Opinion ID: 1387354
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Defendant's Strong Relationship with His Family

Text: The record shows that defendant has a strong relationship with his family. Before his arrest, defendant was a contributing member of his household, and he maintained close ties with his parents, his brothers, and his sons. We consider this a mitigating circumstance. See Carriger, 143 Ariz. at 162, 692 P.2d at 1011. We note, however, that these relationships did not stop defendant from killing his son's mother. See id. (discounting the mitigating value of love among family because it did not deter defendant from committing crime). Moreover, Rita had once lived with defendant's parents for more than two years, and both of defendant's parents described Rita as the daughter they never had. Because defendant murdered a person who was in many ways a member of his family, we give defendant's family relationship little mitigating weight.