Court Opinion

ID: 9564772
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 19:06:51.407911+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:39.666238
License: Public Domain

MOELLER, Justice,
specially concurring.
In State v. Staatz, 159 Ariz. 411, 416, 768 P.2d 143, 148 (1988), we were asked to revisit the then-recent Wussler case. I joined the majority of the court in declining to do so. Developments since that time, which include increased experience with the Wussler instruction and further development of arguments in favor of a “reasonable efforts” instruction, see, e.g., State v. Sawyer, 227 Conn. 566, 630 A.2d 1064, 1075-81 (1993) (Katz, J., dissenting), have convinced me that this is now an appropriate time and case in which to revisit Wussler. Having done so, I agree with the majority that the “reasonable efforts” instruction is preferable to the Wussler instruction. Because, as the majority notes, we deal here with a matter of court procedure and practice, I feel free to join the majority in holding that the Wussler approach should give way to a “reasonable efforts” approach prospectively. See State v. Salazar, 173 Ariz. 399, 417, 844 P.2d 566, 584 (1992) , cert. denied, 509 U.S. 912, 113 S.Ct. 3017, 125 L.Ed.2d 707 (1993).