State v. Daniels

474 P.2d 815, 106 Ariz. 224, 1970 Ariz. LEXIS 395
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 1, 1970
Docket2067
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 474 P.2d 815 (State v. Daniels) 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. Daniels, 474 P.2d 815, 106 Ariz. 224, 1970 Ariz. LEXIS 395 (Ark. 1970).

Opinion

*225 LOCKWOOD, Chief Justice:

Appellant was tried and convicted below on one count of robbery (A.R.S. § 13-641 and A.R.S. § 13-643, subsec. A) and on one count of aggravated assault (A.R.S. § 13-245), both felonies, with a prior conviction. He appeals on the grounds: (1) that he was denied due process by an illegal confrontation with the complaining witnesses; (2) that testimony of the supposed illegal confrontation was erroneously admitted; (3) that the in-court identification of appellant was improperly allowed; and (4) that Rule 180 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, 17 A.R.S., was not complied with and thus his sentence for aggravated assault was improper.

On February 24, 1969, at approximately 12:30 a. m., in Coolidge, Arizona, Officer Hall observed appellant (hereinafter referred to as defendant) walking with a companion 1 in the area of the robbery. Officer Hall observed the two men, with whom he was acquainted, separate and observed the defendant turn into an alley. His observation was discontinued when he left the area to answer a call in another part of town. At the time, defendant Daniels was wearing a light-colored short-sleeved shirt and a_ black hat.

At approximately 12:30 a. m. the complaining witnesses, Richard Nish and Rema Thomas, left Galindo’s Bar in Coolidge, Arizona. They were walking to a cafe when after a short time they noticed they were being followed by two Negro men, who stopped them. Mr. Nish was knocked down by both men and one of the men, whom he identified as the defendant, was on top of him trying to reach Nish’s pockets. Nish was face to face with the defendant for approximately thirty seconds. Mrs. Thomas was knocked down by the other man, and her purse was stolen. The two men were scared off by the appearance of a car turning the corner. The two victims next went to Ivan’s Bar where they called the police. Officer Solis went to Ivan’s and took the victims to the police station, while Officer Hall scoured the area. He observed the defendant walking very fast, and stopped him and asked him if he would go to the police station for identification purposes. The defendant agreed. At this time he was not placed under arrest, nor was he advised of his constitutional rights. Upon entering the police station, approximately twenty minutes after the robbery took place, Mrs. Thomas cried out “That’s him.” The officers then asked both Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Nish if the defendant was one of the robbers and both replied that he was. He was then placed under arrest and advised of his constitutional rights.

At the trial, however, Mrs. Thomas was unable to identify the defendant as one of the two robbers, stating that she had only recognized him at the station because of •the clothes he was wearing. According to her testimony, one of the assailants was wearing a black hat and a light colored shirt. The other victim, Richard Nish, did identify the defendant at trial, stating that he recognized him because of his facial features. It is this confrontation and the identification of the defendant at trial that the defendant complains of.

Defendant’s first three contentions all deal with the alleged illegality of his identification as the culprit. The Supreme Court of the United States in United States v. Wade, 388 U.S. 218, 87 S.Ct. 1926, 18 L.Ed.2d 1149 (1967); Gilbert v. California, 388 U.S. 263, 87 S.Ct. 1951, 18 L.Ed.2d 1178; and Stovall v. Denno, 388 U.S. 293, 87 S.Ct. 1967, 18 L.Ed.2d 1199, has established the guidelines which we follow. State v. Dessureault, 104 Ariz. 380, 453 P.2d 951 (1969).

. We outlined the correct procedure to be followed in Dessureault, supra:

“First, if at the trial the proposed in-court identification is challenged, the *226 trial judge must immediately hold a hearing in the absence of the jury to determine from clear and convincing evidence whether it contained unduly suggestive circumstances. In this the burden is on the prosecution to establish from all the circumstances surrounding the pretrial identification that it was not such as to be unduly suggestive.
“Second, if the trial judge concludes that the circumstances of the pretrial identification were unduly suggestive or that the prosecution has failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that they were not, then it is the prosecution’s burden to satisfy the trial judge from clear and convincing evidence that the proposed in-court identification is not tainted by the prior identification.” 104 Ariz. 380 at 384, 453 P.2d 951 at 955.

Following these guidelines, we examine the defendant’s specific allegations of error.

Defendant complains that it was error to allow the in-court identification prior to a hearing out of the presence of the jury to determine whether it had a basis independent of the station-house confrontation.

Prior to any hearing the prosecutor asked the witness Nish if he recognized either of the two assailants in the courtroom, and the witness pointed out the defendant. Counsel for defense objected, and the court immediately held the requisite hearing out of the presence of the jury. The trial court found that the identification was independent. There is sufficient evidence in the record to support this finding. The witness Nish was face to face with one of the assailants, whom he identified as the defendant. The trial court found that the in-cour,t identification had no taint from the pretrial confrontation. Since the court did find there was no taint and also found that under Dessureault there was no violation of the defendant’s rights at the police station, any error in allowing the identificaton before the hearing was harmless error. Ariz.Const., Art. 6, § 27, A.R.S. The order of the identification and the hearing could make no difference in the verdict here where the identification was held to be proper. State v. Brady, 105 Ariz. 190, 461 P.2d 488 (1969).

Defendant next complains that even if the trial court did not err in allowing Nish’s in-court identification, it did err in allowing testimony of the station-house confrontation. We hold that it was not error to admit testimony of the pre-trial identification. The identification appears to have been spontaneous. Additionally, it took place a mere twenty minutes after the robbery when the incident was fresh in the minds of the victims.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
474 P.2d 815, 106 Ariz. 224, 1970 Ariz. LEXIS 395, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-daniels-ariz-1970.