Court Opinion

ID: 9795556
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:31:28.941389+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:30:16.160249
License: Public Domain

MARTONE, Justice,
concurring in the judgment.
¶ 69 I join the court in affirming the convictions and remanding for a new sentencing hearing. I write separately to express my disapproval of parts of the opinion.
I. Photographs
¶ 70 Bocharski conceded the relevance of all the admitted photographs. Appellant’s Opening Br. at 27. The question then is simply whether the trial court abused its discretion in weighing probative value against prejudicial effect under Rule 403, Ariz. R. Evid. As evidenced by the majority’s sua sponte speculation here, appellate courts are not in a very good position to second guess such judgments. There has been no showing in this case that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting these photographs. Bocharski points to no particular photograph and no particular conduct by the trial court. Murder is a grisly business and is likely to involve grisly photographs. Absent egregious error, we should not disturb Rule 403 weighing by the trial judge. State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 610, 905 P.2d 974, 989 (1995); State v. Miller, 186 Ariz. 314, 323, 921 P.2d 1151, 1160 (1996). There was no appeal to emotion, sympathy, or horror here. State v. Schurz, 176 Ariz. 46, 52, 859 P.2d 156, 162 (1993).
¶ 71 One’s view on the exclusion of otherwise relevant evidence is influenced by one’s view of the jury system. I do not believe that jurors need to be protected from themselves. In my experience, jurors quite prop*64erly separate the wheat from the chaff. Indeed, the majority went so far in Logerquist v. McVey, 196 Ariz. 470, 1 P.3d 113 (2000), to allow jurors to make threshold questions about the validity of scientific assertions. While I do not go that far, see id. at 493, 1 P.3d at 136 (Martone, J., dissenting), I do not believe that we should be paternalistic with our jurors. The trial court did not err in admitting any of the photographs.
II. Stipulated Testimony
¶72 The majority concludes that Bochar-ski’s statement “if it were up to me, you would be dead right now,” had no relevance and therefore it was error to admit it. Ante, ¶¶ 36-39. The test for relevance under Rule 401, Ariz. R. Evid., is “any tendency” to prove or disprove a fact. This evidence plainly meets that test. Bocharski was angry at Fields because he was a “snitch.” Bocharski told Fields that he was in jail because of a “snitch” like him. It was Fields’ status as a “snitch” that caused Bocharski to express a desire to kill him. In so doing, Bocharski acknowledged his own guilt. But for another “snitch,” he would not have been in jail. Thus, the stipulated testimony read as a whole and in context indeed was relevant and it was not error to admit it.
III. Victim Impact Evidence
¶ 73 The special verdict in this case is absolutely silent about victim impact evidence. See Spec. Verdict, July 29, 1997. Bocharski’s brief spends one and one-half pages on it. I thus do not understand the majority’s treatment of this non-issue. Under A.R.S. §§ 13-703(C) and (D), victim impact evidence is admissible in a capital case. Section 13-703(0 states that “[t]he victim has the right to be present and to testify at the hearing. The victim may present information about the murdered person and the impact of the murder on the victim and other family members.” Subsection (D) specifically says “[i]n evaluating the mitigating circumstances, the court shall consider any information presented by the victim regarding the murdered person and the impact of the murder on the victim and other family members.” (emphasis added). Finally, the statute instructs that “[t]he court shall not consider any recommendation made by the victim regarding the sentence to be imposed.” Id. Without any indication that the judge relied on the victim’s sentencing recommendation, there was simply no error below and thus no occasion to dwell on this issue.