State ex rel. Montgomery v. Padilla ex rel. County of Maricopa

371 P.3d 642, 239 Ariz. 314
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 17, 2016
DocketNos. 1 CA-SA 16-0017, 1 CA-SA 16-0027
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 371 P.3d 642 (State ex rel. Montgomery v. Padilla ex rel. County of Maricopa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Montgomery v. Padilla ex rel. County of Maricopa, 371 P.3d 642, 239 Ariz. 314 (Ark. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION

JONES, Judge:

¶ 1 In these consolidated special action proceedings, we again address what accommodations may be granted to minors who are alleged victims of sexual abuse when called upon to testify at trial. The State of Arizona and A.S. seek relief from the trial court’s order (1) denying a requested trial accommodation for J.D. and Z.S., and (2) granting a closed-circuit television accommodation pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) section 13-42531 for Z.S.2 We have consoli[316]*316dated the two separate petitions because Petitioners seek the same relief. We accept jurisdiction because Petitioners otherwise have no adequate remedy by appeal and the petitions present issues of statewide importance. See Ariz. R.P. Spec. Act. 1(a); State ex rel. Romley v. Fields, 201 Ariz. 321, 323, ¶4, 35 P.3d 82, 84 (App.2001). Having accepted jurisdiction, we vacate the trial court’s order and remand the request for accommodation to the trial court for reconsideration consistent with this Opinion.

PACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 The State charged Chris A. Simcox with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of molestation of a child, and one count of furnishing obscene or harmful items to minors for conduct occurring in 2012 and 2013. The alleged victims are Simcox’s nine-year-old daughter, Z.S., and Z.S.’s eight-year-old friend, J.D. (collectively, the Children).

¶ 3 The trial court previously granted Simeox’s request to represent himself pro se and appointed advisory counsel to assist him. The State indicated it would call the Children as witnesses and requested the trial court prohibit Simcox from any direct contact with the Children at trial and require his advisory counsel to conduct any cross-examination of the Children. When the State declined to present evidence the Children would be traumatized by Simcox personally cross-examining them, the court denied the request, and the State petitioned for special action relief. This Court accepted jurisdiction and held:

A trial court may exercise its discretion to restrict a self-represented defendant from personally cross-examining a child witness without violating a defendant’s constitutional rights to confrontation and self-representation. It can do so, however, only after considering evidence and making individualized findings that such a restriction is necessary to protect the witness from trauma.

State ex rel. Montgomery v. Padilla, 237 Ariz. 263, 265, ¶ ¶ 1-2, 349 P.3d 1100, 1102 (App.2015).

¶4 The trial court held an evidentiary hearing wherein the parties presented evidence of trauma as required by Padilla. At the hearing, the court heard testimony from the Children’s mothers, an expert on trauma suffered by children who testify in court, and Z.S.’s psychologist. After taking the matter under advisement, the court denied the State’s request that Simcox’s cross-examination of the Children be conducted through advisory counsel. But, finding sufficient evidence that Z.S. would likely suffer trauma from face-to-face contact with her father and alleged perpetrator at trial, the court ordered Z.S.’s examination to proceed by closed-circuit television as provided in A.R.S. § 13-4253(A). These special action petitions followed.

DISCUSSION

I. Restricting Simcox’s Confrontation Rights

¶ 5 Petitioners first assert the trial court erred by holding that, as long as a self-represented defendant does not breach court rules and decoram, he may never be prohibited from personally cross-examining an alleged minor victim. “We review purely legal or constitutional issues de novo.” Padilla, 237 Ariz. at 266, ¶ 8, 349 P.3d at 1103 (citing State v. Booker, 212 Ariz. 502, 504, ¶ 10, 135 P.3d 57, 59 (App.2006)).

¶ 6 In its order, the trial court stated:

This trial Court was unable to find any authority nor was any presented which would allow the trial court to make exceptions to the right to self-representation ■without violating both the State and Federal Constitutions. Therefore, this Court cannot grant the State’s request to have advisory counsel conduct the cross-examination of the victim witnesses. So long as [317]*317Defendant exercises his right of self-representation and he complies with court rules and decorum, this Court must allow it, to do otherwise would be a violation of constitutional proportion and therefore reversible error.

Contrary to the court’s statement, however, this Court specifically held in Padilla that the right of a self-represented defendant to personally conduct cross-examination is not absolute. Id. at 267, ¶ 10, 349 P.3d at 1104.

¶ 7 Although the Confrontation Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides a defendant the right to confront those who testify and to cross-examine witnesses who testify against him, “denying a face-to-face confrontation will not violate the Confrontation Clause when it is ‘necessary to further an important public policy’ and the reliability of the testimony is otherwise assured.” Id. (quoting Maryland v. Craig, 497 U.S. 836, 850, 110 S.Ct. 3157, 111 L.Ed.2d 666 (1990)). Consistent therewith, this Court stated:

If the State believes that a defendant’s personal cross-examination of a witness would cause particular trauma to the witness, it can—consistent with the United States Constitution—present evidence that the trauma will occur and ask the trial court to make case-specific findings that will justify restricting the defendant from personally cross-examining the witness.

Id. at 270, ¶ 24, 349 P.3d at 1107; see also Craig, 497 U.S. at 855, 110 S.Ct. 3157 (holding a state’s interest “in the physical and psychological well-being of child abuse victims may be sufficiently important to outweigh, at least in some eases, a defendant’s right to face his or her accusers in court” and recognizing “the protection of minor victims of sex crimes from further trauma and embarrassment is a compelling one”) (quotation and citations omitted).

¶ 8 Because Simcox’s confrontation rights, even as a pro se defendant, are not absolute, the trial court erred in concluding any restriction of his right to personally cross-examine witnesses would be “a violation of constitutional proportion” and “reversible error.” Given the court’s inaccurate assessment of the law, we cannot conclude the court considered whether the evidence of the risk of trauma was sufficient to restrict Simeox’s right to personally cross-examine the Children. Therefore, we vacate the trial court’s order and remand for redetermination. In doing so, we reiterate this Court’s conclusion in Padilla

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Bluebook (online)
371 P.3d 642, 239 Ariz. 314, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-montgomery-v-padilla-ex-rel-county-of-maricopa-arizctapp-2016.