Opinion ID: 867372
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: (F)(2) aggravating circumstance

Text: ¶ 11 Pandeli next claims three separate errors with regard to the (F)(2) serious offense aggravating factor: (1) The trial court improperly allowed the State to introduce the underlying facts of the Humphreys murder to prove the (F)(2) aggravating factor; (2) the trial court should not have allowed the State to present any evidence of the (F)(2) aggravating factor to the jury and instead should have told the jury that the aggravating circumstance was established; and (3) use of the Humphreys murder conviction to support the (F)(2) aggravating circumstance violated the Double Jeopardy Clause because it allowed additional punishment to stem from a prior conviction. We review evidentiary rulings of the trial court for abuse of discretion, State v. McGill, 213 Ariz. 147, 156, ¶ 40, 140 P.3d 930, 939 (2006), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 127 S.Ct. 1914, 167 L.Ed.2d 570 (2007), and we review legal and constitutional issues de novo, State v. Moody, 208 Ariz. 424, 445, ¶ 62, 94 P.3d 1119, 1140 (2004).
¶ 12 The proper procedure to establish [a] prior conviction is for the state to offer in evidence a certified copy of the conviction . . . and establish the defendant as the person to whom the document refers. State v. Lee, 114 Ariz. 101, 105, 559 P.2d 657, 661 (1976). The State followed this procedure and did not introduce any of the underlying facts of the Humphreys murder to establish the (F)(2) aggravating circumstance. [1] Thus, there was no error.
¶ 13 Pandeli argues that submitting the (F)(2) aggravating factor to the jury violated his Sixth Amendment right. We disagree. ¶ 14 After receiving a new sentencing hearing to cure the error caused by allowing the judge to find the aggravating circumstances, Pandeli now claims that the jury should not have been allowed to find the (F)(2) aggravating factor because the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not require a jury to determine the existence of a prior conviction. See State v. Ring (Ring III), 204 Ariz. 534, 556, ¶ 55, 65 P.3d 915, 937 (2003). Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-703.01(P) (Supp.2006), however, requires a jury to make all findings of fact in a death penalty sentencing hearing, and the fact that the Sixth Amendment allows a judge to find prior convictions does not affect that statutory mandate. Nothing in the Constitution requires that a judge find the prior serious offense aggravating circumstance, and the Arizona statute affirmatively requires that the finding be made by the jury. See A.R.S. § 13-703.01(P). ¶ 15 Pandeli also argues that it was unnecessary for the jury to find the existence of his prior conviction because a trial judge's finding in an earlier sentencing proceeding that a prior conviction exists may not be disturbed at resentencing. In support of this proposition, he cites State v. Montaño, 206 Ariz. 296, 77 P.3d 1246 (2003), and State v. Cropper, 206 Ariz. 153, 76 P.3d 424 (2003). The question in those cases differed from the one now before us. In Montaño and Cropper, we were analyzing whether the error in having a judge find aggravating factors was harmless. For purposes of the harmless error inquiry, we stated that we would not disturb the trial judge's finding that the prior serious conviction aggravating circumstance exists. Montaño, 206 Ariz. at 299, ¶ 12, 77 P.3d at 1249; Cropper, 206 Ariz. at 155, ¶ 9, 76 P.3d at 426. This language did not establish the existence of the (F)(2) aggravating circumstance as a matter of law because we vacated the death sentences and remanded the cases for resentencing. Montaño, 206 Ariz. at 301, ¶ 26, 77 P.3d at 1251; Cropper, 206 Ariz. at 158, ¶ 24, 76 P.3d at 429. Because Pandeli's death sentence was vacated, the State was obligated to re-prove the (F)(2) aggravating circumstance on resentencing. Arizona Revised Statutes § 13-703.01(P) requires that the finding be made by a jury.
¶ 16 Finally, Pandeli argues that the use of the Humphreys murder conviction to establish the (F)(2) aggravating factor violated double jeopardy by allowing additional punishment for a prior crime. We have previously held that using a prior conviction under a recidivist statute to enhance a sentence on a new and separate charge does not violate double jeopardy. State v. Mauro, 159 Ariz. 186, 209, 766 P.2d 59, 82 (1988). The (F)(2) aggravating factor is a recidivist provision. See Ring III, 204 Ariz. at 558, ¶ 66, 65 P.3d at 939. Therefore, use of the Humphreys murder conviction to prove the (F)(2) factor did not violate double jeopardy.