Opinion ID: 859237
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Surrendering and retrieving a gun

Text: ¶41 Hardy’s son Jason testified that on Friday afternoon, August 26, 2005, Hardy asked Jason to keep his gun because “he didn’t need any drama.” Later that evening, Hardy retrieved the gun. Hardy argues that this testimony was used to show his disposition toward criminality – presumably because he was a prohibited possessor, a fact alluded to during the guilt phase by Hardy himself in explaining why he initially relinquished the gun. But Hardy’s surrender and retrieval of the gun show that he consciously chose to carry a deadly weapon that weekend. Thus, the evidence was relevant and admissible to prove he intended to kill the victims. ¶42 The trial court did not err in implicitly finding the evidence not unduly prejudicial because it is not highly evocative and was unlikely to compel jurors to decide the case based on emotion, sympathy, or horror. See Schurz, 176 Ariz. at 52, 859 P.2d at 162. Additionally, the court’s limiting instruction at the close of the guilt phase alleviated any potential prejudice.