State v. Jairo Esdel

Syllabus

The defendant, Jairo Esdel, appealed from a Superior Court judgment of conviction on the following counts: second-degree murder discharging a firearm when committing a crime of violence discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle in a manner that created a substantial risk of death or serious injury and carrying a pistol or revolver without a license or permit. On appeal, the defendant contended that the trial justice erred on four occasions: (1) when he refused to give the lesser included offense instruction on voluntary manslaughter (2) when he excluded the testimony from the defendant's grandfather regarding a threat that the decedent made about the defendant weeks before the shooting (3) when he excluded the testimony of another witness and the defendant's grandfather, both of whom witnessed an altercation that occurred between the decedent and the defendant prior to the shooting at issue and (4) when he determined that a social media post, a video in which the decedent was depicted brandishing a firearm, was inadmissible. The Supreme Court determined that there was sufficient evidence from which a jury could have found the defendant guilty of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter and that the trial justice committed reversible error in refusing to so instruct. The Court also declared that the trial justice abused his discretion in precluding testimony of the defendant's grandfather about a threat to kill the defendant that the decedent made weeks prior to the shooting. The Court determined that a reasonable jury could conclude that this testimony was relevant to whether the defendant's fear of injury was reasonable, thereby supporting the defendant's claim of self-defense. Next, the Supreme Court concluded that the exclusion of witness testimony concerning a prior altercation was harmless error. Finally, the Supreme Court agreed with the trial justice's decision concerning the authentication of the WhatsApp video and held that the defendant is en