Jason Donald simpson/joe Paul Martinez v. Hons. miller/steinle/state

CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 9, 2017
DocketCR-16-0227-PR
StatusPublished

This text of Jason Donald simpson/joe Paul Martinez v. Hons. miller/steinle/state (Jason Donald simpson/joe Paul Martinez v. Hons. miller/steinle/state) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jason Donald simpson/joe Paul Martinez v. Hons. miller/steinle/state, (Ark. 2017).

Opinion

IN THE

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA

JASON DONALD SIMPSON, A.K.A. JASON DONALD SIMPSON, SR., Petitioner,

V.

HONORABLE PHEMONIA MILLER, JUDGE PRO TEMPORE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF MARICOPA, Respondent Commissioner,

STATE OF ARIZONA, Real Party in Interest.

JOE PAUL MARTINEZ, Petitioner,

HONORABLE ROLAND J. STEINLE, JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF MARICOPA, Respondent Judge,

No. CR-16-0227-PR Filed February 9, 2017

Special Actions from the Superior Court in Maricopa County The Honorable Phemonia Miller, Judge Pro Tempore The Honorable Roland J. Steinle, Judge

Nos. CR2015-0134762; CR2014-118356,

REVERSED AND REMANDED SIMPSON/MARTINEZ V. HONS. MILLER/STEINLE (STATE) Opinion of the Court

Opinion of the Court of Appeals, Division One 240 Ariz. 208, 377 P.3d 1003 (App. 2016) VACATED

COUNSEL:

William G. Montgomery, Maricopa County Attorney, David R. Cole (argued), Deputy County Attorney, Phoenix, Attorneys for State of Arizona

Woodrow C. Thompson, Hannah H. Porter, Katherine E. Hollist, Gallagher & Kennedy, P.A., Phoenix; Hector J. Diaz, Andrea S. Tazioli, Quarles & Brady, LLP, Phoenix, Attorneys for Jason Donald Simpson

Jean-Jacques Cabou (argued), Alexis E. Danneman, Sarah R. Gonski, Perkins Coie, LLP, Phoenix; Brian F. Russo, Law Offices of Brian F. Russo, Phoenix, Attorneys for Joe Paul Martinez

Mark Brnovich, Arizona Attorney General, Eryn M. McCarthy, Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Arizona Superior Court in Maricopa County

Mark Brnovich, Arizona Attorney General, Dominic Draye, Solicitor General, Rusty D. Crandell, Assistant Attorney General, Michael G. Bailey (argued), Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Arizona Attorney General; Robert L. Ellman, General Counsel, House of Representatives, Phoenix, Attorney for Amicus Curiae Speaker of Arizona House of Representatives; and Greg Jernigan, General Counsel, Arizona State Senate, Phoenix, Attorney for Amicus Curiae President of Arizona Senate

Kathleen E. Brody, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Arizona, Phoenix; Andrea Woods, Ezekiel Edwards, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Criminal Law Reform Project, New York, NY, Attorneys for American Civil Liberties Union and American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona; and Anne Chapman, Mitchell Stein Carey, PC, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

2 SIMPSON/MARTINEZ V. HONS. MILLER/STEINLE (STATE) Opinion of the Court

Mikel P. Steinfeld, Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, Phoenix, and David J. Euchner, Pima County Public Defender’s Office, Tucson, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, et al.

Colleen Clase, Jessica Gattuso, Eric Aiken, Scottsdale, Arizona Voice for Crime Victims; Jamie Balson, Arizona Coalition to End Sexual & Domestic Violence, Phoenix, Attorneys for D.D. and D.L.

JUSTICE BOLICK authored the opinion of the Court, in which CHIEF JUSTICE BALES, VICE CHIEF JUSTICE PELANDER, and JUSTICES BRUTINEL and TIMMER joined.

JUSTICE BOLICK, opinion of the Court:

¶1 Arizona’s Constitution and laws forbid bail for defendants accused of sexual conduct with a minor under age fifteen when the proof is evident or the presumption great that the defendant committed the crime. Because that prohibition is not narrowly focused to protect public safety, we hold that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process guarantee. I.

¶2 Article 2, section 22(A) of the Arizona Constitution’s Declaration of Rights provides in part:

All persons charged with crime shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except:

1. For capital offenses, sexual assault, sexual conduct with a minor under fifteen years of age or molestation of a child under fifteen years of age when the proof is evident or the presumption great.

¶3 The crimes of sexual assault, sexual conduct with a minor under age fifteen, and molestation of a child under age fifteen were added to capital offenses under section (A)(1) by the voters through Proposition 103 in 2002. The legislature codified the provisions of section (A)(1) in A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(2)–(4).

¶4 The State charged Joe Paul Martinez with multiple sexual offenses, including sexual conduct with a minor under age fifteen, a class 2 3 SIMPSON/MARTINEZ V. HONS. MILLER/STEINLE (STATE) Opinion of the Court

felony under A.R.S. § 13-1405(B) and a dangerous crime against children under A.R.S. § 13-705(P)(1)(e). (After we granted review, Jason Donald Simpson accepted a plea agreement, making his case moot. We therefore focus on Martinez’s case.) Martinez filed a petition to be released on bail. The trial court conducted an evidentiary hearing and concluded that the proof was evident or presumption great that Martinez committed sexual conduct with a minor under age fifteen, thus rendering him ineligible for bail pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-3961(A)(3). He has been held in custody without bail since April 2014.

¶5 Martinez unsuccessfully challenged the facial constitutionality of § 13-3961(A)(3) and the corresponding provision of the Arizona Constitution, article 2, section 22(A)(1). Accepting special action jurisdiction and granting relief, the court of appeals, by a 2-1 vote, reversed, holding the provisions unconstitutional because an individualized determination of dangerousness is necessary to withhold bail. Simpson v. Miller, 240 Ariz. 208, 215 ¶ 22, 377 P.3d 1003, 1010 (App. 2016).

¶6 We granted review because the constitutional issue presented is one of first impression and statewide importance. See Brewer v. Burns, 222 Ariz. 234, 237 ¶ 8, 213 P.3d 671, 674 (2009). We have jurisdiction pursuant to article 6, section 5 of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. § 12- 120.24. II.

¶7 This case presents questions of law, which we review de novo. US West Commc’ns, Inc. v. Ariz. Corp. Comm’n, 201 Ariz. 242, 244 ¶ 7, 34 P.3d 351, 353 (2001). In a facial constitutional challenge, the party challenging the law must establish that it “is unconstitutional in all of its applications,” a standard the United States Supreme Court characterizes as “exacting.” City of Los Angeles v. Patel, 135 S. Ct. 2443, 2451 (2015).

¶8 Reviewing a state constitutional provision under the United States Constitution requires great care. In our federalist system of dual sovereignty, states retain certain antecedent powers, including the power to protect their citizens from crime. See, e.g., Puerto Rico v. Sanchez Valle, 136 S. Ct. 1863, 1870–71 (2016); Gonzales v. Raich, 545 U.S. 1, 42 (2005) (O’Connor, J., dissenting) (“The States’ core police powers have always included authority to define criminal law and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens.”). In that system, state constitutions are our basic charters of state governance. See John D. Leshy, The Making of the Arizona Constitution, 20 Ariz. St. L.J. 1, 4–5 (1988). Consequently, we strive whenever possible to uphold their provisions.

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