Title: State v. Miller
Citation: 104 Ariz. 335, 452 P.2d 509
Docket Number: 1796
State: Arizona
Issuer: Arizona Supreme Court
Date: March 26, 1969

104 Ariz. 335 (1969) 452 P.2d 509 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Richard Lee MILLER, Appellant. No. 1796. Supreme Court of Arizona. In Banc. March 26, 1969. Gary K. Nelson, Atty. Gen., by Carl Waag and Norval C. Jesperson, Asst. Attys. Gen., Darrell F. Smith, former Atty. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee. John M. Levy, Phoenix, for appellant. STRUCKMEYER, Justice. On May 20, 1966, Richard Lee Miller and Gwendolyn Frances Harrison were informed against by the County Attorney of Maricopa County for the crime of Burglary, First Degree, a Felony. Thereafter, an amended information was filed dismissing the charge as against Gwendolyn Frances Harrison. On the amended information Miller was tried and found guilty of Burglary in the First Degree and sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison for not less than ten nor more than fifteen years. At the trial Miller did not take the witness stand, but Gwendolyn Frances Harrison testified for the defense that on May 3, 1966, Miller was unemployed and she and Miller spent the day seeking work. She further testified that he had consumed *336 large quantities of beer and wine that day, and in the evening as they drove west on Apache Boulevard in the City of Mesa, Miller required the use of a restroom. He turned off the highway and drove around to the back of a building called the Rural T.V. &amp; Appliance Shop, then drove to the front of the building and stopped the car. The proprietor of the appliance shop, W.H. Drummond, was outside the building preparing to leave when he saw Miller drive around the building. He returned to the store through the backdoor and walked from the back to the showroom where he observed the defendant just as he broke into the store by breaking open a side door. The side door of the store had a double lock, a hasp and a "leg lock" which the testimony indicated "just splintered" off. The glass in the door was also broken. Drummond called out to Miller who thereupon turned around, left the store, entered his car and drove away. Drummond immediately called the Sheriff's Office and gave the license number and a description of the Miller vehicle. Miller and Gwendolyn Frances Harrison were arrested about an hour later on the highway between Mesa and Phoenix. At the trial the defense requested the court to instruct the jury on Second Degree Burglary, burglary in the daytime, which is punishable by not to exceed five years in the state penitentiary. See A.R.S. § 13-302. The request was predicated upon the State's evidence establishing that sunset was at 7:12 p.m. and upon the testimony of Gwendolyn Frances Harrison: The State's evidence was that the telephone call from Drummond came to the Sheriff's Office at 7:30 p.m. The refusal of defendant's requested instruction is manifestly error. We said in State v. Lyons, 98 Ariz. 379, 380, 405 P.2d 810, 812: Miller also complains of the court's refusal to give his requested Instruction #3. Defendant's Instruction #3 is in effect that if a conclusion of innocence was equally reasonable as that of guilt, the jury should return a verdict of not guilty. It is Miller's argument that since there was no direct evidence of his felonious intent at the time of entering and since the court failed to instruct on the legal effect of circumstantial evidence the failure to give his requested instruction was reversible error. We do not equate the defendant's requested Instruction #3 with a proper instruction on the probative force of circumstantial evidence. It is much weaker than the language customarily approved. See State v. Butler, 82 Ariz. 25, 307 P.2d 916. But since a retrial is necessitated, we will consider defendant's position on its merits. Unquestionably, a specific felonious intent is an essential element of the crime of burglary, A.R.S. § 13-302, subsec. A. Such intent may be established by circumstantial evidence. State v. Jackson, 101 Ariz. 399, 420 P.2d 270. However, in order to sustain a conviction on circumstantial evidence alone, the evidence must not only be consistent with the hypothesis that *337 the accused is guilty, but also must be inconsistent with any hypothesis which would tend to establish innocence. State v. Alkhowarizmi, 101 Ariz. 514, 421 P.2d 871. We have held that it is fundamental error for the court to fail to instruct on the probative force of circumstantial evidence if the prosecution must rely exclusively thereon for a conviction. State v. Tigue, 95 Ariz. 45, 386 P.2d 402. Conversely, the failure to instruct on the effect of circumstantial evidence is not fundamental error if the prosecution does not rely exclusively thereon. State v. Maynard, 101 Ariz. 239, 418 P.2d 576. Where the trial court is requested to instruct on the weight to be accorded circumstantial evidence, the authorities are fairly uniform in holding that it may be refused if there is direct evidence of the elements of the offense and the circumstantial evidence is only incidental and corroborative. People v. Masters, 219 Cal. App. 2d 672, 33 Cal. Rptr. 383; Iwerks v. People, 108 Colo. 556, 120 P.2d 961; Sanders v. State (Miss.), 192 So. 344; State v. Ybarra (Mo.), 386 S.W.2d 384; State v. Mah Sam Hing, 89 Mont. 178, 295 P. 1014; Fisher v. State, 154 Neb. 166, 47 N.W.2d 349; Wesley v. State, 149 Tex.Crim. 650, 198 S.W.2d 103; State v. Nortin, 170 Or. 296, 133 P.2d 252; Mainer v. State, 151 Tex.Crim. 532, 208 S.W.2d 900. For example, in People v. Blankenship, 171 Cal. App. 2d 66, 340 P.2d 282, the California Court in considering the identical instruction requested here, said: Statements to the contrary to be found in State v. Bradley, 102 Ariz. 482, 433 P.2d 273, and State v. Simpier, 1 Ariz. App. 98, 101, 399 P.2d 719 are expressly disapproved. In the instant case the defendant was interrupted after entering the Rural T.V. and Appliance Shop before his motive or intent was disclosed by his subsequent actions. Where the essential elements of an offense are proven by direct evidence and motive or intent are only circumstantially established, the authorities are not uniform. In California the decisions seem to require the giving of the instruction. See e.g. People v. Yokum, 145 Cal. App. 2d 245, 302 P.2d 406. However, in Schwartz v. Texas, 172 Tex. Crim. 326, 357 S.W.2d 393, the Texas Court came to a contrary conclusion in an embezzlement case: And in State v. Nortin, supra at 326, 133 P.2d at 263 the Oregon Court held: We have considered the conflict and are of the opinion that it is unnecessary for the trial court to instruct on circumstantial evidence if all the elements of the offense except intent are established by direct evidence. Defendant's requested Instruction #7 purported to tell the jury that they could not return a verdict merely on suspicion or mere probability. This is a correct statement of the law. However, its thrust was conveyed to the jury by the court's instruction on reasonable doubt and can be given or refused within the discretion of the trial judge. One further observation should be made. Nothing we have said in this decision should be construed as having application to the general intent required to be found in the union or joint operation of act and intent in every crime or public offense. See A.R.S. § 13-131. The general intent there required is to be determined by the circumstances connected with the offense and the sound mind and discretion of the accused under the usual and customary instructions on reasonable doubt. Judgment reversed. UDALL, C.J., LOCKWOOD, V.C.J., and McFARLAND and HAYS, JJ., concur.