Opinion ID: 1250206
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Recommendation Effects

Text: Equally meritless is appellate defense counsel's belief that the trial court was bound by the prosecutor's recommendation of sentence. The exercise of discretion by the prosecutor may begin well before charges are filed and extend into the sentencing phase, see Gregg, 428 U.S. at 199, 96 S.Ct. at 2937 (prosecutor's authority to select those defendants he wishes to prosecute for a capital offense is not unconstitutional), but we believe it ends in a capital case with the prosecutor's decision to present or ignore evidence of aggravation. If the prosecutor decides not to put on evidence of aggravation, the trial court may not force him to do otherwise. Murphy, 113 Ariz. at 418, 555 P.2d at 1112. Conversely, once the prosecutor pleads and offers evidence in support of aggravation, as in this case, our statutes require that the trial court determine whether aggravating circumstances exist in fact, and whether they are outweighed by any mitigating circumstances calling for leniency. A.R.S. § 13-703(D)-(E). Thus, although the prosecution determines whether the State will seek the death penalty, it does not decide the propriety of that penalty once placed in issue during sentencing. Although the prosecutor's affidavit claims that aggravating evidence was presented on the mistaken belief that it is required under Arizona law, Murphy clearly holds otherwise. We have no choice, therefore, but to assess the exercise of prosecutorial discretion by actions and not words. Here, the prosecutor presented evidence of aggravation and the court found the existence of aggravating circumstances. Having thus presented the aggravating circumstances to the trial court, the prosecutor may not thereafter backpedal and require the trial court to impose a life sentence. The trial court committed no error in refusing to adopt the State's sentencing recommendation.