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State v. Ortiz6/10/2003
asking the defendant to turn around so they could get a closer look rather than to walk around themselves to look better is minimally intrusive. Now that the officers have made a proper stop in the sense they were minimally intruding on the defendant's liberty was not unreasonable. Once the bloody sneakers were fully revealed to the officers without question what had up to then been articulable suspicion and a close call on probable cause became full blown probable cause. There is no question once the officers had observed the bloodied sneakers more closely they had enough in this [c]court's opinion to take the defendant into custody."
Based upon our review of the record and the totality of the circumstances that existed at the time of the arrest, we are of the opinion that the trial justice properly denied the motion to suppress. The police knew that someone had committed a crime; indeed, they just had found Correa's badly beaten, bruised, and bloodied body within a short distance from where they encountered defendant, who they knew to be one of the victim's close associates. The victim, who was at first unrecognizable because of the severity of the beating, was identified as Correa only through the taking of a thumb print. Detective Malkasian, the crime-scene supervisor, knew that Correa was a homeless man who slept in the Family Market Place area. The police also knew that Ortiz, another homeless man, slept in the vicinity of the Family Market Place. After returning to the crime scene, Det. Malkasian observed Ortiz, whom he previously had spotted hanging out with Correa, sitting on a tree stump not more than 150 yards from the body. After approaching Ortiz, Det. Malkasian observed small cuts and abrasions on his left hand and wrist area. The detective asked him to turn around because he also observed blood on his sneakers.*fn4 During the suppression hearing, Det. Malkasian testified that he "saw some blood on [Ortiz's] sneakers and [he] asked [Ortiz] to turn around, and when [Ortiz] did [he] did in fact see more of what [he] believed to be dried blood on [Ortiz's] sneakers." Later, the police seized Ortiz's sneakers and drove him to the police station. There, he waived his rights and provided the police with an oral and videotaped statement.*fn5
We agree with the trial justice that, after the police had observed the bloody sneakers, "what had up to then been articulable suspicion * * * became full blown probable cause," such that the totality of the circumstances warranted taking defendant into custody pending further investigation concerning his role in the murder. Thus, for these reasons, we hold that probable cause existed for the police to detain and arrest Ortiz. As a result, we affirm the trial justice's denial of the motion to suppress defendant's post-arrest statements admitting his involvement in the murder.
II. The Medical Examiner's Testimony
The defendant's second assignment of error on appeal is that the trial justice erred in overruling his objection to a question the prosecutor posed to the medical examiner concerning Correa's level of alcohol intoxication. During the prosecutor's redirect examination of this witness, the following exchange took place:
"[Question:] You were asked about the alcohol level, .309 in Jose Correa. What would the reflexes of a person with .309 alcohol level be?
"[Defendant:] I object.
"[The Trial Justice:] Sustained.
"[Question:] What would the reflexes of Jose Correa at 157 pounds be like at .309?
"[Defendant:] I object.
"[The Trial Justice:] I can't let him answer the question in the form you are putting it. I'm going to sustain.
"[Question:] At .309, Jos
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