Opinion ID: 1171991
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: On November 19, 1985, defendant appeared in the Pima County Superior Court for a pretrial conference in an unrelated criminal case. He was at the time an inmate of the Pima County Jail. As a deputy sheriff escorted him from the courthouse, he managed to disarm the officer during an elevator ride. Then, pointing the gun at the officer and threatening to kill him if he disobeyed, defendant ordered the officer to remove defendant's handcuffs and to cuff himself to the elevator door. When the door opened, defendant jumped out and disappeared. He did not reappear until eleven o'clock that night when he came to the door of Pablo Ramirez's southside Tucson home, asking to use a telephone directory. Ramirez not only assented, but offered defendant the use of his phone and served him a beer. As the two sat talking, defendant asked Ramirez for a knife to remove a splinter. Then, catching Ramirez unaware, defendant jumped him and, holding the knife to Ramirez's neck, searched Ramirez's pockets and the drawers and closets of his home. When he came upon a rifle in one of the closets, defendant forced Ramirez to load it. Then, while he held Ramirez at gunpoint on his bed, defendant continued to ransack the drawers. Finding a bank card, he announced his plan to accompany Ramirez to his bank to make a withdrawal. As they walked through the living room, defendant ordered Ramirez to carry the television out to his car. Once outside, Ramirez dropped the television and ran. Defendant fled, taking Ramirez's rifle, his wristwatch, and a cap. Defendant next reappeared at a Tucson convenience store at about 1:30 the following morning. Now armed with Ramirez's loaded rifle, he ordered Laurel Brown, the store clerk and its only occupant, to empty the cash register or he would blow [her] away. Reporter's Transcript (RT), Sept. 2, 1986, at 50. Brown put the register's contents into a bag, to which defendant had her add a carton of cigarettes and a lighter. He then ordered her to her car and drove her out of Tucson to Arizona City. There he turned her loose in a cotton field, keeping the bag, its contents, and the car. Approximately twenty-four hours later, following extensive news coverage of his escape, defendant was captured in Brown's car in California. For his acts at the courthouse, defendant was charged with first degree escape, A.R.S. § 13-2504, kidnapping, A.R.S. § 13-1304, and dangerous or deadly assault by a prisoner, A.R.S. § 13-1206. For the acts involving Pablo Ramirez, defendant was charged with armed robbery, A.R.S. § 13-1902, kidnapping, A.R.S. § 13-1304, and first degree burglary, A.R.S. § 13-1508. For the acts involving Laurel Brown, he was charged with armed robbery, A.R.S. § 13-1902, kidnapping, A.R.S. § 13-1304, and theft by control, A.R.S. § 13-1802. The trial court granted the state's motion to consolidate these charges, and a jury convicted defendant on all counts. It also found each of the offenses to be of a dangerous nature. Because the second and third groups of crimes were committed after defendant had escaped from confinement, he was sentenced for these crimes alone to six life terms, three to be served consecutively to all other sentences, three to be served concurrently. See A.R.S. § 13-604.02(A). From his convictions defendant appeals.