Facts
- Riqo Mariano Perea, age 19 and a member of the Ogden Trece gang, spent the evening with friends, several of whom were also gang members.
- The group drove to a residence and then to a nearby wedding party where members of a rival gang were present; an argument and exchange of gang insults occurred, and a shot was fired into the air.
- The group returned to a maroon GMC Yukon; Perea sat in the front passenger seat.
- As the SUV drove away, multiple shots were fired from the moving vehicle toward the party, killing two people and injuring two others.
- Several eyewitnesses identified Perea as the shooter, including a witness who testified she saw him shooting from the SUV.
- Police interrogated Perea in custody; officers suggested possible motives and urged him to tell the truth.
- Perea eventually admitted firing from the SUV and disclosed he used a .22-caliber gun, a fact the officers had not provided; he signed a written confession.
- A jury convicted Perea of two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of attempted murder; the court imposed life without parole for each aggravated murder and indeterminate terms for attempted murder.
Issues
- Whether the trial court erred by excluding defense expert testimony on interrogation techniques and false confessions, including an opinion that Perea’s confession was false.
- Whether other limitations or exclusions of defense experts and lay witnesses improperly restricted the defense case.
- Whether Perea’s confession was involuntary under the totality of the circumstances and should have been suppressed.
- Whether cumulative error required reversal.
- Whether Utah’s aggravated-murder sentencing statute authorizing life without parole was unconstitutional on its face or as applied.
- Whether the court should require recording of custodial stationhouse interrogations.
Decision
- The Utah Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences.
- The court held the trial court erred in excluding certain defense expert testimony on false confessions and interrogation practices, but the error was harmless given the strength of the evidence.
- The court upheld denial of the motion to suppress, concluding the confession was voluntary under the totality of the circumstances.
- The court rejected cumulative error because the identified errors did not undermine confidence in the verdict.
- The court held Utah Code § 76-3-207.7 constitutional on its face and as applied to Perea.
- The court declined to adopt a judicial rule requiring recording of custodial interrogations.
Legal Principles
- Expert testimony may be admissible under Utah Rule of Evidence 702 to explain interrogation methods and psychological phenomena relevant to confession reliability, but courts may limit expert opinions that effectively decide credibility or guilt for the jury.
- A confession’s voluntariness is assessed under the totality of the circumstances, considering the suspect’s characteristics, interrogation conditions, and police tactics; psychological strategies and suggested narratives do not alone establish coercion absent overbearing the suspect’s will.
- Evidentiary error warrants reversal only if there is a reasonable likelihood it affected the outcome; harmless error applies when the remaining evidence of guilt is strong.
- Cumulative error relief is unavailable when the combined effect of errors does not undermine confidence in the verdict.
- A legislatively prescribed sentencing scheme for aggravated murder, including life without parole, is constitutional where the jury’s findings (or elements of conviction) authorize the sentence consistent with constitutional jury-factfinding requirements.
- A statewide requirement to record custodial interrogations is a policy choice not imposed by the court in the absence of a constitutional mandate.
Conclusion
The court affirmed Perea’s convictions and sentences, concluding that although the trial court improperly excluded certain expert testimony about false confessions, the error was harmless in light of strong eyewitness and confession evidence; the confession was voluntary, cumulative error did not apply, and Utah’s life-without-parole aggravated-murder sentencing statute was constitutional, while a mandatory recording rule for interrogations was not judicially adopted.