Opinion ID: 2675341
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Day After the Party

Text: On Sunday morning, George left the party after 1:30 a.m. with a female companion and spent the night in Long Beach. Around 1:30 or 2:00 a.m., defendant’s cousin, Eddie Montes, drove Hawkins and Garcia to Beaumont. 6 Defendant and Gallegos stayed at the Varela apartment all night. Sylvia testified that she, defendant, and Gallegos smoked methamphetamine together and played video games. Later that morning, Varela and Speck went to a donut shop and bought a newspaper that contained an article about the dead body of a man found in the trunk of a car off Palisades Drive.6 Back at the apartment, Speck showed the article to defendant and Gallegos. Defendant reacted by denying he committed the crime, telling Speck, “Can you believe that they’re trying to pin this on me,” and “They’re trying to say that was me that killed that kid.”7 Later, however, defendant showed the article to Sylvia and bragged, “I did this,” and told her not to tell anyone. Defendant made a number of telephone calls, including one to his father in which he admitted responsibility for the killing. During the call, defendant argued with his father; after the call, he said he would have to go a few “rounds” with his father. Sylvia and Blancarte both testified they heard defendant say he had earned “his stripes” for the killing; Speck heard defendant say something about earning a stripe or a medal on his uniform. George returned to the Varela apartment that afternoon and agreed to drive defendant and Gallegos to Beaumont. On the way, defendant removed a 6 The article from the August 28, 1994 edition of the Riverside PressEnterprise, read as follows: “The body of a man who had been shot to death was found inside the trunk of a car parked along a Corona road yesterday, police said. The man, whose identity was unknown last night, was found about 9 p.m. in the area of Green River Drive and Palisades Drive. Officers found the man in the open trunk of a Buick Regal while responding to the report of shots heard in the area, police Lt. Henry Aja said. The man was shot at least once in the upper torso, Aja said. Police had not made any arrests in connection with the death last night.” 7 At trial Speck testified defendant used the word “guy” rather than “kid.” In an earlier out-of-court statement to Varela’s investigator, Speck said defendant used the word “kid” to describe the victim. 7 newspaper clipping from his pocket and told George an “old man” from Beaumont had been killed. Defendant said he committed the crime. He described the shooting. He added that he had pulled his sleeve down to protect his hands from blood spatter, and he pointed to what he said was a blood spot on his sleeve. He said that, after firing one or two shots, he had looked away as he continued to fire because he was “grossed out” by the sight. Defendant also said he had “jacked” the car, and that the gun was gone. George did not believe the story. In Beaumont, George dropped off Gallegos and then drove to defendant’s house. When he parked, George saw his best friend, Victor Dominguez, standing in his yard not far from the Montes residence.8 Dominquez came up to the car and told George “You’re riding around with a 187.”9 George, defendant, and Dominguez then went into defendant’s house. Defendant’s father was in the living room and looked angry. Defendant told them, “I had to do it. I ain’t gonna let four vatos go down for some white boy.” George and Dominguez then left to go to Dominguez’s house. As they walked alongside the Montes house, they saw the police arrive to arrest defendant.10 8 Victor Dominguez was a cousin of defendant and codefendant Hawkins. 9 Presumably, this was a reference to section 187, the California murder statute. As discussed, post at pages 62-65, the trial court admitted this statement for the nonhearsay purpose of showing George’s state of mind. 10 In his testimony, Dominguez denied seeing defendant or George that day. Dominguez also denied having regular contact with George in 1994, although his telephone number appeared on George’s telephone bill many times in July, August, and September. One of the officers who arrested defendant testified he recognized Dominguez as being in the street a couple of houses down at the time of the arrest. 8