State v. Campbell

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedApril 9, 2020
Docket1 CA-CR 18-0554
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Campbell (State v. Campbell) 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. Campbell, (Ark. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.

IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE

STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee,

v.

JOE THOMAS CAMPBELL, Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CR 18-0554 FILED 4-9-2020

Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR2014-005904-001 The Honorable Danielle J. Viola, Judge

AFFIRMED

COUNSEL

Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix By Casey Ball Counsel for Appellee

Bain & Lauritano, PLC, Glendale By Amy E. Bain Counsel for Appellant STATE v. CAMPBELL Decision of the Court

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Presiding Judge Lawrence F. Winthrop delivered the decision of the Court, in which Judge Maria Elena Cruz and Judge David B. Gass joined.

W I N T H R O P, Judge:

¶1 Joe Thomas Campbell (“Campbell”) appeals his convictions and sentences for kidnapping and sexual assault. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2 We view these facts in a light most favorable to sustaining the verdicts and resolve all reasonable inferences against Campbell. See State v. Payne, 233 Ariz. 484, 509, ¶ 93 (2013). Victim J.B. was riding his bicycle in the early morning of January 9, 2007, when he came across Campbell and two other men. Campbell asked J.B. for a cigarette. Campbell suddenly punched J.B. and knocked him from the bicycle. Campbell grabbed J.B.’s backpack and gave it to the other men, and the other men left with J.B.’s bicycle and backpack. Campbell then stabbed J.B. several times and threatened to kill him. Campbell dragged J.B. to a dark corner where he forced J.B. to perform oral sex. Campbell continued to stab J.B. and told J.B. to pull his pants down. Campbell placed his penis in J.B.’s anus. Campbell ordered J.B. to open his mouth and Campbell placed his penis inside until he ejaculated. Campbell told J.B. to lie face down on the ground for “five minutes” so that Campbell could escape, and Campbell threatened to return and kill J.B. if he did not obey.

¶3 J.B. eventually found help and an ambulance took him to a hospital. He suffered numerous stab wounds, an anal tear, and a collapsed lung. A forensic sexual assault examination at the hospital recovered sperm fraction DNA from J.B.’s mouth. DNA testing later revealed that the sperm DNA recovered from J.B.’s mouth “matched” Campbell’s profile.

¶4 The State charged Campbell with armed robbery; kidnapping; aggravated assault; two counts of sexual assault (oral/penile); and sexual assault (anal/penile). After the first trial, a jury acquitted Campbell of armed robbery, aggravated assault, and sexual assault (anal) but could not reach a verdict for the remaining charges, resulting in a

2 STATE v. CAMPBELL Decision of the Court

mistrial. Following the second trial, a jury convicted Campbell of kidnapping and one count of sexual assault (oral/penile). The jury acquitted Campbell of the second sexual assault (oral/penile) charge. The trial court sentenced Campbell to concurrent terms of 21 years’ imprisonment for the two convictions. With the trial court’s permission, Campbell filed a delayed notice of appeal. We have jurisdiction under Article 6, Section 9, of the Arizona Constitution, and Arizona Revised Statutes (“A.R.S.”) sections 12-120.21(A)(1), 13-4031, and -4033(A).

ANALYSIS

I. Stipulation

¶5 Campbell argues that the trial court erred by finding that a stipulation the parties entered before the first trial did not bind the State in the retrial. We review the trial court’s ruling on a party’s request to withdraw from a stipulation for abuse of discretion. Rutledge v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents, 147 Ariz. 534, 549-50 (App. 1985).

¶6 “A stipulation is an agreement, admission or concession made in a judicial proceeding by the parties or their attorneys, in respect to some matter incident to the proceedings, ordinarily for the purpose of avoiding delay, trouble and expense.” Id. at 549; see also Pulliam v. Pulliam, 139 Ariz. 343, 345 (App. 1984) (“[C]ounsel may stipulate as to evidentiary matters such as the admission, exclusion or withdrawal of evidence from consideration.”). “[P]arties are bound by their stipulation unless relieved therefrom by the court.” Pulliam, 139 Ariz. at 345. The trial court has discretion to relieve a party from a stipulation “entered into through inadvertence, excusable neglect, fraud, mistake of fact or law, where the facts stipulated have changed or there has been a change in the underlying conditions that could not have been anticipated, or where special circumstances exist rendering it unjust to enforce[.]” Rutledge, 147 Ariz. at 550; see Higgins v. Guerin, 74 Ariz. 187, 190 (1952) (holding that the trial court may relieve a party from a stipulation “for good cause shown”).

¶7 Before the first trial, the State agreed to admit the hearsay statements of several witnesses without calling those witnesses to testify. The statements pertained to Campbell’s mistaken-identity defense that the initial suspect, T. Alexander, committed the offenses. When he was in the hospital, J.B. identified Alexander as the perpetrator from a photographic lineup. Witnesses later told law enforcement that, shortly after the events, Alexander made several statements claiming that he had sexually assaulted a man. The State’s express reason for entering the agreement was to

3 STATE v. CAMPBELL Decision of the Court

“ensure a speedier trial for the victim” because the trial had undergone significant delay in the pretrial process.

¶8 During the first trial, the statements were presented through direct examination and cross-examination of law enforcement witnesses. An exhibit containing written summaries of the statements was not admitted in evidence. The stipulation was never formally presented to the trial court, and its terms are not otherwise found in the record. Furthermore, the record on appeal contains only a partial transcript of the trial day when the statements were read to the jury. See State v. Zuck, 134 Ariz. 509, 513 (1982) (“Where matters are not included in the record on appeal, the missing portions of the record will be presumed to support the action of the trial court.”).

¶9 Soon after the first trial, the State informed Campbell that it intended to withdraw from the agreement, and the issue was discussed at a status conference approximately one month after the first trial ended. About two months later, Campbell filed a motion to admit the statements, requesting the trial court enforce the stipulation. After briefing and oral argument, the trial court denied the request and relieved the State from the stipulation.

¶10 The trial court acted within its discretion by finding that the State was not bound by the stipulation during the retrial. See Rutledge, 147 Ariz. at 549-50. The State’s request was timely, informing Campbell of its intention to withdraw soon after the first trial ended and more than six months before the retrial began. See Gangadean v. Flori Inv. Co., 106 Ariz. 245, 248 (1970) (holding that the trial court may relieve a party from a stipulation “upon appropriate and timely motion and for good cause”). As to whether the State showed good cause, the trial court concluded the stipulation “did not concede any element of any offense that the State was required to prove” and “ did not concede any fact of consequence.” See id. The trial court also explained that the State “did not stipulate to any specific fact” in the first trial but “instead effectively waived the hearsay objection.” The trial court further noted that Campbell had located three of the previously uncalled witnesses.

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Bluebook (online)
State v. Campbell, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-campbell-arizctapp-2020.