State v. Alvarado

761 P.2d 163, 158 Ariz. 89, 13 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 68, 1988 Ariz. App. LEXIS 252, 1988 WL 77147
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJuly 26, 1988
Docket1 CA-CR 11591
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 761 P.2d 163 (State v. Alvarado) 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 v. Alvarado, 761 P.2d 163, 158 Ariz. 89, 13 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 68, 1988 Ariz. App. LEXIS 252, 1988 WL 77147 (Ark. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

BROOKS, Presiding Judge.

Defendant appeals following his convictions of: Count I, burglary in the first degree, a class 2 felony; Count II, attempted second degree murder involving the use of deadly weapon, a class 2 felony; Count III, aggravated assault, a class 3 felony; Count IV, aggravated assault, a class 3 felony; and Count VI, theft of property with value over $1,000, a class 3 felony. He was sentenced to aggravated terms of 12 years imprisonment on Count 1,15 years on Counts II, III, and IV, and a presumptive term of five years on Count VI. The sentences imposed on Counts I, II, and III were ordered to be served consecutively while the sentences imposed on Counts IV and VI were ordered to be served concurrent with the sentence imposed on Count III.

The charges in this case arose out of the brutal stabbing of a 62-year-old woman in her home. A co-defendant, Gabriel Matus, was convicted in a separate trial and his conviction was affirmed on appeal. See State v. Matus, 1 CA-CR 11260 (Memo. Dec., March 1, 1988).

The victim testified that she was awakened late at night when two men entered her bedroom. One of the men sat on her head while the other man stabbed her repeatedly in the back. One of the men asked her where she kept her money and then both men left the bedroom in search of it. Either one or both of the men returned a short time later and resumed stabbing the victim in the back. She then lost consciousness for a period of time. Upon regaining consciousness, the stabbings continued. At the end of the assault, one of the men slowly punctured the victim’s neck with a sharp instrument. The men took the victim’s car, a microwave oven, and a cordless telephone. The victim testified that although she did not clearly see either of the attackers, she thought they had Hispanic accents.

On appeal, defendant argues:

1. The trial court erred when it permitted the introduction of defendant’s confession;
2. The trial court erred in precluding defense counsel from having fingerprints from the victim’s maid and family taken and compared to usable prints found at the scene of the crime;
3. The trial court erred when it permitted the deposition testimony of a witness to be introduced at trial; and
4. The trial court erred by making the sentences on the aggravated assault charges consecutive.

VOLUNTARINESS OF DEFENDANT’S STATEMENT

Defendant first argues that the statement that he gave to Detective Brian Rogers on January 7, 1987, was involuntary because it was obtained by a promise. He contends that he had been promised that if he turned himself in and gave a statement, his brother, Raul, who had been previously arrested, would be released. He argues that this promise induced his statement. He also contends that he was told what to write in his statement by Detective Rogers.

A trial judge’s determination of the voluntariness of a defendant’s confession will not be reversed on appeal absent clear and manifest error. State v. Rivera, 152 Ariz. 507, 513, 733 P.2d 1090, 1096 (1987). The trial court looks to the totality of the circumstances in evaluating the voluntariness of a statement. State v. Griffin, 148 Ariz. 82, 85, 713 P.2d 283, 286 (1986).

The evidence in this case regarding the existence of a promise was conflicting. The attorney who represented the co-defendant, Matus, testified that he was told by the prosecutor that no promises of any kind had been made to the defendant in order to obtain a confession. He further *91 testified that he had the impression that the defendant’s mother had talked her son into turning himself in because it was “the right thing to do” and not because of any promises or threats.

The prosecutor testified that his decision to dismiss charges against defendant’s brother was not the result of any deal or promise. He also testified that it was the defendant’s mother who contacted the prosecutor’s office to obtain an appointment to talk about the case against her sons. Defendant’s mother initiated contact with the prosecutor’s office to advise the prosecutor that Raul had been home in bed on the night of the stabbing incident and that she had been up waiting for defendant to return home. He further testified that defendant’s mother wanted him to understand that Raul could not have been involved in the incident. He further testified that he had never promised to dismiss the case against Raul if defendant would give a statement to the police.

Detective Armando Marquez also testified that no promises had been made by him to defendant’s mother or to the defendant. Marquez was the Spanish-speaking officer who assisted Detective Rogers at the interview of the defendant shortly after he turned himself in on January 7, 1987. Marquez testified that he read defendant the Miranda rights in Spanish. He further testified that defendant read the Miranda card aloud. He also testified that after defendant read the card, he asked him if he understood what he had read and defendant stated that he did. Detective Marquez then took the card from defendant and read each sentence to him and explained it to him. Defendant never stated that he would not talk to the officers. Thereafter, Marquez interviewed defendant for approximately one-half hour to an hour. He concluded the interview by asking defendant if he would furnish a written statement, and defendant agreed to do so.

Detective Rogers also testified that no promises were made to defendant’s mother regarding either of her sons. He stated that defendant had already told Marquez about the stabbings before he was asked to complete a written statement. After defendant finished writing a statement in Spanish, which apparently took him some time to complete, Rogers asked a Spanish-speaking clerk to interpret it for him. When he discovered that defendant had not written anything about the actual stabbing of the victim, he returned to ask defendant to add that to the statement, which defendant did. Rogers testified that it was common practice to go over a defendant’s statement with him and to request that any gaps be filled in.

Defendant’s mother’s testimony was conflicting as to the nature or type of promise that had been made to her which caused her to report defendant to the police. She testified at one point that Detective Rogers told her that if her son would “declare [himjself guilty,” his brother, Raul, would be released. During cross-examination, she admitted that she didn’t know if there were really any clear promises made, but she understood that Raul would be released if defendant voluntarily appeared and talked to the police about the incident. She also testified that her entire family was blaming the defendant for Raul being in jail.

Defendant also testified at the motion to suppress hearing and stated that Marquez told him that if he would “plead guilty” his brother would go free. He testified that Marquez did not explain his rights to him, that he had just given him the Miranda card to read and that he did not understand or read very well.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
761 P.2d 163, 158 Ariz. 89, 13 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 68, 1988 Ariz. App. LEXIS 252, 1988 WL 77147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-alvarado-arizctapp-1988.