Opinion ID: 1157966
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: The incident that resulted in the death of Ramirez occurred on October 25, 1989, at a small trailer camp commonly known as Fingerpoint. The camp is located on a remote site on the Great Salt Lake's north-west shore. The four trailers in the camp were owned by Western Brine Shrimp Company, which employed the four defendants and four other workers who witnessed the beating. The evening of the incident was a dark, cloudy, moonless night; the only outside lights for miles around the camp were the dim lights of the trailers. The violence began sometime between 9 p.m. and midnight as Cabututan and co-defendants William Cummins, Donald Brown, and Billy Cayer were sitting in one of the trailers drinking alcohol. Eddie Apodaca, another worker at the camp, came to the trailer. Cabututan and Apodaca began to argue, and Cabututan struck Apodaca with a wrench. Apodaca then returned to his trailer and told roommate Miguel Ramirez what had happened. Minutes later, Brown, Cummins, Cayer, and Cabututan entered Apodaca and Ramirez's trailer. More fighting occurred, knives were drawn, and Ramirez left the trailer. The three co-defendants followed him outside. Cabututan came out later. The fight escalated, and Brown, Cummins, Cayer, and for at least part of the time, Cabututan attacked Ramirez with nunchakus, knives, and a wrench. They also kicked him as he lay on the ground. At approximately 5 a.m. the following day, he died of multiple blunt trauma injury. The four defendants were arraigned in the district court on January 2, 1990, and the next day, separate trial dates were set. Cabututan's trial was scheduled to begin on January 22. On January 16, six days before his trial, he filed a notice of intent to offer testimony of a mental health expert to establish mental state under Utah Code Ann. § 77-14-3. He also moved as an indigent under section 77-32-1(3) and Utah Rule of Evidence 706 for the appointment of a psychiatrist and for a mental evaluation under section 77-14-4, all in support of a voluntary intoxication defense he intended to raise. The court held that notice of intent to offer such expert testimony had not been timely filed and on that basis denied all the motions. At trial, Cabututan contended that he did not participate in the prolonged beating of Ramirez. Instead, he maintained that he hit Ramirez with a wrench in self-defense when Ramirez attacked him with a knife. Cabututan testified that he took the knife away from Ramirez and went back to his trailer, where he had another drink and then went to sleep. Cabututan raised the defenses of self-defense and diminished capacity based on voluntary intoxication. He testified that he was intoxicated, as did other eyewitnesses, and a jury instruction on voluntary intoxication was given. Following his convictions, he moved for a new trial, but the court denied that motion.