Our sole duty, as we wrote at the outset, is only to insure that there is substantial evidence to support the verdict this jury reached. On tonight's episode of Dateline NBC, Keith Morrison interviews family members and investigators in Robert Ayala's murder case. A document examiner expert testified at trial that the paper used in the second letter sent to the sheriff, the diagram, and the indented paper were chemically indistinguishable. The settlement awarded the family $20 million as well as $44,800 in workers compensation payment. Rain. The evidence will show that the explosive device in this case was housed inside a 480-volt high amperage pump control panel. First three fuses, the device had dual triggers and detonators. September-October: On several occasions the FBI dive team searched the canal and the irrigation ditch perpendicular to the canal and found a fuse, hinge, washers and nuts, the inside part of the electrical control panel, part of the post the panel had been mounted on, and a timer box cover. The letter stated: Ayala was actually warned what would happen if he screwed with these people. Defendant does not quarrel with the limited scope of appellate review of an insufficiency claim. The jury was well acquainted with the wiretapping evidence as well as with Paul's description of his life. Low 41F. He also testified that Paul and a friend created an acetylene bomb by combining acetylene gas and oxygen in a balloon. He denied saying he would fire the Ayala brothers if he ever took over the farm and insisted he liked Roberto. There is indeed sufficient evidence to support a reasonable inference that Paul had nursed a lifetime animosity toward nonfamily members his father appeared to favor. Higher wind gusts possible. A forensic document examiner compared the sheet of paper with the indentations that had been seized from Paul's residence to the diagram of the bomb mailed to the Colusa County Sheriff's Department. C075231. Roger, along with his brother, Arlan, used to own Moore Brothers Farm in Colusa, California. The money, which is expected to grow to $26,571, will help fund the son's college education, Gingery said. If u have any questions, place ad in Sac Bee, help wanted, make it the last ad [in the] August 21st issue. Paul maintains the prosecutor's comparison to DNA analysis imputed an accuracy to the paper and ink analysis that was not in evidence, and therefore it was error to allow the prosecutor to argue the ink, paper, and labels were matches. We agree with the trial court that the argument was permissible as a mere example or analogy. Eduardo Ayala told an investigator he saw Paul manufacturing spikes in the farm maintenance shop. It will be reassigned in five weeks. Previously driven by target one. Becoming windy late. February 7, 2023 (78 years old) View obituary. The prosecutor characterized Paul's wiretapping of his ex-wife as creepy and really unusual, and stated he taunted his ex-wife's parents by telling them about the wiretapping. Nevertheless, on the narrow legal questions presented, we find substantial evidence to support the verdict and no abuse of discretion in admitting evidence or denying the defense request for surrebuttal closing argument, and therefore affirm the judgment. 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. (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206.) 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. Ayala died instantly from the explosive device, and fire and law enforcement officials originally believed the explosion was an accident. Paul states repeatedly that he did not threaten Roberto Ayala in the entire document as if the document were irrelevant simply because he did not threaten to physically assault him. The prosecution called a litany of forensic experts connecting Paul to the sheet of paper with the indentations of the bomb diagram, the paper in the printer to the paper used in the diagram of the bomb, the ink in the copier to the ink used on the second letter and the diagram, the type of labels used in the letters and diagram to the type Paul used on his own files, and the fishing line found in his boat to the type of fishing line used in the bomb. An individual would need prior knowledge of electric devices and electrical systems in order to properly and safely install the device. We agree the prosecution may have overstated the probative value by arguing the degree of sophistication a wiretap takes in the absence of evidence to support that claim. We know that his farm has rice fields and walnut orchards. IPeter or Paul: Substantial Evidence to Support the Verdict. Many years before the explosion, he set up two duck blinds in a field on the farm. His trial lawyer provided excellent representation and advocacy. During the trial, Roger Moore testified he planned to share his half of the farm with his son, but that Paul Moore would have to work his way up in an effort to build respect from the employees, a situation that Druliner said Paul Moore resented. SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Paul Moore was convicted in state court announced Colusa County District Attorney John R. Poyner, Colusa County Sheriff Scott D. Marshall, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), San Francisco Field Division Special Agent in Charge Joseph M. Riehl. On July 16, 2011, Roberto picked up his seven-year-old son, bought him lunch, and drove to one of the Moore brothers' rice fields to adjust the irrigation pump. Colusa CA 95932. More to the point, he contends the evidence we described above is not substantial when reviewed in the context of the entire record. Without debating semantics, the point is that we must defer to the trial court's determination whether the evidence is substantially more prejudicial than probative unless the court has strayed too far from what is reasonable and sound. 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. The investigators took possession of three computers and three cellular telephones. And, as with the admissibility of the wiretap evidence, the argument is simply a diminution of the probative value suggested by the prosecution; it is not that the evidence bore no probative value, just that it was substantially outweighed by the risk of prejudice. Most of the indented impressions found on the sheet of paper matched the lines in the bomb diagram. On several occasions, he physically threatened to harm, among others, his father, his uncle, and Roberto Ayala. Roger David Hickel passed away on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, at the U. C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, at the age of 76. As an adult, he became a football coach but was fired for his aggressiveness toward a student. A Sacramento County jury found him guilty on Aug. 23. . On July 16, 2011, Roberto Ayala and his son were on the Moore brothers rice fields, and Ayala was adjusting an irrigation pump when he son heard a loud explosion and then saw his father on fire, according to the original court case. I finally found the Ford, and now it is driven by some young guy, not the brother. Half of the amount will go to. The boy witnessed the explosion that killed his father. Colusa Cemetery District is owned and maintained by Colusa Cemetery District. He felt mistreated by everyone, including Peter. Code, 1101, subd. It's a very rapid event. We find no merit in Paul's objection to the admissibility of his own life story. In Paul's view, it was Peter who had lost the most and had the most to gain by Roberto's demise. He ran to help him, but his father was unresponsive. His reputation in the community would make Peter the more likely suspect than Paul. Thus it was relevant and probative of his knowledge of creating explosions. Of course, the evidence was damaging, for it confirmed the prosecution's basic theory of the case, that a disappointed, angry, and envious man killed the foreman who threatened him most in his father's eyes. Do I think Peter (Paul's cousin) did this? . Even though Paul Moore was the "sole. Given the brevity of the comment, we believe Paul grossly overstates its potential danger and conclude there was no prosecutorial error. The freehand drawing has some arrows on it. The Legislature therefore has declared that evidence of a person's character or a trait of his or her character (whether in the form of an opinion, evidence of reputation, or evidence of specific instances of his or her conduct) is inadmissible when offered to prove his or her conduct on a specified occasion. (Evid. 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. Robert John Vierra. February 3, 2023 (75 years old) View obituary. Gus was . ARLAN MOORE OBITUARY . 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. After a few years, Martin Tucker told Roger that Peter and his friends were shooting every bird in the sky. pic.twitter.com/trQ6iY5jej, Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) July 24, 2020. On top of that, Roger surely had the resources to ensure everyone was looked after. The evidence demonstrates that Paul had, on at least one occasion, experimented with explosive substances. 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. 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. At the same time, their sons, Peter and Paul, respectively, hated Ayala. 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. He argues that the trial court's error violated his right to a fair trial and due process of law under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The prosecutor did not rely on any evidence outside the record, nor did he raise any new theory. Would love your thoughts, please comment. According to Paul, something had been placed at the pump to cause the explosion. Lynette Marie Clark. Moore was cuffed and booked at the Colusa County Jail at the age of 47. The straightedge drawing is -- the diagram depicts -- what we're led to believe is that the diagram depicts the electrical box. Ayala was killed in an explosion in 2013. In the My Life document, as described above, Paul provides a litany of perceived wounds and transgressions he suffered throughout his life on the farm and many of the indignities he felt were a result of the privileges, trust, and respect showered on Roberto by Roger and Gus. Like the first letter, the text of the second was made with a label maker and photocopied. But 12 jurors of Paul's peers found that the circumstantial evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he murdered Roberto Ayala and we must respect their verdict. My Life: Paul maintains that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting the prosecution's evidence of a document extracted from Paul's computer entitled My Life because its probative value was outweighed by undue prejudice within the meaning of Evidence Code section 352. The boy had to run two miles to get help. My house and property are protected, larger devices. "That's why I took the case.". 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. On August 18 Paul brought in another fragment he thought was suspicious and indicative of a bomb going off. Paul told the investigators that Peter had been around the explosion site one day before the explosion. "The bells of justice have finally rung for us," Ayala said. He assumed Peter was trying to get him fired. Eschewing the old formulation characterizing a prosecutor's behavior as misconduct and urging us to consider the more forgiving label of prosecutorial error, the Attorney General defends the prosecutor's rebuttal argument and insists the court did not err by foreclosing the defense from making a surrebuttal argument as requested. 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. Whoever is driving the Ford is very much in danger. But the document provided strong circumstantial evidence he secretly envied the position to which Roberto had ascended and the discomfort Roberto's presence continued to cause him. Someone will take it. Defense counsel, anticipating the very strategy the prosecutors ultimately used, complained to the trial court that the first prosecutor offered only a short opening argument, whereas the second prosecutor had argued for over two hours when she once again objected to the sandbagging. This is an argument defense counsel had the opportunity to effectively rebut in closing argument. Neither Peter's nor Paul's DNA matched swabs taken from the letters, envelopes, and stamps. He did not like Roger and Roger did not like him. Half of the amount will go to Jesus, Maria and Paola Ayala, while the other half will be placed in an annuity for Roberto's now 12-year-old son. [Citation. Colusa Cemetery District grounds was established as a cemetery in 1873. In other words, Martin believed Peter's bark is much bigger than his bite. Martin had never seen Peter actually engage in any sort of violence. The writing is comprised in a similar fashion as the letters themselves. and plate number. ADVICE: Are North Americans wimps when it comes to pain tolerance? We agree. Most damning, they found a sheet of paper with indentations that appeared to match the diagram of the bomb sent to the sheriff. 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. Unfortunately, Arlan passed away, leaving Roger to handle the affairs. Simply put, the jury concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that based on this evidence, Paul was guilty of first degree murder. "It was owned by Moore farms, but was only driven by Roberto," Gingery said. But Paul insists the prosecutor's rebuttal constituted error, even if we assume it was not intentional. He learned that a bell rang every time a verdict was made. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Nor was there a terrible danger of unnecessarily inciting the jurors' passions. I got name, age, vehicle description, plate number and location. This was my first and final job. They had a warrant and wanted to find more evidence that would tie Moore to Ayala's murder. Your IP: We must accept its determination. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. The investigators placed a GPS (global positioning system) device on his truck, devices that often malfunction. No fingerprints were found on the two letters, and one of the envelopes contained the fingerprints of an unknown person. The washers were consistent with washers used on the spikes that had been laid on the road leading away from the explosion site. For example, Roberto traveled with Peter to a seminar about operating a sod business, but when Peter expressed interest in purchasing a harvester, Roberto alerted Roger, and Roger disapproved of the purchase. ADVICE: Are North Americans wimps when it comes to pain tolerance? Ruben Reynoso Sr., of Colusa, CA, passed away at his home on January 9, 2023. A jury convicted defendant Paul Roger Moore of first degree murder based exclusively on circumstantial evidence that he built and planted a victim-activated bomb in an irrigation pump he knew the farm foreman and eventual victim, Roberto Ayala, would activate. They found threaded pipe nipple, end caps in the form of reducers and plugs, other end caps, washers, nuts, multicolored wire, and seven-inch bolts.
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