Opinion ID: 2611383
Heading Depth: 6
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alcohol Consumption and Past Drug Use

Text: In State v. Jones, supra , this court gave some weight to evidence of the defendant's history of alcoholism and drug abuse, and defendant's self-reporting that on the night of the murder he had not slept for three or four days and was under the influence of methamphetamines and alcohol, but concluded that these facts were not sufficient for leniency. Id. at 491, 917 P.2d at 220. Here, the only evidence of this kind found by the trial court in its independent review was that Rienhardt had alcohol on his breath at the time of his arrest, and that Rienhardt told his probation officer that he had a drinking problem at the time the murder took place. A review of the record reveals substantial additional evidence of a history of drug and alcohol abuse. However, this court has rejected past drug and alcohol use as a mitigating circumstance calling for leniency when there is no evidence of a causal connection between the substance abuse and the crime. See State v. Henry, 189 Ariz. 542, 552-553, 944 P.2d 57, 67-68 (1997). Here, there is no evidence connecting Rienhardt's history to the crime itself. Since Rienhardt declined to present any evidence of a causal connection at his aggravation-mitigation hearing, we reject this mitigating factor. In addition, given the weight of the aggravating factors in this case, proof of a causal connection would not have been sufficient to warrant leniency.