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Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. McNary-Moore Funeral Service in Colusa, CA. The washers were consistent with washers used on the spikes that had been laid on the road leading away from the explosion site. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles. I am military trained. 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. Evidence Code section 352 provides the framework: The court in its discretion may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury. In other words, the trial court is accorded considerable discretion to carefully balance the competing interests in admitting probative evidence and in excluding evidence that unfairly prejudices a defendant, and an appellate court will overturn the exercise of discretion only when the trial court's assessment appears to exceed the bounds of reason. Roberto had worked for the Moore brothers for 19 years. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. 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. . Paul told the investigators that Peter had been around the explosion site one day before the explosion. 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. Paul, through his own words, told that story from his perspective, and his perspective provided the jury invaluable insight into his motive for committing such an atrocious act. The court summarized what it perceived was a two-part argument: first, that Paul had no part in the killing and had no motive to kill Roberto because everything was rosy for him at the farm and he had worked his way into a happy partnership with his father; but second, his cousin Peter, who was bitter and estranged from the farm he loved, was a plausible bomb builder because he was capable of constructing the simple explosive device in question, particularly with the assistance of the YouTube video found on his computer. During trial, however, the defense offered the testimony of an expert in forensic computer analysis. The boy had to run two miles to get help. By Harold Kruger Learn more about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. On November 24 they noticed the device was not working and they went to Paul's house to investigate. Moore was cuffed and booked at the Colusa County Jail at the age of 47. 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. If u have any questions, place ad in Sac Bee, help wanted, make it the last ad [in the] August 21st issue. 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. Paul maintains the prosecutor's comparison to DNA analysis imputed an accuracy to the paper and ink analysis that was not in evidence, and therefore it was error to allow the prosecutor to argue the ink, paper, and labels were matches. We agree with the trial court that the argument was permissible as a mere example or analogy. Considered in context, there is no danger the jurors were misled or that the document examiner's expert testimony was falsely elevated to the stature of DNA evidence. Chance of rain 100%. A Sustainable Legacy Founded over 90 years ago, at Moore Farms we vow to apply our family farming experience toward growing the finest produce for you, the customer and consumer. The trial court rejected Paul's allegations, most of which are a repackaging of the arguments we have already addressed. 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. Paul formulates two attacks arising from the prosecutor's final argument in rebuttal. Becoming windy overnight. ADVICE: Are North Americans wimps when it comes to pain tolerance? Fill out this form to submit a Letter to the Editor. Since I will not take this job, it will soon be reassigned. Gunner believed his dad could repair just about anything and could make something out of nothing. One of Paul's favorite hobbies, according to Gunner, was assembling and flying radio-controlled airplanes. The outside square of the diagram is the electrical box that we've described.. The letter stated: Ayala was actually warned what would happen if he screwed with these people. 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. Eight stamps were attached for postage. According to the Colusa County Sun Herald, Susan Susie Caseys Murder: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know. The boy witnessed the explosion that killed his father. 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. IPeter or Paul: Substantial Evidence to Support the Verdict. 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.' 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.. The writing is comprised in a similar fashion as the letters themselves. His body was still burning when the firefighters arrived. There were pieces of metal shrapnel in his chest, neck, and brain. Lab results will be military-grade powder, black spray-painted epoxy, no DNA. Since he was seven, when his father was tragically killed, he is 16 years old now. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. The forensic testimony provided the most compelling evidence against Paul. 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. He pointed out that the markings or threading on the metal indicated to him the explosion was not an accident. Paul then drove to the farm shop. Becoming windy overnight. She thereafter requested the opportunity to offer a surrebuttal. "My sister-in-law is friends with the family," he said. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. There was no direct evidence of who designed, constructed, or placed the explosive device. 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. Paul was eventually arrested for the murder of Roberto Ayala. Many years before the explosion, he set up two duck blinds in a field on the farm. In Paul's view, it was Peter who had lost the most and had the most to gain by Roberto's demise. Meanwhile, he was treated worse than any employee, worked harder, but was never given a raise. But Peter's situation was far different. However, we have been able to discern that he is currently at Colusa, and is a pillar of the community. Word On The Street: Community weighs in on Governor Newsom's death penalty executive order. As an example, he referred to DNA experts who do not say something is a positive match or is definitely someone's DNA but who give possibilities larger than the number of people who ever lived on earth. 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. . 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. We turn to counsel's arguments, the objections that were lodged, and the trial court's rationale in denying the defense request to make a surrebuttal argument and denying its later motion for a new trial. On tonights episode of Dateline NBC, Keith Morrison interviews family members and investigators in Robert Ayalas murder case. And we do not accept the proposition that a document that was either written or transferred a mere year and a half before the blast was too remote in time. "Paul was afforded a fair. While Moores exact net worth as of 2020 is unknown, he must be worth millions. In fact, after Roberto injured his shoulder, Paul accompanied him on occasion to the irrigation pumps to adjust water levels. He was born January 23, 1935, in Turner . He ran to help him, but his father was unresponsive. He claimed Roberto was a good person but admitted he became upset when he saw Roberto drinking and driving on the farm. "I said, 'Pete, the jury now knows it was not Peter Moore, it was Paul Moore," Poyner said. He was the farm foreman. Clearly, they both had hoped to assume managerial positions on the farm. Although the trial was lengthy, they took less than a day to deliberate. 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. Dateline on NBC sheds light on the horrific murder of Roberto Ayala. However, the 3rd District Court of Appeals did not find any reason to overturn the verdict. There is indeed sufficient evidence to support a reasonable inference that Paul had nursed a lifetime animosity toward nonfamily members his father appeared to favor. You have permission to edit this article. But Paul insists the prosecutor's rebuttal constituted error, even if we assume it was not intentional. hkruger@appealdemocrat.com. On December 6 of 2011, agents searched Paul Moores home and found evidence linking him to the crime. Neither cousin was happy with his place within the family hierarchy. provides funeral home, burial, veteran,. We have found no error at all, and therefore there are no errors to accumulate. To be sure, Paul had demonstrated an advanced mechanical aptitude and an understanding of electrical currents. We have carefully evaluated the quantum and sufficiency of the evidence that it was Paul who murdered Roberto in the context of the whole record, and we have examined each of the pieces of evidence he contends proves that it was Peter who designed, built, and planted the victim-activated explosive device. He never apologized, and her husband, Antonio Ruiz, demanded that she not confront him. Little Fabian ran through the sunflower fields, as far as he could, to get help for his father More Friday at 9/8c with @Dateline_Keith. Their investigation focused on whether the explosion was an accident. From 1995-2014, they received grants worth $2.1 million. We need not consider Paul's allegation that the accumulation of errors was prejudicial even if taken individually they were not. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Fabian is studying at a high school in Arbuckle. 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. His son, Fabian, who was 7 at the time, witnessed the explosion and ran two miles through fields to find help. "I feel like I've lost two sons in one time," Roger Moore said. Colusa, CA. Paul Moore of Grimes,. Ayala was killed in an explosion in 2013. Paul's trial was not fundamentally unfair, and he was not deprived of his constitutional right to due process. He was able, however, to install electrical sprinkler systems.