Opinion ID: 2625941
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the State establish the corpus delicti and was there sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict?

Text: ¶ 42 At the close of the State's case, Defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal on the murder charge, arguing that the State had presented insufficient evidence, that the testimony of the witnesses should be discounted, that the State failed to establish the corpus delicti of the crimes charged, and that he could not be convicted solely by his own uncorroborated statements. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 20(a). The trial court denied the motion, calling this a classic case of circumstantial evidence, and observing that there's more than substantial evidence to go to the jury on all of these counts.
¶ 43 The State must establish the corpus delicti of a homicide by showing that the alleged injury to the victimdeath, in this caseoccurred and that the injury was caused by criminal conduct rather than by suicide or accident. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 598, 832 P.2d 593, 615 (1992), disapproved on other grounds by State v. Nordstrom, 200 Ariz. 229, 241, ¶ 25, 25 P.3d 717, 729 (2001); State v. Gillies, 135 Ariz. 500, 506, 662 P.2d 1007, 1013 (1983). The corpus delicti doctrine incorporates the rule that a defendant cannot be convicted of a crime based solely upon an uncorroborated confession or admission. Smith v. United States, 348 U.S. 147, 152, 75 S.Ct. 194, 197, 99 L.Ed. 192 (1954); Gillies, 135 Ariz. at 506, 662 P.2d at 1013. But [o]nly a reasonable inference of the corpus delicti need exist before a confession may be considered. Gillies, 135 Ariz. at 506, 662 P.2d at 1013. Evidence supporting that inference can be circumstantial. Burrows v. State, 38 Ariz. 99, 112, 297 P. 1029, 1034 (1931), overruled on other grounds by State v. Hernandez, 83 Ariz. 279, 282, 320 P.2d 467, 469 (1958). As long as the State ultimately submits adequate proof of the corpus delicti before it rests, the defendant's statements may be admitted. State v. Jones, 198 Ariz. 18, 23, ¶ 14, 6 P.3d 323, 328 (App.2000). ¶ 44 In this case, the State showed the following facts. On April 25, 1997, Lindberry had attended a doctor's appointment. He was scheduled for another appointment on May 2, 1997, but never appeared. Before April 25, 1997, Lindberry had been a regular at Shorty's Bar on Grand Avenue. On April 25, 1997, Lindberry received a call from Lee Mileham and told a friend that he was going to meet Mileham and one of Mileham's friends later that evening. Lindberry was last seen leaving Shorty's with Mileham. Defendant and Mileham were later seen in Lindberry's car, without Lindberry, and both were arrested, in separate incidents, while driving Lindberry's car. While riding in the car with Mileham and Defendant, Mileham's son observed a gun in the car. ¶ 45 Lindberry was a very clean and organized person who kept his car and storage unit in immaculate condition. But when the police recovered Lindberry's car, it had been trashed and the door handles and speakers had been ripped out. Lindberry's storage unit was also found in disarray. It was known that when Lindberry left town, he usually placed his car in his storage unit. As stated earlier, however, the car was eventually found in Defendant's possession. On April 26, 1997, Mileham signed into the storage unit, misspelling Lindberry's name. Lindberry's passport was found in the storage unit, suggesting that he had not left the country. ¶ 46 Lindberry's credit card was used between April 26 and May 5 in Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, Deming and Las Cruces, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas. On May 5, the credit card was finally picked up as stolen, from someone clearly not Lindberry, in a convenience market in Las Cruces. One of the charges on the credit card, incurred at a Super 8 Motel in Goodyear, was for a missing bedspread and sheets. ¶ 47 To further demonstrate that Lindberry had met with foul play, the State presented evidence of blood stains consistent with Lindberry's brother's blood and a one-gallon jug containing human urine found in the trunk of Lindberry's car. The blood found in the trunk also matched six of seven sites of DNA recovered from Lindberry's pillowcase. Although the police conducted three searches, Lindberry's body was never found. This circumstantial evidence, taken together, provided a reasonable basis from which the jurors could infer that Lindberry was dead and that his death resulted from criminal conduct. Thus, the corpus delicti was established and Defendant's statements to the witnesses who testified were properly admitted. ¶ 48 Defendant contends, however, that many jurisdictions hold that `the body of the deceased must be found and identified' to show corpus delicti. Harris v. State, 738 S.W.2d 207, 220 (Tex.Crim.App.1986). This is incorrect. The body of a missing person generally has not been required to establish the corpus delicti for homicide. E.g., Virgin Islands v. Harris, 938 F.2d 401, 411, 415 & nn. 11-12 (3d Cir.1991) (surveying cases and noting that both federal and state cases observe the no body required rule). The one notable exception is Texas, which requires that a body be found. Id. at 411 n. 10 (citing Harris, 738 S.W.2d at 207). Defendant does not argue that Arizona should adopt such a rule and we decline to do so.
¶ 49 Defendant maintains that even if his statements are considered, the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions and his motion for a judgment of acquittal should have been granted. A judgment of acquittal pursuant to [R]ule 20... is appropriate only when no substantial evidence warrants a conviction. Substantial evidence is proof that reasonable persons could accept as sufficient to support a conclusion of a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Spears, 184 Ariz. 277, 290, 908 P.2d 1062, 1075 (1996) (citation omitted). Although the physical evidence tying Defendant to the crime was minimal, [11] physical evidence is not required to sustain a conviction if the totality of the circumstances demonstrates guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Fulminante, 193 Ariz. 485, 494, ¶ 26, 975 P.2d 75, 84 (1999). ¶ 50 Five witnesses, including L.C., testified about incriminating statements Defendant made. See supra ¶¶ 30-31 for L.C.'s statements. ¶ 51 V.C. testified that Defendant stated that he had beaten a guy with the butt of a gun and dumped the body between Phoenix and New Mexico. Defendant had added that Lindberry's car had not been reported stolen yet. ¶ 52 D.F. testified that he had confronted Defendant and told him that he knew that he had killed the guy who owned the car Defendant was driving and that he did not want to be involved, and Defendant had responded, [t]hat's cool. D.F. also testified that Defendant had told him that Mileham was dope sick and had not participated in the killing and that Lindberry's body was dumped between Phoenix and New Mexico. ¶ 53 D.G. testified that Defendant brought the subject of the murder up on more than one occasion while in jail, and that Defendant made the following statements: Mileham arranged a meeting with an older person whom Mileham knew so that they could rob him. Defendant beat the man and they dumped the body on the east side of the Palo Verde power plant. The body was never found. The victim had a storage unit in which he kept items; Defendant went to the storage unit with someone to get the property and they had a code to get in. Defendant and Mileham used the victim's credit card, drove his car to Las Cruces, New Mexico and back, and one of them had gotten sick. Once they returned to Phoenix, the police had pulled Mileham over while he was driving the victim's car. ¶ 54 S.R. testified that Defendant made the following statements: When S.R. saw Defendant in Lindberry's car, Defendant told him it belonged to an older man. Defendant and Mileham were going to get into the car and rob the car's owner of his cigarettes. During the robbery, Mileham used a pistol and Defendant and Mileham directed Lindberry to drive to the desert. They gave Lindberry a shot of dope to calm him down, but he went into convulsions after the shot and died. They dropped the body in the desert somewhere. Mileham was too doped up to remember where they left the body. Defendant grabbed Lindberry's wallet and they took the car. Defendant and Mileham used the credit card in the wallet to buy things like VCRs and sold them elsewhere. Defendant and Mileham then drove Lindberry's car to New Mexico, using the credit card to buy gas. Finally, Defendant claimed to have a briefcase of fake Rolexes that he said came from Lindberry's storage unit. ¶ 55 The witnesses' testimony of Defendant's statements, combined with the evidence that Lindberry had met with foul play, was sufficient to support the jury's verdict that Defendant was guilty of felony murder, kidnapping, robbery, and theft. Defendant maintains that the witnesses were not credible and their testimony must be discounted because the witnesses were either jailhouse informants, felons, drug abusers, or a combination of the three. The credibility of witnesses, however, is a matter for the jury. State v. Cañez, 202 Ariz. 133, 149, ¶ 39, 42 P.3d 564, 580 (2002). The jury apparently found these witnesses credible despite Defendant's counsel's meticulous impeachment of the witnesses with their prior felonies, their drug and alcohol use, how or whether their substance use affected their recollection of the events to which they testified, and one witness's split personality. 4. Did the court's reasonable doubt instruction, approved in State v. Portillo, 182 Ariz. 592, 898 P.2d 970 (1995), deprive Defendant of his right to due process of law by lowering the State's burden of proof? ¶ 56 This court has repeatedly rejected this argument. See, e.g., Cañez, 202 Ariz. at 156, ¶ 76, 42 P.3d at 587; State v. Van Adams, 194 Ariz. 408, 418, ¶¶ 29-30, 984 P.2d 16, 26 (1999).