Title: State v. Sanchez

State: arizona

Issuer: Arizona Supreme Court

Document:

117 Ariz. 369 (1977) 573 P.2d 60 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Jose D. SANCHEZ, Appellant. No. 3784. Supreme Court of Arizona, En Banc. December 5, 1977. *370 Bruce E. Babbitt, Atty. Gen. by William J. Schafer, III and Thomas G. Bakker, Asst. Attys. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee. Derickson, Kemper & Henze by James Hamilton Kemper and Tom Henze, Phoenix, for appellant. HAYS, Justice. Jose D. Sanchez, hereinafter appellant, was convicted by a jury of first degree murder. We have jurisdiction of his appeal from the judgment of guilt and sentence of life imprisonment, without possibility of parole for twenty-five years, pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 13-1711 and 12-120.21(A)(1). The facts out of which this appeal arises are as follows. On May 14, 1976 a Phoenix attorney named Stephen Becker was mortally wounded by appellant. The weapon was a .38 caliber revolver, with which appellant shot Becker five times. A sixth bullet did not hit Becker. Becker, acting as attorney for his parents, had been engaged in purchasing property on which tax liens had been placed. Through a series of complicated legal maneuvers, appellant lost some property he owned to Becker's parents. Appellant learned of it in December, 1975, and testimony at trial clearly shows that from that time until the day of the fatal shooting, he became more and more obsessed with the loss of this land, what he felt was the unfair way in which he lost it, and the desire to recover it. It was revealed through testimony at trial that appellant went from place to place, where he thought he might obtain assistance: a legal aid attorney, a secretary at the union hall, a state legislator, and even the governor of Arizona. His final stop the day of the shooting was a real estate commissioner's office. Appellant's obstacles were great. He was a native of Mexico and spoke English very poorly. Because he was not an owner of record, he was never given notice of the sale of his property. The people he sought out could give him only one answer: in order to retrieve his property, he must repurchase it from the Beckers at a price he simply could not afford. Appellant faced other frustrations: he was slowly going blind from advanced diabetes; he had been seriously injured in an industrial accident, and although receiving workmen's compensation, his family was still quite poor. All these obstacles and frustrations began to focus, in great anger, on the Beckers and particularly their son, Stephen. As early as February, 1976, appellant began threatening the lives of the Becker family. He voiced these threats to numerous people who testified to that effect at trial. Finally, a threat to kill Stephen Becker became a reality, and appellant was charged with an open count of murder. The only issue at trial was appellant's sanity. Before trial the court appointed Drs. Jacob B. Hoogerbeets and Leonardo Garcia-Bunel to examine appellant and determine his competency to stand trial and his competency at the time of the commission of the crime. Both doctors agreed appellant was competent to stand trial and that at the time of the crime he knew the nature and quality of his actions. However, both also initially agreed that at the time of the crime appellant did not know right from wrong. They so testified on direct examination at trial. The state, at trial, introduced no expert medical witness to contradict their testimony. On cross-examination of the defense's experts, the following was elicited: Dr. Hoogerbeets testified further: On cross-examination, Dr. Garcia-Bunel testified: And further: And finally: The only issue raised in this appeal is the failure of the state to rebut, with competent evidence, appellant's proof of insanity. The argument is that appellant introduced the testimony of two psychiatrists to show he did not know right from wrong. The state, it is contended, introduced only lay witnesses to rebut that evidence and those were lay witnesses who were not competent under this court's opinion in State v. Overton, 114 Ariz. 553, 562 P.2d 726 (1977), to testify to appellant's ability to determine right from wrong. The state responds with the position that appellant never properly presented an issue of insanity under Arizona law, but if he did, the state did rebut it beyond a reasonable doubt. A defendant is presumed sane. State v. Sisk, 112 Ariz. 484, 543 P.2d 1113 (1975). If, however, he presents evidence sufficient to generate a reasonable doubt as to his sanity, the burden shifts to the state to prove his sanity beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Overton, supra. The state must then prove the defendant knew the nature and quality of his act and that he knew that what he was doing was wrong. State v. Schantz, 98 Ariz. 200, 403 P.2d 521 (1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S. 1015, 86 S. Ct. 628, 15 L. Ed. 2d 530 (1966). That, of course, is the M'Naghten test, adhered to consistently in Arizona. State v. Schantz, supra. *373 We think appellant did raise a reasonable doubt as to his sanity, not only with his experts, but also with numerous lay witnesses who testified that they were of the opinion also that appellant did not know right from wrong, that appellant was "not himself" during this period from December, 1975 to May, 1976, and that appellant would not or could not be reasoned with on the subject of his property and the Becker family. Such lay testimony is, of course, admissible on the issue of sanity if the witness has had an opportunity to observe the past conduct and history of a defendant. State v. Coey, 82 Ariz. 133, 309 P.2d 260 (1957). The issue then becomes, did the state rebut, with competent evidence, appellant's evidence of insanity? Appellant argues that the state's failure to call expert medical witnesses to rebut the evidence of insanity is fatal to the state's case. He contends the state introduced only lay opinions those of a police officer and the real estate commissioner to the effect that appellant did know right from wrong. Under Overton, supra, their testimony is insufficient, appellant argues, because there was no "intimacy between the witness and the defendant of such a character and duration that the witness' testimony is of probative value...." State v. Overton, 114 Ariz. at 556, 562 P.2d at 729. That may or may not be true here, but we do not think it necessary to determine. There is no inference, as a matter of law, that a defendant's insanity is established because the state fails to call expert medical witnesses to rebut those of the defense. Such an inference may arise, and the jury may be instructed that they may so find, but it is not required that they do so. State v. Corley, 108 Ariz. 240, 495 P.2d 470 (1972). The jury here was, in fact, so instructed. Further, where the state elicits no testimony or evidence rebutting the doubt raised as to a defendant's insanity, a conviction is erroneous. State v. White, 110 Ariz. 508, 520 P.2d 1132 (1974). Overton, supra, does not change these premises in Arizona law. It merely adds that, when the state relies solely on lay testimony to establish sanity, Here, the state did not rely solely on the opinion of lay witnesses. The appellant's experts themselves testified, as is obvious from the above-quoted portions of their testimony, that appellant's words and actions were consistent with his knowing right from wrong, despite his delusional thinking at other times. The jury was free to believe or disbelieve the testimony of the experts and find the defendant sane Beside the experts' equivocations, there was substantial evidence from which the jury could determine appellant was sane: his preparation for the crime by having his gun repaired, his refusal to promise his priest he would not kill Stephen Becker, his concealment of the gun before and after the crime, his making his wife leave the scene before he went to Becker's office to kill him, his statements before, during and after the crime. All these things could very reasonably convince a jury, beyond a reasonable doubt, that appellant was sane and committed this crime in a premeditated, wilful and deliberate manner. The jury was properly instructed that "wrong" in connection with the M'Naghten test meant "wrong according to the generally accepted moral standards of the community and not the defendant's own individual moral standards." State v. Corley, supra. We will uphold their verdict when sufficient evidence is introduced to support a theory of the case establishing the defendant's sanity beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Sisk, supra. We have examined the record for fundamental error and find none. *374 The judgment of conviction and the sentence are affirmed. CAMERON, C.J., STRUCKMEYER, V.C.J., and HOLOHAN and GORDON, JJ., concur.