Opinion ID: 2516369
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Jury Instruction Errors

Text: ś 72 The trial court refused to give defendant's requested jury instruction number five on separate and distinct offenses. Defendant assigns error, arguing that without the instruction, the jury was permitted to infer that if the defendant stole the vehicle, he also murdered the victim. The requested instruction provided: Each Count Charges a Separate and Distinct Offense. You must decide each count separately on the evidence and the law applicable to it, uninfluenced by any decision as to the other counts. A defendant may be convicted or acquitted on any of the offenses charged. Your finding as to each count must be stated in a separate verdict. ś 73 Where a defendant is charged and tried for two or more separate offenses in the same trial, the state must prove guilt on each charge, and the jury must decide each charge separately. State v. Parra, 10 Ariz.App. 427, 430, 459 P.2d 344, 347 (1969). ś 74 The state argues that the defendant's rights were not prejudiced because other instructions made it clear that jurors were required to decide each count separately. Included were statements that the state must prove each element of each charge beyond a reasonable doubt and the state must prove each charge beyond a reasonable doubt. (Emphasis added). ś 75 In assessing the adequacy of jury instructions, the instructions must be viewed in their entirety in order to determine whether they accurately reflect the law. State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 613-14, 905 P.2d 974, 992-93 (1995), rejected on other grounds by State v. Ives, 187 Ariz. 102, 107-08, 927 P.2d 762, 767-68 (1996). Therefore, when the substance of a proposed instruction is adequately covered by other instructions, the trial court is not required to give it. State v. Mott, 187 Ariz. 536, 546, 931 P.2d 1046, 1056 (1997). In this case, the court could have given the requested instruction, but it would have been surplusage, and there was no error in omitting it because other instructions indicated that the state was required to prove each charge and each element beyond a reasonable doubt. There is nothing in the record to suggest that the jury misunderstood its mandate. Moreover, the use of separate verdict forms for each crime, coupled with the fact that the defendant was not convicted on the felony murder charge, but was convicted of premeditated murder, demonstrate the point.
ś 76 The trial court also declined defendant's requested jury instruction number three on witness credibility. Defendant argues his instruction was more comprehensive and precise than the Recommended Arizona Jury Instruction (RAJI) which the trial court used. Requested instruction number three read: In deciding the facts of this case, you should consider what testimony to accept, and what to reject. You may accept everything a witness says, or part of it, or none of it. In evaluating testimony, you should use the tests of accuracy and truthfulness that people use in determining matters of importance in everyday life, including such factors as the witness' ability to see, hear, or know the things the witness testified about; the quality of the witness' memory; the witness' manner while testifying; whether the witness has any motive, bias, or prejudice; whether the witness is contradicted by anything the witness said or wrote before trial, or by other evidence; and, the reasonableness of the witness' testimony when considered in the light of the other evidence. Consider all the evidence in light of reason, common sense and experience. ś 77 The trial court gave RAJI Instruction No. 18 concerning witness credibility, which provides: You must decide the believability of witnesses. In doing so, take into account such things as their ability and opportunity to observe, their memory and manner while testifying, any motive or prejudice they might have, and any inconsistent statements. Consider each witness' testimony in light of all the other evidence in the case. ś 78 The defendant is not entitled to a jury instruction in language precisely to his liking, as long as the requisite instructions are adequate. See State v. Barker, 94 Ariz. 383, 388, 385 P.2d 516, 519 (1963). In this case, while defendant may have preferred the expanded instruction, he does not argue that RAJI No. 18 was legally inadequate. In fact, the instruction given sets forth adequately the standard for assessing witness credibility.
ś 79 Defendant argues he was prejudiced by the court's instruction concerning the difference between premeditated murder and felony murder because (1) it implicitly encouraged the jury to find guilt before considering whether the murder was premeditated and (2) it improperly suggested that a less than unanimous verdict on the murder count was appropriate. ś 80 The state contends the instruction informed the jury that while unanimity is not required as between felony murder and premeditated murder, a conviction of first degree murder does require jurors to find unanimously that the defendant committed the crime under one theory or the other, either as premeditated murder or as felony murder. ś 81 The matter was fully clarified by the verdict form itself. In particular, the jury was given a special interrogatory for the purpose of informing the court, at the conclusion of deliberations, which theory of first degree murder the jury had chosen. The signed interrogatory response expressly states that, of the twelve jurors, nine found the defendant guilty of first degree premeditated murder alone, and the remaining three found him guilty of both premeditated and felony murder. All twelve were thus unanimous on the premeditated theory. Any notion that the jury misunderstood the instruction was fully resolved by the special interrogatory. The defendant's argument is without merit. X. Constitutionality of the Arizona Death Penalty Statute ś 82 Defendant, raising a series of challenges, argues that Arizona's death penalty statute is unconstitutional both facially and as applied on the record before us. A.R.S. § 13-703. First, he claims that section 13-703 creates a presumption that the death penalty is appropriate when aggravating circumstances are proved by the state and that this presumption violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. We have previously rejected this argument and adhere to our earlier decision. See State v. Salazar, 173 Ariz. 399, 411, 844 P.2d 566, 578 (1992). ś 83 He also argues that section 13-703 is invalid as a preclusion of relevant mitigating circumstances at the sentencing hearing. We have rejected this claim and decline to revisit the issue. See State v. White, 168 Ariz. 500, 514-15, 815 P.2d 869, 883-84 (1991), abrogated on other grounds by Salazar, 173 Ariz. at 416-17, 844 P.2d at 583-84. ś 84 Defendant claims section 13-703 is unconstitutional because it eliminates jury consideration in the sentencing process, violating the Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and article 2, sections 23 and 24 of the Arizona Constitution. We have considered and rejected this argument and see no reason to depart from this settled area of law. See Atwood, 171 Ariz. at 646, 832 P.2d at 663. The issue was similarly resolved by the Supreme Court of the United States in Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 110 S.Ct. 3047, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990). [5] ś 85 Finally, defendant claims the United States Supreme Court in Lockett v. Ohio, 438 U.S. 586, 98 S.Ct. 2954, 57 L.Ed.2d 973 (1978), required that death penalty statutes provide a greater degree of reliability in assessing punishment, and that section 13-703 fails to comply with that requirement. We disagree. Contrary to the defendant's characterization, Lockett simply required that death penalty statutes not preclude the sentencer from considering mitigation evidence. Because section 13-703 includes the right to introduce evidence of mitigation in the sentencing proceeding, the statute complies with the Lockett mandate. See State v. Lopez, 175 Ariz. 407, 415, 857 P.2d 1261, 1269 (1993) ([T]he only limitation on mitigating evidence is that it be relevant.).