Opinion ID: 2545608
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Caraballo's Voluntary Confession Letter

Text: Several months after the murder, Caraballo wrote a letter which contained a voluntary confession and sent it to the State Attorney's Office. In the confession, Caraballo said that on April 27 he was at his brother Hector's apartment when Mena, Lebron, and Roman came over. The group decided to go to a discotheque in Miami. Before leaving Orlando, they stopped at Mena's home at about 4:30 p.m. to get money for gasoline and say goodbye to Mena's wife. At 6 p.m. the group left for Miami, stopping on the way to buy orange juice and vodka. At approximately 7 p.m., Mena asked Caraballo to drive the rest of the way to Miami, and Mena would resume driving once they arrived in Miami because he knew his way around the city. They arrived at the discotheque at approximately 10:30 p.m., only to discover that they did not have enough money for everyone to get in. The group, according to Caraballo, then devised a plan to sneak in the back door and went for a walk on the beach to wait for the club's security guards to be distracted. Caraballo added that when this plan proved to be unworkable, Mena, Lebron, and Roman decided that they should rob someone to get money and credit cards. Mena told them that he had two guns, a .38 caliber and a .45 caliber. Soon thereafter, Roman noticed two people (Angel and Portobanco) walking on the beach. Mena, according to Caraballo, suggested that they rob these two people. Lebron approached the couple with the .45 caliber and Roman with a knife and forced them into the truck. Angel begged Lebron not to hurt them, and Lebron and the others responded that no one would be hurt as long as Angel and Portobanco did what they were told. Mena got in the driver's seat and Caraballo got in the front passenger seat. Lebron, Roman, Hector Caraballo, Angel, and Portobanco were in the rear cab of the truck. Angel and Portobanco's belongings were taken from them. Lebron asked Portobanco about his job, and Portobanco responded that his father, who was in the construction business, kept all of his money. The group stopped at a gas station and Mena asked for the PIN to Angel's ATM card. Caraballo said that he and Mena went to the ATM and withdrew a total of $160 from Angel's account. Mena also used the card to purchase $35 worth of gas. Caraballo claimed that he asked Angel and Portobanco if they knew how to swim and suggested to the others that they leave the couple at a river or a canal. This suggestion, according to Caraballo, was ignored by the others. At one point, Lebron told Portobanco to make love to Angel, and Portobanco refused. Lebron asked Angel if she had made love before, and Angel said no. She told Lebron that when she was eight years old she was sexually molested twice by her stepfather. Lebron pointed the pistol at Angel and told her to take off her panties. Angel was crying and afraid, but she did as she was ordered to do. Lebron then told the group that they were all going to have sex with Angel. Lebron raped Angel anally, Roman raped her vaginally, followed by Hector Caraballo. Caraballo claimed that he did not penetrate Angel because Hector Caraballo had AIDS. Rather, Caraballo said, he masturbated and ejaculated on Angel. Caraballo claimed that he was forced to do all of this because Lebron threatened him. The truck stopped and Lebron said that they were going to kill Angel and Portobanco. Mena told Lebron to take the knife with him. According to Caraballo, he got out of the truck and positioned himself between Lebron and Portobanco and tried to convince Lebron not to kill him or Angel. Lebron, however, pushed him out of the way and began to stab and kick Portobanco. Caraballo said that at one point he told Lebron that Portobanco was dead, even though he (Caraballo) knew that Portobanco was pretending to be dead. Caraballo and Lebron then returned to the truck, and the group kept traveling. Angel asked if they killed Portobanco, and Lebron said no, but Angel saw blood on his hands. According to Caraballo, Angel cried and asked them not to kill her. Fifteen minutes later, Mena stopped the truck, and Lebron, Roman, and Angel got out. According to Caraballo, Angel screamed for them not to kill her, but they did not listen. They took Angel to an area along the interstate shielded by foliage where Caraballo saw Lebron shoot Angel in the head. When Lebron and Roman returned to the truck, Roman bragged about the size of the hole in Angel's head. According to Caraballo, when Lebron remarked that Angel and Portobanco were not the only ones who would be killed, Caraballo became very nervous and told Mena to drive. The group reached Hector Caraballo's house in Orlando about 6 a.m., and Caraballo went to his former apartment. Lebron, Mena, and Roman left in the truck to go home. Caraballo said that no one manipulated him to write the letter and that the confession was voluntary. Aware of the prejudice and the possible sentence, Caraballo offered to become a witness for the State. Caraballo's written confession was introduced into evidence at trial.