MEMORANDUM DECISION
Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D),
this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED
regarded as precedent or cited before any Sep 18 2020, 8:18 am
court except for the purpose of establishing
CLERK
the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE
Vincent M. Campiti Curtis T. Hill, Jr.
Nemeth, Feeney, Masters & Campiti, Attorney General of Indiana
P.C.
South Bend, Indiana Caroline G. Templeton
Deputy Attorney General
Indianapolis, Indiana
IN THE
COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
Benito Pedraza, September 18, 2020
Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.
19A-CR-2559
v. Appeal from the St. Joseph
Superior Court
State of Indiana, The Honorable Jeffrey L. Sanford,
Appellee-Plaintiff. Judge
Trial Court Cause No.
71D03-1709-MR-13
Najam, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 1 of 9
Statement of the Case
[1] Benito Pedraza appeals his two convictions for murder following a jury trial.
Pedraza raises four issues for our review, which we restate as the following
issue: whether the trial court abused its discretion in the admission of certain
evidence at Pedraza’s trial. We affirm.
Facts and Procedural History
[2] In August of 2017, Pedraza, his brother, Jesus, and Jermon Gavin agreed to
arrange a drug buy from Joshua Sage and Ronald Snyder at Snyder’s residence
in South Bend. Pedraza and his confederates intended to rob Sage and Snyder
during the purported buy. The parties arranged for the drug buy to occur on
August 2, and, prior to leaving for Snyder’s residence that day, Jesus gave
Gavin a 9mm handgun “for being part of the squad.” Tr. Vol. 3 at 12.
[3] En route to Snyder’s, Damon Bethel joined Pedraza’s group, and Pedraza
drove the four men to Snyder’s residence in a dark colored Impala. Each man
was armed. Gavin had a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun, Pedraza had a
Glock 17 or 19 handgun, Jesus had a .38 Special revolver, and Bethel had a .45
caliber handgun. On the way, the men were “doing a little cocaine,” and
Gavin said that he did not think the robbery was “going to happen the way we
think it’s going to happen.” Id. at 19. Bethel then suggested, “let’s just not do
it.” Id. Pedraza and Jesus, however, told the other two that they “owe
us . . . some money so this can clear that up.” Id.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 2 of 9
[4] Pedraza parked the Impala in front of Snyder’s residence. Gavin and Jesus
then exited the Impala and met Snyder and Sage at the entrance to Snyder’s
garage. Alyssa Sanchez was also at the residence and began a conversation
with Gavin and Jesus. While Sage weighed the contraband, Jesus returned to
the Impala, ostensibly to obtain the money from Pedraza to complete the
purchase. However, on his way back to the Impala, Jesus called Gavin’s cell
phone and said, “I’m not going to lie. I need that shit. I ‘finna’ to send [Bethel]
in.” Id. at 30. Jesus then hung up.
[5] At the same moment that Bethel was approaching the garage to engage in the
armed robbery, a white SUV entered the driveway to pick up Sanchez. Gavin
then observed Pedraza exit the Impala “with his gun.” Id. at 31. Bethel then
demanded the contraband, and next Gavin heard “a whole bunch of shots
going off,” with the first shot coming from the direction of the Impala. Id.
Gavin fled back to the Impala “trying to not get hit by” Pedraza’s shooting. Id.
at 31-32. Gavin did not observe Jesus fire any shots. Pedraza then fled the
scene in the Impala with Jesus and Gavin.
[6] The South Bend Police Department heard the gunshots at Snyder’s residence,
and Officer Joshua Morgan responded to the scene within moments. There, he
found Bethel’s body, and he found Sage in the garage inflicted with a gunshot
wound. Officer Mollie O’Blenis also responded to the scene but was stopped
on an adjacent street by a car crash. That crash involved a white SUV in which
the driver, Anton James, had been shot dead. Sanchez was lying unconscious
nearby, apparently ejected from the SUV. From Snyder’s residence, officers
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 3 of 9
recovered numerous fired shell casings, a surveillance video of the driveway,
and more than 550 grams of apparent methamphetamine.
[7] The State charged Pedraza in relevant part with two counts of murder. At his
ensuing jury trial, Gavin testified to the conspiracy to rob Sage and Snyder and
the ensuing events, much of which was over Pedraza’s objections. The State
also had admitted into evidence, again over Pedraza’s objections, numerous
autopsy photographs of the two victims, Bethel and James, along with crime-
scene photographs. And the trial court limited Pedraza’s cross-examination of
one of the investigating detectives and a forensic expert who analyzed DNA
evidence on the recovered shell casings. Thereafter, the jury found Pedraza
guilty of two counts of murder, and the trial court entered its judgment of
conviction and sentenced Pedraza to an aggregate term of sixty years. This
appeal ensued.
Discussion and Decision
[8] Pedraza appeals his two convictions for murder and challenges several
evidentiary decisions made by the trial court during his jury trial. Our Supreme
Court has explained our deferential standard of review in such appeals:
“Trial judges are called trial judges for a reason. The reason is
that they conduct trials. Admitting or excluding evidence is what
they do.” United States v. Hall, 858 F.3d 254, 288 (4th Cir. 2017)
(Wilkinson, J., dissenting). That’s why trial judges have
discretion in making evidentiary decisions. This discretion
means that, in many cases, trial judges have options. They can
admit or exclude evidence, and we won’t meddle with that
decision on appeal. See Smoote v. State, 708 N.E.2d 1, 3 (Ind.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 4 of 9
1999). There are good reasons for this. “Our instincts are less
practiced than those of the trial bench and our sense for the
rhythms of a trial less sure.” Hall, 858 F.3d at 289. And trial
courts are far better at weighing evidence and assessing witness
credibility. Carpenter v. State, 18 N.E.3d 998, 1001 (Ind. 2014).
In sum, our vantage point—in a “far corner of the upper deck”—
does not provide as clear a view. State v. Keck, 4 N.E.3d 1180,
1185 (Ind. 2014).
Snow v. State, 77 N.E.3d 173, 177 (Ind. 2017). We will reverse a trial court’s
evidentiary decisions only for an abuse of that discretion, which occurs when
the trial court’s judgment is “clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and
circumstances” that were before the court. Fairbanks v. State, 119 N.E.3d 564,
568 (Ind. 2019).
[9] Pedraza first asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted
several autopsy and crime-scene photographs. In particular, Pedraza asserts
that State’s Exhibits 6, 9, 26, 29, 38, and 39 were each unduly gruesome. As
such, he continues, their probative value, which Pedraza does not challenge,
was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.
[10] Indiana Evidence Rule 403 permits the trial court to exclude relevant evidence
“if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of . . . unfair
prejudice . . . .” But our Supreme Court has made clear that “this balancing is
committed to the trial court’s discretion.” Snow, 77 N.E.3d at 179. Again,
Pedraza does not challenge the probative value of the photographs. Rather, he
only challenges whether the trial court properly balanced the probative value
with the danger of unfair prejudice. As that balancing is committed to the trial
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 5 of 9
court’s discretion, we conclude that Pedraza has not met his burden on appeal
to show that the trial court erred when it did not exclude those photographs.
[11] Pedraza next asserts that the court erred when it permitted Gavin to testify to
certain events. Specifically, he asserts that Gavin should not have been
permitted to testify that Jesus had given him a firearm for “being part of the
squad.” Appellant’s Br. at 17. He also asserts that Gavin should not have been
permitted to testify that, when he had expressed doubts about the robbery going
the way they had planned it, Jesus responded that going through with the
robbery would absolve Gavin of a debt he owed to Jesus and Pedraza. 1
[12] The trial court admitted the above out-of-court statements over Pedraza’s
hearsay objections because the statements were of a co-conspirator during the
course and in furtherance of the conspiracy, which, under Indiana Evidence
Rule 801(d)(2)(E), made the statements “not hearsay.” On appeal, Pedraza
argues that there is “no evidentiary support to suggest” these statements were
part of a conspiracy. Id. at 17. But Pedraza’s arguments are not well taken.
Gavin plainly testified that he, Pedraza, and Jesus had formed a plan to set up a
fictitious drug buy with Sage and Snyder at Snyder’s residence, during which
they intended to rob Sage and Snyder and use firearms to do so. His receipt of
a firearm from Jesus the day of the planned robbery and the statement from
1
Pedraza mentions a third statement by Gavin, but it appears that the trial court sustained defense counsel’s
objection to that statement, and in any event Pedraza’s argument on this third statement is not supported by
cogent reasoning. We therefore do not consider it.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 6 of 9
Jesus to continue with the plan when, en route, Gavin expressed misgivings
were not hearsay under Indiana Evidence Rule 801(d)(2)(E). We affirm the
trial court’s rejection of Pedraza’s objections to Gavin’s testimony.
[13] Pedraza next asserts that the trial court abused its discretion when, during his
cross examination of Gavin, the court “did not allow counsel . . . to utilize
three . . . letters written by Mr. Gavin to the State.”2 Id. at 24. In those letters,
Gavin sought to negotiate a plea agreement with the State in exchange for
testifying against Pedraza and others. Pedraza’s precise argument on this issue
is not clear, however, as there is no question that Gavin testified that he
repeatedly wrote letters to the State in which he sought to negotiate down his
charges in exchange for providing testimony. It appears that Pedraza is
disappointed that he did not get to editorialize to the jury that Gavin was
“begging” the prosecutor for leniency. Appellant’s Br. at 24. But we cannot
say that the court abused its discretion on such grounds. And neither did the
court err when it permitted Pedraza to cross-examine Gavin about the
substance of the letters but otherwise restricted the letters from being directly
admitted into evidence.
[14] Next, Pedraza contends that the court erred when it limited his cross
examination of Daun Powers, the State’s forensic expert. Again, Pedraza’s
exact argument here is not clear. He asserts that he was impermissibly denied
2
While the letters in question are in the Appellant’s Appendix, there is no indication in the record that these
letters were labeled as exhibits and offered in evidence.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 7 of 9
the opportunity to challenge Powers’ analytical method, but we agree with the
State that the record does not reflect any such limitation during his cross
examination of Powers. Indeed, the only limitation in the record occurred
when Pedraza’s counsel asked a question that Powers had already answered.
There is no reversible error on this issue.
[15] Finally, Pedraza argues that the trial court erred when it did not permit Pedraza
to ask an investigating detective about an out-of-court statement made by Sage
that Bethel had fired the first shot. The court excluded Sage’s out-of-court
statement to the detective as hearsay. During his testimony, Gavin testified that
Pedraza had shot first. Pedraza did not call Sage to testify.
[16] In his offer of proof, Pedraza represented that he was not asking this
information from the detective for the truth of the matter asserted but to
understand the course of his investigation. However, the substance of
Pedraza’s argument on appeal is that the detective’s statements should have
been admitted for the truth of the matter asserted. But that would render the
statements inadmissible hearsay. And insofar as Pedraza argues that the
statement was in fact relevant to the course of the investigation, Pedraza does
not demonstrate why it would have mattered to investigators at this scene who
shot first. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s decision to exclude this
information.
[17] In sum, the trial court is afforded wide discretion in its evidentiary decisions,
and none of Pedraza’s arguments on appeal cause us to question the court’s
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 8 of 9
exercise of that discretion during Pedraza’s jury trial. Therefore, we affirm the
trial court’s evidentiary decisions and Pedraza’s two convictions for murder.
[18] Affirmed.
Bradford, C.J., and Mathias, J., concur.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 19A-CR-2559 | September 18, 2020 Page 9 of 9
Benito Pedraza v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)
Combined Opinion