Opinion ID: 4237534
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to exhume

Text: ¶11 Hulsey moved early in the case to exhume Officer Holly’s body to retrieve the bullet fragments. The State opposed the motion as moot, stating that Officer Holly’s body had been cremated. Acknowledging there was no body to exhume, Hulsey withdrew his request for oral argument on the matter, yet did not withdraw his motion. The trial court 4 STATE V. HULSEY Opinion of the Court denied the motion “under [the] circumstances.” We review a denial of a motion to exhume for abuse of discretion. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 604–05 (1992), disapproved on other grounds by State v. Nordstrom, 200 Ariz. 229, 241 ¶ 25 (2001). ¶12 Hulsey never requested access to the cremated remains. Hulsey’s motion to exhume applied only to the physical body. In response to his original motion to exhume, Hulsey was informed of the cremation, to which he responded that the “logic seems clear” that the body cannot be exhumed. Although never withdrawing the motion to exhume, Hulsey conceded that “the answer to the issue of exhumation seems clear.” In his reply, Hulsey stated that issues generated from the cremation existed, but that those issues would “be raised by the defense in future motions—not in the present motion.” However, Hulsey filed no motion concerning access to the cremated remains. ¶13 Even if the motion to exhume applied to the cremated remains, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying it. “Exhumation of the victim’s body is to be allowed only under extraordinary circumstances. Where existence of the evidence sought was so speculative and uncertain, and its value in aiding defendant’s defense so conjectural and remote, the trial court properly exercised its discretion in refusing appellant’s motion.” Atwood, 171 Ariz. at 604–05 (quoting Commonwealth v. Kivlin, 406 A.2d 799, 805 (Pa. 1979)). ¶14 This case is much like Atwood, in which the defense presented only “cryptic promises” that relevant evidence could be discovered. Id. at 604. When the trial court ruled on Hulsey’s claim, the notion that any fragments in the remains still held evidentiary value was unsubstantiated. Even today Hulsey concedes on appeal that “the record is silent as to whether the fragments in fact still exist in the decedent’s remains.” Thus, even if the motion to exhume applied to the cremated remains, the prospect that analysis of the remains would aid Hulsey’s defense is speculative. Denial of the motion to exhume was not an abuse of discretion. ¶15 Hulsey also requests this Court to stay his appeal and “remand the case for resolution of [the] factual issue” of whether the 5 STATE V. HULSEY Opinion of the Court fragments were destroyed. Hulsey waived his right to an evidentiary hearing by conceding that the evidence was destroyed in his two motions to dismiss for bad faith destruction of evidence and only now requesting access to the remains. See State v. Gutierrez, 229 Ariz. 573, 579 ¶ 32 (2012) (“[W]hen there are no material facts in dispute and the only issue is the legal consequence of undisputed material facts, the superior court need not hold an evidentiary hearing.”); see also State v. Trostle, 191 Ariz. 4, 13 (1997) (finding failure to request evidentiary hearing about juror misconduct at trial waived on appeal). The State avowed in response to the first motion to exhume that the body was unavailable for inspection because the body had been cremated. Furthermore, Hulsey has given this Court no reason to assume the fragments still exist.