State v. Hankins

686 P.2d 740, 141 Ariz. 217, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 251
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJune 14, 1984
Docket5795, 5796
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 686 P.2d 740 (State v. Hankins) 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. Hankins, 686 P.2d 740, 141 Ariz. 217, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 251 (Ark. 1984).

Opinion

GORDON, Vice Chief Justice:

On December 17,1982, a jury found Daniel Ray Hankins and Paul Edward Satter-field guilty of first degree murder and second degree burglary. They were each sentenced to life imprisonment for the first degree murder count and to 11.25 years for the second degree burglary count. The sentences were to be served concurrently. Timely appeal was filed by both. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3) and A.R.S. § 13-4031. We affirm the convictions and the sentences.

Sometime in late May, 1982, Angela Seay, Linda Foster, and the two appellants left Oregon in appellant Hankins’ van to travel around the country visiting various friends and relatives. On June 1, 1982, the foursome checked in at the Kon Tiki Hotel in Phoenix. After moving their belongings from the van into their room, the two appellants left to visit someone in Chandler. Seay and Foster stayed at the Kon Tiki for several hours but eventually left, Seay armed with a handgun and Foster with a knife, to solicit acts of prostitution. At some point, the two women met John Hay and accompanied him to the apartment he shared with his sister, the murder victim, Patricia Hay. Seay left shortly after their *220 arrival at the apartment, telling Foster that if she (Foster) were not back at the Kon Tiki in an hour, she (Seay) and the two appellants would come get her. Foster stayed at the Hay apartment for approximately an hour and then attempted to leave. While trying to force her to stay, John Hay assaulted Foster with a knife, cutting her hand. Foster ran from the Hay apartment, returned to the Kon Tiki, left a note on the hotel room door for her friends, and made her way to the county hospital for medical attention.

At approximately the time Foster was trying to leave the Hay apartment, Seay and the two appellants were at the Kon Tiki waiting for Foster to return. They decided to go to the apartment where Seay had last seen her. They drove to the Hay apartment and arrived, unknown to them, minutes after Foster had left.

With appellant Hankins remaining in the van, Seay and appellant Satterfield approached and knocked on the apartment door. John Hay, who had been beating his sister as she lay on the couch, ran into the apartment’s only bedroom. When there was no response to his knocks, appellant Satterfield kicked in the door and entered. He approached Patricia Hay’s boyfriend, Thomas Howell, and accused him of having beaten Foster. Howell denied this and told appellant Satterfield that the person he wanted was in the bedroom. Appellant Satterfield entered the bedroom and, while searching for Foster, found John Hay in the closet. A fight ensued between the two men.

Meanwhile, a fight had also begun between Seay and Patricia Hay in the living room. Howell had gotten outside where he encountered appellant Hankins. Howell returned to the apartment, got Patricia Hay, and tried to leave. Seay pulled Patricia Hay back into the apartment. Still outside, appellant Hankins again confronted Howell. Within moments, Seay shot Patricia Hay and appellant Hankins struck Howell in the mouth. Howell and Patricia Hay managed to leave the apartment. Appellant Hankins went to the bedroom, interrupted the fight between appellant Satter-field and John Hay, and told appellant Sat-terfield that it was time to leave. Seay and the two appellants got into the van and left the Phoenix area. Appellants were arrested on June 11, 1982 in Clarinda, Iowa. Seay was arrested several days later in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Patricia Hay died of the gunshot wound. John Hay sustained a broken nose; Howell suffered a broken jaw.

Appellants filed separate appeals to this Court. On motion of the state, the appeals were consolidated. Each appellant raised two issues:

(1) Whether they were properly charged with first degree felony murder; and
(2) Whether their motion for a new trial was properly denied.

Appellant Hankins raised four additional issues:

(1) Whether his right to a speedy trial was violated;
(2) Whether the trial court erred by not granting a judgment of acquittal on all charges;
(3) Whether all the elements of felony murder were proven against him; and
(4) Whether his prosecution for first degree murder violated the fair notice or cruel and unusual punishment provisions of the United States or the Arizona Constitutions.

Appellant Satterfield raised two other issues:

(1) Whether certain medical testimony was properly admitted; and
(2) Whether he was denied effective assistance of counsel.

After appellant Hankins filed his brief with this Court, he filed a petition under Ariz.R.Crim.P. 32 with the superior court. The essence of that petition was ineffective assistance of counsel. After a hearing, his rule 32 petition was denied. He petitioned this Court to review that denial. Pursuant to Ariz.R.Crim.P. 31.4(b)(2), the review of. the denial of the rule 32 petition was con *221 solidated with his direct appeal and will be discussed herein.

APPROPRIATENESS OF THE FELONY MURDER COUNT

Both appellants argue that, under the facts stated above, they should only have been charged with aggravated assault pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-1204(A)(3) (committing assault after entering the private home of another with the intent to commit an assault). Because aggravated assault is not one of the enumerated felonies in A.R.S. § 13-1105(A)(2), their argument continues, they should not have been charged with homicide pursuant to this state’s felony murder statute. See also State v. Ess-man, 98 Ariz. 228, 235, 403 P.2d 540, 545 (1965) (“The felony-murder doctrine does not apply where the felony is an offense included in the charge of homicide. The acts of assault merge into the resultant homicide, and may not be deemed a separate and independent offense which could support a conviction for felony murder.”). Appellants’ premise is incorrect; they were properly charged with second degree burglary pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-1507(A) and, therefore, properly charged with felony murder.

A.R.S. § 13-1507(A) provides that: “A person commits burglary in the second degree by entering or remaining unlawfully in or on a residential structure with the intent to commit any theft or any felony therein.”

(Emphasis added). Aggravated assault, depending on the type, is either a class 3 or a class 6 felony.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
686 P.2d 740, 141 Ariz. 217, 1984 Ariz. LEXIS 251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hankins-ariz-1984.