Defendant insists there is no substantial evidence that he murdered Roberto Ayala, and the weak circumstantial evidence of his guilt is insufficient to sustain the verdict in the context of the more compelling evidence that his cousin Peter was the perpetrator. On appeal, Paul challenges the court's denial of her request. We must accept its determination. We cannot say the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of a pattern of fascination and aptitude with building things, some requiring electrical aptitude and some that did not. To be sure, Paul had demonstrated an advanced mechanical aptitude and an understanding of electrical currents. Paul insists the limiting instruction could not cure the prejudice. He ran for about two miles to get help. Eight stamps were attached for postage. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. From this evidence, the jury could reasonably infer that Paul had both the aptitude and unique skill set needed to build the type of explosive device that killed Roberto Ayala. He needs to be careful. Rogers exact whereabouts as of 2020 remain unknown. Cemetery Records. Nevertheless, there was probative value in establishing Paul's lifelong familiarity and experimentation with all types of electrical and mechanical devices. Moreover, he was aware of the 19 years Roberto had dedicated to the Moore brothers' farm and had watched at a distance as Roberto ascended to the position he coveted. The money is good. Although the trial was lengthy, they took less than a day to deliberate. She thereafter requested the opportunity to offer a surrebuttal. Peter had difficulty with reading comprehension. The letter read: I am responsible for the panel explosion. This characterization, according to Paul, sought to convince the jury he was a creepy person and, as a result, had a propensity to commit bad acts. The email address cannot be subscribed. Furthermore, the trial brought to light that Rogers enterprise had several vehicles and machinery, which employees like Roberto were allowed to take for personal use. From 1995-2014, they received grants worth $2.1 million. According to the testimony offered by his father, his son, and his ex-father-in-law, that was a lie. Even though Paul Moore was the "sole. I finally found the Ford, and now it is driven by some young guy, not the brother. Later, as a father, Paul taught Gunner how to hard-wire electronics to his car battery so he would not have to use the cigarette lighter to power the electronics in his car. He denied involvement in the explosion, declaring it was a chicken shit way for somebody to do it. As mentioned earlier, he claimed he had little experience with electrical devices and no experience with the irrigation pumps. Peter's house was searched a few days after the explosion. But abused and ostracized by his father Gus, whom family members called Grumpy, Peter was not allowed to farm and instead spent 21 years earning a living in a landscape business he apparently loathed at times. Paul and his young friend were burned in the explosion they caused, but their injuries paled by comparison to the injuries suffered by Roberto when the bomb he activated set him on fire and electrocuted him. Motive is one of the elements the defense argued most vehemently. This envelope had a postmark from Colusa. The prosecution need not, as we know, prove motive. COLUSA COUNTY (CBS13) - A man has been convicted of murdering a farmworker by setting a bomb in an electrical panel that was triggered by the victim at irrigation pump. . It's a very rapid event. The investigators drove around the block a couple of times and on one occasion had eye contact with Paul. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. When asked if his temper had caused problems for him in the community, he testified, I'm not the easiest guy to get along with. By his own account, his father not only physically abused him, but from the time he was eight or nine years old made him fight with other boys to resolve their conflicts. His body was still burning when the firefighters arrived. In Paul's view, it was Peter who had lost the most and had the most to gain by Roberto's demise. No fingerprints were found on the two letters, and one of the envelopes contained the fingerprints of an unknown person. A friend read about his fingerprints on the indented sheet in a local newspaper and asked him about it when he called Paul in jail. In his view, the admission of such prejudicial evidence rendered the state proceedings fundamentally unfair and violated his right to a fair trial under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Paul alleges the trial court erred by denying his request to offer a surrebuttal to the second prosecutor's rebuttal and depriving him of the opportunity to offer a reply to the facts and arguments he had not raised in his own closing argument. The settlement also included about $44,800 in worker's compensation payments. Paul told the investigators that Peter had been around the explosion site one day before the explosion. On August 15 the investigators received a second letter and a diagram of a bomb. And he drove his ATV over the field with his friend Blane Martin on a regular basis. A defendant's writings have been admitted to prove motive over defense objection. The admission of the evidence was not only fair but essential in assuring the jury understood the depth of how aggrieved Paul felt and that Roberto was a major source of his humiliation and disappointment. Low 41F. The focus again, therefore, is not on just how probative the evidence was, but rather on how grave the risk of prejudice admission of the old incident presented. She contended it was too remote to be sufficiently probative and too prejudicial to be admitted. "My sister-in-law is friends with the family," he said. Meanwhile, he was treated worse than any employee, worked harder, but was never given a raise. (People v. Johnson (2000) 77 Cal.App.4th 410, 417-419. The defense argued that Peter had been present at the scene of the explosion. A document examiner from the United States Secret Service compared the ink from the documents sent to the sheriff's department with the ink on documents from the printer confiscated at Paul's house. It will be reassigned in five weeks. (People v. Jacobs (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 728, 737-738.) Find Dr. Moore's phone number, address, hospital affiliations and more. The court summarized what it perceived was a two-part argument: first, that Paul had no part in the killing and had no motive to kill Roberto because everything was rosy for him at the farm and he had worked his way into a happy partnership with his father; but second, his cousin Peter, who was bitter and estranged from the farm he loved, was a plausible bomb builder because he was capable of constructing the simple explosive device in question, particularly with the assistance of the YouTube video found on his computer. Peter threatened both his uncle and his father. The investigators did not believe that a Mexican gang was involved in the explosion because gangs typically advertise their involvement rather than hide it, to incite fear and command respect. He thereafter refused to come back for any additional interviews. Peter's best friend, Blane Martin, countered this narrative. The delivery and return addresses were printed label strips made with a label maker. (CALCRIM No. The boy had to run two miles to get help. Gene Wesley Beauchamp, of Colusa, CA, passed away on January 11, 2023, at the age of 74. During the civil lawsuit, it came to light that the Moore brothers receive millions in government agricultural subsidies. Neither Peter's nor Paul's DNA matched swabs taken from the letters, envelopes, and stamps. Peter testified he was going to physically beat up Roberto. Ruben was born in Woodland, CA, on January 27, 1941, to Frank and Eleanor Reynoso. Paul, through his own words, told that story from his perspective, and his perspective provided the jury invaluable insight into his motive for committing such an atrocious act. Someone will take it. Prosecutors David Druliner and Poyner argued that Paul Moore was clever and resented that he ranked low on the farm compared to other employees, particularly Roberto Ayala, who had a close relationship with Roger Moore. Trig two, drop weight activated upon door opening. "It was owned by Moore farms, but was only driven by Roberto," Gingery said. Given the brevity of the comment, we believe Paul grossly overstates its potential danger and conclude there was no prosecutorial error. He had been angry and upset with the Moore family since he was 12 years old. Paul's trial was not fundamentally unfair, and he was not deprived of his constitutional right to due process. IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Colusa) ---- THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PAUL ROGER MOORE, Defendant and Appellant. Roberto's death occurred against the backdrop of great family disharmony and dissension between the two principals in this deadly drama, Peter and Paul, cousins whose fathers were the sons of Richard and Mimi Moore, owners of an 1,800-acre farm near Colusa. Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. A Colusa County judge approved the judgment last month in the wrongful death lawsuit filed in 2013 by Jesus, Maria and Paola Ayala against Moore Brothers, Arlan Moore, Paul Moore and Roger Moore. Moore is the owner of the Moore Brothers Farm. The trial court agreed with the prosecutor's position that the defense argument put in issue virtually all evidence that tended to show Paul's motive, technical skills, and past related actions and opened the door to fair comment on any and all evidence tending to link him to the crime. Paul complained that Roberto was accorded special privileges, such as keeping sheep and goats by the farm workshop, drinking beer while working or after work, and driving company vehicles home. NICHOLSON, J. The attorney said he didn't take a fee to represent the Ayalas. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. According to Case Law, Paul Moore regarded the Ayala brothers with animosity and said of Roberto, Those son-of-a-b******, they are trying to take over my life. 107 5th St, Colusa, CA. Robert John Vierra. I'm going to get that F'er. Peter testified that Paul was severely depressed and he was afraid he was suicidal. He claimed Roberto was a good person but admitted he became upset when he saw Roberto drinking and driving on the farm. In the explosive expert's opinion, the evidence collected from the scene of the explosion was consistent with the diagram of the bomb, including a bolt with the piece of fishing line, pieces of a sprayed-black plastic bottle, plastic wrap, and washers and bolts that might have been part of the bomb. Published: Jun 17, 2016 Total records: 5,262. A trace evidence examiner found the fishing line recovered from Paul's boat had the same chemical composition as the line around the bolt found at the site of the explosion. Evidence Code section 352 provides the framework: The court in its discretion may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury. In other words, the trial court is accorded considerable discretion to carefully balance the competing interests in admitting probative evidence and in excluding evidence that unfairly prejudices a defendant, and an appellate court will overturn the exercise of discretion only when the trial court's assessment appears to exceed the bounds of reason. In early July, Paul was asked to drive out to the rice field to turn on the water pump without Roberto. The jurors had the opportunity to observe Paul throughout the trial and to assess Peter's credibility throughout his lengthy direct and cross-examinations. Whether wiretapping is relatively simple or exceedingly complex, it takes a certain degree of knowledge to tap into someone's phone line. The family of a Colusa County man killed in a 2011 bombing obtained a $20 million judgment against his killer, an attorney said Wednesday. Target two knows the Mexico connection and that is the reason 4 relocating n will not help target two. Clearly, they both had hoped to assume managerial positions on the farm. The writing is comprised in a similar fashion as the letters themselves. Upon detonation gas atomized for millisecond, completed the circuit triggering flashover, thus electrocution, fail safe and no disarming. We turn to counsel's arguments, the objections that were lodged, and the trial court's rationale in denying the defense request to make a surrebuttal argument and denying its later motion for a new trial. #Dateline tonight at 9/8c. She concluded that all the samples came from the same spool or another spool having the same chemical composition and physical characteristics. Therefore, the evidence shows a knowledge of, and experience with, electric devices under [Evidence Code section] 1101[, subdivision] (b) and should be admitted., Paul emphasizes that his ex-father-in-law offered the only evidence about the wiretapping and his testimony was simply that Paul put some kind of a recorder or a similar device underneath her modular home where he could, from time to time, monitor what the conversations were. Paul argues, therefore, there is no evidence that installing a wiretapping device demonstrated any particular knowledge about electrical circuitry or working with complex electrical devices. Nothing precluded defense counsel from confronting that evidence in her closing argument. And, of course, he was ostracized from the farm and estranged from his father. We need not consider Paul's allegation that the accumulation of errors was prejudicial even if taken individually they were not. But that is not to say a wiretap does not have sufficient probative value to merit admission, and given the minimal risk of potential prejudice, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence that did offer some probative value into the extent of Paul's knowledge about building and connecting electrical and mechanical devices. In the second message, Peter said he had worked for 21 years so he could have a chance to farm; that he wanted his grandfather's farm to stay in the family, but his father had disinherited him; that he and Roger were now screwed and he was not going to get a chance to farm; that he had never had a father except biologically; that his father was a douchebag and had never given him a penny; that Roger could not see the Ayala boys over there ripping [him] off blind; and that Roberto had his kid driving the harvester. Roberto was not an impediment to his ambitions. hkruger@appealdemocrat.com. provides funeral home, burial, veteran,. Like the first letter, the text of the second was made with a label maker and photocopied. On November 24 they noticed the device was not working and they went to Paul's house to investigate. At FindLaw.com, we pride ourselves on being the number one source of free legal information and resources on the web. 13.56.206.54 Paul's son Gunner testified that when Paul was young, he rewired the light switch in his bedroom so he could turn off the light from his bed, but if a person did not flip the switch in a particular way, he or she would be shocked. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. We have completed one-half of our job by presenting the circumstantial evidence from which the jurors could have reasonably inferred that Paul had the familiarity with Roberto Ayala's work routine and how to operate the irrigation pump as well as the opportunity to plant the bomb and the unique skill set in electrical and mechanical design to have constructed the victim-activated explosive device that killed him. One of the investigators described the diagram of the bomb as follows: It's a diagram that has writing around the diagram and on the diagram. Paul was free to argue that the document itself proved he had no intention of harming Roberto because, even in his most private moments, he did not threaten him. SACRAMENTO Paul Moore was found guilty on Friday of the Colusa County murder of Moore Bros. farm foreman Roberto Ayala after about five hours of deliberations. His trial lawyer provided excellent representation and advocacy. The letter stated: Ayala was actually warned what would happen if he screwed with these people. Paul is Roger's son. And while it may be doubtful that Paul killed the farm's foreman to accelerate his own position given that his father had already decided to partner with him, he certainly felt aggrieved and humiliated that he had been denied the opportunity to become the foreman when he graduated from high school and that, throughout his life, those employees like Roberto Ayala who were not part of the Moore family were valued more and treated better than either Peter or Paul. The Oxygen-Acetylene Bomb: Similarly, the evidence that Paul had mixed oxygen with acetylene to produce an explosion when he was in his early to mid-twenties also had some probative value about his knowledge, even if primitive, of bomb making. The prosecutor argued to the jury that scientific experts often use science speak or nerd speak to hedge what they are really saying. Gunner believed his dad could repair just about anything and could make something out of nothing. One of Paul's favorite hobbies, according to Gunner, was assembling and flying radio-controlled airplanes. CR53504) APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Colusa County, Jeffrey A. Thompson, J. Paul Wynn Jan. 12, 2023. Their investigation focused on whether the explosion was an accident. Peter loved to shoot ducks. On July 16, 2011, he was killed in front of his son. Poyner said that after the verdict was announced, he called Peter Moore. David Moore's birthday is 01/17/1944 and is 78 years old. We have carefully evaluated the quantum and sufficiency of the evidence that it was Paul who murdered Roberto in the context of the whole record, and we have examined each of the pieces of evidence he contends proves that it was Peter who designed, built, and planted the victim-activated explosive device. July 18: Two days after Roberto Ayala's death, Paul delivered to investigators a piece of metal he found in a canal near the explosion. According to Gingery, the Moores receive millions in agricultural subsidies annually. Chance of rain 100%. Most damning, they found a sheet of paper with indentations that appeared to match the diagram of the bomb sent to the sheriff. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Higher wind gusts possible. (Evid. According to the Environmental Working Group Farm Subsidy Database, Moore Brothers received about $2.1 million in subsidies from 1995-2014. Having reviewed the evidence offered by the prosecution, we now turn to the evidence presented by the defense that Peter, not Paul, planted the bomb that killed Roberto Ayala, for he too appeared to disdain the man, he too had the opportunity and familiarity with the irrigation pump, he too had access to the area in which the bomb was planted, and he too had incriminating evidence on his computer hard drive. A trace evidence examiner testified that the chemical composition of the fishing line found in Paul's boat was indistinguishable from the fishing line wrapped around a bolt found at the scene of the explosion. Paul therefore argued that he had no motive to kill Roberto, whereas Peter did.
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