Opinion ID: 1191763
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Did the trial court err in precluding the testimony of Dennis Tolander concerning an earlier threat to one of the victims?

Text: Defendant claims he should have been allowed to introduce the testimony of Dennis Tolander, who had been in the El Grande Market in early June 1992 (the month of the murders) and had overheard an Hispanic male threaten Fred Gee during a dispute about money. Defendant points out that there were two black males in another part of the store when the threat was made (McCrimmon and Minnitt are both black). Tolander, when shown a photograph of Martin Garza (Cha-Chi), could not be certain, but said the photo resembled the person making the threats. Defendant contends that this testimony would have corroborated the September 8 testimony of Keith Woods (that Cha-Chi was the third murderer) and Martin Garza's testimony that he was friends with McCrimmon and that he moved shortly after the shootings. The trial judge is afforded discretion to determine whether the probative value of relevant evidence is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. State v. Williams, 133 Ariz. 220, 230, 650 P.2d 1202, 1212 (1982) (quoting Ariz. R. Evid. 403). The rule is that threats by a third person against a victim may not be shown unless coupled with other evidence having an inherent tendency to connect such other person with the actual commission of the crime. Id. (quoting State v. Schmid, 109 Ariz. 349, 356, 509 P.2d 619, 626 (1973)). Tolander's offered testimony indicates that he saw someone who resembled Garza threaten Gee, not that he saw Garza himself threaten Gee. Even assuming Tolander's testimony established that Garza threatened Gee, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in deciding there was no other evidence connecting Garza to the commission of the crime. Woods' September 8 statement, which defendant relies upon heavily, indicated that the third murderer was the dude ... [who] worked there. It is undisputed that Garza did not work at the El Grande. Also, the El Grande was in the process of closing at the time of the murders. [8] While the market was closing, customers could present themselves at the gate and, if they were recognized, they would be allowed in the store. Thus, as Woods' September 8 statement indicates, McCrimmon and Minnitt would most likely have been in the company of a third individual who was known to Fred Gee. It was not an abuse of discretion to conclude that Woods' statement did not have an inherent tendency to connect Garza to the murders. Additionally, Garza's fingerprints were not found in the store, while Fong's were. Although defendant claims his prints could have been left in the store when he worked there several months before, this does not explain the presence of his prints on unstamped food stamps found on the floor next to the body of Fred Gee. Testimony indicated that the food stamps would have been marked by the store on the day they were received. Also, the fingerprints found on the lemon and cucumber bags on the counter near Gee's body belonged to Fong, not Garza. Although Fong may have touched baggies while working in the store months prior to the murders, or even while shopping in the store prior to the murders, [9] it is highly unlikely that Fong unrolled a spool of plastic bags, placed his prints on a baggie, and then rolled it back up on the spool. Likewise, assuming Fong touched bags that were lying around the store, it is unlikely that days, weeks, or even months after Fong touched those two particular bags, the killer entered the store, found those same bags, and used them to carry lemons and a cucumber to the liquor counter where Gee was shot. Finally, Queen E. Ray identified Martinez Fong, not Garza, as the Hispanic male who left with McCrimmon and Minnitt in her car shortly before the time of the murders, and returned without her car shortly thereafter. Although she referred to Fong as Martinez, not Martin, she identified Fong at trial. Apart from defendant's offer of proof regarding Tolander's vague recollection, the only evidence which connects Garza to the crime is his nickname: Cha-Chi. Because all of Woods' descriptions of Cha-Chi (including those in his September 8 statement) indicate that the Cha-Chi to whom Woods referred could not have been Garza, there was no evidence, apart from Tolander's offered testimony, with the inherent tendency to connect Garza to the crime. It was not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to exclude evidence of the threat.