State v. Gomez10/13/2005
On April 24, 2001, appellant Charden Gomez was indicted for the March 17, 2001, murders of Abel and Esther Hillman in Minneapolis. After a jury trial in Hennepin County District Court, Gomez was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder during the commission of a burglary, two counts of second-degree intentional murder, two counts of second-degree murder while committing a burglary of a dwelling, two counts of second-degree murder while committing a burglary with assault, two counts of second-degree murder during the commission of a burglary with a dangerous weapon, two counts of second-degree murder during the commission of an aggravated robbery involving bodily harm, and two counts of second-degree murder during the commission of an aggravated robbery using a dangerous weapon. The jury acquitted Gomez of two counts of first-degree premeditated murder. Gomez was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the two counts of first-degree murder during the commission of a burglary.
In this direct appeal, Gomez contends that his convictions must be reversed because the trial court: (1) improperly admitted other crimes evidence; (2) gave the jury a no-adverse-inference instruction with respect to his right not to testify without making a record of his consent to give the instruction; and (3) denied him the right to a fair trial when it overruled Batson challenges to the state's peremptory strikes of two non-Caucasian jurors and failed to sua sponte raise a Batson objection to the strike of another non-Caucasian juror. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for a new trial.
At the time of their deaths, the Hillmans were both 89 years old, had been married to each other for 60 years, and had lived for the previous 52 years in the house where they were murdered. The Hillmans had one child, Larry Hillman. Larry had three children, only one of whom, Lori Williamson, lived in Minnesota. Williamson was a crack addict and a prostitute. The Hillmans would, from time to time, give money to Larry's children. Because of Williamson's crack addiction, they would occasionally give her small amounts of cash, buy her groceries and bus passes, or pay her rent, but they would not give her large sums of money.
Sometime in early 2001, Williamson met Gomez, who had recently been released from prison. At some point, Williamson introduced Gomez to her grandparents as her landlord and, on at least two occasions, Esther Hillman wrote checks collectively totaling $625 payable to Gomez for Williamson's rent. In fact, Gomez was not Williamson's landlord. Nonetheless, Gomez cashed the checks and gave the proceeds to Williamson, who used the money to purchase drugs.
On March 16, 2001, Williamson drove Esther Hillman to the bank, where she bought two certificates of deposit, one in the amount of $100,000 payable on death to her son Larry and the other in the amount of $25,000 payable on death to Williamson. After their trip to the bank, Williamson dropped Esther Hillman off at home, called several friends, and bragged about money she was going to be receiving from the Hillmans. When Williamson told her sister Lisa that the Hillmans were giving her a large sum of money in the form of a certificate of deposit, Lisa explained that the only way Williamson could collect the proceeds from the certificate of deposit was if the Hillmans died.
Lisa Hillman talked with Esther Hillman on the evening of Friday, March 16. The following morning, at approximately 6:34 a.m., a 911 call was placed from the Hillmans' home. When the operator answered the call, no one was on the line. Police officers, following up on the 911 call, went to the Hillmans' home. They found a newspaper
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