Maximiliano Gazca v. The State of Texas

Summary

The Fourth Court of Appeals of Texas affirmed Maximiliano Gazca’s murder conviction and forty-year sentence. The court held that Gazca failed to preserve his challenge to the reliability of crime-scene reconstruction expert testimony and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion for new trial based on unsupported allegations of juror misconduct.

Holdings

1. Gazca's objection to the expert's qualifications and lack of blood-spatter accreditation did not preserve a challenge to the reliability of the scientific principles or methodologies underlying crime-scene reconstruction. Because the reliability complaint was raised for the first time on appeal, it presented nothing for review.
2. The trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Gazca's motion for new trial because the motion contained no affidavits or other competent evidence establishing that the juror withheld material information, engaged in prohibited communication, or otherwise committed misconduct that probably affected the verdict.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Gazca preserved a challenge under Texas Rule of Evidence 702, Kelly, and the ipse dixit doctrine to the reliability of the scientific principles and methodologies underlying the State's crime-scene-reconstruction expert testimony.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by denying Gazca's motion for new trial based on alleged juror misconduct when the motion lacked affidavits or other competent evidence establishing the alleged nondisclosure or prohibited communication.

Disposition

affirmed