State v. Gortarez

686 P.2d 1224, 141 Ariz. 254, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 255
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 27, 1984
Docket5601
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 686 P.2d 1224 (State v. Gortarez) 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. Gortarez, 686 P.2d 1224, 141 Ariz. 254, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 255 (Ark. 1984).

Opinion

GORDON, Vice Chief Justice:

On March 25, 1982, a jury found appellant, Alex Gortarez, guilty of first degree conspiracy in violation of former A.R.S. § 13-331(A) [repealed by 1977 Session Laws, ch. 142, § 10]. He was sentenced to a term of not less than ten nor more than fifteen years. Timely appeal was filed from the conviction. The state timely filed a cross-appeal on an evidentiary matter. The appeal and cross-appeal were transferred to this Court from the Court of Appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3) and Ariz.R.S.Ct. 47(e)(1). We affirm the conviction. However, pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-4037, we modify appellant’s sentence so that he is sentenced to imprisonment rather than to the Arizona Department of Corrections for the above-mentioned term. See State v. Gutierrez, 130 Ariz. 148, 634 P.2d 960 (1981).

In the summer of 1978, the Phoenix Police Department was involved in an attempt to expose and arrest members of a large-scale heroin distribution scheme. Because of difficulties in infiltrating the distribution organization and in direct surveillance, several wiretap authorizations were sought and were granted. Over a period of several months, the taped conversations involving the purchase and sale of heroin were analyzed. After many of the voices were identified, the case was presented to the grand jury. On April 21, 1980, the grand jury returned a thirty-four count indictment naming twenty-one defendants. Appellant was named in two counts and charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin for sale and possession of heroin. The possession charge was dismissed on the state’s motion prior to trial.

In appealing his conviction on the conspiracy count, appellant raised six issues:

(1) whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss or for a new probable cause determination;
(2) whether evidence obtained pursuant to wiretaps should have been suppressed;
(3) whether the admission into evidence of certain of the taped conversations obtained from the wiretap was reversible error;
(4) whether there was sufficient evidence to support the verdict;
(5) whether the jury was improperly coerced into reaching a verdict; and
(6) whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel.

The state’s cross-appeal raised the additional issue of whether the trial court properly admitted spectrographic voice identification evidence.

Subsequent to filing his notice of appeal, appellant filed a petition under Ariz.R. Crim.P. 32 in the superior court. The petition, the essence of which was ineffective assistance of counsel, was denied. He peti *258 tioned this Court to review that denial. Pursuant to Ariz.R.Crim.P. 31.4(b)(2), the petition to review the denial of the rule 32 petition was consolidated with the direct appeal and will be addressed herein.

DENIAL OF MOTION TO DISMISS OR FOR NEW PROBABLE CAUSE DETERMINATION

Prior to trial, appellant moved to disipiss the conspiracy count or, in the alternative, to remand to the grand jury for a redeter-mination of probable cause. The basis of his motion was that the grand jury had heard perjured testimony regarding appellant’s participation in the conspiracy. The state, in opposing this motion, acknowledged that the grand jury had received some misinformation but argued that the misrepresentation was not intentional. The trial court, after an evidentiary hearing, found that the misstatement was neither intentional nor motivated by malice, that appellant had suffered no prejudice from the misstatement, and that the motion was actually a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. Appellant’s motion was denied.

To obtain review of the denial of a motion for a redetermination of probable cause, a defendant must seek relief via special action prior to trial. State v. Verive, 128 Ariz. 570, 627 P.2d 721 (1981). With one exception, review of matters relevant only to the grand jury proceedings cannot be sought by appeal from a conviction. Id. The one exception to this rule is when a deféndant has had to stand trial on an indictment which the government knew was based partially on perjured, material testimony. United States v. Basurto, 497 F.2d 781 (9th Cir.1974). Appellant seeks to bring the instant case within this exception.

The misrepresentation at issue involved one of the overt acts with which appellant was charged. In relating to the grand jury the substance of the many taped conversations, Det. Richard Hogue inadvertently misidentified one speaker as appellant. At the evidentiary hearing, Det. Hogue explained how the mistake occurred. One of the other people indicted with appellant was his brother, Johnny Gortarez. Early in their investigation, the police officers believed that Johnny Gortarez and Alex Gortarez were the same person. This misunderstanding was apparently due to the fact that the brothers sometimes used each other’s name and sometimes used the same nickname. Det. Hogue explained the mistake as follows:

“Q. [by defense counsel]: What was your first answer?
“A. [by Det. Hogue]: Johnny Gortarez. “Q. Now, did you reflect on it and say to the grand jury you were mistaken, that it was Alex Gortarez?
“A. Well, again, it was confusion on my part. I was testifying to the call as my testimony was that the call in question was a Johnny Gortarez call, which it was. I was [interrupted] by the County Attorney, who asked me if it was Johnny Gortarez or Alex Gortarez. This brought confusion upon me because of the hard time I had in identifying Johnny Gortarez and Alex Gortarez, which are two separate people. I had made a mistake on my chart, also had it listed as Johnny Gortarez. Then I testified I thought the confusion was that this was the Alex Gortarez conversation, and I testified to that.
“Q. It wasn’t?'
“A. No, it was a Johnny Gortarez conversation.”

We agree with the trial court that the misstatement was not intentional or motivated by malice and hold that the Basurto exception is inapplicable to this matter. Because appellant has been found guilty of conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, we will not now review the finding of probable cause made by the grand jury.

SUPPRESSION OF EVIDENCE OBTAINED BY WIRETAP

Prior to trial, appellant moved to suppress all evidence obtained by wiretaps authorized under former A.R.S. § 13-1057 [now A.R.S. § 13-3010].

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Kabinto
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2025
Gary Dwayne Skaggs v. Hon. Fink
540 P.3d 928 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023)
State v. Libert
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2019
State v. Eisenmann
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2018
State v. Horton
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2016
State of Arizona v. Dale Shawn Hausner
280 P.3d 604 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2012)
State v. Miller
245 P.3d 887 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2010)
State v. Snelling
236 P.3d 409 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2010)
State v. Poindexter
766 N.W.2d 391 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 2009)
People v. Hubbard
738 N.W.2d 769 (Michigan Supreme Court, 2007)
David Garcia v. State of Arizona
146 P.3d 1007 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2006)
City of Tucson v. Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc.
105 P.3d 1163 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2005)
State v. Moody
94 P.3d 1119 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2004)
State Ex Rel. Romley v. Fields
35 P.3d 82 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2001)
Logerquist v. McVey
1 P.3d 113 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2000)
State v. Coon
974 P.2d 386 (Alaska Supreme Court, 1999)
Walker v. Superior Court
956 P.2d 1246 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1998)
Tellez v. Saban
933 P.2d 1233 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1996)
State v. Superior Court
920 P.2d 23 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1996)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
686 P.2d 1224, 141 Ariz. 254, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 255, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gortarez-ariz-1984.