Immigration status of key witness should have come out in Tacoma murder trial, court rules
A man sentenced to more than 50 years for a fatal stabbing in Tacoma needs a new trial, a panel of the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled.
Cesar Chicas Carballo, 34, should have been able to cross-examine a key witness about her immigration status because it concerned a possible motive for her to lie, the opinion said.
The unanimous three-judge panel of Division I of the state Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the case for a new trial Monday.
“... the trial court did not allow Chicas Carballo to cross-examine her about her immigration status as it related to a possible deportation threat by law enforcement that was uttered during her interrogation,” Judge Cecily Hazelrigg wrote for the panel.
The woman was an “essential witness in the State’s case against Chicas Carballo, particularly in light of the absence of any other direct evidence that connected him to the crimes,” the ruling said.
Chicas Carballo was one of four charged in connection to the death of 25-year-old Samuel Cruces Vasquez. Prosecutors said Cruces Vasquez was an innocent person who was ambushed by someone he trusted, Jose Jonael Ayala Reyes. Ayala Reyes was trying to join or get elevated status within a gang, they argued.
Cruces Vasquez was found with stab wounds and apparently run over April 28, 2016 in the 7800 block of South Trafton Street, an hour after he left a restaurant job at Southcenter Mall.
“He thought he was going out for a beer after work,” deputy prosecutor Greg Greer told the court at sentencing.
Jurors convicted Chicas Carballo of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He and Ayala Reyes were each sentenced to 50 years, eight months in prison.
Also charged were Juan Jose Gaitan Vasquez, who was sentenced to 37 years, and Edenilson Misael Alfaro, who awaits trial. Jail records show he’s in custody in California, where he was charged with a separate homicide.
At his sentencing Chicas Carballo apologized for what happened and told the court that he was brought to the scene under false pretenses.
“I didn’t know they were going to take somebody’s life,” he said.
The court rule at issue in Chicas Carballo’s appeal came out about a month before his trial.
It says in part: “ In any criminal matter, evidence of a party’s or a witness’ immigration status shall not be admissible unless immigration status is an essential fact to prove an element of, or a defense to, the criminal offense with which the defendant is charged ... .”
Chicas Carballo argued Pierce County Superior Court Judge James Orlando improperly applied the rule, violating his constitutional right to present a defense.
Chicas Carballo was allowed to impeach the key witness, “with various inconsistencies in her police interview and trial testimony,” Division I said, but “was prevented from exploring her possible motive to lie.”
She said at trial that she was afraid of being arrested and that she was pregnant and worried for her child, according to court records.
“Had she been confronted with the deportation threat and its applicability to her because of her immigration status, a jury could reasonably find that her fear of arrest and for her son’s welfare was related to the threat of deportation by police and the corresponding risk of her son’s birth in a country she had chosen to leave, rather than in the United States,” Hazelrigg wrote. “This is a powerful motive to lie, particularly after dishonesty had been demonstrated by extensive and effective impeachment of this critical witness.”
