"Do I think Paul did this? Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Here the prosecution sought to prove that Paul disliked Roberto Ayala, believed he was a liability to the farm, and thought that his removal would allow Paul to assume greater managerial responsibilities. History. They had a warrant and wanted to find more evidence that would tie Moore to Ayala's murder. Obituaries from McNary-Moore Funeral Service in Colusa, California. All rights reserved. (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206.) 370; People v. Hillhouse (2002) 27 Cal.4th 469, 503-504.) According to the testimony offered by his father, his son, and his ex-father-in-law, that was a lie. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Their investigation focused on whether the explosion was an accident. As a result, Roger had the duck blinds removed. In the first message, Peter told Roger that the real reason Roberto's son was fired by another employer was that he was caught stealing and forging his time card, the same thing the Ayala boys had been doing to Roger for years. (Evid. 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. Colusa County District Attorney John Poyner announced early on he would not seek the death penalty. Although he had used the irrigation pump years earlier when he was shooting ducks, the mechanism had been changed and he testified he did not know how to use the new apparatus. The forensic evidence, as we have described it, connects Paul to the drafting of the second letter and bomb diagram sent to the sheriff's department. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2e78bba8bccfb8 The jurors could have found his behavior odd, even calculated to focus the investigators' attention on his cousin. Peter texted, When [Roberto's] wing is better, he's all mine. Peter testified that when he wrote the message he was planning to beat up Roberto. And Roberto Ayala, in particular, was the target of his wrath. And we do not accept the proposition that a document that was either written or transferred a mere year and a half before the blast was too remote in time. The washers were consistent with washers used on the spikes that had been laid on the road leading away from the explosion site. At trial there was no evidence Paul climbed a telephone pole to attach a wire to the line or any other evidence as to how Paul actually wiretapped the telephone. The police officers confiscated a laptop computer, a combined printer-copier, a partial roll of stamps similar to those used on the second letter sent to the sheriff, an unopened label maker, file folders that had been marked with labels created with a label maker, and manila envelopes similar to the one used for the first letter. Martin opined that Peter was not technically, with regard to electricity, or mechanically talented at all; rather, he was forgetful, had difficulty maintaining the tools he needed for his landscaping business, and suffered minor coordination problems. Thus, we do not address the theoretical question as to whether there is some line a prosecutor may not cross during rebuttal argument. He has endangered others in his family. This information was not disclosed to the public. The fact that the document described the history of the family only added to its probative value. Neither Peter's nor Paul's DNA matched swabs taken from the letters, envelopes, and stamps. Eduardo Ayala told an investigator he saw Paul manufacturing spikes in the farm maintenance shop. Their hopes had not materialized. On December 6 of 2011, agents searched Paul Moores home and found evidence linking him to the crime. Gingery said the $20 million judgment cannot be discharged in Bankruptcy Court and can be periodically renewed. Our Customers Our company legacy is a living force that drives our constant quest to perfect the art of growing produce. Paul appears to have suffered more quietly than his cousin. 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. Peter tried to convince his grandmother Mimi to disinherit his father, confident that his Uncle Roger would be more fair. He also testified that Paul and a friend created an acetylene bomb by combining acetylene gas and oxygen in a balloon. 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 explained that the indented sheet appeared to have been placed beneath the document that was actually written even though some of the lines did not align perfectly. Colusa, CA. The investigators did not desire to have personal contact with Paul at the time, so when he saw them driving by his house, the investigators drove away from the area. We simply cannot say the evidence that Paul possessed the unique skill set to build a bomb, that he had the requisite familiarity with Roberto's schedule and with the irrigation pump where the bomb was planted, of his fingerprints on the indented sheet that matched the bomb diagram and the remainder of the forensic evidence connecting his printer and his labels with the letter and diagram sent by the bomber to the sheriff, and of his suspicious behavior in framing his cousin and in manufacturing and planting the spikes in the road and chasing the investigators at high speeds, and his personal account of the lifetime of disappointment he felt in the way he had been treated relative to the way his father and uncle doted on Roberto, does not constitute solid evidence of credible and reasonable value to sustain the verdict. In describing his life, he pondered what he had done to be treated so poorly by his own family. Paul then drove to the farm shop. Motive is one of the elements the defense argued most vehemently. By Harold Kruger He testified Paul constructed a rice roller and a fertilizer aqua bar in the farm workshop. We are not at liberty to reweigh evidence or revisit credibility issues. Considered in context, there is no danger the jurors were misled or that the document examiner's expert testimony was falsely elevated to the stature of DNA evidence. Paul's narrative of family intrigue has all the earmarks of a Shakespearean tragedy and makes for compelling drama. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Thus, the court disagreed with Paul's threshold argument at trial that the prosecutor's rebuttal was improper because it exceeded the scope of the defense closing argument. Click to reveal 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. Again, Paul's critique is the same: that is, the prosecutor grossly exaggerated his fascination with bomb making and extrapolated one incident into a proclivity to create multiple and more advanced explosive devices. My house and property are protected, larger devices. He noted that in a stack of paper, indentations can appear five pages down. Similarly, when Roberto and Paul disagreed about a design for a mud chisel, Roberto's idea garnered Roger's blessing. However, we have been able to discern that he is currently at Colusa, and is a pillar of the community. Defense counsel argued the document should have been excluded because it was written at least 18 months before Roberto was killed and many of the events Paul described had occurred in his early childhood. The money, which is expected to grow to $26,571, will help fund the son's college education, Gingery said. At trial he explained he had difficulty understanding the documents he was asked to review, but that he could understand an oral description of their contents. Paul Moore of Grimes,. No fingerprints were found on the two letters, and one of the envelopes contained the fingerprints of an unknown person. On July 17 Roger gave the investigators two voice mail messages he had received from Peter. 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. Paul's animosity toward Roberto and his feelings of humiliation and resentment were simmering for years, and who better to express his feelings, and inferentially his motive, to the jury than Paul himself? Ruben was born in Woodland, CA, on January 27, 1941, to Frank and Eleanor Reynoso. Believe me and have time to do something to help these guys.. He was responsible for regulating the water levels on the rice fields. 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. We will review that evidence in two steps: first, we will outline the evidence of solid, credible value the jury could have reasonably relied upon in finding Paul guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. ADVICE: Are North Americans wimps when it comes to pain tolerance? He showed them copies of text messages he had received from Peter in which Peter expressed his displeasure with the condition of the fields and suggested the field manager (Roberto Ayala) should be fired. There is no question, however, that the evidence was remote in time. I have nothing to say to that man, other than bye-bye.". The prosecutor did not rely on any evidence outside the record, nor did he raise any new theory. Paul said the evidence was no big deal; he said the sheet was found in his house by the window, and he probably leaned on it and opened the window.. Chance of rain 100%. Moore is the owner of the Moore Brothers Farm. 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. Rain. The attorney said he didn't take a fee to represent the Ayalas. NICHOLSON, J. He thought he was safe in the States. From 1995-2014, they received grants worth $2.1 million. He discovered what the prosecution experts had all missedthat the user of Peter's computer had visited a YouTube rat trap video. (b).) 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. Three days later, they received another letter containing a diagram of the device. The evidence demonstrates that Paul had, on at least one occasion, experimented with explosive substances. Ayala was killed in an explosion in 2013. He claimed Roberto was a good person but admitted he became upset when he saw Roberto drinking and driving on the farm. The settlement also included about $44,800 in worker's compensation payments. Though there was no DNA evidence or fingerprints on the explosive device, the jury found Paul Moore guilty. This was my first and final job. This is an argument defense counsel had the opportunity to effectively rebut in closing argument. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. The 3rd District Court of Appeals said it found no reason to overturn the guilty verdict in Paul Moore's 2013 trial. The circumstantial evidence against Paul Moore included opportunity to plant the bomb and familiarity with the farms, a unique skill set to fix electrical and pump problems, and Pauls bringing investigators a piece of metal he found near the explosion. 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 insists that on his deathbed his grandfather expressed his desire for Peter to farm the walnut orchards. Colusa Cemetery District grounds was established as a cemetery in 1873. Once it gets free enough to the point, and that won't take a whole lot, that washer drops or is free, and then that bolt drops, pulls the line through the first nut on the top, pulls the nut or the line through the bottom nut over here, the second one, which yanks on this little trigger right there releasing the bale. To the contrary, the prosecutor did nothing more than marshal validly admitted evidence to counter defense argument: that is, the prosecutor referred to wiretapping evidence to demonstrate that Paul had superior technical skills to Peter and to his My Life entries to demonstrate he had a motive to kill Roberto, based on a lifetime of indignities and slights he felt on the farm. His trial lawyer provided excellent representation and advocacy. 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. Paul Moore was found guilty on Friday of first-degree murder of Moore Bros. farm foreman Roberto Ayala in Colusa County after the jury deliberated for about five hours. In fact, the incarcerated mans full name is Paul Roger Moore, as a sign of respect to his father. 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. Published: Jun 17, 2016 Total records: 5,262. 107 5th St, Colusa, CA. In addition, Gingery said, Moore Brothers signed over to the Ayala family the pickup Roberto was driving on the day he was killed. 3 Crim. "I love my three children a lot, and I think all three know I wouldn't lie for them," Roger Moore said. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. "But, I never had a doubt that my investigation team put together a rock-solid case," Poyner said. The bolts were just like the bolt discovered at the scene of the explosion. This was an MS-13 [Mara Salvatrucha, a violent gang] job, something about a Mexico deal gone wrong. 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. Dr. Svetlana Moore is a Family Medicine Doctor in Colusa, CA. C075231 (Super. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Farm accidents are as old as the wheel, but was this an accident? But the fire and law enforcement officials who performed the initial investigation did not know a bomb had been planted in the irrigation pump. On November 24 they noticed the device was not working and they went to Paul's house to investigate. Taken together, their expert opinions constitute substantial evidence from which the jurors could reasonably infer that Paul was the author of the incriminating letters to the investigators and that it was the author of those letters with the knowledge of the intricacies of the bomb who must have designed, created, and planted it. The prosecutor argued to the jury that scientific experts often use science speak or nerd speak to hedge what they are really saying. 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. Nor do we find the prosecutor's equally innocuous statement that there is no such thing as a prosecution witness another example of prosecutorial error. Peter threatened both his uncle and his father. Installing a device inside such a panel is a highly dangerous activity. On appeal, Paul challenges the court's denial of her request. While there is no evidence that he actually had been disinherited, Peter believed he had and that Roberto would be the recipient of his share of the farm. Thus, he was suggesting by analogy that the document examiner could not say the papers were a positive match. The trial court rejected the defense claim that the prosecutor improperly had compared paper stock analysis to DNA analysis when there was no DNA analysis in evidence. He faces life in prison without parole Colusa Cemetery District is owned and maintained by Colusa Cemetery District. The fact that the prosecutor chose to highlight the damaging evidence only in response to the defense claims that Peter, not Paul, had killed Roberto Ayala and that he had no motive or nothing to gain from the killing was a strategic choice the prosecutors made. If u come 4 me, call first. First, he complains the prosecutors sandbagged him by engaging one prosecutor, who played a more minor role at trial, to make a perfunctory opening argument, saving its genuine substantive attack by the prosecutor who conducted the bulk of the examination. Word On The Street: Community weighs in on Governor Newsom's death penalty executive order. We conclude the trial court did not abuse its discretion by calculating the minimal risk of prejudice and finding the probative value was sufficient to justify the admission of the evidence. ROGER HICKEL OBITUARY. The two felt Roberto received more respect than them. 107 5th Street, Colusa, CA 95932 And second, we will test the substantiality of that evidence in light of the entire record, that is to say, in light of the compelling circumstantial evidence that Peter, not Paul, blew up Roberto Ayala. Roger Moore was believed to be worth 80 million when he died in May 2017 The 007 actor had 30m in property including a luxury Monaco apartment His fourth wife Kristina, 77, was placed into . "My sister-in-law is friends with the family," he said. . More to the point, he contends the evidence we described above is not substantial when reviewed in the context of the entire record. According to Consuelo Conedy-Ruiz, the wife of one of the farm workers, Peter intentionally ran over her dog and drove away. Ayala died instantly from the explosive device, and fire and law enforcement officials originally believed the explosion was an accident. Virginia Carmen Ortiz. As an example, he referred to DNA experts who do not say something is a positive match or is definitely someone's DNA but who give possibilities larger than the number of people who ever lived on earth. But in a document entitled My Life that he stored on his computer, Paul complained bitterly about his life growing up on the farm. Paul concedes that the standard of review is an abuse of discretion, but he cautions us not to rely on the colorful descriptions and derisive boilerplates the Attorney General uses to describe abuse of discretion, including such catchphrases as a court abuses its discretion when the ruling is arbitrary, capricious, or patently absurd, resulting in a manifest miscarriage of justice. Rather, he insists the ultimate question is whether the court's ruling was unreasonable in light of the governing law and the facts presented. The potential prejudice of admitting the evidence was slight. We have found no error at all, and therefore there are no errors to accumulate. Affirmed. . The bomb is set off.. The family of a Colusa County man killed in a 2011 bombing obtained a $20 million judgment against his killer, an attorney said Wednesday. This envelope had a postmark from Colusa. 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. On August 17 Paul went to the police station voluntarily. We disagree. They want the brother, but it is now driven by some young guy, or do they want the young guy? 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. An individual would need prior knowledge of electric devices and electrical systems in order to properly and safely install the device. CR53504) APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Colusa County, Jeffrey A. Thompson, J. He was a boxer in high school. Code, 1101, subd. ] (People v. Robbins (1988) 45 Cal.3d 867, 879; see People v. Kelly (2007) 42 Cal.4th 763, 783.) 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. (People v. Johnson (2000) 77 Cal.App.4th 410, 417-419. Defense attorney Linda Parisi argued that Paul Moore's cousin, Peter, was responsible for the bomb in the three-week Colusa County Superior Court trial that was moved from Colusa to Sacramento. He threatened to beat [his] dad's ass on multiple occasions. We need not consider Paul's allegation that the accumulation of errors was prejudicial even if taken individually they were not. On tonights episode of Dateline NBC, Keith Morrison interviews family members and investigators in Robert Ayalas murder case. On that same day, Paul cast aspersions on Peter. Target two knows the Mexico connection and that is the reason 4 relocating n will not help target two. Location and meter number for panel. We have outlined the chronology of the investigation and how it produced evidence that Paul was quick to alert the investigators to evidence suggesting that Peter bore Roberto ill will, that Peter had threatened Roberto, that Peter had been at the scene of the explosion the day before it happened, and that it was an explosion, not an accident. Paul told investigators that his electrical experience was limited to fixing an electrical outlet and that he had no experience working on the pump control panels. Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. The freehand drawing has some arrows on it. 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. David Moore's birthday is 01/17/1944 and is 78 years old. Nothing precluded defense counsel from confronting that evidence in her closing argument. Gus stood ready to arrest him for trespassing if he was found on the premises. 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. Performance & security by Cloudflare. And, of course, he was ostracized from the farm and estranged from his father. Peter was more vocal, but Paul built the bomb that killed him. It is true that the prosecution did not elicit testimony from the ex-father-in-law or from anyone else about what electrical knowledge was necessary to wiretap a telephone.