Opinion ID: 867611
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: independent review and reweighing

Text: ¶ 59 Defendant has not raised any other issues regarding the imposition of the death penalty in this case. Nonetheless, we must independently review the aggravating and mitigating circumstances found by the sentencing court to determine the propriety of the death sentence for the murder of B.C., the only remaining capital offense. Ariz.Rev.Stat. § 13-703.01(A); State v. Nordstrom, 200 Ariz. 229, 25 P.3d 717 (2001).
¶ 60 The sentencing court found beyond a reasonable doubt that the state had proven the aggravating circumstance set forth in Arizona Revised Statute section 13-703(F)(1). That section applies to a defendant [who] has been convicted of another offense in the United States for which under Arizona law a sentence of life imprisonment or death was imposable. The judge based this finding on the two other first degree murder convictions in this case. We have now reversed those convictions. However, there is ample other evidence supporting this finding. Defendant was convicted of numerous counts of kidnapping and sexual assault, for which life sentences were imposed. ¶ 61 The judge also found that the state had proven beyond a reasonable doubt the aggravating circumstance set forth in Arizona Revised Statute section 13-703(F)(2). Under this section, as it existed at the time of the murder, previous conviction of a felony in the United States involving the use or threat of violence on another person constitutes an aggravator. In this case, the defendant was convicted of three counts of attempted first degree murder, and two counts of aggravated assault. These convictions fulfill the requirements of section 13-703(F)(2). See State v. Lee, 189 Ariz. 590, 604, 944 P.2d 1204, 1218 (1997) (A sentencing court may consider any convictions entered previously without regard to the order of the underlying crimes.). ¶ 62 The sentencing court also found that the murder of B.C. was committed in an especially cruel manner, under section 13-703(F)(6). Based upon inferences from the experience of victims who survived the defendant's attacks, the judge concluded that the victim suffered incredible terror and mental anguish from the moment [she] realized [she] was abducted, through painful and degrading sexual acts being forced upon [her], to the very moment [she] was murdered. (Special Verdict at 10). The court further concluded that the murder of B.C. was especially heinous or depraved, under section 13-703(F)(6). It decided beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was senseless, the victim was helpless, and that witness elimination was a motive for the murder. ¶ 63 While we understand the sentencing judge's inclination to find that this crime fit the pattern of the others, we cannot agree that the F(6) aggravator has been established beyond a reasonable doubt. Very little is known about the circumstances of the victim's death. Her remains were out in the desert for several months. Thus, her body was incomplete and severely decomposed by the time it was discovered. Her hands, feet, and other bones were missing. There was no testimony regarding defensive wounds or anything else that would establish that she was conscious at the time of her death. Moreover, given all that we do not know regarding how she found herself in the desert, it is simply too speculative to conclude that this homicide was committed in a cruel, heinous, or depraved manner. Nonetheless, the F(1) and F(2) aggravators we have found are adequate to warrant the death penalty, absent sufficient mitigation.
¶ 64 The sentencing judge determined that the defendant failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence any of the statutory mitigating factors listed in section 13-703(G)(1)-(5). As for non-statutory factors, the court decided that the following were not mitigating: expert opinion regarding the appropriateness of the death penalty in this case; harm to the defendant's family; a single request for the death penalty from only one victim's family; and lack of good childhood male role models. It also found that lingering doubt as to the actual commission of the murder had not been proven by a preponderance of the evidence. ¶ 65 The court determined that the following non-statutory mitigating factors had been proven by a preponderance of the evidence: the defendant was a good father to his children, a good husband to his wife, and a good son to his mother; he had no prior record of criminal behavior or accusations of violence of any kind; and he had been a model prisoner while in custody. We accept and approve the trial judge's findings regarding mitigation.
¶ 66 We also agree with the sentencing court that the mitigating factors here are weak. We do not find that they are sufficient to warrant leniency. Accordingly, we conclude that the imposition of the death penalty for the murder of B.C. was appropriate in this case.