Opinion ID: 1154894
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence of flight and concealment

Text: Defendant moved to preclude evidence of his flight and concealment immediately before his arrest. Following a hearing on the matter, the court denied the motion, admitted the evidence, and instructed the jury: Running away or hiding after a crime has been committed does not itself prove guilt. You may consider any evidence of the defendant's running away or hiding, together with all the other evidence. Concealing evidence after a crime has been committed does not itself prove guilt. You may consider any evidence of the defendant's concealment of evidence, together with all the other evidence. Defendant argues that the evidence did not raise a reasonable inference of a consciousness of guilt of kidnapping, murder, or molestation, was unduly prejudicial, and that the jury instructions were erroneous. Evidence of flight from, or concealment of, a crime usually constitutes an admission by conduct. State v. Edwards, 136 Ariz. 177, 184, 665 P.2d 59, 66 (1983). Within reason, the fact that flight or concealment is remote in time from the crime goes to the weight, not the admissibility, of the evidence. See State v. Reid, 114 Ariz. 16, 30, 559 P.2d 136, 150 (1976), cert. denied, 431 U.S. 921, 97 S.Ct. 2191, 53 L.Ed.2d 234 (1977). To be admissible, however, there must be evidence of flight from which can be inferred a consciousness of guilt for the crime charged. Edwards, 136 Ariz. at 184, 665 P.2d at 66 (emphasis added). Merely because a defendant is wanted on another charge, however, does not make evidence of flight per se inadmissible. See State v. Jeffers, 135 Ariz. 404, 415, 661 P.2d 1105, 1116, cert. denied, 464 U.S. 865, 104 S.Ct. 199, 78 L.Ed.2d 174 (1983). Again, we review this evidentiary issue for an abuse of discretion. See State v. Robinson, 165 Ariz. 51, 56, 796 P.2d 853, 858 (1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1110, 111 S.Ct. 1025, 112 L.Ed.2d 1107 (1991). Defendant was driving a stolen vehicle at the time of his flight and was wanted for stealing the GMC and for numerous other offenses. His knowledge of these then-pending charges is uncertain. As his attorney stated, because Defendant did not testify at the hearing, we will never know what was in Mr. Bible's mind at the time he fled. Defendant's flight and concealment showed substantial anxiety over apprehension (high speed chase, running from the vehicle when cornered, and camouflaging himself on a ledge with leaves). Nevertheless, approximately an hour after his arrest, Defendant confessed to stealing the GMC. These circumstances, including this prompt confession to the theft of the vehicle, could justify an inference that Defendant was fleeing from some other, more serious crime. See Edwards, 136 Ariz. at 184, 665 P.2d at 66; Tison, 129 Ariz. at 539-40, 633 P.2d at 348-49. In addition, because the evidence of the crimes charged in this case necessarily included the theft of the GMC, Defendant did not need to offer new, potentially damning evidence of the GMC's theft to argue that he was fleeing only from a theft charge and not from kidnapping, molestation, and murder charges. See State v. Hunter, 136 Ariz. 45, 49, 664 P.2d 195, 199 (1983) (quoting 2 J. Wigmore, Evidence in Trials at Common Law § 276, at 129-30 (J. Chadbourn rev. 1979)). Thus, under the facts of this case, we cannot say that the court abused its discretion in admitting the flight and concealment evidence. See Edwards, 136 Ariz. at 184, 665 P.2d at 66; Jeffers, 135 Ariz. at 415, 661 P.2d at 1116; Tison, 129 Ariz. at 539-40, 633 P.2d at 348-49; Ariz. R.Evid. 403. Nor can we say that the jury instruction constituted fundamental error. See Gendron, 168 Ariz. at 155, 812 P.2d at 628; Hunter, 142 Ariz. at 90, 688 P.2d at 982.