Opinion ID: 2321756
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Flores

Text: Petitioner argues two evidentiary theories, which, in his view, demonstrate Flores's complicity in the murders, as a matter of law. Petitioner's first theory is based on Flores's transporting the victims to the field where they were killed. Relying on Salmeron's testimony that Flores was present when Garcia announced the plan to disappear the victims, Petitioner alleges that Flores participated in the victims' murders knowingly, voluntarily, and with [the] common criminal intent of the group. The State counters that Flores's knowledge is not clear because Flores testified that he thought he was driving Petitioner, Garcia, and the victims to a party. The State also argues that whether Flores knew of the group's criminal intent is unclear because, when asked if he knew what was going to happen, Flores responded: No. I was pretty curious, because [Petitioner and Garcia] treated [the victims] like they were old friends. When they got to my car they were hugging each other, so I never imagined that they were going to do something like that, but that's what happened. Petitioner's second theory of Flores's complicity was that he knowingly, voluntarily, and with common criminal intent waited in the getaway car during the second victim's murder and then drove the group to safety. The State counters that, although the evidence reflects that Flores by that time knew of the murders, his participation in the crime was not definitively shown to have been voluntary. To illustrate this, the State highlights Flores's testimony that he did not drive away when he realized that the group intended to murder the victims because there was another person in the [car]. I couldn't go, because they were going to kill me anyway. What could I do? The State also refers to Flores's testimony that, after the murder of the second victim, Flores heard the MS-13 members decide to let him live only because the group mistakenly believed that Flores was Salmeron's cousin. We agree with the State. The jury was free to credit Flores's testimony about his lack of knowledge and fear, and thereby decide that Flores was not an accomplice to the murders. Likewise, the jury could decide that Flores lied. When the evidence that a witness is an accomplice can go either way, it is the role of the fact-finder, in this case the jury, to decide whether to believe the witness. Foster, 263 Md. at 394, 283 A.2d at 413-14; see also Lancaster v. State, 86 Md.App. 74, 85, 585 A.2d 274, 279 (1991) (stating that the question of the witness's complicity was properly submitted to the jury because the witness's testimony tended to show that he was not a willing partner but acquiesced because he was afraid ...). Consequently, we agree with the Court of Special Appeals that the trial court properly denied Petitioner's request that Flores be identified as an accomplice as a matter of law.