HIGUERA-GUITERREZ v. THE STATE
S15A0834
Supreme Court of Georgia
DECIDED NOVEMBER 2, 2015
779 SE2d 288
MELTON, Justice.
Margaret E. Heinen, for appellant.
Paul L. Howard, Jr., District Attorney, Paige Reese Whitaker, Sheila E. Gallow, Assistant District Attorneys; Samuel S. Olens, Attorney General, Patricia B. Attaway Burton, Deputy Attorney General, Paula K. Smith, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Mary C. Greaber, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.
MELTON, Justice.
Following a jury trial, Rogelio Higuera-Guiterrez was found guilty of the felony murder of Santos Palacios-Vasquez and Antonio Clark, the voluntary manslaughter of Vasquez and Clark, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, and possession of a firearm during the conspiracy to traffic cocaine.1 For the reasons set forth below, we must reverse.
Construed most strongly in support of the verdicts, the evidence shows that [Hernandez] met [James Platt, Jarrett Dixon, and Clark] at an apartment for the purpose of selling two kilograms of cocaine. After receiving a large amount of cash, [Hernandez] shot and killed Clark. Palacios-Vasquez was fatally shot, and [Hernandez] himself was shot in the abdomen. He fled with the help of others and sought treatment at a hospital, claiming that he was injured in an attempted robbery. Although [Hernandez] denied knowledge of the apartment, his blood was found at the crime scene, and a set of keys to the apartment was discovered at his house. Investigators also found over 28 grams of cocaine with a purity of at least 10% at the apartment in a different container from the purported two kilograms of cocaine offered for sale.
Higuera-Hernandez v. State, 289 Ga. 553, 553-554 (1) (714 SE2d 236) (2011).
In addition to these facts, the record shows that a jailhouse informant named Juan Flores Calderon testified that his cousin, Ando Calderon, is a drug supplier. Ando told Juan Flores that he provided a man named Vincente2 with five kilos of cocaine at the Magnolia Apartments. Three kilos were reserved at an apartment in Magnolia Apartments, and Vincente, a close friend of Guiterrez, took the other two kilos to Hernandez at his nearby apartment for purposes of a drug sale. Vincente waited just outside Hernandez‘s apartment while the drug transaction was supposed to occur. Juan Flores initially provided this information to federal agents, who referred him to local police. At some point thereafter, Juan Flores shared a jail cell with Hernandez, who also conveyed details of the drug transaction and shootout to him. For example, prior to the sale, Hernandez met two African-American men and a Latino man in an Infiniti sedan, and led them to his apartment to conduct the transaction. As money was being exchanged, one of the African-American men pulled a gun, and Hernandez shot him.
In addition, Omar Custodia Monge, a longtime friend of Hernandez, testified that Hernandez called him immediately after being shot and requested assistance. Monge and Patricio, a cousin of Hernandez, drove to Hernandez‘s apartment complex where they found Hernandez and Antonio Lara-Landero, both of whom had been wounded in the shootout, waiting near some bushes. Monge then drove Hernandez to the hospital and overheard him tell Patricio to instruct Vincente and Guiterrez to retrieve money from the bushes where he had been found. Mirroring this testimony, Juan Flores testified that Hernandez told him that it was Guiterrez‘s responsibility to retrieve money, drugs, and weapons from the bushes following the shootout. Monge also recounted that Guiterrez followed his car to the hospital after being contacted by Hernandez, and, later that day, Vincente, Guiterrez, and Patricio met in Monge‘s presence to discuss retrieval of the drugs that had been left behind by Hernandez. Further evidence showed that Guiterrez‘s truck was seen at the crime scene at some point after the shooting had occurred.
Approximately three months after the shootings, police legally stopped a vehicle in
2. Guiterrez contends that this evidence was insufficient to support his conviction as a party to the crimes for which he was found guilty. “Every person concerned in the commission of a crime is a party thereto and may be charged with and convicted of commission of the crime.”
In the present case, the State has failed to elicit any evidence showing that Guiterrez was participating in the criminal scheme either before or during the actual commission of the crimes. The only evidence that the State has presented for this critical time period is the fact that Guiterrez lived in the Magnolia Apartments, where testimony indicated that the drugs were originally delivered. There was no testimony, however, that the drugs were taken to Guiterrez‘s apartment, and, as a result, the best that can be inferred is that the drugs were taken somewhere within the complex. As for the time period in which the drug transaction and the shootings occurred, the State presented no evidence that Guiterrez was present. As a result, there is simply no competent evidence that Guiterrez was present or otherwise involved in the planning or execution of the underlying drug transaction or subsequent shootings. Therefore, the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.
Although the State and the trial court relied on Guiterrez‘s actions and knowledge after the commission of the crimes to support his convictions, this evidence is insufficient to satisfy the standard of
Judgment reversed. All the Justices concur.