State v. Burns

691 P.2d 297, 142 Ariz. 531, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 303
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 1, 1984
Docket6117
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 691 P.2d 297 (State v. Burns) 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. Burns, 691 P.2d 297, 142 Ariz. 531, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 303 (Ark. 1984).

Opinion

CAMERON, Justice.

Defendant, David E. Burns, was convicted and judged guilty of first degree murder, A.R.S. § 13-1105. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole for twenty-five years, A.R.S. § 13-703. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Art. *532 6, § 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution, and A.R.S. §§ 13-4031 and 13-4035.

Defendant raises two issues on appeal:

1. Did the trial court err in refusing to suppress statements defendant made after invocation of his right to counsel?
2. Did the trial court err in precluding the defendant from introducing expert testimony as to the effects of voluntary drug ingestion on his confession?

The facts necessary for a determination of this matter on appeal are as follow. On 27 January 1983, at approximately five o’clock in the afternoon, the defendant stopped by the victim’s house in Gila Bend, Arizona, for the express purpose of finding a witness to accompany him to the home of his estranged wife while he picked up his children. The victim was at home with his wife and a friend. The victim and friend drank beer and all three men shared up to one marijuana cigarette. The friend declined the defendant’s request to accompany him, but the victim agreed to do so.

The two men left in a Jeep Cherokee belonging to the defendant’s father and proceeded to the home of the defendant’s wife. She was not home and both men went across the street to the Water Hole Bar where they remained long enough to consume one to two beers apiece. They bought a six pack of beer and left. They proceeded to the end of Stout Road, a desert area bordering farmland, where they were going to drink the beer and smoke marijuana. The victim exited the jeep and, with his back to the defendant, was about to urinate. The defendant distracted the victim so that the victim turned around to face the defendant. The defendant then shot the victim once in the face and again after the victim fell to the ground.

Before going back to his father’s home, the defendant drove approximately fifteen miles to the Gillespie Dam where he threw the murder weapon into the waters behind the dam. The following day, the victim’s wife inquired of the defendant as to her husband’s whereabouts. After the defendant answered that he had dropped the victim off at the victim’s home on the prior evening, the victim’s wife called in a missing person report. Later that day, Kenneth McLeod, a Maricopa County Deputy Sheriff, stopped the defendant in his car and asked him about the victim. The defendant repeated the story he had told the victim’s wife earlier.

The following day, the defendant was involved in an automobile accident near Quartzite, Arizona, some 130 miles from Gila Bend. Defendant may have injured his head in that accident. That night McLeod went to the home of the defendant’s father to reinterview the defendant. Although the defendant changed some of the details of his story, he continued to maintain that he had dropped the victim off at the victim’s home two nights prior. Later in the evening, the defendant’s father went to pick up a horse trailer that he had left in town to be repaired. Upon learning of this, the defendant started to act irrationally and demanded that his brother drive in pursuit of their father. When they caught up, the defendant and his father engaged in fisticuffs.

The defendant then asked his father to take him to see the justice of the peace in Gila Bend. The office of the justice of the peace is located in the same building as the Sheriff’s substation. Because of the late hour, the defendant was told that the justice of the peace could not be summoned. He then asked to be put in jail for the night but was told that he could not be incarcerated without a reason.

Deputy Sheriff George W. Watson was summoned to the station to talk with the defendant. Deputy Watson testified at the suppression hearing that the defendant was neither handcuffed nor under arrest and that he was free to leave the sheriff’s substation because there was “no indication he [the defendant] had done anything wrong at that time.” The defendant, after asking Watson if he was aware of the victim’s disappearance, then related the first of three stories concerning the disap *533 pearance of the victim. He maintained that they had been ambushed by unknown assailants and that the victim had been shot from a distance. The defendant then agreed to lead Watson to the victim’s body, which he did.

After finding the body, the defendant was requested to accompany officers back to the Gila Bend substation so that he could relate his story to a homicide investigator summoned from Phoenix, 64 miles away. Detective Rufino Dominquez arrived during the early morning and the defendant repeated the ambush story. The defendant then became agitated. Although he had not yet been read his Miranda rights and allegedly was not a suspect and was free to leave, he demanded an attorney and told Dominquez to “charge me or let me go.” Dominquez testified at the suppression hearing that although he would not have been pleased if the defendant had decided to leave the substation, he could not have prevented it because the defendant was not yet a suspect.

At sunrise, Dominquez traveled to the murder scene to investigate. Defendant offered to accompany Dominquez to the victim’s body. Dominquez declined the offer and requested, but did not order, the defendant to remain at the substation. The defendant was left in a conference room at the substation unrestrained and unguarded.

After viewing the body, Dominquez concluded (erroneously) that the victim suffered a close contact wound. Because this differed from the defendant’s account, Dominquez, upon returning to the substation, read the defendant his Miranda rights. Dominquez testified:

Q Did you ask whether or not he understood those rights that you told him?
A Yes.
Q And what was his answer?
A He indicated verbally he understood the rights.
Q Did you then ask him if he would give you a statement as to what happened to Mr. McIntyre?
A Yes, I did.
Q What did he tell you?
A He stated that he would.

Defendant then related to Dominquez the second version of what had occurred. Defendant stated that he shot his wife and the victim because he thought they were having an affair. The defendant then requested an attorney and questioning ceased except for information needed to book the defendant.

After the information necessary for booking was obtained, the defendant initiated a conversation with Dominquez by expressing concern for his son. Dominquez testified:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
691 P.2d 297, 142 Ariz. 531, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-burns-ariz-1984.