Free Motion in Limine - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:00-cr-00531-WYD

Document 2072

Filed 12/18/2006

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO Criminal Action No. 1:00-cr-00531-WYD UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. WILLIAM SABLAN, Defendant. MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF POST-MORTEM INJURIES William Sablan, through court-appointed counsel, moves in limine, pursuant to FRE 401403 and the 5th Amendment to the Constitution, for an Order excluding evidence of post-mortem injuries on the grounds that such evidence is not relevant to any material issue, that any relevance is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, and that introduction of such evidence would violate Mr. Sablan's Constitutional Due Process rights. As grounds for this Motion, Mr. Sablan states as follows: 1. Mr. Sablan is charged with Murder in the First Degree of Joey Estrella. On

October 10, 1999, William Sablan, Rudy Sablan, and Joey Estrella were inmates and cellmates at the United States Penitentiary in Florence, Colorado. While conducting routine rounds during the early morning hours of October 10, 1999, prison guards discovered Joey Estrella dead inside his cell. The floor of the cell was covered with blood. Mr. Estrella had been partially eviscerated and portions of Estrella's internal organs had been removed from his body. Photographs and a video tape of the injuries to Estrella were taken by law enforcement and

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prison officials. An autopsy was performed to determine the cause of Estrella's death. On autopsy the following injuries to Estrella were noted: Ligature marks to Estrella's neck were noted. The ligature marks to Estrella's neck confirmed the eye witness account of another inmate (Arthur Peck) who looked into the cell and observed Rudy strangling Estrella with a headphone cord. Slash wounds to Estrella neck were noted. The slash wounds to Estrella's neck cut his jugular vein causing severe bleeding. Estrella's death was caused by the slash injuries to his neck and the ensuing loss of blood. The official cause of Estrella's death was exsanguination (loss of blood) from slash wounds to the neck. The blood inside the cell was attributable to bleeding from Estrella's neck. A gaping incised injury to Estrella's torso was noted. The wound to Estrella's torso and the removal of internal body parts did not contribute to Estrella's death. The government has provided the expert opinion of two separate forensic pathologists who reviewed the medical evidence. Both pathologists determined the cause of Estrella's death was exsanguination from the neck wounds and that the wounds to Estrella's torso did not contribute to his death. Both pathologists determined that the injuries to Estrella were inflicted in the following order: First, Estrella was strangled around the neck with a ligature. The ligature compression incapacitated Estrella and perhaps caused loss of consciousness. Next, Estrella's neck was slashed. As noted above, Estrella died as a result of the slash wounds to the neck. Finally, after he was dead the wounds to Estrella's torso were inflicted. 2. Mr. Sablan is charged with First Degree Murder. To establish the charge of

Murder in the First Degree the government must prove that William Sablan killed, or aided and abetted the killing of Joey Estrella. The defense concedes that evidence establishing the "cause of death" is relevant to a material issue in the case and therefore admissible. On the other hand, evidence that is not

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relevant to "cause of death" is not relevant to any material issue in the case and should therefore be excluded. Evidence of wounds that were inflicted on Estrella AFTER HIS DEATH is not relevant to the cause of death or to any material issue in this case. The only reason to adduce evidence of post-mortem injuries is to inflame the passions of the jury against Mr. Sablan. Further, any relevance of post-mortem injuries is so minimal and so unduly prejudicial as to be inadmissible under FRE 403. 3. This motion to exclude evidence of post-mortem injuries is of Constitutional

significance. The Due Process Clause guarantees a criminal defendant faced with the prospect of being deprived of life or liberty the right to a fair trial. The essence of due process is fundamental fairness. Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 77 (1985). "An important element of a fair trial is that a jury consider only relevant and competent evidence bearing on the issue of guilt or innocence." Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 131 n.6 (1968). A trial in which the prosecution uses irrelevant evidence to enrage the jury against the defendant is the essence of an unfair trial. Here, evidence of post-mortem injuries is not relevant to any material issue and such evidence would unduly inflame the passions of the jury. Therefore, evidence of post-mortem injuries would violate Mr. Sablan's Constitutional Due Process rights. 4. The defense acknowledges that photographs and videos are not inadmissible

merely because they are gruesome. United States v. Naranjo, 710 F.2d 1465, 1468 (10th Cir. 1983). However, photographs and videos, in particular, can be unfairly prejudicial if they are sufficiently shocking or repulsive to elicit an emotional response from the jury. United States v. Souffront, 228 F.3d 809. 826 (7th Cir. 2000). In this case, photographs and videos depicting the

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wounds to Estrella's torso and the removal of internal organs are shocking and will certainly elicit an emotional response from the jury. Because such photographs and videos are not relevant to any material issue and because they are sufficiently shocking to elicit an emotional response, the photographs and videos depicting post-mortem injuries should be excluded from evidence under the Federal Rules of Evidence and as a matter of Constitutional law. See Spears v. Mullin, 343 F.3d 1215 (10th Cir. 2003)(affirming District Court's grant of relief on habeas review on grounds that photographs of the victim's mutilated body deprived the defendant of a fundamentally fair proceeding as guaranteed by the Constitution.). WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing William Sablan requests that the Court enter an Order excluding any evidence of post-mortem injuries, specifically injuries to Joey Estrella's torso and abdomen including evidence of evisceration. Evidence that should be declared inadmissible includes both testimonial descriptions and photographic and video depictions of all post-mortem injuries. Dated: December 18, 2006 Respectfully submitted, /s/ Patrick J. Burke Patrick J. Burke Patrick J. Burke, P.C. 1660 Wynkoop Street, Ste 810 Denver, CO 80202 (303) 825-3050 Nathan Chambers Chambers, Dansky & Mulvahill 1601 Blake Street, #300 Denver, CO 80202 (303) 825-2222 Susan L. Foreman 1660 Wynkoop Street, Ste 810 4

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Denver, Colorado 80202 (303) 825-3050 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on this 18th day of December, 2006 a true and correct copy of the above, MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE OF POST-MORTEM INJURIES was filed with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/ECF system and was served via electronic mail to the following: Brenda Taylor ([email protected]) Phil Brimmer ([email protected]) /s/ Jennifer J. Feldman

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