State v. Sanchez-Medina

231 N.J. 452

176 A.3d 788

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Respondent,

v.Alexis SANCHEZ-MEDINA, Defendant–Appellant.

A–10 September Term 2016

077883

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued October 10, 2017

Decided January 18, 2018

Tamar Y. Lerer, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney; Tamar Y. Lerer, of counsel and on the briefs).

Elizabeth R. Rebein, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor, argued the cause for respondent (Gurbir S. Grewal, Bergen County Prosecutor, attorney; Gurbir S. Grewal, of counsel and on the brief).

Ronald K. Chen argued the cause for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (Edward L. Barocas, Legal Director, and the Rutgers University School of Law-Newark Constitutional Rights Clinic, attorneys; Ronald K. Chen, Edward L. Barocas, Jeanne M. LoCicero and Alexander R. Shalom, of counsel and on the brief).

CHIEF JUSTICE RABNER delivered the opinion of the Court.

This criminal case involves charges of sexual assault. Defendant testified on his own behalf at trial and denied the allegations. At the start of his cross-examination, the prosecution asked whether he had come to the United States legally. Over an objection, the jury learned that defendant had not. That highly charged evidence was irrelevant and should not have been admitted, as the State now concedes.

Only in a rare case will it be appropriate for a prosecutor to elicit testimony about a defendant's immigration status. In most instances, that type of evidence has no bearing on the crimes charged or a witness's credibility. It can also substantially prejudice the accused because of the inflammatory nature of the issue.

This appeal presents a second issue as well. Although the allegations related to different incidents that involved four separate victims, the case rested heavily on an identification by a single witness. No other victim could identify her assailant. Despite that, neither party requested a jury charge on eyewitness identification, and the trial court did not instruct the jury on the subject. In light of the overall strength of the proofs presented, that error was significant.

The cumulative effect of both errors denied defendant his right to a fair trial. We are therefore required to vacate defendant's convictions and remand for a new trial.

I.

A jury convicted defendant Alexis Sanchez-Medina of various sexual-assault crimes that involved four separate victims: R.D., D.J., A.M., and A.B. We refer to the victims by their initials to protect their identity. To recount the distinct criminal episodes, we rely on the victims' testimony at trial.

A.

On July 27, 2012, at around 8:30 p.m., R.D. was walking with her three-year-old son in Englewood. A man on a bicycle approached R.D. from behind, tried to push her, and grabbed her buttocks. He then rode up and down the street for several blocks, threw kisses at her, and again tried to push her. He also made comments in Spanish that R.D. did not follow.

R.D. was headed to her boyfriend's house and, as she approached it, the man shoved her onto the lawn and kept moving on his bicycle. R.D. later noticed that a pink dress she had been carrying in a bag was missing. Days after, she saw the dress on a pole where she had last seen her assailant.

R.D. contacted the police almost three weeks later after she watched a news report "about a rapist" in the area. The next day, she met with detectives from the Englewood Police Department and gave a statement. She described her assailant as a Hispanic male with a ponytail. She said he wore a royal blue hat and t-shirt, short blue jeans, and sneakers at the time of the attack.

R.D. was the only witness to identify defendant. She selected his picture out of an array of six photographs. At first, she told a detective that she was 75 percent certain that the person in the photo had attacked her. Soon after, she said she was 100 percent sure. R.D. also identified defendant in court.

B.

D.J. was inside her basement apartment in Englewood on August 9, 2012, at about 11:00 p.m., when she noticed the window air conditioner unit move. She went outside to investigate but did not see anyone. As D.J. walked back to her apartment and called a friend, someone lifted her from behind, "slammed [her] into the concrete," and pinned her down. The attacker reached down her pants and inside her underwear, touched her clitoris, and smelled his hand. The man then got up and ran away.

D.J. admitted that she did not get a good look at the attacker, who was behind her the whole time. She described him as a light-skinned African American or Hispanic male. She added that he had muscular arms, wore his curly black hair in a ponytail, and was dressed in dark clothing and white sneakers.

C.

At about 10:00 p.m. on August 10, 2012, A.M. was walking to a convenience store in Dumont. She saw a "shadow of a guy" approach her from behind. The man grabbed both of her arms from behind and gripped them tightly. She tried to resist, and he eventually released her and ran away.

A.M. did not see her attacker's face. She said he appeared to be about 5'3? to 5'7? in height, had a medium build, and had short dark hair. She noted that he wore a sweatshirt and cargo pants.

D.

About twenty minutes after the prior incident, A.B. was assaulted in Dumont. After she took out the garbage and placed it in a dumpster near her apartment, a man charged at A.B. from behind, forced her to the ground, and put his fingers up her shorts and inside her vagina. A.B. screamed and tried to push the attacker off of her, and he ran away.

A.B. never saw the man's face. As he ran, she saw the back of his head and his silhouette. She did not describe him other than to note that he wore dark shorts and a dark shirt.

E.

As part of an investigation into the attacks, the police detained an individual on August 14, 2012, who partially fit the victims' descriptions. Officers questioned the suspect, defendant Sanchez-Medina, at the Dumont Police Department. The interrogation began at about 11:40 p.m. and lasted until close to 4:00 a.m.

At the outset, defendant disclosed that he was born in Honduras. After he waived his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), he explained that he had been in the United States since 2008 and provided additional background information.

Defendant repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks. He also made certain admissions. Because no one referred to the victims by name, some of defendant's comments cannot be readily matched to particular victims.

The early part of the interview appears to have focused on the incidents in Dumont. Defendant said that he might have hurt a woman when he knocked her to the ground while running. Because she screamed, he ran on. At another point, defendant said a woman "got caught on the bicycle" and tripped. After repeated denials, defendant admitted that he accidentally fell on a second woman when she tripped, and he grabbed her waist. Defendant did not admit touching the genitalia of either woman.

The interview later turned to the incidents in Englewood, and defendant consistently denied any involvement. After extended questioning, he admitted that he hit a woman with a bicycle while he was drunk. The woman was with a child. Defendant said that he wanted to touch her "butt" but instead passed her on the bicycle and grabbed only a shopping bag. He said the woman was carrying pants.

Defendant also admitted that he grabbed a woman by the stomach, from behind, while she was talking on a phone. Toward the end of the interview, a detective asked, "And when she was on the ground, you tried to put your hand on her vagina?" Defendant responded, "yes," and added that he put his hand on her to touch her and left when she screamed. He did not admit that he penetrated her.

None of defendant's statements appear to match A.M.'s account of her attack.

A Bergen County grand jury returned an indictment against defendant that charged him with three counts of second-degree attempted sexual assault, against R.D., D.J., and A.M., contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:5–1 and 2C:14–2(c)(1) (counts one, three, and five); two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact, against R.D. and D.J., contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:14–3(b) (counts two and four); and one count of second-degree sexual assault, against A.B., contrary to N.J.S.A. 2C:14–2(c)(1) (count six).

F.

All four victims testified at trial and relayed the above details. Defendant testified as well. He denied that he had ever seen any of the victims or done anything to them. His defense was misidentification. Defendant also claimed he made false admissions to the police.

The prosecution began its cross-examination of defendant with this question: "You're from Honduras, right?" After defendant said "yes," the prosecution asked, "And you didn't come into the United States legally?"

Defense counsel objected, and the trial judge overruled the objection. Both the court and the prosecution mistakenly recalled that defendant had testified he had no prior involvement with the police and no record.¹ The court explained that defendant could not "have it both ways" and improperly allowed the line of inquiry to test defendant's credibility. Defendant then confirmed that he had not "come into this country legally."

The judge gave conflicting limiting instructions about that evidence. After defendant's testimony, the judge instructed the jury as follows:

You heard testimony from the defendant and there was a reference to his illegal status. You're not to use that as proof of guilt[ ] concerning the offenses listed in the indictment. You can, however, use that information to test the credibility of the defendant as to whether or not he follows the rules of society and therefore it could make a difference concerning the issue of credibility, but not as proof of the underlying offenses.

Later in the day, after closing arguments, the trial judge gave final instructions to...