Court Opinion

ID: 9561778
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:16:09.163891+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:14:25.683125
License: Public Domain

HOWE, Justice
(concurring and dissenting):
I concur in the result of the majority opinion except in that part treating defendant’s first point on appeal, viz., that the trial court erred in refusing to instruct the jury on the offense of aggravated assault. Viewing the evidence most favorable to the defendant, there is no rational basis for the jury to acquit him of homicide and convict him of aggravated assault.
The majority appears to base its conclusion that the defendant was entitled to an instruction on aggravated assault on two false premises. First, the majority apparently assumes that the jury could find that McIntyre’s death was not in any way caused by the blows from the defendant’s fists. The majority admits that “[t]he victim in this case unquestionably died as the result of the beating he received.” But the majority then proceeds on the assumption that the jury could find that the blows from the defendant’s fists did not contribute to McIntyre’s death. I can find no basis in the evidence for this assumption. The defendant’s counsel in his brief makes no such assertion. The defendant testified that he struck McIntyre in the face as he was falling to the ground. Thereafter, he observed facial bleeding. He made no attempt to separate the consequences of his blows from the beating administered by his brother, Randy, and Sanchez.
Secondly, the majority makes the false assumption that the jury could find that the attackers were not acting in concert, and that each attacker is criminally responsible only for what he alone did. This assumption flies in the face of the defendant’s own testimony. He testified that he wanted to fight with McIntyre because the latter had earlier bitten him on the nose. He knew that when he went over to where McIntyre was sitting “there would be trouble.” He told his companions that “if it ended up in a fight to help me.” He also asked them to “back my play.” He said Randy replied that “if anything happened, he’d help me.” Just as the defendant expected, a fight did ensue, and while the defendant was striking McIntyre with his fists, the other assailants were striking him with their clubs. The defendant did not testify that he was surprised when they did so, and he did not claim that he ever asked them to stop. He did not at any point withdraw from the fracas in an attempt to terminate his participation. Thus, taking his own testimony at full value, his two companions were acting in concert with him and at his behest. Under these circumstances, the majority’s conclusion that the jury could have found that the defendant had no intent to inflict serious bodily harm, but that his companions, who were aiding him, had that intent, is wholly unreasonable. The trial court properly instructed the jury under U.C.A., 1953, § 76-2-202, that every person, acting with the mental state required for the commission of an offense, who directly commits the offense or who aids and abets others in committing the offense shall be criminally liable as a party for such conduct. We stated in our opinion in the companion case of State v. Velarde, 734 P.2d 440 (Utah 1986), that the record amply supported the conclusion that Randy aided the other two assailants in beating McIntyre, and we affirmed his conviction of second degree murder. That same instruction on aiding and abetting *458applies to the defendant in the instant case, and his conviction of murder should, too, be affirmed.
Assuming, however, that the defendant was entitled to an instruction on aggravated assault, as the majority holds, the failure to give that requested instruction could not have prejudiced the defendant. This is because an instruction was given on manslaughter which allowed the jury to convict him of that offense in the event they found that he acted not with the intent to kill or even to cause serious bodily harm, but only that he acted recklessly. The trial court instructed the jury as to the definition of reckless in the words of our statute. (See the majority opinion where this definition is set out.) The majority correctly points out that had the jury believed the defendant’s testimony, they could have convicted him of manslaughter on the basis that he was aware of, but consciously disregarded, the substantial and unjustifiable risk that entering a charged situation with a revenge motive and with deadly weapons could result in death. Yet the jury opted not to convict him of manslaughter, but instead convicted him of the greater offense of second degree murder. Having denied him a manslaughter conviction, it is wholly inconceivable that they would have opted for finding him innocent of any homicide and instead convicted him only of an aggravated assault. The majority also holds that it was not error to refuse an instruction on criminal homicide because the evidence does not admit of any criminal negligence. It is a waste of judicial resources to grant this defendant a new trial because he was denied an instruction which did not prejudice him.