Case Title: State v. Verdugo

Citation: 112 Ariz. 288, 541 P.2d 388

Docket Number: 3058

State: arizona

Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Date: 1975-10-08T00:00:00Z

Document:
112 Ariz. 288 (1975) 541 P.2d 388 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Daniel Salas VERDUGO, Appellant. No. 3058. Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc. October 8, 1975. N. Warner Lee, Atty. Gen. by R. Wayne Ford, Asst. Atty. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee. Derickson & Kemper by James Hamilton Kemper, Phoenix, for appellant. STRUCKMEYER, Vice Chief Justice. This is an appeal from the Superior Court of Maricopa County in which, after a verdict by a jury for first degree murder, the defendant-appellant, Daniel Salas Verdugo, was sentenced to death pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 13-451 to 13-454. Three claims of error have been made: (1) that the denial of defendant's motion *289 for a mental examination was an abuse of discretion; (2) that the finding that defendant created a grave risk of death to another person in addition to the victim is not supported by the evidence; and (3) that the capital punishment statute, A.R.S. § 13-454, is unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. On July 8, 1974, after arraignment in the Superior Court, a hearing was held on defense counsel's motion for a mental examination of the defendant under Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rule 11, 17 A.R.S. At that hearing, counsel told the court that defendant was below average in intelligence, was a moody person, and was unable to relate events without wandering from point to point. Counsel also stated that defendant was confused "beyond redemption" about the facts and was completely inconsistent in his actions. When pressed by the court for specifics and evidence, counsel related that defendant jumped back and forth in his desire to testify, that he denied having said things in his recorded confession to the police, but that he had no lay witnesses or other evidence to support the motion, other than to place his statements in an affidavit. The court considered counsel's avowals to be the equivalent of an affidavit. Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rules 11.1 to 11.3, 17 A.R.S. provide that a court shall order a mental examination to determine if a defendant is able to understand the proceedings against him or is able to assist in his own defense or to investigate his mental condition at the time of the offense if reasonable grounds for the need of such an examination exist. We have repeatedly held that, in determining whether reasonable grounds exist, the trial judge is given broad discretion and unless there has been a manifest abuse of discretion the court will be upheld. See e.g., State v. Bradley, 102 Ariz. 482, 433 P.2d 273 (1967). This case is similar to that of State v. Thomas, 78 Ariz. 52, 275 P.2d 408 (1954). There, defense counsel made a motion for a sanity hearing supported solely by his statement that defendant was unable to remember any of the events concerning the charge of murder, and that counsel had serious doubts as to defendant's sanity. It was there held that the attorney's statement "unsupported by other evidence, was not such reasonable grounds as to require the court to believe the defendant insane * * *." State v. Thomas, supra, 78 Ariz. at 56, 275 P.2d at 411. In the case at bar there are only the statements of counsel relating to defendant's low intelligence, moodiness, confusion, and inability to clearly relate the facts involved. Without some other supporting evidence, there was not sufficient evidence to raise a doubt as to defendant's sanity. Our conclusion is further supported by an examination of those Arizona cases in which it has been held that denial of such a motion was erroneous. Those cases involved something more than defense counsel's statements and beliefs. See e.g., State v. Bradley, supra; Tillery v. Eyman, 492 F.2d 1056 (9th Cir.1974). Appellant's second claim of error involves these additional facts. On February 3, 1974, Daniel Salas Verdugo and Robert Gonzales Robin entered the Big Eagle Market, a convenience grocery store in Phoenix. When Verdugo announced their intention to rob the store, the proprietor drew a gun. Shots were fired and Verdugo and Robin fled. Outside, one David Pickett had been using a telephone booth. He testified at the trial that he saw "two guys come running out of the store * * *," and that one had brushed him when he passed and that, after passing about ten feet, one came back, put a gun into his back, told him to get inside, and pushed him into the store. The two men then fled in a car parked at the back of the store, driven by appellant's cousin, David Anthony Verdugo. The proprietor died from the gunshot wounds inflicted. All three participants were indicted for first degree murder and, in separate trials, all were found guilty. David Verdugo and Robert Robin were sentenced to life imprisonment; *290 appellant, Danny Verdugo, was sentenced to death. He argues that the sentence of death is improper, having been based on insufficient evidence. A.R.S. § 13-454 provides that the trial court shall, after a sentencing hearing, set forth in a special verdict its findings as to the existence or nonexistence of the six aggravating and four mitigating circumstances enumerated in the statute. A sentence of death shall be imposed if the court finds one or more of the aggravating circumstances and no mitigating circumstances "sufficiently substantial to call for leniency." The third aggravating circumstance is: The trial court in compliance with the statute in its special verdict found that no mitigating circumstances existed and that only the foregoing aggravating circumstance, of the six specified in the statute, existed. The trial court stated: David Pickett's relevant testimony follows: On cross-examination, Pickett testified: On redirect examination: This testimony clearly shows that the witness was not only unable to identify the two men who ran out of the store, but which one of the two placed the gun in his back and pushed him into the store. On May 18, 1974, Verdugo confessed to Detective Barker of the Phoenix Police Department. A tape of that confession was admitted into evidence. The relevant portions follow: The state recognizes that there is a lack of direct evidence which implicates Verdugo, but argues that since Verdugo was behind Robin as they fled from the store, it is reasonable to assume that had Robin turned and forced Pickett into the store, Verdugo would have seen it and told about it in his confession. Further, the state argues that it is logical to assume the second man to flee the market would be the one who turned back and forced Pickett into the store. We disagree. We do not think there is a logical inference from the failure to implicate a co-defendant that the confessor must have been guilty of the activity in question. Nor do we think the fact that defendant followed Robin past the phone booth is alone sufficient to draw a conclusion that defendant must have been the one who returned. The confusion at the scene of the crime, the inconclusive nature of the inferences argued by the state, the denial by the defendant, and the inability of the witness to recognize defendant as one of the men involved shows that the confession and testimony relied upon by the trial court were insufficient to support such a serious decision as that of imposing the death penalty. In the light of our decision on the second issue, we do not find it necessary to reach defendant's argument as to the constitutionality of Arizona's capital punishment statute. Appellant's sentence is therefore reduced from death to life imprisonment in the state prison, without possibility of parole until the completion of the service of twenty-five calendar years, A.R.S. § 13-453(A). As so modified, the judgment of the Superior Court of Maricopa County is affirmed. CAMERON, C.J., and HAYS, HOLOHAN and GORDON, JJ., concur.