State v. Davis

672 P.2d 480, 137 Ariz. 550
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedMarch 15, 1983
Docket1 CA-CR 5585
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 672 P.2d 480 (State v. Davis) 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. Davis, 672 P.2d 480, 137 Ariz. 550 (Ark. Ct. App. 1983).

Opinion

137 Ariz. 550 (1983)
672 P.2d 480

STATE of Arizona, Appellee,
v.
Earl Sidney DAVIS, Appellant.

No. 1 CA-CR 5585.

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1, Department C.

March 15, 1983.
Rehearing Denied October 5, 1983.
Review Denied November 15, 1983.

*551 Robert K. Corbin, Atty. Gen. by William J. Schafer III, Chief Counsel, Criminal Div., *552 Diane M. Ramsey, Asst. Atty. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee.

Ross P. Lee, Maricopa County Public Defender by James R. Rummage, Deputy Public Defender, Phoenix, for appellant.

OPINION

BROOKS, Judge.

The defendant brings this appeal from his conviction of one count of molestation of a child, a class two felony,[1] following a trial by jury. He raises four issues for our consideration: (1) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying motions to strike the entire jury panel and the defendant's motions to strike two prospective jurors for cause; (2) Whether the trial court erred in reconsidering its previous ruling on defendant's motion in limine to preclude the admission of defendant's prior convictions, and in allowing the admission of one prior conviction for impeachment purposes; (3) Whether the trial court erred in allowing the state to amend the information to allege prior convictions for the purpose of enhancing punishment; (4) Whether the trial court erred in refusing to give defendant's requested instructions on sexual abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor as lesser included offenses. We affirm.

FACTS

The facts of this case involve an incident which occurred August 20, 1980, when the defendant allegedly touched the genitals of the then four year old female victim. The evidence introduced at trial revealed that the victim went to the home of the mother of defendant on August 20, 1980. Apparently the mother of the defendant was an elderly lady, and the children in the neighborhood went to her home frequently to visit. On the morning of August 20, 1980, the victim, her eight year old sister, and another young girl visited the home of Mrs. Davis. The defendant was there and was watching television with the young girls when a commercial for the movie "10" came on. The little girls began to giggle at the sight of the skimpily clad actress in the commercial, and the defendant asked them if they would like to see some "nasty" pictures which he could bring over from another apartment. Two of the girls responded in the negative, but the victim initially responded "yes", and then quickly changed her response to "no". Sometime that morning, the two older girls left the home of defendant's mother, but the victim remained and at approximately noon, she called her mother to ask permission to stay and have pancakes with Mrs. Davis and the defendant. The victim's mother granted her permission to stay, and at approximately 2:00 p.m., the victim returned home, according to her mother, unusually calm and wide-eyed, telling her mother that the defendant had told her a secret she was not supposed to tell. The mother persuaded the child to tell her what had happened.

The victim told her mother that she was alone in the kitchen with the defendant when he asked her to get his underwear. He removed his jeans in front of her in the kitchen, and then put on his underwear. He lifted the victim onto the kitchen counter and used both hands to touch her vagina. In the victim's words, "he opened where I went to the bathroom." After that, he told her not to tell anyone, and she returned home.

By information filed September 8, 1980, the defendant was charged with the crime of molestation of child. On February 25, 1981, the state filed an addendum to the information alleging a prior conviction. The defendant filed a motion to strike the addendum on the grounds that it was untimely filed. The trial court denied the motion on March 25, 1981. Also prior to trial, the defendant filed a motion in limine requesting the court to preclude the state from impeaching the defendant with the prior convictions. The motion was argued prior to the first trial in this cause, and the court granted defendant's motion. A mistrial was declared at the conclusion of the *553 first trial because the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The case was set for a new trial before another jury.

On the day the second trial was to begin, the state requested the court to reconsider its previous ruling precluding the use of defendant's prior convictions for impeachment purposes. Following argument, the trial court determined that the probative value of the admission of at least one prior conviction outweighed its prejudicial effect and thus granted the state's motion to allow impeachment of the defendant with a 1980 conviction for theft but precluded impeachment with a 1975 conviction for burglary.

During the selection of the jury, nine jurors were stricken for cause by the trial court. The court struck some of the jurors due to scheduling conflicts and others because of their stated inability to be fair and impartial. During voir dire, one of the prospective jurors, Mr. Timewell, told the court that he was related to an attorney who was or had been a prosecutor, and that he, Mr. Timewell, personally had strong feelings about the type of crime with which the defendant was charged in this case. During a recess, Mr. Timewell approached the defense counsel and the prosecutor and indicated that he wanted to talk to them about a matter which was not brought up during voir dire. Following the recess the court, at the request of defense counsel, held an in chambers conference with Mr. Timewell where both counsel were allowed to question him. The defendant moved to strike Timewell from the jury for cause, and the trial court denied the motion. Subsequently, the defendant used a preemptory challenge to strike Mr. Timewell.

Another member of the jury venire, Ms. Dorn, told the court during voir dire that she had been married to a deputy county attorney for 13 years, and because of what she had learned about trial "techniques" she did not believe she could be a fair and impartial juror. The trial court dismissed Dorn for cause.

Venireman Grammer, a minister, told the court that during his 21 years of being a pastor, he had dealt with a number of cases involving child molesting, and concluded that he would not be a fair and impartial juror. The court excused Grammer for cause. Venireman Bartel expressed a similar reservation to that of Grammer, and the court excused him for cause also.

At one point during voir dire, the court made the following statement with regard to Dorn's and Grammer's comments:

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Dorn made some statements. I don't quite know what she intended by them, but I do want to see if any of you happen to feel the same way that Miss Dorn felt about the court system. And I am not sure just exactly which way she felt. But if you have any strong feelings for or against the court system, for or against our system of justice, for or against prosecutors or defense attorneys, I would like to hear from you at this point.

One person responded to the question indicating that "sometimes I am for the county attorneys and sometimes I am for the public defender.... I see both sides." The trial court pointed out that this was a good trait for a juror to have. The trial judge was apparently concerned that the comments by the prospective jurors Timewell, Dorn, and Grammer might have prejudiced the entire panel and he proceeded to question the jury as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
672 P.2d 480, 137 Ariz. 550, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-davis-arizctapp-1983.