IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON THE STATE OF WASHINGTON No. 81393-5-I Respondent, DIVISION ONE v. UNPUBLISHED OPINION JOSE JONAEL AYALA REYES Appellant. APPELWICK, J. — Ayala Reyes appeals his convictions for first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. He claims that being forced to use his peremptory challenges on jurors who should have been excused for demonstrated racial bias was a structural error that deprived him of his right to a fair trial. He also claims the trial court erred in declining to suppress incriminatory statements he made during an interview with police and that his two crimes should be considered the same criminal conduct. We affirm. FACTS Jose Ayala Reyes is a 36 year old immigrant from El Salvador. He speaks Spanish and minimal English. In 2016, he lived in the Tacoma area. In the spring of that year, Ayala Reyes began communicating with “Sicario.”1 Sicario is a member of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang. 1 “Sicario” is a Spanish word meaning “assassin.” It is the street name for an individual named Edenilson Misael Alfaro. No. 81393-5-I/2 Ayala Reyes sent Sicario money for drugs and to buy weapons for the gang. He also went down to California to meet with Sicario. After returning from California, Ayala Reyes rented an apartment at the Alladin Camelot complex. A few days later, he and his girlfriend met with Samuel Cruces Vasquez at the apartment to eat food and drink beer. Cruces Vasquez was Ayala Reyes’s co-worker at a pizza shop. After that meeting, Ayala Reyes exchanged text messages with Sicario planning to murder Cruces Vasquez. Ayala Reyes wanted to murder Cruces Vasquez in order to become a member of MS-13. On April 28, 2016, Ayala Reyes, his girlfriend, Sicario, and two other individuals named “Tas”2 and “Sombra”3 met at the apartment to plan the murder. At the meeting, the four discussed details of how they would murder Cruces Vasquez. They decided that Ayala Reyes and Sombra would do the killing, because they were not yet members of MS-13. The four eventually decided they would lure Cruces Vasquez to them by calling him on Ayala Reyes’s phone. The four put on dark jackets and passed out gloves for use during the murder. They then left the apartment with Ayala Reyes’s girlfriend, who they dropped off before proceeding to meet Cruces Vasquez. When they arrived, Ayala Reyes and Sombra entered Cruces Vasquez’s car and each stabbed him. Cruces 2 “Tas” is Cesar Chicas-Carballo’s street name. It apparently refers to a tattoo on his body of the Tasmanian Devil (a cartoon character from the television show “Looney Tunes”). Tas is a member of MS-13. 3 “Sombra” is Juan Gaitan Vasquez’s street name. It is a Spanish word meaning “shadow.” At the time of the meeting, Sombra was not yet a member of MS-13. 2 No. 81393-5-I/3 Vasquez got out of the car. Ayala Reyes and Sombra followed him out of the car, beat him, and left ...
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