Opinion ID: 750665
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Pecuniary Gain Factor

Text: 15 Two related arguments are advanced relative to the trial court's finding of expectation of pecuniary gain as an aggravating factor. First, the LaGrands contend that the finding of pecuniary gain was arbitrary or irrational. The trial court's finding was affirmed by the Arizona Supreme Court in its independent review. That court said: 16 We do not believe the defendant must intend beforehand to kill as well as to rob to satisfy the statute. A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(5). Nor do we believe that an absence of actual receipt of money or valuables negates a finding of expectation of pecuniary gain as an aggravating circumstance. 17 In this case, the attempted robbery permeated the entire conduct of the defendant. The defendant may have reacted irrationally to the failure or inability of the victim to open the safe but the murder was neither accidental nor unexpected. The reason defendant was there was his expectation of pecuniary gain and the reason he stabbed the victim was because the victim was unable to open the safe, frustrating defendant's continuing attempt for pecuniary gain. The defendant's goal of pecuniary gain caused the murder and the murder was in furtherance of his goal. We agree with the trial court's finding that the defendant's expectation of pecuniary gain was an aggravating factor. 18 State v. LaGrand, 153 Ariz. at 36, 734 P.2d at 578 (footnote omitted). 19 Lewis v. Jeffers, 497 U.S. 764, 780, 110 S.Ct. 3092, 3102, 111 L.Ed.2d 606 (1990), a case arising in Arizona, held that federal court review of such a finding by the state court is limited, at most, to determining whether the state court's finding was so arbitrary or capricious as to constitute an independent due process or Eighth Amendment violation. The Court went on to say: 20 A state court's finding of an aggravating circumstance in a particular case-including a de novo finding by an appellate court that a particular offense is especially heinous ... or depraved-is arbitrary or capricious if and only if no reasonable sentencer could have so concluded. 21 Id. at 783, 110 S.Ct. at 3103. 22 Here, the sole purpose of the journey to the bank was to rob it. The LaGrands threatened the victims with death in order to obtain entry to the vault. In fact, Walter LaGrand admitted in his trial testimony that he held a letter opener to Ken Hartsock's neck as a threat. A rational sentencer could have found the existence of the pecuniary gain aggravating factor. 23 Second, the LaGrands argue that the Arizona Supreme Court broadened the definition of pecuniary gain in violation of both the Due Process Clause and the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution. Their basic argument is that the Arizona Supreme Court, in saying that the intent to rob infects all other actions, effectively wipes out any requirement to prove the aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt. 24 The Ex Post Facto Clause does not apply to court decisions construing statutes. The Ex Post Facto Clause is a limitation upon the powers of the Legislature, see Calder v. Bull, 3 Dall. [U.S.] 386, 1 L.Ed. 648 (1798), and does not of its own force apply to the Judicial Branch of government. Marks v. United States, 430 U.S. 188, 191, 97 S.Ct. 990, 992, 51 L.Ed.2d 260 (1977). 25 It is the Due Process Clause, rather than the Ex Post Facto Clause, which protects criminal defendants against novel developments in judicial doctrine. See, e.g., Bouie v. Columbia, 378 U.S. 347, 84 S.Ct. 1697, 12 L.Ed.2d 894 (1964). See also United States v. Ruiz, 935 F.2d 1033, 1035 (9th Cir.1991). However, an unforeseeable judicial construction of a statute may run afoul of the Due Process Clause because of the same policy underlying the Ex Post Facto Clause-lack of fair warning of that conduct which will give rise to criminal penalties. Marks, 430 U.S. at 191, 97 S.Ct. at 992-93. 26 The Arizona statutory scheme was clear in 1982. The felony murder statute provided that robbery or attempted robbery were predicate felonies, and that the statute applied if, in the course of and in furtherance of such offense or immediate flight from such offense, [the defendant] causes the death of any person. A.R.S. § 13-1105(A)(2). The capital punishment statute provided that defendant's expectation of the receipt of something of pecuniary value was an aggravating factor. A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(5). So, unless the Arizona Supreme Court had narrowed the clear terms of the statutes to a robber's benefit prior to the LaGrands' commission of the murder, there was no due process violation. 27 The cases cited by the LaGrands do not support the result they seek. Two of them, State v. Jordan, 126 Ariz. 283, 614 P.2d 825 (in banc ), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 986, 101 S.Ct. 408, 66 L.Ed.2d 251 (1980), and State v. Jeffers, 135 Ariz. 404, 661 P.2d 1105 (in banc ), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 199, 78 L.Ed.2d 174 (1983), did not involve reliance on the pecuniary gain factor. 28 Nor do the other cases cited support their argument. State v. Correll, 148 Ariz. 468, 479, 715 P.2d 721, 732 (1986) (in banc ), involved murders committed in order to insure that no one be left to identify the robbers (The only motivation for the killings was to leave no witnesses to the robbery.). State v. Hensley, 142 Ariz. 598, 604, 691 P.2d 689, 695 (1984) (in banc ), was much the same (In this case, the murders were a part of the overall scheme of the robbery with the specific purpose to facilitate the robbers' escape.). There is language in Hensley from an earlier case indicating that an unexpected or accidental death that was not in furtherance of the defendant's goal of pecuniary gain would not support a finding of the aggravating circumstance. Id. 142 Ariz. at 603, 691 P.2d at 694 (quoting State v. Harding, 137 Ariz. 278, 296, 670 P.2d 383, 401 (1983) (Gordon, J., concurring), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1013, 104 S.Ct. 1017, 79 L.Ed.2d 246 (1984)). 2 29 The LaGrands' argument seems to be premised on their claim that the killing was not in furtherance of the robbery, but rather came about when Ken Hartsock kicked Karl during a struggle, and Karl impulsively reacted by stabbing him. However, this argument is contrary to Dawn Lopez's testimony that she saw both men involved in a struggle with Ken Hartsock and her testimony that she twice heard at least one of them say make sure he's dead. Ms. Lopez's evidence is consistent with a murder committed in order to eliminate witnesses. The LaGrands' argument is also contrary to the Enmund 3 finding of the district court: The court finds beyond a reasonable doubt that both defendants participated in the actual killing of Mr. Hartsock and that both defendants intended to kill him. 30 The Arizona Supreme Court's decisions in the LaGrand cases were not an unforeseeable departure from its existing jurisprudence, and no due process violation occurred. Poland v. Stewart, 117 F.3d 1094, 1098-1100 (9th Cir.1997).