Title: State v. Whitaker

State: arizona

Issuer: Arizona Supreme Court

Document:

112 Ariz. 537 (1975) 544 P.2d 219 The STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. John Leon WHITAKER, Appellant. No. 3252. Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc. December 22, 1975. Rehearing Denied January 27, 1976. *538 Bruce E. Babbitt, Atty. Gen., by William J. Schafer, III, and Ronald L. Crismon, Asst. Attys. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee. Ross P. Lee, Maricopa County Public Defender, by Garth V. Smith, Deputy Public Defender, Phoenix, for appellant. CAMERON, Chief Justice. This is an appeal by John Leon Whitaker from a jury verdict and judgment of guilt of the crime of assault with a deadly weapon, a gun, A.R.S. §§ 13-241 and 249, and sentence thereto of not less than five nor more than seven years in the Arizona State Prison, said sentence to run concurrently with an identical sentence imposed as a result of a probation revocation hearing in a separate case. Defendant raises three issues on appeal: The facts necessary for a determination of this appeal are as follows. Defendant and Rosalynd Whitaker were married in 1969 and had one child, a daughter, Shawn. They began experiencing marital difficulties in 1971 and about one and one-half years after their marriage they separated. On 22 February 1972, Rosalynd Whitaker filed a complaint requesting a judgment of separate maintenance, which was granted *539 by order dated 7 April 1972. In January 1974 Rosalynd filed an action for divorce, but she withdrew her petition the same month, assertedly because she wanted her husband to have no visitation rights and could not afford the attorney's fees necessary to obtain such an order. At the time of the incident in question, Rosalynd and her daughter were living in a duplex apartment in Tempe, Arizona, with the alleged victim, Steve Sylvester. The apartment was rented in Rosalynd's name. At trial, Rosalynd asserted that her intention was to marry Sylvester as soon as she obtained a divorce from defendant and that she and Sylvester had been living together approximately one and one-half years at the time of the shooting and had been living in the apartment eight or nine months. At approximately 5:45 p.m. on 22 June 1974, defendant arrived at his wife's apartment and knocked on the front door. Rosalynd, Shawn, and Sylvester were all inside the apartment. When no one acknowledged defendant's knock, he began to pound and kick at the door, while yelling "telegram." Meanwhile, Rosalynd went into the hallway to telephone the police. At that point, defendant went around to the rear door of the apartment and attempted to open it by turning the doorknob. Apparently finding the door locked, defendant broke the glass window and reached through with his hand, in which he held a pistol. Sylvester meanwhile had picked up a 16 gauge shotgun which had been purchased by Rosalynd Whitaker earlier that afternoon. There is no question that defendant fired four shots into the apartment striking no one and that Sylvester fired once, striking defendant and seriously wounding him in the right shoulder, although the order of the shots was disputed. At trial, Rosalynd and Sylvester testified that defendant fired one or two shots before Sylvester fired his gun; defendant's story, as related to Police Officer Metcalf, was that Sylvester fired first wounding the defendant in the right shoulder and then he, the defendant, pulled out his gun with his right hand and returned the fire. Defendant was tried before a jury and found guilty. He now appeals. ANTI-MARITAL FACT PRIVILEGE Defendant argues that the court erred in allowing his wife to testify, over his objection, as a witness for the State. At common law, the husband or wife of a party was incompetent to testify either for or against the party-spouse. This marital incompetency had two aspects, each supported by a distinct policy consideration. 8 Wigmore Evidence, McNaughton rev. 1961, § 2227; McCormick, Evidence 2nd Ed. 1972, § 66. In virtually all jurisdictions, including Arizona, the disqualification of an individual to testify in favor of his or her spouse, which was closely tied to the incompetency to testify of a party, has been abolished. See Funk v. United States, 290 U.S. 371, 54 S. Ct. 212, 78 L. Ed. 369 (1933); Wigmore, supra, § 2245; McCormick, supra, § 66; also see A.R.S. § 13-1802. However, in many jurisdictions the second aspect of the marital incompetency, which is in effect a privilege held by one or both of the spouses, has been maintained. Our statute reads as follows: The anti-marital fact privilege, as distinguished from the privilege for confidential communications between a husband and wife, see A.R.S. § 12-2232, exists only during marriage and under Arizona law gives a criminal defendant, except in enumerated types of cases, an absolute right to prevent his or her spouse from being called as a witness. We have stated: The rationale for this rule has been variously stated, but in essence is two-fold: First, it is felt that the privilege is necessary to support the peace and tranquility of families and to protect the marital relation. See e.g., Hawkins v. United States, 358 U.S. 74, 79 S. Ct. 136, 3 L. Ed. 2d 125 (1958). Our statute rests upon such considerations. A.R.S. § 44-2702, Code of 1939, the predecessor statute to A.R.S. § 13-1802, was prefaced with the statement that "[t]here are particular relations in which it is the policy of the law to * * * preserve it inviolate; * * *." The Reviser's Note to A.R.S. § 13-1802 states that the provision just quoted was "deleted as unnecessary." Also see Zumwalt v. State, 16 Ariz. 82, 141 P. 710 (1914). An alternative rationale has been stated as follows: However, desirable the above policies may be in the abstract, anti-marital fact privilege has been sharply criticized by a number of writers. McCormick discusses the privilege as follows: And Wigmore strongly argues for the total abolition of the privilege: Nevertheless, the privilege remains in effect in Arizona and this court is bound to enforce it until such time as it is modified or abolished by the legislature. The parties being, in fact, man and wife, the admissibility of the wife's testimony must be based upon some recognized exception to the general rule. *541 Under the common law disqualification, the wife of a defendant was allowed to testify in a criminal prosecution for a crime committed against the person of the wife. McCormick, supra, § 66 at 145. This exception has been considerably extended by statute or judicial interpretation. Our statute provides that the privilege is inapplicable: We have stated: In the instant case, the court in admitting the testimony of the wife stated: The New Jersey court in a case wherein the defendant was charged with the murder of his wife's lover and with an atrocious assault and battery upon his wife, both charges growing out of a single incident, stated: And: Mrs. Whitaker and her child were potential victims of defendant's assault. The evidence is sufficient from which the trial court could find that Mrs. Whitaker and her daughter were endangered by the gunfire. We will not find that the trial court abused its discretion in so holding where the ruling is reasonably supported by the facts. PROSECUTOR'S STATEMENTS In his closing argument, the prosecuting attorney made the following remarks: On the basis of the above language, defendant, who did not testify, moved for a mistrial arguing that the statements constituted improper and prejudicial comments upon his failure to take the stand. A defendant in a criminal case has an absolute right not to testify, and the prosecution is forbidden to comment on a defendant's exercise of that right. Griffin v. California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S. Ct. 1229, 14 L. Ed. 2d 106 (1965); State v. Rhodes, 110 Ariz. 237, 517 P.2d 507 (1973). We have stated: We do not believe that these statements were improper comments upon defendant's exercise of his Fifth Amendment rights. The refusal to grant a mistrial was not error. SELF-DEFENSE INSTRUCTIONS The trial court instructed the jury on the issue of self-defense including the following: The court further instructed the jury as to the presumption of innocence and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt as follows: Defendant objected generally to the giving of all of the State's requested instructions, including those quoted above, however, he set forth no specific grounds for objection and offered no substitute instructions. After deliberating several hours, the jury submitted to the court the following question: The court replied as follows: Defendant now contends that the "instructions regarding self-defense, taken as a whole, were misleading and did not correctly state the law." However, as we noted above, defendant failed specifically to state the grounds for his objection to the giving of those instructions. Consequently, he has waived his right to complain on appeal under Rule 21.3(c), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure 1973, which provides as follows: However, reading the instructions as a whole, we still find no error. It may be that the jury was in doubt as indicated by the jury's questions while deliberating, but to have tried to answer their question adequately may well have resulted in further error as a comment on the evidence. We feel that the judge adequately set forth the presumption of innocence and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt in his general instructions and there was no prejudice to the defendant. Macias v. State, 36 Ariz. 140, 283 P. 711 (1929). It is not error to refuse a defendant's requested instruction when the same subject matter is adequately covered by other instructions. State v. McIntyre, 106 Ariz. 439, 477 P.2d 529 (1970); State v. Brooks, 103 Ariz. 472, 445 P.2d 831 (1968). Although defendant asserts that he went to his wife's apartment to see his daughter, there clearly was sufficient evidence from which the jury could have concluded that he was a trespasser. The issue of the duty to retreat on the part of one wrongfully on the premises was thus properly before the jury. That the jury requested additional instructions does not necessarily indicate that it was "confused" by the instructions that were given. Finally, defendant contends that the underscoring of the word "not" in the phrase "One who is in a place where he has no right to be may not claim self-defense * * *" gave undue emphasis to the instruction, thereby compounding its prejudicial effect. Again we disagree. The court made liberal use of underscoring throughout its instructions to the jury, as can be seen from those portions quoted above. These instructions were taken into the jury room by the jury. While the use of underscoring to emphasize crucial language in jury instructions can serve to clarify instructions, we feel that there is danger in the practice and it is not recommended. In the instant case we find no error. Affirmed. STRUCKMEYER, V.C.J., and HAYS, HOLOHAN and GORDON, JJ., concur.