Escobar v. State

The appellant, Manuel Escobar, appeals from his convictions for the murder of Javier Olazaba; for the armed robbery of Olazaba, Francisco Trejo, and Jose Guardado; and for the possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.1 On appeal, Escobar contends, among other things, that the trial court erred in permitting Trejo and Guardado to testify about their out-of-court and in-court identifications of Escobar. We conclude, however, that the trial court did not err in failing to suppress the identifications. Because the other issues raised by Escobar are either procedurally barred or without merit, we affirm his convictions. 1. The evidence would have authorized a rational trier of fact to find that Escobar and two companions went to a local brothel for the purpose of robbing people that they found there, and that, in the process of robbing Olazaba, Trejo, and Guardado, Escobar and his companions shot the three victims, killing Olazaba. Trejo and Guardado survived their injuries, and testified against Escobar at trial. Guardado testified that, when he arrived at the brothel, he sat on a sofa in a waiting room. He added that Trejo and Olazaba were there, and that, about five minutes after he arrived, Escobar and two companions arrived. Guardado testified that Escobar and his companions, who were not wearing masks, sat in the waiting room for about five minutes before they pulled out guns and told everyone to lie face down on the floor. Guardado added that one of the handguns had a laser on it, that Escobar had that gun, and that Escobar did most of the talking for the assailants. After the assailants took the victim’s wallets, the assailants shot the victims. Trejo gave testimony substantially similar to that given by Guardado.

When the police subsequently searched Escobar’s apartment, they discovered a .380 caliber pistol with an attached laser sight. A state firearm’s expert testified that a .380 caliber shell casing found at the crime scene was fired from the pistol found in Escobar’s apartment. The firearm’s expert also testified that a bullet extracted from Olazaba’s head was possibly fired from Escobar’s pistol, but that the bullet had been too badly damaged to state with 100 certainty that there was a match.