State v. Adrian

522 P.2d 1091, 111 Ariz. 14, 1974 Ariz. LEXIS 341
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 4, 1974
Docket2742
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 522 P.2d 1091 (State v. Adrian) 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. Adrian, 522 P.2d 1091, 111 Ariz. 14, 1974 Ariz. LEXIS 341 (Ark. 1974).

Opinion

STRUCKMEYER, Justice.

Roman Cosay Adrian was convicted at a trial by jury of two counts of rape and three counts of kidnapping with intent to rape. He appeals.

On the evening of August 13, 1972, three sisters, Virginia Soto, age 31, Mary Gutierrez, age 23, and Esperanza Gutierrez, age 18, attended a dance at the Riverside Ballroom in Phoenix. At about 1:00 A.M. on August 14, the women left the dance and started to walk home. They were accosted by two men, Richard Nunez and appellant, Roman Adrian.

Nunez grabbed Virginia and twisted her arm behind her back, while appellant *16 seized Mary Gutierrez by the • hair and pointed a gun at her head. The sisters were forced to accompany their assailants to Grant Park, several blocks away. There, Nunez took Virginia into the ladies’ restroom and forced an act of sexual intercourse with her. While this was occurring, appellant held Mary and Esperanza at gunpoint on a porch outside.

After Nunez came out of the ladies’ restroom with Virginia and talked with appellant, appellant compelled Mary and Esperanza to go inside with Virginia. Nunez then raped Virginia a second time, while appellant raped Mary. Esperanza was ordered to sit quietly in the dark. Nunez, who at this point had the gun, placed it on the floor to complete the assault on Virginia. She was able to obtain the gun and gave it to Esperanza. When Nunez lunged toward Esperanza, she shot him in the head, killing him instantly. Appellant then left, but was subsequently arrested.

Appellant argues that there was no-evidence presented from which a jury could have found that he aided, abetted, advised or encouraged the rape of Virginia by Nunez and, therefore, the court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict as to this count of rape. We do not agree. A.R.S. § 13-139 states:

“All persons concerned in the commission of a crime whether it is a felony or misdemeanor, and whether they directly commit the act constituting the offense, or aid and abet in its commission, or, not being present, have advised and encouraged its commission, * * * are principals in any crime so committed.”

While there is no evidence that appellant announced his intention to aid Nunez in his rape of Virginia, there was substantial circumstantial evidence from which the jury could conclude that appellant aided Nunez. Mary Gutierrez testified as to what happened when the three women were stopped by Nunez and appellant. She referred to Nunez as “Richard” and appellant Adrian as “Andrew.”

“Q. Tell us what happened with Richard right at first. What did Richard do?

A. Well, he grabbed my sister and—

Q. Which sister ?

A. Soto, Virginia.
Q. Okay.

A. And he put his arms so, kind of a way around her body and she was going to fight him but after Andrew told him — told her to behave, if not, he was going to shoot me and he put the gun on my head.”

And later she testified as to what occurred while Richard raped Virginia in the restroom:

“Q. What was happening with you and Esperanza and this man ?

A. Nothing. We were just getting threats by him, like making us run or if I run she will get it. He will put the gun on her head.

Q. On whose head ?
A. Esperanza.
Q. He said if you run she will get it?
A. Yes.”

While appellant held the sisters at gunpoint, a security car drove by the park. Mary testified:

“Q. Now, as this security car drove by, did something happen then, Mary?

A. Yes.
Q. What was that ?

A. He said that if I yelled or if we yelled or do anything to get his attention, that we were going to get it, he was going to shoot us.”

We have held that a verdict should not be directed where there is substantial evidence that a defendant committed the crime charged. State v. Dessureault, 104 Ariz. 380, 453 P.2d 951 (1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 965, 90 S.Ct. 1000, 25 L.Ed.2d 257 (1970); State v. Williams, 104 Ariz. 319, 452 P.2d 112 (1969). A motion for a directed verdict does not question the *17 competency of the evidence, only its sufficiency. State v. Acosta, 101 Ariz. 127, 416 P.2d 560 (1966); State v. Holliday, 92 Ariz. 168, 375 P.2d 370 (1962). We think the evidence demonstrates the wholehearted cooperation of appellant in the rape of Virginia Soto by Nunez.

For his next issue on appeal, appellant urges that he was denied a unanimous jury verdict on Count II of the information which charged the aiding and abetting in Nunez’s rape of Virginia for' the reason that the prosecution failed to specify which rape of the two rapes of Virginia it was relying upon. This is but an extension of the argument that there was not sufficient evidence to find that appellant aided and abetted Nunez.

It is appellant’s position that the second rape of Virginia by Nunez occurred after appellant and the younger sisters went into the ladies’ restroom, and that some of the jury could have based their verdict on aiding and abetting in the first rape, while others could have relied on the second rape. If so, it is urged, appellant was denied a unanimous verdict as is required for conviction in a criminal case by Art. 2, § 23, Arizona Constitution, A.R.S.

Appellant relies on Hash v. State, 48 Ariz. 43, 50, 59 P.2d 305, 308 (1936), wherein we said:

“The law is well settled that, where the evidence shows or tends to show, that several acts of intercourse have occurred between defendant and prosecuting witness, it is incumbent upon the ¡prosecution to elect which one of such acts it relies upon for conviction.”

While some parts of the testimony of Virginia Soto are difficult to understand because of her unfamiliarity with the English language, the record is clear that one rape of Virginia by Nunez occurred while they were alone in the restroom. Her testimony tends to suggest a second act of intercourse after appellant and her two sisters went inside.

Hash v. State, supra, is not authority for appellant’s position under the facts of this case. In Hash, the defendant was on trial for the actual offense of rape, while here, appellant, who did not actually commit the offense against Virginia, was tried as a principal for aiding or abetting Nunez in the rape. The jurors were properly instructed that the acts of appellant in participating and encouraging the common design of committing rapes made him responsible as a principal under-A.R.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
522 P.2d 1091, 111 Ariz. 14, 1974 Ariz. LEXIS 341, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-adrian-ariz-1974.