Alberto Cruz v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.) ( 2017 )

MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any
Feb 22 2017, 6:32 am
court except for the purpose of establishing
the defense of res judicata, collateral CLERK
Indiana Supreme Court
estoppel, or the law of the case. Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Jeffrey E. Kimmell Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
South Bend, Indiana Attorney General of Indiana
Larry D. Allen
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Alberto Cruz, February 22, 2017
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
71A03-1606-CR-1492
v. Appeal from the St. Joseph
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable John M.
Appellee-Plaintiff. Marnocha, Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
71D02-1505-MR-3
Robb, Judge.
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Case Summary and Issue
[1] Following a jury trial, Alberto Cruz was convicted of murder. Cruz now
appeals, raising the sole issue of whether the State presented sufficient evidence
to support his conviction. Concluding the State presented sufficient evidence to
support his conviction, we affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] Alberto Cruz and Alma Del Real became acquainted with each other in 2013,
and had been friends ever since. Their relationship was not romantic, and
Alma considered Cruz to be just a friend. Around 11:00 p.m. on Saturday,
April 11, 2015, Cruz picked Alma up at her house and the pair went to Brothers
Bar & Grill in South Bend, Indiana. Unbeknownst to Cruz, Alma had invited
other friends to the bar as well, including a man with whom she had a “budding
relationship,” Edgar Medina. Transcript at 229. According to Medina, Cruz
was not very sociable that evening and he felt like Cruz had no desire to speak
to him.
[3] Alma had also planned on meeting her friend, Dejah Browning, at Brothers.
Dejah arrived at Brothers a little after midnight and shortly thereafter, Cruz,
Alma, Medina, and Dejah decided to continue their night at a dance club,
Studio Rumba’s. Alma previously worked at Studio Rumba’s and was well
acquainted with the staff and security personnel. Upon arrival, Alma greeted
Eric Laudeman, a police officer for the City of Mishawaka who often works as
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a security guard at Studio Rumba’s. Officer Laudeman noted Cruz seemed
angry the entire night. As Alma would go around the room and converse with
different people, Cruz stood behind her scowling and giving dirty looks. Officer
Laudeman considered it “very awkward” and was “expecting a problem.” Id.
at 200. As the night progressed, Alma pulled Dejah into the bathroom to ask
for advice about Cruz. According to Dejah, Alma asked her for advice about
Cruz because “he kept wanting to further their friendship into a relationship,
and she didn’t want that.” Id. at 212. Dejah advised Alma to “just tell him
how you feel.” Id. At 3:00 a.m., Cruz and Alma left Studio Rumba’s in Cruz’s
truck.
[4] The next morning, Alma was supposed to drive to Chicago with her friend and
business partner, Crystal Rangel, but Alma never showed up. Rangel
attempted to call Alma multiple times and drove to her house and knocked on
the door, but she received no response. As the day progressed, Alma’s family
became increasingly worried about her, as she often responded rapidly to phone
calls and texts. Alma’s aunt also tried to contact her friends to ask if they had
heard from her, but she had no luck.
[5] On Monday, April 13, 2015, Alma’s aunt filed a missing person’s report with
the South Bend Police Department. Later that day, Officer Sienna Valdez
spoke with Cruz at the police station to inquire about Alma’s disappearance.
Cruz told Officer Valdez he dropped Alma off at her home shortly after leaving
Studio Rumba’s, drove home, and went to bed. On April 15, Officer Jennifer
Gobel interviewed Cruz. Cruz generally repeated the same story he told Officer
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Valdez, although this time he added Alma had danced with an “unknown
Brazilian person” at Studio Rumba’s. Id. at 281. Cruz also stated he received a
Facetime call from Alma around 3:44 a.m. as he was driving home, which he
declined to answer.
[6] On May 18, 2015, Officer Gobel and F.B.I. Special Agent Tom Weber
interviewed Cruz for a third time. Cruz repeated the same story he told earlier,
although Officer Gobel recognized a discrepancy. This time, Cruz stated he
missed Alma’s Facetime call, not that he declined it. On May 20, Officer
Gobel and Agent Weber interviewed Cruz again and confronted him with
evidence he was not telling the truth. A search warrant executed on Cruz’s
phone showed on the morning of April 12, 2015, Cruz was not asleep in his bed
as he claimed. The cellular data and location services collected from Cruz’s
phone showed Cruz’s phone remained connected to a cellular tower that
encompassed an area that included Alma’s home and Studio Rumba’s, but not
Cruz’s home, from 2:11 a.m. to 6:33 a.m. From 6:33 a.m. to 9:45 a.m., Cruz’s
phone connected to several other cellular towers in a path leading south out of
South Bend and ending near Lake Maxincuckee in Culver, Indiana. Cruz
continued to deny he left South Bend and remained steadfast in his assertion he
was asleep in bed with his phone in his room.
[7] After several hours of denial, Cruz requested to speak to Agent Weber alone, a
discussion Agent Weber later detailed at trial:
[Agent Weber]: In the first story, he told me that either her or
her family owed a lot of money to a Mexican
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cartel. And that the Latin Kings that were
connected with the Mexican cartel, were
waiting for Alma when he dropped her off.
They grabbed Alma and told him just to
leave. Which he then said that he walked
home. Then he said he woke up the next
morning, looked down the street and saw his
truck parked just down the street.
***
[State]: And what did his story evolve to from there?
[Agent Weber]: I confronted him of the unlikelihood of that
story being true. And then he changed and
went on to several other stories. One story
was that he saw someone . . . or that
someone had drugged him . . . or given Alma
a rophy [sic], and then he watched as that
person carried her out of the house. Another
story was that he tried to accuse the ex-
boyfriend. He said that when they got to
Alma’s house the ex-boyfriend was waiting
there . . . [a]nd he could only assume that the
ex-boyfriend had something to do with it.
***
[State]: Did he tell you anything else on that day?
[Agent Weber]: Yes, he told me that he stayed at the house a
little while with Alma and they just talked, it
was just the two of them. Then they told me
that she was at a barn, that somebody had
taken her to a barn.
[State]: And did you confront him about that story?
[Agent Weber]: Yes, I told him it was very unlikely that that’s
what really occurred. Then he admitted to
me that he had just been lying to me, because
he didn’t know what to say.
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Id. at 360-62. Agent Weber then asked Cruz if he knew where Alma was, to
which he responded he did and he could take Agent Weber there. As they left
the police station, Cruz directed them on a forty-five-minute drive south,
stopping on a dirt road outside of Culver. Cruz pointed into the woods and
stated, “[s]he’s right out there.” Id. at 364. A short distance from the road,
Agent Weber found Alma’s body. When they returned to the police station, the
interview continued.
[State]: So what did he tell you at Metro Homicide?
[Agent Weber]: Well, first he told me that he did take the
body down there, but he was directed by a
South American. His story was when they
left the bar, they want [sic] to Alma’s house.
And that this guy he didn’t know, other than
a South American, was there waiting. Then
Alma and the South American went up to her
bedroom and Mr. Cruz stayed in the living
room and fell asleep on the couch. Then at
some point he was woken up from a big
thump coming from Alma’s bedroom. He
ran up to the room and saw the South
American on top of Alma strangling her.
***
[State]: Did he come off of that story?
[Agent Weber]: Eventually he did, yes.
[State]: And what did he tell you then?
[Agent Weber]: He eventually told me that he was the one
who actually . . . that he hit her, and that he
did strangle her.
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Id. at 365-66. Cruz also told Agent Weber when he and Alma arrived at her
house, they had “rough sex” which was consensual. Exhibit 48 at 62:36. Cruz
claimed Alma attempted to blackmail him after they had sex and stated she
would tell the police he raped her unless he paid her five to ten thousand
dollars. When he tried to leave, she began to scratch, shove, and punch him.
He became angry and hit her twice in the face and shoved her to the ground.
He claimed when she fell, she hit the back of her head on the hardwood floor
and remained unresponsive. Cruz claimed he checked Alma for a pulse and felt
nothing, so he put his hands around her neck until he left handprints in an
attempt to cover up his accident.
[8] On May 22, 2015, the State charged Cruz with murder. At trial, Dr. Elizabeth
Douglas, the forensic pathologist who examined Alma’s body, stated that due
to the decomposition of the body she could not verify the cause of death;
however, the circumstances were sufficiently suspicious to warrant a ruling of
homicide. She stated she ruled out natural causes and blunt trauma to the liver,
kidneys, and lungs, although she could not rule out strangulation as a cause of
death. Dr. Douglas further stated after examining Alma’s skull, she did not
identify any injuries to her head. When asked if a fall stemming from a shove
could inflict fatal injury, she stated, “[i]f the force imparted was great enough to
inflict lethal head trauma, I would expect to see skeletal injuries with it. It’s
possible that they wouldn’t be there, but in general, if you’re going to have a
subdural in a young person, that’s usually accompanied by a skull fracture.” Id.
at 392. The State also offered the testimony of Zachary Gadacz, who met Cruz
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in a holding cell while awaiting an arraignment. Gadacz stated Cruz told him
he choked Alma because “she rejected him sexually.” Id. at 422. When he
asked Cruz if it was worth it, he stated, “[e]very last second of it.” Id. at 423.
[9] Cruz also testified at trial and stuck to his same general story but added some
minor changes. Cruz testified he and Alma returned to her house after leaving
Studio Rumba’s and recapped the evening. As he walked downstairs to leave,
he received a Facetime call from Alma, which he declined to answer. As he
returned upstairs to see why she called him, he claimed she began kissing him
and they had sexual intercourse. After, as he got dressed to leave, he claimed
Alma told him he owed her money, which he first assumed was a joke. He
attempted to leave, but Alma began punching, pushing, and scratching him.
Cruz then stated he became angry and punched her twice in her face and
shoved her to the ground as hard as he could. Cruz also stated when he choked
Alma, he thought she was already dead. When asked how telling the police he
choked her after he thought she was dead would help him, Cruz stated, “I was
just . . . just saying stuff. I mean . . . it was too much pressure.” Id. at 507.
[10] A jury found Cruz guilty of murder.1 Cruz now appeals.
Discussion and Decision
1
The jury was instructed on murder, voluntary manslaughter, and reckless homicide.
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[11] Cruz challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his murder
conviction. The standard of review for sufficiency of the evidence claims is well
settled. We do not reweigh the evidence or judge the credibility of the
witnesses, and we respect “the jury’s exclusive province to weigh conflicting
evidence.” Alkhalidi v. State, 753 N.E.2d 625, 627 (Ind. 2001). We “consider
only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict.”
McHenry v. State, 820 N.E.2d 124, 126 (Ind. 2005). We will affirm a conviction
“if the probative evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence
could have allowed a reasonable trier of fact to find the defendant guilty beyond
a reasonable doubt.” Tobar v. State, 740 N.E.2d 109, 111-12 (Ind. 2000).
[12] To convict Cruz of murder, the State was required to prove beyond a
reasonable doubt that he knowingly or intentionally killed Alma. Ind. Code §
35-42-1-1(1). A person’s conduct is intentional if, when he engages in the
conduct, it is his “conscious objective to do so.” Ind. Code § 35-41-2-2(a). A
person acts knowingly if, when he engages in the conduct, he is “aware of a
high probability that he is doing so.” Ind. Code § 35-41-2-2(b).
[13] Cruz asserts the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction because “[t]he
State did not produce any evidence suggesting that it was [Cruz’s] conscious
objective to kill [Alma]. Nor did the State produce any evidence that there was
a high probability that [Alma] could die as a result of [Cruz] punching her and
pushing her to the ground.” Brief of Appellant-Defendant at 13. Cruz’s
argument proceeds on the assumption the jury believed his testimony Alma
died from being punched and shoved to the ground. The jury was not required
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to believe or give weight to this testimony, and given the numerous lies, half-
truths, and versions of events told by Cruz, it is not surprising it did not.
[14] Further, we note it is well-established knowledge or intent may be inferred from
the facts and circumstances of the case. Johnson v. State, 837 N.E.2d 209, 214
(Ind. Ct. App. 2005), trans. denied. The evidence supporting the verdict shows
that on April 11, 2015, Cruz and Alma went out with friends. Cruz was in an
unsociable and unpleasant mood whenever Alma would talk to other people at
the bar. At one point in the evening, Alma asked her friend for advice on what
to do about Cruz because he wanted to transform their friendship into a
relationship and she did not. When the night was over, Cruz drove Alma back
to her home and was the last one to see her alive. A month later, following
several interviews and a number of lies told to the police, Cruz finally admitted
he punched Alma twice in the face, shoved her to the ground, choked her until
his handprints were visible on her neck, and dumped her body in a woods out
of town. In subsequent interviews with police, Cruz repeatedly referenced
strangling, choking, or placing his hands on Alma’s neck after he shoved her to
the ground. Cruz then led police to where he dumped Alma’s body in the
woods near Culver. Dr. Douglas could not pinpoint a cause of death due to
decomposition of the body, but she could not rule out strangulation. And while
Cruz claims Alma died after he punched her and shoved her to the ground, Dr.
Douglas stated she found no injuries to Alma’s skull, as she would expect to
find in a fatal head injury. We conclude the State presented sufficient evidence
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for a jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt Cruz knowingly or
intentionally killed Alma.
[15] Cruz also claims he acted in sudden heat, and as such, his conviction should be
reduced to voluntary manslaughter. A person who knowingly or intentionally
kills another human being while acting under sudden heat commits voluntary
manslaughter. Ind. Code § 35-42-1-3(a)(1). “Sudden heat” is characterized as
“anger, rage, resentment, or terror sufficient to obscure the reason of an
ordinary person, preventing deliberation and premeditation, excluding malice,
and rendering a person incapable of cool reflection.” Dearman v. State, 743
N.E.2d 757, 760 (Ind. 2001). The existence of sudden heat is a question of fact
to be determined by the jury. Jackson v. State, 709 N.E.2d 326, 329 (Ind. 1999).
Cruz asserts he acted in sudden heat when he struck Alma and shoved her to
the ground because she demanded money after they had sex and attacked him
when he refused. The only testimony supporting this version of events is Cruz’s
own testimony, which the jury was entitled to credit and weigh. The jury either
concluded Cruz’s story was not credible, or his version of events did not rise to
the level of sudden heat. Either way, this determination was for the jury to
make, and we cannot reweigh the evidence or assess witness credibility on
appeal. Alkhalidi, 753 N.E.2d at 627.
Conclusion
[16] We conclude the State presented sufficient evidence to support Cruz’s
conviction for murder. Accordingly, we affirm his conviction.
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[17] Affirmed.
Kirsch, J., and Barnes, J., concur.
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