Court Opinion

ID: 9530831
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:03:59.147823+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:15.721091
License: Public Domain

FELDMAN, Vice Chief Justice,
dissenting.
By reaffirming the rule most prominently announced in State v. Nilsen, 134 Ariz. 431, 657 P.2d 419 (1983), the majority effectively leaves Arizona as a minority of one. While some other states forbid inconsistent defenses in entrapment situations, Arizona applies the rule more strictly than any other court by requiring the defendant to admit every element of the crime as a condition of pleading entrapment, even when denying an element would not be inconsistent with the entrapment defense. Marcus, The Entrapment Defense and the Procedural Issues: Burden of Proof, Questions of Law and Fact, Inconsistent Defenses, 22 CRIM.L.BULL. 197, 236 (1986).
Actually, what the majority calls the “Arizona rule” has no analytical basis at all. It was first announced in State v. McKinney, 108 Ariz. 436, 501 P.2d 378 (1972). McKinney offers no rationale for its holding but simply cites two federal cases: United States v. Mehciz, 437 F.2d 145 (9th Cir.1971), and Munroe v. United States, 424 F.2d 243 (10th Cir.1970). These two cases have no vitality since United States v. Mathews, 485 U.S. 58, 108 S.Ct. 883, 99 L.Ed.2d 54 (1988).2
Nilsen, the “leading” Arizona case, offers no greater rationale for the rule than did McKinney. It simply cites McKinney and State v. Montano, 117 Ariz. 145, 571 P.2d 291 (1977). Montano does not consider the rule except to cite State v. Keener, 110 Ariz. 462, 520 P.2d 510 (1974), a case that is not remotely connected with the issue of whether a defendant must admit the crime to plead entrapment. State v. Bean, 119 Ariz. 412, 581 P.2d 257 (1978), cited by the majority, does not analyze the *138issue but simply relies on State v. Mendoza, 109 Ariz. 445, 511 P.2d 627 (1973), which in turn merely cites McKinney.
Actually, the Arizona rule seems to be an example of the common law process at its worst. Based on an incorrect citation and two federal precedents that, like Ishmael, were long ago disowned and exiled by the courts that gave them birth, this court created a legal construct without ever examining the logic and reason for its position. Today, finally presented with the opportunity to do so, the court has chosen to follow the Arizona rule, no matter how bad it is, perhaps believing that past mistakes may be corrected by frequent repetition. The majority justifies its result by advancing arguments that will not withstand analysis.
As Professor Marcus points out, even in the states that generally require the defendant to admit the crime to plead entrapment, exceptions are made in the following situations:
1. The defendant may admit the criminal act but deny the requisite mental state, arguing that if the jury disagrees, it should acquit him because the acts were induced by the government. Marcus, supra, 22 CRIM.L.BULL. at 237. The rationale is simply that there is no fundamental inconsistency between denying the required mental state and arguing the physical act charged was prompted by improper government conduct. Mathews, 485 U.S. at 65, 108 S.Ct. at 888.
2. Where the entrapment evidence enters the case through the prosecution’s presentation, some courts reason that the government itself has raised the issue and do not require the defendant to admit the elements of the crime to argue entrapment. Marcus, supra, 22 CRIM.L.BULL. at 239.
3. The entrapment defense is permitted where analysis shows that some other defense that the defendant wishes to raise is not actually inconsistent with entrapment. It would be difficult, for instance, to imagine why a defendant charged with theft by receiving property worth $1,000 should not be allowed to both contest the value of the property—arguing, for instance, that it falls within the petty theft statute—and at the same time allege entrapment. It is difficult to comprehend why a defendant charged with conspiracy should not be allowed to plead entrapment, admitting the overt act but arguing that he did not engage in the conspiracy itself. See Henderson v. United States, 237 F.2d 169 (5th Cir.1956).
The majority in this case justifies Arizona’s continued adherence to an outdated position by arguing that the “Mathews rule fosters perjury____ To allow a defendant to testify as to two defenses that cannot both be true is equivalent to sanctioning a defendant’s perjury.” at 1073 (emphasis in original). This conclusion ignores both theory and reality. As noted above, there are many situations in which both defenses can be true, and only a jury can determine whether there is any real inconsistency. Of course, some defendants will abuse the system by arguing that “I wasn’t there” on the one hand and “the state entrapped me” on the other. The majority sells the system short when it unrealistically assumes that the potential of such abuse creates a serious problem. . The best rebuttal to this comes from Chief Justice Rehnquist:
We would not go so far as to say that charges on inconsistent defenses may not on occasion increase the risk of peijury, but particularly in the case of entrapment we think the practical consequences will be less burdensome than the Government fears. The Court of Appeals in United States v. Demma, 523 F.2d 981, 985 (CA9 1975) (en banc), observed:
"Of course, it is very unlikely that the defendant will be able to prove entrapment without testifying and, in the course of testifying, without admitting that he did the acts charged____ When he takes the stand, the defendant forfeits his right to remain silent, subjects himself to all the rigors of cross-examination, including impeachment, and exposes himself to prosecution for perjury. Inconsistent testimony by the defendant seriously impairs and potentially destroys his credibility. While we hold that a defendant may both deny the acts and other elements necessary to constitute the crime charged and at the same time claim entrapment, the high risks to him *139make it unlikely as a strategic matter that he will choose to do so:
Mathews, 485 U.S. at 65, 108 S.Ct. at 888.
The quoted words also destroy the majority’s second claim—that allowing “inconsistent defenses may confuse the jury. What must the jury think ...?” at 1073. The answer is obvious: the jury will think the defendant is both guilty as charged and lying. The prosecutor, one hopes, will help the jury appreciate the defendant’s evil purpose in taking truly inconsistent positions. I have no doubt the jury will send an appropriate message through the verdict.3
I conclude, therefore, that with entrapment, as in all other civil and criminal cases, the defendant should be allowed to plead defenses that may be inconsistent. In many cases, the defenses will not be truly inconsistent, and where they are, I am confident that jurors will handle the problem. The majority’s position, on the other hand, forecloses defendants from raising legitimate defenses, relieves the prosecution of its constitutional burden of proving the elements of the case (Marcus, supra, 22 CRIM.L.BULL. at 240), and adopts a philosophy supported only by surface plausibility. Arizona does not need to be a minority of one unless it stands for some principle that makes sense.
Respectfully, therefore, I dissent and would follow Chief Justice Rehnquist’s majority opinion in Mathews.

. In fact, Mehciz, which was based in turn on Ramirez v. United States, 294 F.2d 277 (9th Cir.1961), which relied on Eastman v. United States, 212 F.2d 320, 322 (9th Cir.1954), was overruled by the ninth circuit in 1975. United States v. Demma, 523 F.2d 981, 982 (9th Cir. 1975) (overruling and disapproving of all authority in the ninth "circuit that relies on Eastman and its progeny").

. See, for example, Johnson v. United States, 426 F.2d 651 (D.C.Cir.1970). Johnson was charged with abducting the victim and raping her in his car. He denied the abduction, denied sexual intercourse, and denied that the woman had ever been in his car. He also contended she had consented. Acknowledging Johnson’s right to argue inconsistent defenses, the court stated that "it would not be surprising if this position reflected unfavorably on Appellant’s credibility____’’ Id. at 656. It seems to have done just that. Johnson was convicted; his conviction was affirmed. His bizarre story seems to have earned him up to eighteen years in prison. Cases such as Johnson prove the system will work if we do not impose artificial, illogical rules on it. The cause of criminal justice, including suppression of perjury, is best served by rules that permit defendants to raise and argue legitimate issues supported by the facts of the case.