Opinion ID: 1163481
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The aggravating circumstance

Text: Citing the definitions in State v. Knapp, 114 Ariz. 531, 543, 562 P.2d 704, 716 (1977), rather than the factors listed in State v. Gretzler, 135 Ariz. 42, 52-53, 659 P.2d 1, 11-12, cert. denied, 461 U.S. 971, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983), the trial court found that Defendant committed the murder in an especially heinous or depraved manner. A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6). In support of this finding the judge noted Kathy's mental impairment and Defendant's awareness of her condition, Kathy's helplessness, the murder's senselessness, and that the only apparent reason for killing Kathy was to eliminate her as a witness. Defendant challenges this finding on several grounds. Although the Gretzler factors are not absolutely exclusive, see State v. Milke, 177 Ariz. 118, 126, 865 P.2d 779, 787 (1993), they provide a consistent and rationally reviewable standard for the otherwise vague (F)(6) especially heinous, cruel or depraved factor, thus ensuring the continuing constitutionality of our death penalty statute and facilitating our independent review. See Arave v. Creech, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 1534, 1544, 123 L.Ed.2d 188 (1993) (approving similar factor in light of [its] consistent narrowing definition); Richmond v. Lewis, ___ U.S. ___, ___, 113 S.Ct. 528, 536, 121 L.Ed.2d 411 (citing Gretzler as the narrowing construction of Arizona's (F)(6) factor). We therefore urge trial courts to apply the Gretzler standards when considering this aggravating circumstance. Though not so styled, the trial court's special verdict here clearly shows that it relied on several Gretzler factors in finding the heinous or depraved circumstance. Because both the state and Defendant recognized this and cited the Gretzler factors in their briefs and at oral argument on this issue, we review the § 13-703(F)(6) finding under the Gretzler framework. The heinous or depraved elements of (F)(6) focus on the defendant's mental state as shown by his actions. Under Gretzler, we consider five factors to determine if a murder was especially heinous or depraved: 1) relishing the murder, 2) inflicting gratuitous violence, 3) mutilating the victim, 4) the senselessness of the murder, and 5) the helplessness of the victim. 135 Ariz. at 51, 659 P.2d at 10. We have given the first three factors the most weight and consider the last two much less probative of the defendant's state of mind. E.g., State v. Smith, 146 Ariz. 491, 503, 707 P.2d 289, 301 (1985) (noting that senselessness and helplessness alone are not ordinarily determinative on the question of heinousness or depravity). Our subsequent cases have also identified witness elimination as an additional fact of some weight in finding the (F)(6) circumstance. See, e.g., State v. Ross, 180 Ariz. 598, 606, 886 P.2d 1354, 1362 (1994) (citing cases). To support a finding of heinous or depraved, the relevant factors must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. The special verdict showed that the trial judge based his heinous or depraved finding on the senselessness, helplessness, and witness elimination factors. [5] We agree that this murder was senseless beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendant easily could have accomplished his objective of sexual assault without killing the helpless, mentally impaired victim. See State v. Lopez, 175 Ariz. 407, 412, 857 P.2d 1261, 1266 (1993). Defendant argues that Kathy was not helpless because she was heavy and he is slightly built. This argument is patently without merit. Notwithstanding Defendant's diminutive size, Kathy's diminished mental capacity and functional age clearly rendered her helpless at Defendant's hands. See State v. Zaragoza, 135 Ariz. 63, 69, 659 P.2d 22, 28 (1983) (finding helplessness where elderly victim was easily manipulated and had limited mental capacity). The trial court also found that the only apparent reason Defendant killed Kathy was to eliminate her as a witness. Given the paucity of facts to explain Defendant's actions or show why he killed, however, one could as easily conclude the killing was senseless because Defendant killed for no apparent reason. This, of course, shows the problem with the witness elimination factor. If the evidence shows no reason for a killing, as it very often does, then witness elimination will always be an apparent reason. Thus, as happened here, a trial judge can find aggravation both because the killing was senseless in that the defendant could have accomplished his purpose without killing and also in that he killed for no apparent purpose except to eliminate the victim as a witness. It is difficult to see how both factors logically can exist at the same time. [6] We recently dealt with part of this problem by summarizing the findings necessary to support the witness elimination factor, noting that [t]oo often, claims of witness elimination are made with no evidence to back them up. Ross, 180 Ariz. at 606, 886 P.2d at 1362. We clarified that the witness elimination factor only applies if: 1) the victim witnessed another crime and was killed to prevent testimony about that crime, 2) a statement by the defendant or other evidence of his state of mind shows witness elimination was a motive, or 3) some extraordinary circumstances show the murder was motivated by a desire to eliminate witnesses. Id. Such extraordinary circumstances, however, exist only in extreme cases. Id. The record here does not support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that witness elimination motivated Defendant. Kathy did not witness any unrelated crimes and Defendant said nothing to show witness elimination was his motive. Nor are there sufficient other circumstances present here to make this an extreme case. The trial court could only say that witness elimination was apparent[ly] a motive. Special Verdict at 2. Although some aspects of the crime hint at it, we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that witness elimination motivated Defendant. Lacking Ross 's clarifying definition, the trial court erred in relying on this factor. We are left then with only the last two Gretzler factors  senselessness and helplessness. As noted, we have held that in most cases the senselessness and helplessness factors alone will not support a finding of heinousness or depravity. Ross, 180 Ariz. at 606, 886 P.2d at 1362; State v. Brewer, 170 Ariz. 486, 502, 826 P.2d 783, 789 (1992) (Factors 4 and 5 do not warrant a finding of heinousness or depravity unless accompanied by additional factors.). Although the question is close, we conclude here that they do not support a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder was especially heinous or depraved within the meaning we have given those terms. Cf., e.g., Milke, 177 Ariz. at 126, 865 P.2d at 787 (upholding heinous and depraved factor where parent/child relationship was present in addition to senselessness and helplessness). The facts of this case tempt us to expand the meaning of heinous and depraved, but to do so on a case-by-case basis would institute a regime of ad hoc sentencing, destroying the definitional consistency that preserves the constitutional validity of our sentencing process. See Creech, ___ U.S. at ___, 113 S.Ct. at 1544; Richmond, ___ U.S. at ___, 113 S.Ct. at 536. See generally Richard A. Rosen, The Especially Heinous Aggravating Circumstance in Capital Cases  The Standardless Standard, 64 N.C.L.REV. 941 (1986). If we could expand the meaning of the (F)(6) factor's broad language to encompass the facts of each case on the basis of our intuitive conclusion as to the proper penalty, we would indeed have abandoned the struggle to provide a consistent narrowing definition and conceded that the factor is unconstitutionally vague. We must therefore set aside the trial judge's finding that the heinous or depraved aggravating circumstance applies. There being no other statutory aggravating circumstances, A.R.S. § 13-703(E) requires reduction to a life sentence without possibility of release for twenty-five years, [7] to be served consecutively to the twenty-one year sentence for sexual assault and to any other terms Defendant may be serving for other crimes. Our disposition of this issue makes it unnecessary to weigh the significant mitigating evidence involving Defendant's organic brain damage and low IQ. DISPOSITION We have carefully examined the record for fundamental error. A.R.S. § 13-4035; State v. Leon, 104 Ariz. 297, 451 P.2d 878 (1969). We find none. We affirm Defendant's sexual assault conviction and sentence. We affirm Defendant's murder conviction but reduce his death sentence to a term of life imprisonment without possibility of release for twenty-five years consecutive to all other sentences. MOELLER, V.C.J., and CORCORAN and ZLAKET, JJ., concur. MARTONE, Justice, concurring. I agree that the conviction should be affirmed and that, although a close question, a death sentence here could pose a threat to the constitutional validity of Arizona's narrowly tailored death penalty Statute. Ante, at 859-860. I write separately, however, to clarify the significance of our holding in State v. Ross, 180 Ariz. 598, 886 P.2d 1354 (1994), and the relationship between senselessness and witness elimination. The majority is concerned that there is a problem with the witness elimination factor. Ante, at 858. The perceived problem is that senselessness and witness elimination cannot logically ... exist at the same time. Id. It arises, according to the majority, when a trial judge searches for the only apparent reason a victim was killed. When there is no apparent reason, the sentencing judge can simultaneously find two things  that the murder was senseless and that the only apparent reason for the murder was to eliminate the victim as a witness. This drives the majority's concern that a court may double count[] a single aspect of a murder to find an aggravating factor. Id. at 858, n. 6. We have not previously been perplexed by the relationship between senselessness and witness elimination. We have not hesitated to find both or allude to them both, and never once suggested the dilemma that troubles the majority. State v. Stanley, 167 Ariz. 519, 528-29, 809 P.2d 944, 953-54 (finding helplessness, senselessness, and witness elimination), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1014, 112 S.Ct. 660, 116 L.Ed.2d 751 (1991); State v. Correll, 148 Ariz. 468, 481, 715 P.2d 721, 734 (1986) (finding helplessness, senselessness, and witness elimination); State v. Gillies, 142 Ariz. 564, 570, 691 P.2d 655, 661 (1984) (finding savage manner of death, senselessness, and witness elimination), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1059, 105 S.Ct. 1775, 84 L.Ed.2d 834 (1985). We found senselessness in our recent Ross case, but still discussed the merits of witness elimination. That discussion would have been unnecessary if senselessness and witness elimination were mutually exclusive. We do the same here. But if there had been a problem, Ross solved it. Ross provided a three-pronged test that eliminated the only apparent reason or only reasonably ascertainable motive test. No longer can a judge find witness elimination simply because there is no reason for a murder. The judge instead must find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a motive was witness elimination, as defined by Ross. Evidence of senselessness is of a completely different nature and raises an unrelated question  whether the murder was unnecessary to allow a defendant to complete his criminal objective. See State v. Comer, 165 Ariz. 413, 429, 799 P.2d 333, 349 (1990), cert. denied, 499 U.S. 943, 111 S.Ct. 1404, 113 L.Ed.2d 460 (1991). If the objective is robbery, and a killing is unnecessary to achieve that objective, the killing is senseless. If the defendant then kills the storekeeper to retard his identification and apprehension, a court might also find witness elimination. On the other hand, if the objective is witness elimination, as where the murder victim is a witness to some other crime, and is killed to prevent that person from testifying about the other crime, Ross, 180 Ariz. at 606, 886 P.2d at 1362, then senselessness and witness elimination cannot both be present. It thus depends on the case. Therefore, a sentencing judge can, in some cases, find that a murder was senseless and that a motive was to eliminate the victim as a witness, while in others the judge may not.