sergeant Sanchez to discuss killing a person named Thomas,1 because Trevino believed Thomas was a “snitch[].” Sergeant Sanchez called Trevino to talk him out of killing Thomas. At one point, Trevino texted Sergeant Sanchez, “Hey that fool [Thomas] right here at the park . . . Is there anything you need from me[]?” Sergeant Sanchez interpreted this to mean Trevino was asking him for permission to kill Thomas. Sergeant Sanchez responded via text, stating “nah, leave [him] alone. I’ll handle that. . . . Leave that . . . alone.”

¶6 In November 2020, Trevino and another gang member, Reyes, met with Sergeant Sanchez and Detective Diaz, another undercover detective, at a warehouse where they again discussed killing Thomas. Sergeant Sanchez told Trevino not to kill Thomas. Trevino told Sergeant Sanchez he also wanted a man named Will killed because Will had assaulted his girlfriend. The next day, Sergeant Sanchez asked Reyes to get Thomas’s address and Reyes told Sanchez he would ask Trevino for it. That same day, Trevino texted Sergeant Sanchez a photograph of Will and provided a general location of Thomas’s apartment complex.

¶7 Also during the November warehouse meeting, Detective Diaz, Sergeant Sanchez, Reyes, and Trevino discussed specific work Trevino could do for the cartel, such as stealing cocaine from a stash house. Trevino provided details about how to steal the drugs—specifically, he would have two men each monitor the front and side of the house, use guns to resist the armed guards Diaz told Trevino would be protecting the drugs, and tie up the guards if necessary. Trevino understood that Sergeant Sanchez would kill Thomas and Will if Trevino completed the robbery. When Sergeant Sanchez asked Reyes if the armed robbery was something he wanted to do, Reyes responded, “I’m down for whatever.”

¶8 Over the next several days, Sergeant Sanchez, Reyes, and Trevino texted about the details of the robbery, such as when it would occur, where it would take place, and when the drugs would be there. Trevino sent Sergeant Sanchez a photo of a map that depicted his plan to commit the robbery and showed another gang member, Carrillo, in the

1 We use pseudonyms to protect the victims’ identities. See Ariz. R. Crim. P. 31.10(f).

3 STATE v. TREVINO Decision of the Court

background; Carrillo also participated in the robbery planning. The map contained a signature with Trevino’s gang name, SCF, a sketch of the neighborhood, and noted each person’s role in the robbery; this map was later found in Trevino’s RV. Two days after Trevino texted Sergeant Sanchez the map photo, Trevino and Reyes told Sergeant Sanchez that they could not go through with the robbery because they were unable to obtain guns.

¶9 The State charged Trevino with assisting a criminal street gang, participating in a criminal street gang, solicitation of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, two counts of solicitation of possession of narcotic drugs for sale, possession of narcotic drugs for sale, and two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The State also charged Trevino with misconduct involving weapons, but the court severed this charge, and it was later dismissed without prejudice.

¶10 Prior to trial, the parties discussed the extent to which the State could discuss Trevino’s time in prison. They stipulated that the State would only discuss that Trevino had been in prison generally and “for starting his own gang” as “he made statements to that effect both on video and in writing.” The parties also agreed that the State would not call him a prohibited possessor or elicit testimony regarding his admission to killing someone or any violence that led to him being in prison or that occurred while he was in prison. The parties also stipulated that Detective Knueppel, the State’s gang expert, could discuss that Trevino’s neck tattoo “is relevant to the work . . . he put in for the gang while in prison[,]” but would not get into the “violence associated with that” work.

¶11 At trial, while describing how he became involved in the case, Sergeant Sanchez testified the police department wanted him to “infiltrat[e] a suspected gang of wanting to seek services for drugs, robberies, and also murder for hire.” He said he wanted to know how dangerous the operation would be because he was told “there [were] three or four, maybe even up to five suspects that could potentially have violence potential, long criminal histories and . . . previous prison terms that they served[.]” The superior court stopped the discussion and requested a bench conference.

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State v. Trevino, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-trevino-arizctapp-2024.