Beyond those innocuous hobbies, he wiretapped a telephone and blew up a bomb. In denying Paul's motion for a new trial on this ground, the trial court stated that the prosecutor's offhand and brief comment could not be fairly construed as arguing character. And Roberto Ayala, in particular, was the target of his wrath. November: By November the investigation had targeted Paul. There is an abundance of evidence to support the notion that Peter has been a bully his entire life and his relationships ended poorly. The jury was properly reminded to consider the evidence solely for its tendency to prove Paul's knowledge of electrical and technical devices. In early July, Paul was asked to drive out to the rice field to turn on the water pump without Roberto. We must accept its determination. Peter insists that on his deathbed his grandfather expressed his desire for Peter to farm the walnut orchards. On October 3 investigators also found spikes down a private farm road. The money is good. Moore was cuffed and booked at the Colusa County Jail at the age of 47. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Diane Nichols, under appointment by . I received info and instructions via USPS. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. God [sic] luck. Word On The Street: Community weighs in on Governor Newsom's death penalty executive order. There was no undue consumption of time since Paul's ex-father-in-law explained what he knew about Paul's involvement in creating an explosion in a paragraph or two. Thus it was relevant and probative of his knowledge of creating explosions. More to the point, he contends the evidence we described above is not substantial when reviewed in the context of the entire record. August: On August 11 the investigators were informed that the chemical testing of the fragments from the explosion indicated the presence of nitroglycerine, a chemical used in explosives. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7a2e78bba8bccfb8 But apparently they had little difficulty reaching their verdict. Since I will not take this job, it will soon be reassigned. In fact, he testified [t]hat piece of property is my favorite piece of property that we own. It was in that field that he ran his duck club before Roger took down the blinds. According to Consuelo Conedy-Ruiz, the wife of one of the farm workers, Peter intentionally ran over her dog and drove away. 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. Dr. Svetlana Moore is a Family Medicine Doctor in Colusa, CA. "Paul was afforded a fair. I finally found the Ford, and now it is driven by some young guy, not the brother. Peter threatened both his uncle and his father. We accept for purposes of this issue the trial court's characterization of the defense closing argument. Powered by. Whoever is driving the Ford is very much in danger. Their investigation focused on whether the explosion was an accident. He denied saying he would fire the Ayala brothers if he ever took over the farm and insisted he liked Roberto. Third Appellate District (Colusa) (Super. The jurors could have found his behavior odd, even calculated to focus the investigators' attention on his cousin. The trial court cannot be said to have abused its discretion by admitting highly relevant evidence when the only prejudice is the fact the story Paul himself told was a damaging one. The target is brother of target one and drives Chevy. Meanwhile, he was treated worse than any employee, worked harder, but was never given a raise. 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. They had a warrant and wanted to find more evidence that would tie Moore to Ayala's murder. The washers were consistent with washers used on the spikes that had been laid on the road leading away from the explosion site. We will not repeat what we have already said about the prosecutor's references to either the wiretapping or the My Life document but will examine Paul's other allegations of prosecutorial error. Unfortunately, Arlan passed away, leaving Roger to handle the affairs. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. As soon as that door starts to open, that washer is free. Roger made two police reports based on Peter's threats to physically assault him. All of these considerations could factor into the trial court's delicate weighing process. Expert in Vietnam devices. 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. 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. And it is particularly challenging because, as Paul argues on appeal, there are no witnesses, no fingerprints on any of the bomb parts, no DNA, no confessions, and no admissions But it is the jurys prerogative, not ours, to weigh the evidence., They also stated that there was an abundance of circumstantial evidence that either Peter or Paul, or perhaps Peter and Paul together, built and planted the bomb that killed Roberto Ayala.. Most significantly, they shared their animosity toward Roberto Ayala. Word On The Street: Community weighs in on Governor Newsom's death penalty executive order. 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. We conclude the risk was very low. 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. Whether or not there is some authority to support the questionable proposition that a prosecutor's rebuttal is limited by the scope of the facts and evidence argued in the defendant's closing argument, the prosecutor did not introduce evidence outside the record or float a completely new theory of guilt. The case is a classic whodunit. Nevertheless, motive is relevant, and a strong motive provides powerful evidence. Name, age, vehicle I.D. 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. Given the brevity of the comment, we believe Paul grossly overstates its potential danger and conclude there was no prosecutorial error. 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. 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. Simply put, the jury concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that based on this evidence, Paul was guilty of first degree murder. A Sacramento County jury found him guilty on Aug. 23. Paul was eventually arrested for the murder of Roberto Ayala. However, the 3rd District Court of Appeals did not find any reason to overturn the verdict. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Considering the ability to spring the money for such luxuries, Roger is definitely quite loaded. FindLaw.com Free, trusted legal information for consumers and legal professionals, SuperLawyers.com Directory of U.S. attorneys with the exclusive Super Lawyers rating, Abogado.com The #1 Spanish-language legal website for consumers, LawInfo.com Nationwide attorney directory and legal consumer resources. "My sister-in-law is friends with the family," he said. Paul Moore, a family friend of Ayala's, was found guilty of setting the explosive device that killed Ayala after he turned on an irrigation pump at a rice field at the Moore Brothers farm.. As an adult, he became a football coach but was fired for his aggressiveness toward a student. Are you concerned about the rising tensions with North Korea? Since he was seven, when his father was tragically killed, he is 16 years old now. Peter told Ruiz and Conedy-Ruiz he did not like Roberto, he was practicing karate to prepare him to fight Roberto, and he referred to Roberto as a son of a bitch. In either June or July of 2012 Peter told Ruiz and his wife to forget everything he had told them a year earlier. Trig two, drop weight activated upon door opening. Arlan "Gus" Richard Moore passed away at the age of 77 at his home in Grimes on March 29, 2015. . You have permission to edit this article. No fingerprints were found on the two letters, and one of the envelopes contained the fingerprints of an unknown person. Roberto was not an impediment to his ambitions. Paul Moore was identified as the sender, and the authorities were soon knocking on his door. Express your opinion! 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. 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. 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. 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. There were no eyewitnesses, no confessions, no admissions, and no fingerprints or DNA evidence found on any of the parts of the explosive device found at the scene of the murder. The actual printing on the diagram looks like somebody printed it on a label maker, affixed it to the paper and then ran it through a photocopier. Eduardo Ayala testified that he knew Peter characterized him and his coworkers as a lazy group of drug addicts and alcoholics who would ruin the Moore brothers' agricultural business. In 2013, Paul Moore, 53, was convicted of killing Ayala (first-degree murder on circumstantial evidence). Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. Paul Moore is the son of Roger Moore, who co-owns the 1,800 acre family farm with his brother, Gus Moore. I'm going to get that F'er. Peter testified that Paul was severely depressed and he was afraid he was suicidal. After the trial in 2013, Moore appealed the decision in 2016. (a). 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. Colusa CA 95932. On that same day, Paul cast aspersions on Peter. 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. (CALCRIM No. Peter had difficulty with reading comprehension. Their hopes had not materialized. 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.. Paul Moore was convicted of killing Roberto Ayala, an employee of Moore Brothers. Roger Moore also testified that his son had technical and electrical expertise, a characteristic that the prosecution said was necessary to construct the bomb. 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. Paul insists it was his first cousin Peter who had the motive and violent disposition to murder Roberto, a man who had claimed his father's and uncle's affection and devotion. The lack of complete alignment resulted from the diagram or indented sheet being moved, the diagram being drawn at different times, or a line being overwritten. The investigators placed a GPS (global positioning system) device on his truck, devices that often malfunction. Paul felt belittled as Roberto assumed what Paul believed was his own place on the farm. 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. 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. It was improper in Paul's estimation because the wiretapping evidence was admissible solely to prove his technical knowledge, yet the prosecutor transformed it into improper character evidence. They now want the white Ford F-250 hit. The next day, the investigators at the Colusa County Sheriff's Department received a letter with a postmark from Sacramento that they learned was processed by the postal service in West Sacramento. The trial court rejected Paul's allegations, most of which are a repackaging of the arguments we have already addressed. 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. hkruger@appealdemocrat.com. The boy had to run two miles to get help. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. He also noted that the second letter, bomb diagram, and indented sheet of paper had comparable levels of sodium, sulfur, and chlorine. BLEASE, J. He thought the police were there to search for medical marijuana he was growing. 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. Low 41F. In fact, after Roberto injured his shoulder, Paul accompanied him on occasion to the irrigation pumps to adjust water levels. The forensic testimony provided the most compelling evidence against Paul. McNary-Moore Funeral Service in Colusa, CA. While Moores exact net worth as of 2020 is unknown, he must be worth millions. Eight stamps were attached for postage. It will be reassigned in five weeks. To understand if, why, and how Paul would have blown up Roberto, the prosecution attempted to tell the painful story of the men of the Moore family farm and their tortured relationships. "I feel like I've lost two sons in one time," Roger Moore said. Low 41F. Neither Peter's nor Paul's DNA matched swabs taken from the letters, envelopes, and stamps. Roberto was Peter's nemesis, and it was Peter, not Paul, who stood to gain the most once he was removed. 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. ), Admission of character evidence, however, is subject to special rules. According to Gingery, the Moores receive millions in agricultural subsidies annually. 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. 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. (People v. Kipp (1998) 18 Cal.4th 349, 369. Stay up-to-date with how the law affects your life. Many years before the explosion, he set up two duck blinds in a field on the farm. He pointed out that the markings or threading on the metal indicated to him the explosion was not an accident. 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. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. The jury reasonably could have concluded that his conduct following the explosion was incriminatorymanufacturing spikes that were found in the road and taunting the police in a dramatic chase. 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. (People v. Vereneseneckockockhoff (1900) 129 Cal. On top of that, Roger surely had the resources to ensure everyone was looked after. She concluded that all the samples came from the same spool or another spool having the same chemical composition and physical characteristics. He also testified that Paul and a friend created an acetylene bomb by combining acetylene gas and oxygen in a balloon. 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. 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. There were disagreements where Roger took Roberto's advice over that of his son or nephew. Ct. No. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PAUL ROGER MOORE, Defendant and Appellant. Tucker reported the incident to the sheriff and to Roger. [Citation. 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.