State v. Monterroso

ON APPEAL FROM THE TWENTY-FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF JEFFERSON, STATE OF LOUISIANA NO. 14-3761, DIVISION "H" HONORABLE DONALD L. FORET, JUDGE PRESIDING

COUNSEL FOR DEFENDANT/APPELLANT, PEDRO A. MONTERROSO Holli A. Herrle-Castillo

COUNSEL FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLEE, STATE OF LOUISIANA Honorable Paul D. Connick, Jr. Thomas J. Butler Darren A. Allemand Kellie M. Rish Zachary P. Popovich

Panel composed of Judges Susan M. Chehardy, Robert A. Chaisson, and John J. Molaison, Jr.

JOHN J. MOLAISON, JR.

The defendant/appellant, Pedro A. Monterroso, appeals his conviction of second-degree murder. For the reasons that follow, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On October 30, 2014, a Jefferson Parish Grand Jury returned an indictment charging defendant, Pedro A. Monterroso,^[1] with one count of second degree murder of Heidy Monroy in violation of La. R.S. 14:30.1. The defendant pled not guilty at his arraignment on November 3, 2014. During the protracted pre-trial period, numerous motions, responses, and memoranda were filed. The only motion pertinent to this appeal is the November 26, 2018 Notice of Intent to Introduce Evidence of Other Acts filed by the State. Following a hearing held on February 8, 2019, the trial judge ruled that evidence of prior acts of sexual and physical abuse were admissible.

On March 21, 2022, a twelve-person jury was selected. On March 24, 2022, after closing arguments, the defense counsel moved for a mistrial, which the judge denied. Thereafter, the jury unanimously found the defendant guilty as charged. The defendant's motion for new trial was denied. On May 4, 2022, the defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor without the benefit of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence. This timely appeal followed.

FACTS

On July 13, 2014, numerous officers from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office responded to 4004 Durand Street, apartment four, in response to a call for service. The only furnishings in the one bedroom/one-bathroom apartment were an air mattress and one chest of drawers. The bathroom was located through a

door off of the bedroom. The victim, Heidy Monroy, who was in the tub in the bathroom, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The two children at the scene spoke Spanish. Deputy Abraham Andino requested the assistance of a second officer so that he could separate the brothers to interview them separately. Deputy Andino testified that the older boy stated that his younger brother told him that his father, later identified as the defendant, killed his mother. Sergeant Michael Rios, who interviewed the five-year-old brother, testified that the child stated that he saw his father hit his mother with a stick in the bathroom. Detectives learned that the defendant had left and taken three other children with him. This prompted the sheriff's office to initiate an AMBER alert with the Louisiana State Police for the other three children: J.M., Y.M., and B.M.

Crime scene photographs were taken. Pursuant to a search warrant, a small piece of rebar without tape on it was found in the bathroom closet along with an orange knife. A black knife was found on the kitchen counter. Various paperwork with the children's names was also collected.

Deputy Melvin Francis reviewed the photographs taken outside and inside the apartment with the jury. The deceased victim was photographed lying in the tub before she was removed by the coroner's office. She was photographed again on the bedroom floor. The victim had a "massive injury to the back of her head," injuries to her left hand, and a large incision on her right hand.

Captain Dennis Thornton stated that they procured a phone number in the initial part of the investigation that they believed was connected to the defendant, but it was determined that the phone number actually belonged to Hassan Zakaria, who had a relationship with Heidy. On the night of Heidy's death, Mr. Zakaria was working at Brother's Food Mart from 9:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m.^[2] Based on text

messages between Mr. Zakaria and the defendant,^[3] the police located a new possible phone number associated with the defendant, but that new phone number led nowhere.

Captain Thornton testified that he received a call from a 9-1-1 supervisor indicating that one of the missing children, B.M., had called an individual in Metairie. It was determined that the call came from a phone number associated with Fredy Alarcon^[4] in Katy, Texas. Captain Thornton then notified law enforcement in Harris County that there was an investigation regarding the defendant being a murder suspect and that they were looking for the children. The defendant was apprehended by the Harrison County Sheriff's Office. The three children were placed in protective custody.

Sergeant Rhonda Goff testified that she served as the lead investigator in this case. At the scene she learned that two children were left at the residence; based on what those children told other officers, she obtained an arrest warrant for the defendant. Sergeant Goff was informed that the defendant was detained in Katy, Texas, and that Nelin Monroy, the victim's sister, was detained in El Paso, Texas.

Sergeant Goff and Detective Julio Alvarado traveled to Texas to speak to Nelin and the defendant. The defendant consented to giving a buccal swab sample

for DNA testing. Sergeant Goff did not observe any injuries to the defendant except an old injury on the defendant's hand.

As a result of the information developed in the investigation, a second search warrant was obtained and executed on July 16, 2014. A second piece of rebar, which was wrapped with duct tape, was located in the bathroom closet.

Mr. Timothy Scanlan,^[5] who was accepted as an expert in the fields of crime scene reconstruction and blood stain analysis, testified that he examined the primary bloodstain patterns that were located in the bathroom of the apartment. There was blood on the floor and diluted blood stain patterns along the rear edge of the tub and rear wall. Mr. Scanlan opined that the blood stain patterns were consistent with the victim being struck with a hard object, like a piece of rebar, with her head positioned as the police found it. There was also blood consistent with a smear, as if someone braced against the wall. Mr. Scanlan testified that the blood stain patterns indicated that the victim received more than one blow and that the scene was not consistent with a slip and fall. Rather, the scene was consistent with the bathroom being the sole area of attack where the victim received "bloodletting injuries." Those injuries were received while the victim was at or near the edge of the tub.

David Cox, of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, was accepted as an expert in forensic DNA analysis. Mr. Cox analyzed the DNA collected in this case and authored a report. He testified that he analyzed two pieces of rebar - one a piece of rebar that was not covered and a second piece of rebar that was covered in duct tape. DNA testing of the un-taped rebar revealed that one end was positive for blood. One side of that rebar contained Heidy's DNA, while the other end contained a mixture of at least three DNA profiles. Both Heidy and the defendant were excluded as the major contributor of that DNA mixture. Mr. Cox also tested

both ends of the rebar that was wrapped in duct tape. One end had multiple hairs attached to it. One side of that rebar contained DNA that was consistent with the defendant, and the other side contained DNA consistent with Heidy.

Dr. Susan Garcia, who was accepted as an expert in forensic pathology, testified that she conducted an autopsy on Heidy on July 14, 2014. Dr. Garcia testified that the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head with bleeding at the base of the brain and ruled the death a homicide. Dr. Garcia pointed to the U-shaped injury to the back of Heidy's scalp that was consistent with being struck in that area by a hard object. This injury was not consistent with a fall. The doctor explained that her death was not instantaneous but that she likely lost consciousness quickly. A neuropathology report confirmed that the bleeding at the base of the brain was caused by the blunt force trauma rather than a natural cause.

Dr. Garcia also observed the following: an incised wound behind the left ear caused by a sharp instrument consistent with a knife inflicted from behind, incised wounds on the left and right thumbs, and blunt force trauma to both hands including a fracture or break to the left fourth finger. Dr. Garcia testified that the injuries to the head and hands were defensive-type wounds. A toxicology report revealed that the victim had an elevated level of alcohol in her system and that there were no commonly abused drugs in her system.

Nelin Monroy testified that she knows defendant, Pedro A. Monterroso, as Wilson Rigoberto Mena. She met him in Honduras, where they began a relationship. Nelin and the defendant ultimately had four children^[6] together: B.M., C.M., M.M.M. and Y.M.

Nelin testified that during her relationship with the defendant, he was physically violent towards her, elaborating: "[h]e busted my mouth and he hit me with his legs in my back side." He also grabbed her by the hair. On one occasion, the defendant pointed a gun at her head and told her that it was not worth it for him to shoot her because a bullet was more valuable than her life.

When Heidy was fifteen years old, Nelin discovered that Heidy was pregnant with the defendant's child. Heidy and defendant ultimately had three children together: M.C.M., M.M., and J.M. At some point, Nelin, the defendant, and Heidy moved to Guatemala. They first lived separately, but then Heidy and her children...