State v. Chavez7/17/2002
During the night of November 12, 2000, Sioux Falls police were called to investigate a robbery. Victims of the crime reported that they knew the men who had robbed them as "Clown," (later found to be Gregory Iboy (Iboy)), Sandy (later found to be Sandy Rodriguez (Rodriquez)), and "Downer" (later found to be Vincente Chavez, Jr., Appellant/Defendant Chavez's son) (Vincent, Jr.). The victims further reported that one of the men was armed with a .25 caliber handgun and that one victim had been hit in the side of the head with the gun. The victims also stated that many items had been stolen, including a 12-gauge shotgun. They told police where Vincent, Jr. lived, which was on Franklin Avenue in Sioux Falls in Chavez's home. Iboy was Vincent, Jr.'s, friend and he, too, was staying at the Chavez home. Vincent, Jr., however, was in jail at the time of the robbery and police were aware of this fact.
[ ] A vehicle that Rodriguez was in was stopped later that night and police found that he possessed some of the stolen items. After confirming with the victims that the items were theirs, police interviewed Rodriguez, and he gave them reason to believe that other stolen items were being stored at Chavez's home where Iboy was staying.
[ ] That same night, police applied for and received a search warrant for the Chavez home that could be executed at any time on a no-knock basis. Sergeant Richard Miller (Miller), the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team advisor assisted in executing the warrant because violence had been used during the robbery, and because the suspects had allegedly been involved in gang activity and narcotics. Miller determined that the SWAT Team should use a "dynamic" approach, whereby the team approaches the house without notice and secures the scene. Miller thought this was necessary because it would be less dangerous to surrounding residents and would prevent a possible hostage situation.
[ ] In the early morning hours of November 13, 2000, the SWAT Team approached Chavez's home, and rammed open the front door. The Team then announced, "Police Department. Search warrant." The SWAT Team split up once inside the home and one group went to search the second floor. Once upstairs, they encountered Reynala Chavez (Reynala), Chavez's wife who did not speak English. They coaxed her into getting down on the floor and lying flat while they proceeded. When Officer Chris Pearson (Pearson) and Officer Tim Hagen (Hagen) approached Chavez's bedroom door, they discovered it was closed. Hagen tried to push it open, but felt resistance against it. Hagen pushed the door part way open and saw a gun pointed at them. Hagen called out, "gun," and yelled for the man behind the door, Chavez, to drop it. Instead, the officers alleged, Chavez began constricting his finger on the trigger. Hagen dropped to the floor and fired his P-90 *fn1 towards Chavez. Pearson, who had backed away from the door, did the same. Detective Clark Baker, who was outside of Chavez's home during the SWAT Team's warrant execution, claims one single shot, Chavez's handgun, was fired before the P-90 rounds went off. After the gunfire ceased, Chavez came out from behind the door, no longer holding his gun, and the officers saw that he had been injured by the gunfire. His upper right arm and left hand had both been hit with bullets and were bleeding. Chavez, who did speak English, was ordered down on the floor and he complied. He was then taken to the hospital by ambulance.
[ ] Chavez later acknowledged that Iboy, who was involved in the robbery, was in fact staying at his home. Iboy came into Chavez's home with some friend at about 10:30 on the night of the reported robbery; the group had two rifles and a shotgun, and were carry
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