Case Title: State v. Castaneda

Citation: 111 Ariz. 264, 528 P.2d 608

Docket Number: 2972

State: arizona

Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Date: 1974-11-21T00:00:00Z

Document:
111 Ariz. 264 (1974) 528 P.2d 608 The STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. William Abad CASTANEDA, Appellant. No. 2972. Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc. November 21, 1974. N. Warner Lee, Atty. Gen. by Thomas A. Jacobs, Asst. Atty. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee. Bolding, Barber, Oseran & Zavala by Michael O. Zavala, Tucson, for appellant. CAMERON, Vice Chief Justice. William Castaneda appeals from jury verdicts and judgments of guilt to the crimes of armed burglary, § 13-302(C) A.R.S.; assault with a deadly weapon, § 13-249(B) A.R.S.; and lewd and lascivious conduct, § 13-652 A.R.S. Castaneda was sentenced to two consecutive terms of not less than twenty nor more than thirty years for armed burglary and assault with a deadly weapon and to a concurrent (to Count I) term of from four to five years for the lewd and lascivious conduct. The issues presented on appeal are: *265 The facts necessary for a determination of this case are as follows. The defendant knocked on the door of the victim under the pretense of obtaining the address of the victim's landlord. The victim wrote the name of the landlord on a piece of paper and when she opened the door, defendant grabbed her pushing his way into his victim's home. The victim testified that he held a knife to her throat and told her if she screamed she would be sorry. The woman was then forced to submit to perverted sexual acts because as she testified a sharp blade was at her throat and because her assailant threatened the lives of her infant twins. At one point in the events, Castaneda placed the knife on a nearby coffee table within arm's reach. The victim had several deep scratch marks on her throat which the defendant contended were made with his fingernails and not by a knife. After Castaneda was arrested a search revealed an open knife in the defendant's tool chest. There were no traces of blood on the blade. William Castaneda was arrested early in December and arraigned 27 December 1973. In January, the defense attorney received four police reports from the arrest on 4 December. At an omnibus hearing in the morning of 1 April 1974 the following transpired: However, on the evening of the same day the State did produce some more evidence of police reports dated 5 December 1973 and 9 December 1973. The Castaneda case was therefore continued until 9 April 1974. On the 4th and 5th of April, eleven witnesses' names, clothing, and photos which had been in police possession since December were produced. At this time defense made a motion in limine and motion to suppress both of which were denied. The trial was again continued until 16 April 1974. At the trial, defense again made a motion in limine to preclude the use of evidence which was not disclosed in a timely manner by the State. This motion was denied. MOTION IN LIMINE It is the contention of Castaneda that the prosecutor's failure to produce a list of all witnesses and tangible evidence within control of the prosecutor within 10 days after arraignment was a violation of Rule 15.1 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure 1973. It is the position of counsel for the accused that whether the evidence was willfully or negligently withheld by the State, the defendant was denied due process fairness when the motion in limine to preclude lately "discovered" evidence was denied. Rule 15.1(d) reads as follows: *266 The prosecutor avowed to the court that the reason the information was so tardily forthcoming was because of a file clerk's error: Although we do not question the prosecution's avowal as to what occurred, we do not view with favor the piecemeal revelation of the items required to be disclosed under Rule 15.1. The prosecutor has the duty to see that the information he has available and expects to use is marshaled and made available when required by the rules. As the Comment to Rule 15.6 states "* * * the entire structure of pretrial proceedings embodied in these rules repends on early and complete evidentiary disclosure." Although the prosecutor was prompt in making the information available to defendant once the prosecution became aware of the evidence, we feel that he could have made a greater effort in familiarizing himself with the facts of the case he was to try, and this failure could be a ground for more severe sanctions as provided by Rule 15.7 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure 1973. We do not believe, however, that the court was required under the facts to grant the motion in limine. Rule 15.1(d) governing disclosure was violated, but it is within the discretion of the trial judge as to what is appropriate sanction. In this instance the trial judge invoked the sanction found in 15.7, subsection (b), and granted a continuance of the trial so that defense counsel might adequately investigate the newly found evidence and simultaneously conduct his other pending trials, too. The trial judge focused on whether fundamental due process fairness would be denied Castaneda under the circumstances, before denying counsel's motion in limine to preclude the recently brought forth evidence: Defense counsel did not allege that Castaneda's case was prejudiced by granting a continuance rather than precluding the evidence entirely. After searching the record we do not find that the case of the accused was prejudiced by granting a continuance. THE DEADLY WEAPON It is defendant's contention that there was no factual evidence to support a jury's finding that Castaneda attacked his victim while armed with a deadly weapon, to-wit, a "knife like object." Without such evidence Castaneda's counsel argues his client is guilty of § 13-249(A) A.R.S., assault with a deadly weapon, rather than § 13-249(B) A.R.S., assault by a person *267 armed with a deadly weapon. If § 13-249(A) is applicable, defendant's punishment is "not more than ten years" while if subsection B is applicable, the sentence for a first offense is "not less than five years." § 13-249 A.R.S. reads as follows: In State v. Williams, 110 Ariz. 104, 515 P.2d 849 (1973) we stated that a knife is a deadly weapon, and the specific statute, § 13-249(A) and (B), has been upheld against an attack that it was unconstitutionally vague, see, State v. Church, 109 Ariz. 39, 504 P.2d 940 (1973). The victim consistently testified both at the preliminary hearing and the trial that she first felt a sharp blade on her neck and then later saw the knife in her assailant's possession. We therefore have no doubt that the facts in the instant case support a conviction under either subsection A or B despite defendant's contentions that he did not threaten the victim with a knife. It is noted, however, that the information charged the defendant as follows: This was later amended, but before trial, to read: And the jury was instructed: The verdict read as follows: Neither by specific language in the information nor by the section number of § 13-249 A.R.S. was the defendant or his attorney put on notice that he was to be convicted of the greater offense under subsection B rather than the lesser offense under subsection A. From the facts the defendant could have been convicted under either subsection A or B as the facts support such a conviction. In the instant case we believe that the State should have charged under subsection B if it wanted a conviction under subsection B. Having failed to do so, we feel that subsection A should apply. We therefore hold that the defendant should have been sentenced under subsection A and the sentence of from twenty to thirty years under Count II is pursuant to § 13-1717 A.R.S., reduced to not less than four nor more than five years, the sentence to be served consecutively to the sentence imposed in Count I. HAYS, C.J., and STRUCKMEYER, LOCKWOOD and HOLOHAN, JJ., concur.