Orange County prosecutors have decided to retry an Anaheim man whose murder conviction was reversed in appellate court because of improper police interrogation tactics.
Justices in December ruled that Ismael Avalos’ seeming confession in the shooting death of a romantic rival should not have been used at trial because an Anaheim police detective continued to talk to him after he requested a lawyer.
“After invoking the right to counsel, police cannot question the suspect any further ‘unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police,’ ” said the ruling by a three-justice panel of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Justices ruled that Detective Julissa Trapp initiated further communication by telling Avalos, “If for some reason you want to change your mind and you wanna talk to me, you can, just ask for me … because I care about you getting your story the right way out.”
Justices said, “In short, Trapp’s statement exhorting Avalos to talk to her (i.e., initiating an encounter), after he said he wanted an attorney, was not allowed under Miranda,” referring to the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that guarantees criminal suspects the right to legal counsel.
Avalos, now 28, is accused of shooting 19-year-old Angel Rivera in the head on May 25, 2012, near an Anaheim liquor store. Rivera was dating Avalos’ ex-girlfriend.
Avalos was arrested on a tip the next morning and questioned for five hours before he asked for an attorney. He later requested to talk again with Trapp and, ultimately, said he shot Rivera in self-defense.
He was convicted of second-degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. He remains incarcerated, pending the outcome of a new trial. Accused accomplice George Galvan was acquitted.
Appellate justices ruled that a Superior Court judge erred by allowing Avalos’ statement to be used by prosecutors in the previous trial.
“We find Avalos did not…
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