Opinion ID: 1152888
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Drug addiction and intoxication

Text: Defendant argues that he produced sufficient evidence of drug addiction and intoxication for the court to find a mitigating circumstance. Voluntary intoxication may be a mitigating factor if the defendant proves by a preponderance of the evidence that his capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was significantly impaired, but not so impaired as to constitute a defense to prosecution. A.R.S. § 13-703(G)(1); see also State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 520, 898 P.2d 454, 469 (1995), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S.Ct. 787, 133 L.Ed.2d 737 (1996). However, [n]ot being able to `think clearly in reality' ... is not coextensive with not having the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of one's conduct. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 651, 832 P.2d 593, 668 (1992). An expert testified that defendant began using drugs when he was a teen and was a heavy user of methamphetamine at the time of the murder. The evidence of defendant's drug use at the time of the murder was self-reported; however, expert testimony corroborated defendant's testimony. The defense expert stated that methamphetamine users tend to stay awake for several days and then crash for several days at a time. Additionally, defendant's sister-in-law and girlfriend testified that defendant consumed methamphetamine on Saturday, the day before the incident. However, no testimony establishes, either because of his use of drugs or because he was coming down off of the drugs, that defendant could not appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or conform his conduct to the law. All of the people who testified for defendant claimed that they had never seen defendant hurt anyone, when he was on or off of drugs. The trial court properly concluded that not enough evidence had been produced to show that defendant was impaired by methamphetamine use to constitute statutory or non-statutory mitigation.