State v. Vasquez

912 N.W.2d 642
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJune 6, 2018
DocketA17-0683
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 912 N.W.2d 642 (State v. Vasquez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Vasquez, 912 N.W.2d 642 (Mich. 2018).

Opinion

GILDEA, Chief Justice.

Appellant Miguel Angel Vasquez appeals his first-degree murder conviction. Vasquez argues that the district court committed reversible error when the court admitted into evidence testimony from his treating physicians and a burn expert. Because we conclude that any error in the admission of the challenged evidence did not substantially influence the verdict, we affirm.

*644FACTS

Following a bench trial, the district court found Vasquez guilty of the premeditated murder of Amber Lechuga. Lechuga and Vasquez shared an apartment in Springfield. They had been romantically involved and have two children together. The State's theory was that Vasquez murdered Lechuga because their relationship had deteriorated, and she was seeing other men. The State contended that Vasquez was angry over Lechuga's decision to end their romantic relationship, and that he murdered Lechuga at their apartment and then attempted to hide her body and destroy evidence of his crimes.

Police found Lechuga's body on September 25, 2014, when they responded to Vasquez's 911 call that he had been assaulted. As they were investigating the scene near where Vasquez placed his call, police found Lechuga's body in the back of a burned-out van that Vasquez had been driving, and they found Lechuga's severed head in a black garbage bag a short distance from the van.

When officers arrived on scene in response to Vasquez's 911 call, they found Vasquez walking along the highway about two and a half miles south of Sleepy Eye. Vasquez reported that after driving south from Sleepy Eye for fifteen minutes, he was involved in a rear-end collision. He said that he got out of the van, was struck on the head and knocked out by unknown assailants, and woke up in his burning van doused in gasoline, with his clothing and the van on fire. He said he was able to call 911 because he retrieved his cellular phone from the front cup holder in the burning van.

Officers noticed that Vasquez smelled like burnt hair, the hair on his head was singed, and he had burns and scrapes on his body. Officers did not, however, observe any signs of a head injury. An emergency medical technician examined Vasquez and found some scratches, singed hair, burns, and a blister on his abdomen, but no sign of a head injury. The technician looked for soot in his mouth, nose and ears, but found none. Police also photographed Vasquez's burns, the back of his head, singed hair, and lacerations. Vasquez was then transported to Sleepy Eye Medical Center (SEMC) for treatment, and later to Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) for further treatment.

In addition to the physical evidence at the scene of the burned van, police also gathered evidence from the couple's apartment. Police found a sheathed knife in a backpack, a .22-caliber Marlin-brand rifle, and a machete, all in a closet. Lechuga's blood was on the front sight of the rifle, the muzzle, and just inside the barrel. DNA swabs of the grip and trigger of the rifle revealed a DNA profile that matched Vasquez, but police did not find any fingerprints on the rifle.

In the bedroom where Vasquez and Lechuga slept, police found .22-caliber ammunition with brass-plated bullets. Testimony at trial showed that the Marlin rifle was capable of firing this brass-plated ammunition. Testimony also showed that the bullet fragments recovered from Lechuga's head were brass-plated and had rifling marks consistent with a Marlin-brand rifle.

Police also found two other firearms, a Mossberg .22-caliber rifle and a shotgun in a closet. Investigators found latent fingerprints from Vasquez on the Mossberg rifle but determined that it could not have fired the fatal shots.

On the bed where Lechuga typically slept, investigators found a large, still-wet blood stain at the head of the bed. The blood was Lechuga's and the size of the blood stain was consistent with the amount *645of blood expected from a gunshot to the head.

Investigators also found garbage bags in the apartment that were similar to the white bag found underneath Lechuga's burned torso and the black bag that contained her head. Finally, investigators found a box containing several BIC lighters.

As part of their investigation, police also interviewed Vasquez while he was hospitalized. During these interviews, Vasquez gave different accounts of the van fire. For example, Vasquez claimed that only the gasoline in the van had been on fire and not his clothing but then also said that his clothing and the van were on fire. He also told inconsistent stories about where he was in the van when he regained consciousness. And Vasquez failed to give a consistent account of how he grabbed his phone from the van-first he said he retrieved his phone by reaching into the van, and then later he said he got his phone by jumping into the driver's seat of the van.

Vasquez also gave differing accounts of the accident. Initially, he was unable to describe the car that hit him, but later he described the car as maroon or black. Vasquez's account of the assault also differed over time. He initially described being seated in his van when he was struck from behind. Later, he described being hit while walking back toward the other car.

When investigators spoke to Vasquez at the hospital, they suggested that his injuries were not consistent with his story that he woke up in a van fully engulfed in flames. Vasquez maintained that the reason for his minor injuries was that he got out quickly, removed all of his clothing, and took off running. At the end of the interview, investigators told Vasquez that they had found a body in his van and his story did not add up. Vasquez denied any knowledge of the body.

Police also asked Vasquez to sign two forms that authorized three listed law enforcement agents to access Vasquez's medical information related to the accident from both HCMC and SEMC. The forms provided that: "Unless otherwise provided by law, neither here-in named party/agency, etc. will further disclose the information without my consent." Vasquez signed the forms. He did not request to have a lawyer's advice before signing the forms, nor did Vasquez express any instructions about to whom the information should or should not be disclosed. The only request Vasquez made was for the agents to try to find whoever assaulted him.

To determine the cause of Lechuga's death, Dr. Butch Huston from the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's office performed an autopsy. He concluded that the cause of death was homicide by way of two gunshots to the head at very close range, and either gunshot would have been immediately fatal. Dr. Huston opined that the trajectory of the bullets through Lechuga's head was consistent with her lying down when she was shot. He also noted that some of Lechuga's bones had tool marks on them from being dismembered, and that those tool marks were consistent with a sharp, thin object like a knife. Finally, he recovered two bullets and several bullet fragments from within Lechuga's brain and turned them over to the BCA.

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Bluebook (online)
912 N.W.2d 642, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-vasquez-minn-2018.