People v. López Muñiz
People v. López Muñiz
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Because they killed Monserrate Rivera with malice aforethought, Pedro López Muñiz and Otilio Marrero were accused by the District Attorney of Mayagüez of the crime of murder in the first degree.
Appellant contends in the second place that the district court erred in not permitting him to cross-examine Cielo Sosa Padilla, witness for The People, with respect to the reputation of the house wherein she lived. When this incident arose the witness had'already testified extensively and stated that at the time of the occurrence she was a loose woman. Besides, that for sometime now she had led an honest life. On cross-examination the defense tried to have her testify with respect to the reputation of the house in which she lived at the time of the trial. The district attorney objected and the court sustained his objection. In support of this error appellant maintains that the purpose of the cross-examination was to carry to the minds of the jury the idea that the witness Cielo Sosa Padilla was still at the date of the trial a woman of bad reputation and hence that her testimony deserved no credence.
The scope and extent of cross-examination is also a matter within the discretion of the trial judge and the use of such discretion shall not be disturbed on appeal unless there has been an abuse thereof. People v. Pellicier, 56 P.R.R. 846; People v. Santiago, 16 P.R.R. 446. Assuming, however, for the purpose of this opinion, that it was an error of
At the close of defendant’s evidence, the prosecuting attorney stated that he was going to offer as evidence in rebuttal the testimony given before him by defendant López' Muñiz. Appellant’s attorney objected thereto but after' the jury had withdrawn and the stenographer of the district attorney had been thoroughly examined with respect to the manner in which the testimony was given, the court reached the conclusion that it had been voluntary and admitted it in' evidence. The order to that effect motivated the third error assigned by the appellant. He insists that'the admission in evidence of such testimony deprived him of the right to cross-examine the affiant, since he could not “cross-examine a piece of paper,” as well as of the opportunity to present evidence showing that the confession was- not a voluntary act on his part and of showing that the stenographer, because of -lack'of sufficient capability did not transcribe correctly his testimony. Appellant is wrong. When the rebutting evidence presented by the prosecuting attorney was admitted, he . could have asked leave of court to offer evidence in surrebuttal. ' It is possible that the court would have admitted such evidence. 64 C.J. 157, § 178; 53 Am. Jur. 108, § 122; VI Wigmore on Evidence 517, § 1874. The defendant made no request to' that effect, but instead was content to insist that the evidence in rebuttal was inadmissible.
As to the capability of the stenographer, the latter -had'; testified extensively when cross-examined by the attorney,'
On the other hand, it was not in fact a confession made by the defendant, but merely a statement given by him in which, although admitting that he had killed Monserrate Rivera, he insisted that he had done so in self-defense. His version of the events, however, was not identical to that given by the two witnesses who had testified in his behalf. Hence, nothing prevented the prosecuting attorney from presenting then the testimony of the defendant as rebutting evidence. People v. Méndez, 64 P.R.R. 189. Under these circumstances the lower court did not err either in admitting defendant’s testimony as rebutting evidence.
The fourth and last error assigned by the appellant is that the lower court erred in finding the defendant guilty inasmuch as the verdict of the jury was not supported by the evidence. The evidence for The People tended to show that about half past 10 on the night of June 27, 1946, the defendants Pedro López Muñiz and Otilio Marrero arrived in an automobile at a place known as Guanajibo Beach Club, accompanied by José Román Bonet, Rosa Elba Ramírez, and Angélica Rivera; that the vehicle was driven by the chauffeur Efrain Alvarez Alvarez; that José Román Bonet, who was drunk, and was in one of the booths, started an argument with Angélica Rivera and twisted her arm,- whereupon she hit him on the head with a bottle; that Monserrate Rivera, who was in another booth, interfered whereupon a fight ensued between the latter and-José Román Bonet; that the fight, which began in the cabaret, was continued on the road,- some other persons getting into it and ending shortly thereafter;
The evidence for the defense corroborates the account given by the witnesses for the prosecution with respect to the first quarrel in the cabaret and varies with respect to what happened the second time when the defendants and their companions met Monserrate Rivera again. The version of the defendants as to this second incident was that it was not Otilio Marrero who attacked Monserrate Rivera with a knife but that, on the contrary, it was Monserrate Rivera who, upon seeing Marrero tried to slash him with a knife; that it was Marrero who grabbed Rivera’s hand in. order to take the knife away from him; that in the struggle for the knife and upon going down to the road some eight persons assailed Marrero and that when he fell down all of them kicked him; that in the meantime, and while Marrero was lying defenseless on the ground, several shots were fired by unidentified persons in the direction of the Reform School towards Mayagüez, and that hence defendant López Muñiz, in order to repel the aggression, fired the gun towards the place from where the shots had come.
No brief has been filed in the cases for carrying weapons and violation of the Registration of Firearms Act. This is sufficient by itself for us not to consider the appeals taken therein.
The judgments appealed from will be affirmed.
They were also charged with carrying weapons and violating the Registration of Firearms Act and these cases were submitted on the same evidence of the felony case.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.