Opinion ID: 2295634
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Ruybal's Motion

Text: Turning to the specific facts of Ruybal's case, the jury had before it his two confessions, [5] one oral and one written, in which defendant vividly described the events leading up to the murders and the manner in which they were committed. They also had Ruybal's contrived story given the morning of the crime, which later proved to be completely false. But the key to his conviction was the overwhelming corroboration of detail after detail of those confessions by the evidence obtained at the crime scene. The body of William Grounder was found in the bathroom and that of Rose Pearson on the front porch, precisely where defendant placed them in his confession. The evidence showed that the fatal wounds had been inflicted in the manner described by Ruybal. Further, he admitted to having had intercourse with Rose shortly before the murders took place; the autopsy of her body confirmed that fact. The autopsy also revealed the presence of three hairs stuck to Rose's body, and others were found on her nightcap and bedsheet. Subjected to microscopic analysis at the F.B.I. laboratory (by someone other than Curran) the hairs, which appeared to be from the pubic region, were determined to be inconsistent with Rose Pearson's body hair, but consistent with Ruybal's. All that evidence corroborating Ruybal's confessions sealed his fate. The testimony of Special Agent Curran concerned four items: Ruybal's green trousers, Rose Pearson's blue nightcap and housecoat, and the bottom sheet from her bed. Curran identified bloodstains on all four items as human blood, but was unable to determine the blood grouping. Curran also detected semen on the bedsheet. Except for the blood on Ruybal's pants, which directly linked him to the crime and contradicted his alibi, all of Curran's testimony was cumulative of other evidence presented by the State. Defendant argues that the evidence regarding his trousers was the only solid piece of evidence against him and without it the jury would not have returned a guilty verdict. We disagree. Even assuming that the newly discovered impeachment evidence would have neutralized Curran's entire testimony, the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt makes it far from clear that a different verdict would have resulted. Indeed, we are convinced that the jury would just as surely have convicted even without Curran's testimony.