The focus again, therefore, is not on just how probative the evidence was, but rather on how grave the risk of prejudice admission of the old incident presented. He opined that the second letter and bomb diagram had the same physical, optical, and chemical profiles. Paul argues the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence he had wiretapped his ex-wife's telephone during divorce proceedings 15 years earlier and had made oxygen acetylene bombs 20 years earlier. 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. The defense raised important questions and offered a more than plausible alternative theory, but those questions were answered by the jury and it rejected Paul's argument that Peter was the perpetrator. A state appeals court this week upheld Paul Moore's murder conviction. 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.. Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. The attorney said he didn't take a fee to represent the Ayalas. I am military trained. hkruger@appealdemocrat.com. 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. Peter was more vocal, but Paul built the bomb that killed him. It is speculative, according to Paul, to assume that wiretapping a telephone is any more complicated than purchasing a Radio Shack or Spy Store device complete with user instructions for dummies [or] a DIY device.. Paul told the investigators that Peter had been around the explosion site one day before the explosion. His trial lawyer provided excellent representation and advocacy. 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. View FREE Public Profile & Reputation for David Moore in Grimes, CA - See Court Records | Photos | Address, Emails & Phone Number | Personal Review | Income & Net Worth. Virginia Carmen Ortiz. Based on Peter's violent disposition and the threats he leveled at Roberto, among others, the rat trap YouTube video found on his computer, his basic understanding of electrical devices sufficient to enable him to install electric sprinkler systems, his familiarity with the field and with Roberto's responsibilities, his opportunity to plant the bomb, and his compelling motive to remove him from the farm, Paul argued that Peter planted the bomb that Roberto activated when he opened the electrical box to adjust the water levels on the rice field. He told investigators he had operated the panel five days before the explosion, and he drew an accurate picture of the panel. Believe me and have time to do something to help these guys.. From 1995-2014, they received grants worth $2.1 million. "We've waited 25 months and. 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. We agree. Thus it was relevant and probative of his knowledge of creating explosions. Peter testified that two months before the explosion, his father told Roberto that if Peter came on the farm, Roberto should have him arrested for trespassing. The wiretapping incident indicates knowledge of electrical circuits, as well as the ability to alter and manipulate said circuits while maintaining personal safety. 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. Becoming windy overnight. 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. Roberto Ayala died instantly from an explosive device that he unknowingly detonated at chest level. Thus the victim, according to the explosive expert, would be injured simultaneously by the explosion and the fire. 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. Contact us. Paul Moore of Grimes,. Chance of rain 100%. Paul's son Gunner testified that when Paul was young, he rewired the light switch in his bedroom so he could turn off the light from his bed, but if a person did not flip the switch in a particular way, he or she would be shocked. 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. Nevertheless, there was probative value in establishing Paul's lifelong familiarity and experimentation with all types of electrical and mechanical devices. 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. Neither cousin was happy with his place within the family hierarchy. Lynette Marie Clark. They observed his vehicle leave the shop and the driver accelerated and eventually passed them at over 90 miles per hour. Most significantly, they shared their animosity toward Roberto Ayala. They asked for the testimony of only one witness to be reread to them. He remained so bitter toward his father he begged his grandmother to disinherit him. Gingery said the $20 million judgment cannot be discharged in Bankruptcy Court and can be periodically renewed. 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. In fact, after Roberto injured his shoulder, Paul accompanied him on occasion to the irrigation pumps to adjust water levels. 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. He dropped his clippings from his landscape business 40 yards from the pump. The next guy might not catch the error in info and the wrong person will die. Peter testified he was not a trained welder, he was not talented when it came to anything mechanical, and the only electrical work he performed was the simple wiring of electrical sprinkler systems. Having reviewed the evidence offered by the prosecution, we now turn to the evidence presented by the defense that Peter, not Paul, planted the bomb that killed Roberto Ayala, for he too appeared to disdain the man, he too had the opportunity and familiarity with the irrigation pump, he too had access to the area in which the bomb was planted, and he too had incriminating evidence on his computer hard drive. Titled Family Business, the episode shows how the murder took place against the backdrop of the Moore family saga. David Moore's birthday is 01/17/1944 and is 78 years old. All of these considerations could factor into the trial court's delicate weighing process. 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. He wrote that his father thought he was stupid, but continually raved about Roberto's intelligence. Paul Moore was convicted of killing Roberto Ayala, an employee of Moore Brothers. The letter read: I am responsible for the panel explosion. And, of course, he was ostracized from the farm and estranged from his father. 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. 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? He lived with his parents and. 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. You have permission to edit this article. The jurors could have found his behavior odd, even calculated to focus the investigators' attention on his cousin. 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. Rogers exact whereabouts as of 2020 remain unknown. He described how the booby trap would detonate, as follows: So imagine you take a metal box, typical control panel, electrical, that has the lip that goes around, and you have that little washer pin in there so that the lip of the box, I imagine, the door to the box and the box itself has this little washer sandwiched in between them so that it can't fall down. Roger attested to his son's aptitude for building things, albeit the examples he cited were not electric. . Our criminal justice system is predicated on the fundamental notion that a person accused of criminal conduct must be convicted based on evidence that he or she committed the alleged conduct and not merely based on evidence of a criminal disposition or a criminal reputation. He stressed that Peter's history of acting out with physical force, coupled with his hatred for Roberto and his lifelong ambition to work his grandfather's farm, constitutes overwhelming evidence that Peter was the murderer. "But, I never had a doubt that my investigation team put together a rock-solid case," Poyner said. In early July, Paul was asked to drive out to the rice field to turn on the water pump without Roberto. 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. And that primer is causing an immediate flash into the cavity of that pipe assembly, the pipe bomb itself, and initiates the explosive charge. He noted that in a stack of paper, indentations can appear five pages down. He had not been allowed to work on the farm for over 21 years. His body was still burning when the firefighters arrived. District Attorney John Poyner said Parisi was the best defense attorney he has ever gone up against. Many years before the explosion, he set up two duck blinds in a field on the farm. Whoever is driving that white F-250 is in great danger. 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. Indeed, shortly before the explosion, Roberto had injured his shoulder and Peter declared that [w]hen his wing is better, he's all mine. He was upset that Roberto spent Father's Day with Gus and that they were together all the time. Moore was cuffed and booked at the Colusa County Jail at the age of 47. pic.twitter.com/trQ6iY5jej, Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) July 24, 2020. Gunner also reported that, according to his dad soon after the explosion, his grandfather feared that there was a booby trap in the switch and stated that someone must have been a genius to be able to do that, some type of electrical genius.. 370; People v. Hillhouse (2002) 27 Cal.4th 469, 503-504.) The washers were consistent with washers used on the spikes that had been laid on the road leading away from the explosion site. 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 evidence demonstrates that Paul had, on at least one occasion, experimented with explosive substances. 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. Ayala worked at the Moore Brothers Farm, where he was trusted by brothers Arlan and Roger. READ NEXT: Susan Susie Caseys Murder: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Paul Moore, Roberto Ayalas Convicted Killer, is Serving Life in Prison, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. ), Admission of character evidence, however, is subject to special rules. Trig one, vibration activated. She thereafter requested the opportunity to offer a surrebuttal. Farm accidents are as old as the wheel, but was this an accident? ] (People v. Robbins (1988) 45 Cal.3d 867, 879; see People v. Kelly (2007) 42 Cal.4th 763, 783.) He denied saying he would fire the Ayala brothers if he ever took over the farm and insisted he liked Roberto. 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. This is the second warning letter I have sent u. I wanted to make sure u get [sic]. He was fired as the director of a duck club because he offended some of the members. He claimed Roberto was a good person but admitted he became upset when he saw Roberto drinking and driving on the farm. All rights reserved. NICHOLSON, J. Unfortunately, Arlan passed away, leaving Roger to handle the affairs. The bomb also contained a plastic container filled with gasoline to ignite during the explosion and enhance the thermal effect. He acknowledges, as he must, that our task is to review the whole record in the light most favorable to the jury verdict to determine whether it discloses substantial evidenceevidence that is reasonable, credible, and of solid valuesuch that a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. . Roger David Hickel passed away on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, at the U. C. Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, at the age of 76. Colusa Cemetery District is owned and maintained by Colusa Cemetery District. Offer condolences/tributes, send flowers or create an online memorial for free. 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. 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. ), Wiretapping: In opposition to the defense motion in limine to exclude the evidence of wiretapping, the prosecutor argued: Defendant climbed a telephone pole and attached a wire to the line, running the wire to a recording device. We disagree. Dr. Svetlana Moore is a Family Medicine Doctor in Colusa, CA. The jury was well acquainted with the wiretapping evidence as well as with Paul's description of his life. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles. In those instances, a defendant's prior bad acts are admissible. He was responsible for regulating the water levels on the rice fields. pic.twitter.com/Fu6Kov30EN, Dateline NBC (@DatelineNBC) July 23, 2020. She also testified the labels on the envelopes sent to the sheriff were consistent with those on Paul's file folders, with the same type of polyester backing and the same type of acrylic-based adhesive. In Paul's view, it was Peter who had lost the most and had the most to gain by Roberto's demise. The jury was properly reminded to consider the evidence solely for its tendency to prove Paul's knowledge of electrical and technical devices. I am over this life. "I don't imagine my clients will see anything of it," Sacramento lawyer Justin Gingery said. Higher wind gusts possible.. Find Dr. Moore's phone number, address, hospital affiliations and more. Moore Brothers * Grimes, CA 95950: $1,366,301: 86: J & S Farms * Colusa, CA 95932: $1,338,492: 87: . Paul injured his back and had to give up construction. Roberto Ayala had worked for the Moore brothers for 19 years, and brothers Paul and Peter Moore reportedly shared animosity toward Ayala. Roger, Pauls father, got tied up in a civil suit brought by Ayalas wife, where she alleged that he must have been aware or should have been aware of Pauls malice and past criminal activities. On August 15 the investigators received a second letter and a diagram of a bomb. 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. He thereafter refused to come back for any additional interviews. Peter had difficulty with reading comprehension. If the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, we must defer to the trier of fact; yet a verdict cannot be sustained based on suspicion alone, or on imagination, speculation, supposition, surmise, conjecture, or guess work.' The bomb exploded, injuring Paul and his friend. "My sister-in-law is friends with the family," he said. Code, 1101, subd. Moore is the owner of the Moore Brothers Farm. The vehicle, a 2006 Ford F-250, will be sold, he said. The forensic evidence, including the indented sheet of paper with Paul's fingerprints on it, the ink and paper from his printer matching the ink and paper mailed to the sheriff, the matching fishing lines, and the presence in the farm shop of many of the materials needed to make the bomb, constitutes substantial evidence to support the inference the jury made that it was Paul who wrote the letters to the sheriff, and it was therefore Paul who planted the bomb that blew up Roberto Ayala, just as he had planned. 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. (b).) He was a boxer in high school. He also testified that Paul had told him that Roberto had said he was only good for picking up trash and that Roberto would be receiving Peter's inheritance. "We've waited 25. (People v. Vereneseneckockockhoff (1900) 129 Cal. Click to reveal Eduardo Ayala, who still works on the Moore Bros. farm where his brother was killed, said that on the first day of court, he heard bells ringing in the halls. Paul Moore, a family friend of Ayalas, 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. (People v. Morris (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1, 21.). The investigators would later discover that Paul had deleted individual text messages he had sent to and received from Peter. Peter's best friend, Blane Martin, countered this narrative. But the determinative question is whether the trial court abused its discretion by finding the risk of prejudice did not substantially outweigh whatever probative value the evidence had. February 3, 2023 (75 years old) View obituary. Prosecutors David Druliner and Poyner argued that Paul Moore was clever and resented that he ranked low on the farm compared to other employees, particularly Roberto Ayala, who had a close relationship with Roger Moore. They also found a rat trap and three mouse traps in the pantry and fishing line in his boat. ), Nevertheless, the Legislature also recognized that some otherwise inadmissible character evidence should be considered by a jury because it is relevant to prove identity, intent, or knowledge. July 18: Two days after Roberto Ayala's death, Paul delivered to investigators a piece of metal he found in a canal near the explosion. He threatened to beat [his] dad's ass on multiple occasions. Roger, along with his brother, Arlan, used to own Moore Brothers Farm in Colusa, California. 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.