IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON DIVISION THREE

STATE OF WASH INGTON,

Respondent,

v.
ROGELIO DELGADO RODRIGUES,

App ellant. )

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) No. 37067

- 4

- III

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

S IDDOWAY , A.C. J.

— Rogeli o Delgado Rodrigues appeals his conviction for
attempting to elude a police vehicle. He complains about a testifying officer’s reference
at his trial to having learned about Mr. Rodrigues’s outstanding warrants at a “regional
gang intelligence meeting,” b ut he fails to point to any objection made that was overruled 

### FILED APRIL 22, 2021 In the Office of the Clerk of Court WA State Court of Appeals, Division IIINo. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

2 or otherwise inadequately addressed by the trial court. Error, if any, was not preserved.

We affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In the summer of 2019, at a regional law enforcement meetin g at which ongoing
investigations are reviewed, one of the “ wanted ” individuals whose name was brought up
was Rogelio Delgado Rodri gues. R eport of P roceedings (RP) at 1 69. It was reported

that there were several warrants for his arrest, and he was believ ed to be staying at a

Motel 6 in Richland

. His photograph was passed around.
Richland police officer Jeff Muai conducte d surveillance at the Motel 6 that day

and the next. On the first day, he did not see Mr. Rodrigues but saw his car, a black
Toyota C amry. The next evening, Officer Muai saw a man matching Mr. Rodrigues’s
description arrive at the Motel 6 in a different car, a red Hyundai Tiburon. The man was
wearing a flannel shirt, jeans, and a cowboy hat. The car was not registered to Mr.
Rodrigue s. O fficer Muai saw the man leave and return in the red Tiburon. When he saw

the man leave a second time, Officer Muai alerted other police units in the vicinity.

Richland officers attempted to perform a traffic stop of the Tiburon without

success. Aft er initially appearing to stop, the driver of the Tiburon sped away, and a

multi

- police car chase ensued. Officers eventually lost sight of the Tiburon

.
The Tiburon was quickly found, however
, sans its driver. It was then about 11:30
p.m. A few minutes later, officers saw Mr. Rodrigues walking down the street
,No. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

3 approxima tely 230 feet away from where the Tiburon was parked

. He was wearing a

white sweater rather than a flannel shirt, and no hat

. But o fficers found a flannel shirt
and a cowboy hat in the area , and Officer Muai confirmed that they matched the shirt and

hat that the man at the Motel 6 had been wearing. A letter address ed to “Rogelio
Delgado” was found in the trunk of the red Tiburon. 1

Mr. Rodrigues was later arrested and charged with atte mpting to elude a pursuing
police vehicle. His defense at his jury trial was mistaken identity.

At trial, d uring the prosecutor’s direct examination of Officer Muai , he asked how

the officer became aware of Mr. Rodrigues:

Q. On June 26th, did you become aware of Mr. Rogelio Rodrigues?
A. Yes Q. How so?
A. I was in a regional gang intelligence meeting. We meet once a month.

RP at 167 (emphasis added)

. Counsel for Mr. Rodrigues said, “Objection,” and
requested a side bar , at which the following exchang e took place:

THE COURT : What’s your co ncern, [counsel] ? [DEFENSE COUNSEL ]: I’m very concerned about where this is going as far as his gang membership.

1 While the defendant’s full name is Rogelio Delgado (or Delagado, the record is inconsistent) Rodrigues, defe nse counsel and appellate counsel have consistently referred to him as “ Mr. Rodrigues. ” At trial, defense counsel characterized Rogelio Delgado as a “wrong” name for his client. RP at 268

- 69.No. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

4

[PROSECUTOR ]: Oh, no. This is just that meeting he mentioned he did last week of where he learned a nd saw the photos of Mr. Rodrigues and about the two warrants, and I can even use my questioning to confirm that this was not a discussion about gang activity but just a meeting

— that is the name of the meeting. [DEFENSE COUNSEL ]: Okay. Never mind. I’m sorry. THE COURT : All right. Go ahead and ask a leading question so that we can get over this hump.

RP at 167

- 68.
Testimony resumed :
Q. Now, you indicated that

— the name of the group is just that’s the type of the

— the name of the meeting? A. That’ s the name. Q. The regional gang investigation meeting, just a meeting about various ongoing investigations, topics, correct?
A. Yes. Q. Was one of those topics the warrants that Mr. Rodrigues had?
A. Yes. Q. What did you learn

—how did you become fam iliar with Mr. Rodrigues? A. So, at the meeting his name was brought up as a wanted subject. We passed his photo around. The Pasco Street Crimes Unit, who was also there, had brought that up. They had information that he was at the Richland Motel 6 wi th his suspected girlfriend, and that they were in a black Toyota Camry.

RP at 168

- 69.
Defense counsel did not object to this testimony , request a n instruction, or ask any
clarifying questions of his own about the meeting. The word “gang” did not com e up
again during the trial. The only other mention of the meeting was a neutral one, inNo. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

5 closing argument, when the prosecutor said to jurors, “ We heard from Officer Muai.
June 26th he first became aware of the defendant’s outstanding warrants in a meeti ng he
was having with other law enforcement over in Pasco. ” RP at 254.
The jury returned a guilty verdict. Mr. Rodrigues appeals.

ANALYSIS For the first time on appeal, Mr. Rodrigues argues that Officer Muai’s reference
to the “regional gang intellige nce meeting” was propensity evidence, inadmissible under
ER 404(b). He argues that the leading question the prosecutor posed to “get over this
hump,” in the court’s parlance, “only strengthened the implication of gang affiliation.”
Br. of Appellant at 1. Appellate counsel may be correc t that the follow up question did
not undo whatever harm might have been ca used by the passing reference. B ut the trial

court was never presented with ground for an objection or asked to take any action that it

refused to take. The issue was not preserved.
“RAP 2.5(a) states the general rule for appellate disposition of issues not raised in
the trial court: appellate courts will not entertain them.” State v. Guzman Nunez , 160 Wn

. App. 150, 157, 248 P.3d 103 (2011) (citing State v. Scott , 110 Wn.2d 682, 685, 757 P.2d

492 (1988) )
, aff’d , 174 Wn.2d 707, 285 P.3d 21 (2012)

. “The rule serves the goal of
judicial economy by enabling trial courts to correct mistakes and thereby obviate the
needless expense of appellate review an d further trials, facilitates appellate review by
ensuring that a complete record of the issues will be available, and prevents adversarialNo. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

6 unfairness by ensuring that the prevailing party is not deprived of victory by claimed
errors that he had no opportu nity to address.” State v. Stoddard , 192 Wn. App. 222, 227,
366 P.3d 474 (2016).
Mr. Rodrigues argues that the issue was preserved
, either by a pretrial motion in
limine or by an objection that, having been made once, did not have to be renewed. The

reco rd does not support his position

.
M r. Rodrigues made a handful of pretrial motions in limine, one of which was to
exclude any reference to “lookouts” who might have been acting for Mr. Rodrigues at the

Motel 6:
Exclude testimony that Officers observed pers ons they suspected to be acting as lookouts at the Motel 6 prior to the alleged pursuit. E R 401; ER 402; ER 403; ER 404(b ). The pursuit occurred at a separate location. It is unknown whether the persons were acting as lookouts, and if they were, what pu rpose or for whom they were acting as lookouts. In the absence of such information, any testimony regarding lookouts is nonprobative. It is also unfairly prejudicial because it unfairly invites the jury to speculate that the lookouts were for Mr. Rodrigu e [s] and that he is involved in criminal activity such that he would need lookouts. Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 27.
After hearing argument of the motion, the court reserved ruling:
THE COURT: Well, I’ m sorry, I have to reserve on this and instruct both sides n ot to mention in opening statements. I’ m going to need to hear what that officer observed before I’ ll allow him to give an opinion that these people appeared to be lookouts.No. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

7 RP at 17. The State did not thereafter offer evidence of lookouts. The motion in

limine would not have excluded testimony about the name of the regional law
enforcement meeting if it had been granted, and it wasn’t granted.
Mr. Rodrigues also argues that he made an objection , and the court having ruled
,
he “‘ should not be required t o again raise the issue in front of the jury at the risk of
making comments prejudicial to his cause. ’” Reply Br. at 3 (quoting State v. Sullivan, 69
Wn. App. 167, 170, 847 P.2d 953 (1993)). Defense counsel did not identify any basis for
an objection, le t alone ER 404(b) ; he raised a concern: “I’m very concerned about where
this is going as far as his gang membership.” RP at 167 . When the prosecutor responded
that gang membership was not where he was going, defense counsel withdrew any
objection, statin g , “Okay. Never mind. I’m sorry.” RP at 168

. And see State v.

Fredrick , 45 Wn. App. 916, 922, 729 P.2d 56 (1986) (appeals court declined to review
admission of evidence under ER 404(b) because appellant failed to state objection was
based on ER 404(b) )

.
Nor did the trial court rule against de fense counsel. If anything, because the trial
court told the prosecutor, “Go ahead and ask a leading question so t hat we can get over
this hump,” RP at 168
, the implication is that the court understood defense coun sel’s

concern.No. 37067

- 4

- III

State v. Rodrigues

8 The conviction is a ffirmed.
A majority of the panel has determined this opinion will not be printed in the
Washington Appellate Reports, but it will be filed for public record pursuant to RCW

2.06.040.

___________ __________________ Siddoway, A.C. J.

WE CONCUR:

_____________________________ Staab , J.

_____________________________ Fearing, J.