Opinion ID: 1223959
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Finding Defendant Had Been Previously Convicted of a Felony Involving the Threat or Use of Violence

Text: Defendant claims that the trial court erred by finding the A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(2) aggravating circumstance based on convictions for offenses committed after the Drury murder. The trial court based its (F)(2) finding on defendant's Coconino County convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault, crimes that defendant committed after the murders, but for which he was convicted before the murder convictions. Defendant also raised this argument in his appeal of the convictions and sentences for the Reynolds and Lacey murders, and this court rejected it. See Lee I, 189 Ariz. at 604, 944 P.2d at ___. Convictions entered prior to a sentencing hearing may thus be considered regardless of the order in which the underlying crimes occurred or the order in which the convictions were entered. State v. Gretzler, 135 Ariz. 42, 57 n. 2, 659 P.2d 1, 16 n. 2 (1983) (citations omitted); see also State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 615-16, 905 P.2d 974, 994-95 (1995), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 116 S.Ct. 1444, 134 L.Ed.2d 564 (1996); State v. Williams, 183 Ariz. 368, 382-83, 904 P.2d 437, 451-52 (1995). Section 13-703(F)(2) requires the sentencing court to consider as an aggravating circumstance that defendant was previously convicted of a felony in the United States involving the use or threat of violence on another person. [1] To satisfy (F)(2), the prior conviction must be a felony that by its statutory definition involves violence or the threat of violence on another person. State v. McKinney, 185 Ariz. 567, 581, 917 P.2d 1214, 1228, cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 117 S.Ct. 310, 136 L.Ed.2d 226 (1996); State v. Romanosky, 162 Ariz. 217, 228, 782 P.2d 693, 704 (1989); State v. Gillies, 135 Ariz. 500, 511, 662 P.2d 1007, 1018 (1983). In 1992 defendant was convicted of aggravated robbery, a class 3 felony, in violation of A.R.S. §§ 13-1902 and -1903, and aggravated assault, a class 3 dangerous felony, in violation of A.R.S. §§ 13-1203(A)(2) and -1204(A)(2). Robbery, as defined in section 1902, involves threat or use of force. Section 13-1203(A)(2) defines assault as [i]ntentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury, and section 13-1204(A)(2) requires use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. The statutory definitions of both convictions therefore involve violence or the threat of violence. Accordingly, the trial court properly found an (F)(2) aggravating circumstance for the Drury murder based on the Coconino County convictions for aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.