State v. Abbott

442 P.2d 80, 103 Ariz. 336, 1968 Ariz. LEXIS 263
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 14, 1968
Docket1829
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 442 P.2d 80 (State v. Abbott) 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
State v. Abbott, 442 P.2d 80, 103 Ariz. 336, 1968 Ariz. LEXIS 263 (Ark. 1968).

Opinion

UDALL, Vice Chief Justice:

The question for decision in this case was certified to us by the Superior Court of Maricopa County. Essentially, it is whether a motion to quash an information will lie, upon any ground, to question the-binding over of the defendant in a criminal' case under circumstances where the superior court is of the belief that the evidence-before the magistrate at the preliminary-hearing was not sufficient to support its finding of probable cause to believe the-defendant committed the offense charged, and at the time the motion was made the-defendant was admitted to bail on his bond.

The following facts giving rise to the-above question are uncontroverted: A complaint was filed against the defendant on March 6, 1967, charging him with the-crime of Receiving Stolen Property, a felony. Defendant posted bond and was released to the custody of his bondsman. At his preliminary hearing on April 3, 1967,. *337 the defendant was held to answer to the crime charged and the bond previously-posted was to and did remain in full force and effect. The witnesses who testified, all on behalf of the State, were: Edward McNabb; Robert Nay, Detective Phoenix Police Department; Officer Anthony Settle, Phoenix Police Department, and Joyce Place.

Substantially, the testimony of Edward McNabb was that his place of business was broken into some time on the weekend of the 25th of February, 1967, and, among the merchandise missing, was the television set described in the criminal complaint against the defendant. He testified that the burglary could have taken place Saturday night, February 25, 1967.

Detective Nay testified that he went to and searched a private residence known as 7025 North 23rd Drive, Phoenix, Arizona, for a .41 S and W Revolver, MCS Auto Stereo and “various other reported stolen items”, pursuant to a search warrant giving him authority to do so. The basis for the issuance of the search warrant was that one Officer Twitchell had previously gone to the described private residence to effect the arrest of a runaway female juvenile. During the arrest, Officer Twitchell noticed a loaded pistol on a table, picked it up, checked the serial number and later found out that it had been taken in a theft of a vehicle.

When Detective Nay and Officer Tindall went to the private residence with the search warrant, no one was home. They opened an Arcadia door and observed a 19-inch Packard-Bell television set, serial #186326 (the same described in the complaint) by the drapes. They took the television set and all other property in the house they thought might be stolen and placed it in the police property room. Detective Nay knew that Gary Abbott, the defendant, and his brother, Boyd, lived at the residence, and that mail was being delivered to the house for Boyd and Gary Abbott and for one Gary Nicholson, but had never seen the defendant at the residence. Other than the above, all Detective Nay knew about the case was that the television set was stolen and he found it at Boyd and Gary Abbott’s house.

The gist of Officer Settle’s testimony was that he first saw the defendant at the Police Station on March 3, 1967, when the defendant came in and demanded the property taken by the police under the search warrant, including the television set, claiming that it was his.

Essentially, the testimony of Joyce Place was that on a particular Saturday night she attended a show .with the defendant. Upon returning to his home with him after the show, she saw the television set which was later removed from the house pursuant to the police search warrant. It had not been in the house when they left to go to the show. The following Sunday morning she had a conversation with Gary Nicholson, during which she was told that if anyone asked he — Gary Nicholson — had brought the television over for all of them to watch.

At the conclusion of the State’s evidence, the defendant’s motion to dismiss was denied and the defendant was held to answer to the charge of Receiving Stolen Property and was admitted to bail. On April 20, 1967, the defendant was charged by information with having committed the offense. The defendant, through his counsel, filed a Motion to Quash the information in the superior court upon the grounds and for the reasons there was insufficient evidence at the preliminary hearing to bind the defendant over and, because of the insufficient evidence, the court had no jurisdiction of the offense charged because there was no offense shown at the preliminary hearing or that the court had no jurisdiction of the person of the defendant because the defendant had committed no crime as shown by the evidence at the preliminary hearing.

It was the conclusion of the superior court that the evidence before it did not support the finding of probable cause by the magistrate that defendant committed *338 the offense charged, and this conclusion was a fact included in the question certified to this Court. Similarly, we are satisfied that a serious question does exist as to whether the magistrate was justified in concluding that probable cause did exist that defendant, with the necessary intent and knowledge, unlawfully received stolen property. A finding of probable cause that defendant committed the crime charged presupposes that a prima facie case, i. e., the elements of the crime, is established. See Dodd v. Boies, 88 Ariz. 401, 357 P.2d 144 (1960). A mere suspicion that defendant is guilty of the offense for which he is charged is not sufficient.

Proceeding on this basis, the issue is whether a motion to quash the information will lie to question the binding over by the magistrate. We have frequently ruled that the sufficiency of the evidence at the preliminary examination before the magistrate may not be raised by a motion to quash the information since it is not one of the enumerated grounds set forth in Rule 169, Rules of Criminal Procedure, 17 A.R.S. See State v. Essman, 98 Ariz. 228, 403 P.2d 540 (1965); State v. Cravin, 96 Ariz. 346, 395 P.2d 706 (1964); and State v. Woolery, 93 Ariz. 76, 378 P.2d 751 (1963). As distinguished from a case in-which the legally competent evidence is not sufficient to support a finding of probable cause, we have held that a motion to quash will lie to question the adequacy of a preliminary hearing, i.e., whether a fair and complete preliminary hearing, consistent with state and federal constitutional requirements of due process, was held. See State v. Essman, supra; State v. Graninger, 96 Ariz. 172, 393 P.2d 266 (1964); Martin v. Superior Court, 96 Ariz. 282, 394 P.2d 211 (1964). A preliminary hearing in which such requirements have not been met is not a preliminary hearing within the intendment of Rule 79, Rules of Criminal Procedure, and, therefore, the absence of such is a ground for dismissing an information under Rule 169, Subsec. A, para. 3(a), Rules of Criminal Procedure.

An additional availablé remedy to question the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a finding of probable cause is the writ of habeas corpus. See Dodd v. Boies, supra.

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Bluebook (online)
442 P.2d 80, 103 Ariz. 336, 1968 Ariz. LEXIS 263, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-abbott-ariz-1968.