Opinion ID: 1036031
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Sufficiency of evidence to support (F)(6)

Text: aggravator ¶45 In special verdicts, the jury found that each murder was both especially cruel and committed in an especially heinous or depraved manner, thereby establishing the (F)(6) aggravating circumstance. Benson challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support these findings. To decide whether the State met its burden of proving the (F)(6) aggravator beyond a reasonable doubt, we must determine whether substantial evidence supports either that Benson committed each murder in an especially cruel or an especially heinous or depraved manner, viewing the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury’s verdict. State v. Gunches, 225 Ariz. 22, 25 ¶¶ 14-15, 234 P.3d 590, 593 (2010).
¶46 Sufficient evidence supports the jury’s finding that Benson murdered Alisa in an especially cruel manner. Dr. Alan Zhang, a pathologist who performed an autopsy on Alisa’s body, identified three marks on her neck, which indicated that the ligature had to be adjusted during the strangulation, thereby increasing the time it took to strangle her. According to Dr. Zhang, that adjustment, together with an abrasion on Alisa’s chin and other injuries, suggested Alisa had struggled during the strangulation and experienced pain and emotional trauma. Compare State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 517, 898 P.2d 454, 466 (1995) (holding “repetitive gripping” of ligature and other indications of a struggle evidenced especial cruelty), with Snelling, 225 Ariz. at 189 ¶¶ 31-32, 236 P.3d at 416 (finding no mental anguish when no evidence of a struggle, and “only a single ligature mark”), and State v. Jimenez, 165 Ariz. 444, 454, 799 P.2d 785, 795 (1990) (finding no especial cruelty when victim strangled “quickly and by surprise and she rapidly lost consciousness”). ¶47 In light of Dr. Zhang’s testimony, the jury could have reasonably found that Alisa was conscious long enough to fight back, experience pain, and suffer mental anguish about her fate. See State v. Morris, 215 Ariz. 324, 341 ¶ 79, 160 P.3d 203, 220 (2007) (upholding especial cruelty when state offered evidence that victims suffered and struggled during strangulation); State v. Sansing, 206 Ariz. 232, 236 ¶ 10, 77 P.3d 30, 34 (2003) (“[D]efensive wounds, . . . pleas for help, and [the victim’s] attempts to resist” establish “mental anguish as she contemplated her ultimate fate.”). Because Benson witnessed the injuries and Alisa’s 13 STATE v. TRENT CHRISTOPHER BENSON Opinion of the Court conscious struggles, he knew or should have known that she suffered physical pain and mental anguish. ¶48 Sufficient evidence supports the jury’s finding that Benson murdered Alisa in an especially cruel manner. Given this conclusion, we need not decide whether the evidence also suffices to support the jury’s finding that Benson killed Alisa in an especially heinous or depraved manner.
¶49 Sufficient evidence supports a finding that Benson murdered Karen in an especially heinous or depraved manner by inflicting gratuitous violence. As previously explained, gratuitous violence can be found if the defendant “use[d] violence beyond that necessary to kill,” and “continued to inflict violence after he knew or should have known that a fatal action had occurred.” Bocharski II, 218 Ariz. at 494 ¶¶ 85, 87, 189 P.3d at 421 (emphasis omitted). Benson does not dispute that he committed more violence than necessary to kill Karen. Rather, he argues that insufficient evidence exists that he knew or should have known that Karen was dead when he inflicted that violence. But the State only had to demonstrate that Benson knew or should have known that a fatal action had occurred when he continued to inflict violence – not that Karen had died. See Wallace IV, 229 Ariz. at 160 ¶ 21, 272 P.3d at 1051 (“[T]he inquiry is not whether the victim was dead before further injury was inflicted, but rather whether more injury was inflicted than necessary to kill.”). ¶50 Ample evidence supports the jury’s finding that Benson inflicted gratuitous violence on Karen after he knew or should have known he had inflicted fatal action. According to Benson, after realizing that Karen was dead because her “body was getting cold,” he dragged her to the backseat of his car, drove somewhere, stopped, pushed her out of the car, and then ran over her. He later admitted to police that he might have run over Karen but “didn’t think anything else would hurt her.” ¶51 Because the (F)(6) aggravator is supported by a finding that Benson inflicted gratuitous violence on Karen, thereby murdering her in an especially heinous or depraved manner, we need not decide whether the evidence sufficiently supports the jury’s finding that the murder was especially cruel.