Ponce v. People

2020 VI 2

EDWIN PONCE, Appellant/Defendant, v. PEOPLE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS Appellee/Plaintiff.

S. Ct. Crim. No. 2015-0067

SUPREME COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

Argued: February 16, 2016

April 1, 2020

For Publication

Re: Super. Ct. Crim. No. 736/2011 (STX)

On Appeal from the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands Division of St. Croix

Superior Court Judge: Hon. Douglas A. Brady

BEFORE: RHYS S. HODGE, Chief Justice; MARIA M. CABRET, Associate Justice; and IVE ARLINGTON SWAN, Associate Justice.

APPEARANCES:

Renee D. Dowling, Esq.

Law Offices of Renee D. Dowling

St. Croix, U.S.V.I

Attorney for Appellant,

Samuel A. Walker, Esq.

Deputy Solicitor General

St. Croix, U.S.V.I.

Attorney for Appellee.

OPINION OF THE COURT

HODGE, Chief Justice.

¶1 Appellant Edwin Ponce appeals from the Superior Court's July 30, 2015 judgment and commitment, which adjudicated him guilty of numerous offenses, including first-degree murder.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

¶2 The People of the Virgin Islands charged Ponce and Edwin "Cepi" Rivera with multiple offenses stemming from the death of Carlos Juan Rosa. The Superior Court had consolidated the cases for trial, and jury selection concluded on May 28, 2013. The Superior Court conferred with counsel for all parties on the morning of May 29, 2013, to address various issues that remained outstanding. At this hearing, Ponce moved to exclude various photographs of his home—taken when the police executed a search warrant on September 24, 2011—that the prosecution had only presented the morning of jury selection. After hearing arguments, the Superior Court denied the motion but stated that it would bring the jury in for preliminary instructions, recess for lunch, and not reconvene until the next morning, so as to give Ponce's counsel time to review the photographs or engage in any other investigation necessary to prepare for trial.

¶3 The next morning, outside the presence of the jury, the Superior Court stated on the record that Rivera's counsel had advised that he experienced cardiac issues overnight, and that he needed to meet with a cardiologist that day and could not participate in trial that day. The Superior Court stated its intent to release the jury for the day and reconvene the next morning but asked to first hear from the parties. The People stated that given the uncertain health situation of Rivera's counsel, it would stipulate to a severance so that the trial could proceed only with respect to Ponce. Ponce agreed with the People, and orally moved to sever the cases because "[t]he defense for - neither his defense for, the defense of Edwin Ponce, the defense of Edwin 'Cepi' Rivera relies on either of the other. They each stand charged before this Court as individuals and they each should be treated as such." (J.A. 336-37.) In doing so, Ponce also asserted his speedy trial rights, and emphasized the significant delay between the trial date and when charges had been filed against him. The Superior Court stated that it would be imprudent to sever the cases before Rivera's counsel met with the cardiologist, and that it would release the jury for the day and issue a ruling on the severance issue the next morning.

¶4 The trial reconvened on the morning of May 31, 2013, and the Superior Court again met with the parties outside the presence of the jury. Rivera's counsel appeared by telephone and informed the court that his cardiologist had advised him that he needed to travel to the continental United States to have a specific procedure performed that could not be done in the Virgin Islands. However, immediately after the Superior Court mentioned the pending motion for a severance, Ponce's counsel interrupted to state that she was withdrawing the motion and was instead moving for a mistrial. Although Ponce's counsel had represented the prior day that Ponce and Rivera's defenses were not related to each other, she now argued that the Superior Court should grant a mistrial because the empaneled jury "ha[s] been exposed to two defendants [a]nd the defendant can no longer go on with his defense, to put on his defense that it wasn't me, it was him." (J.A. 354.) Nevertheless, despite taking this position, Ponce agreed that Rivera's counsel should not be required to represent Rivera at the trial, given his medical issues. After hearing from both parties, the Superior Court denied the motion for a mistrial and stated that it would have granted the motion to sever had it not been withdrawn. At that point, the People moved to sever, to which Ponce objected, again on grounds that a severance would purportedly prejudice his defense. After considering arguments from all parties, the Superior Court granted the People's motion to sever, declared a mistrial as to Rivera, and stated that the trial would proceed only with respect to Ponce.

¶5 At trial, the People called Bettina Rosa—the decedent's wife—to testify to the events that led to her husband's death. She testified that after going to bed on the night of August 28, 2011, she and her husband heard stones thrown at their house. Mrs. Rosa further testified that both she and her husband saw Ponce and Rivera—whom she recognized as two of their neighbors—standing outside. According to Mrs. Rosa, Ponce accused her husband of stealing from him and then aimed a gun at her and said he would shoot her if she did not move. Mrs. Rosa testified that Mr. Rosa pulled her away from the window and asked Ponce to lower his gun. Shortly thereafter, Ponce and Rivera left, but Mrs. Rosa then saw Ponce fire four gunshots into the air.

¶6 Mrs. Rosa then testified that the next day, she saw Rivera and Mr. Rosa fighting outside, with Ponce watching and laughing. According to Mrs. Rosa, when the fighting stopped and she and her husband left, she heard Rivera say, "Don't worry, you gon see what gon happen to you." (J.A. 440.) Mrs. Rosa further testified that later that same day, Ponce approached her when she was sitting under a tamarind tree near her home and told her that if Mr. Rosa did not return certain property to him, "something will go on in there." (J.A. 452.) Mrs. Rosa then testified that she and her husband heard rocks thrown at their window again that night, and that Mr. Rosa took a rifle, approached his front door, and was shot immediately after partially opening the door. Mrs. Rosa testified that her husband retreated to their bedroom and told her that Rivera had shot him in his belly. Mrs. Rosa stated that she then looked through the window and saw Ponce leaving the yard in a crouched position while holding a gun, as well as Rivera standing outside her gate without a gun in his hand. According to Mrs. Rosa, Ponce fired the gun into the air as he left their property. Mr. Rosa died shortly before the police arrived at the scene.

¶7 The People also called several other witnesses to testify to the execution of a search warrant at Ponce's residence on September 24, 2011, which resulted in discovery of bullets found in a pair of pants on the floor and a firearm with an obliterated serial number found in a neighboring yard. This included testimony that when officers knocked on the door to execute the warrant, they heard "running" sounds in the house, (J.A. 1054), as well as testimony from Ponce's then-girlfriend that on hearing the knocks Ponce "jumped out of bed" and "rushed" to an adjacent room before ultimately returning to their bed. (J.A. 979-81.) The People also introduced the testimony of Detective Karen Stout, who testified that her review of licensing records from the islands of St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Water Island revealed that Ponce was not authorized to possess or carry a firearm on either August 28, August 29, or September 24, 2011. The People did not present any other eyewitness testimony before resting their case.

¶8 After the People rested, Ponce orally moved for a judgment of acquittal, which the Superior Court denied. Ponce called several witnesses in his defense, including his mother, who testified that he had been with her the night of August 29, 2011. The matter was submitted to the jury after Ponce rested his case.

¶9 Ultimately, the jury found Ponce guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of third-degree assault, two counts of reckless endangerment, three counts of unlawful possession of ammunition, three counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm, and one count of possession of a firearm with altered or obliterated marks. Ponce filed a written motion for judgment of acquittal, which the Superior Court denied in a June 26, 2015 opinion and order. The Superior Court orally sentenced Ponce on July 27, 2015, to life imprisonment without parole on the first-degree murder charge, and to various terms of imprisonment on the remaining charges, to be served concurrently with each other but consecutive to his life sentence. The Superior Court memorialized its sentence in a July 30, 2015 judgment and commitment. Ponce timely filed his notice of appeal with this Court on July 27, 2015. See V.I. R. APP. P. 4(b)(1) ("A notice of appeal filed after the announcement of a decision, sentence, or order -- but before entry of the judgment or order -- is treated as filed on the date of and after the entry of judgment.").

II. DISCUSSION

A. Jurisdiction and Standard of Review

¶10 We have jurisdiction over "all appeals from the decisions of the courts of the Virgin Islands established by local law[.]" 48 U.S.C. § 1613a(d); see also 4 V.I.C. § 32(a) (granting this Court jurisdiction over "all appeals arising from final judgments, final decrees or final orders of the Superior Court"). Because the Superior Court's July 30, 2015 judgment and commitment was a final order, this Court has jurisdiction over this appeal. See Allen v. HOVENSA, L.L.C., 59 V.I. 430, 434 (V.I. 2013).

¶11 This Court exercises plenary review of the Superior Court's application of law. St. Thomas-St. John Bd. of Elections v. Daniel, 49 V.I. 322, 329 (V.I. 2007). However, in ruling on the...