State v. LaBarre

561 P.2d 764, 114 Ariz. 440, 1977 Ariz. App. LEXIS 518
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 1, 1977
Docket1 CA-CR 1613
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 561 P.2d 764 (State v. LaBarre) 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. LaBarre, 561 P.2d 764, 114 Ariz. 440, 1977 Ariz. App. LEXIS 518 (Ark. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

OPINION

SCHROEDER, Presiding Judge.

Appellant appeals from his conviction and sentence to consecutive terms of not less than one nor more than 14 years on six counts of perjury arising from his testimony in a prior prosecution for robbery. 1 This *442 Court has carefully reviewed the voluminous record. We find that two of the perjury counts involved answers to essentially the same question, and therefore vacate the conviction on one of those counts. We find not other reversible error and affirm the remaining convictions and sentences.

The issues raised by the appellant can be summarized as follows:

1. Whether defendant can properly be convicted of multiple counts of perjury arising from testimony in one trial. If so, were two of the counts so redundant as to result in double punishment?
2. whether defendant was denied his rights to speedy trial.
3. Whether the State improperly amended the information shortly before trial to substitute the exact day of commission of the alleged crime for the approximation contained in the original information.
4. Whether the trial court should have made inquiry of the jury members concerning allegedly prejudicial remarks made in their presence.
5. Was there fundamental error in connection with the admission and instructions to the jury on certain statements made by the defendant after the defendant had withdrawn any objection to the admission of the statements?
6. Does the State’s failure to make certain disclosures to the defendant require reversal?
7. Should certain identification testimony have been suppressed?
8. Was testimony concerning a prior shooting improperly admitted?
9. Was there improper restriction of the defendant’s right to cross-examine certain witnesses?
10. Was the sentence excessive?
11. Was there error in the court’s refusal to give requested accomplice and credibility instructions?
12. Should a mistrial have been declared on the basis of certain remarks by the prosecutor?
13. Should the State have been collaterally estopped from charging the defendant with perjury?

MULTIPLE COUNTS OF PERJURY

The defendant was charged and convicted on six counts of perjury arising from statements he made under oath during testimony in a prior trial. Appellant asks that we follow early decisions of courts in Georgia and Maine holding that when one takes an oath as a witness, violation of that oath can give rise to only one perjury even though the defendant may be guilty of several different falsehoods during the testimony. Black v. State, 13 Ga.App. 541, 79 S.E. 173 (1913); Clackum v. State, 55 Ga. App. 44, 189 S.E. 397 (1936); State v. Shannon, 136 Me. 127, 3 A.2d 899 (1939).

The Arizona perjury statute, A.R.S. § 13-561, makes the gravamen of the offense the making of a false “material statement under oath. . . .” The offense is not merely the violation of the oath. Our statute is the model act on perjury § 1, 9B Uniform Laws Annotated (1966), which is patterned after the federal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1621. The leading federal case discussing the very question raised by appellant here is Seymour v. United States, 77 F.2d 577 (8th Cir. 1935), which squarely held that “the commission of perjury as to one matter does not absolve the witness or afford him immunity as to all other matters covered by his testimony at the same hearing.” See also United States v. Tyrone, 451 F.2d 16 (9th Cir. 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 1075, 92 S.Ct. 1494, 31 L.Ed.2d 808.

Although the “one oath, one perjury” theory has never expressly been confronted in Arizona, our courts have upheld multiple counts of perjury stemming from a single oath. See State v. Cousins, 4 Ariz.App. 318, 420 P.2d 185 (1966); State v. Nobel, 2 Ariz. App. 532, 410 P.2d 489 (1966). Accordingly, we reject appellant’s contention that the violation of an oath by separate and distinct material false statements can give rise to only one charge of perjury.

*443 The State recognizes, however, that in order to give rise to multiple counts of perjury, there must in fact be “distinct, separate, and material offenses.” United States v. Cason, 39 F. Supp. 731 (D.La. 1941). See also Masinia v. United States, 296 F.2d 871 (8th Cir. 1961). The state acknowledges that the offense of perjury cannot be compounded by the repetition of the same question.

We then must determine whether the six counts of perjury in this case were in fact based upon separate and distinct statements. We find that four of the counts, Counts Three through Six, do constitute statements in response to four separate and distinct questions. Count Three was a denial of knowledge concerning a money belt. Appellant protests that the denial was ambiguous, but in full context, we find no ambiguity. 2 Court Four was a denial of having been given a description of the residence. Count Five related to a denial of any discussion about the residence, and Count Six was a denial of a phone call to anyone admitting participation in the robbery and possession of certain photos taken from the house.

However, Counts One and Two are not so distinguishable. The question in each is virtually the same, i. e., whether the appellant was one of the robbers. The answer to each, although in slightly different form was a denial. 3 In Masinia, supra, the court considered it improper to charge two counts of perjury based on two denials that the defendant had been in the robbed jewelry store. We conclude that Counts One and Two in this case are similarly duplicitous. Therefore, the conviction and sentence under one of these counts must be vacated.

SPEEDY TRIAL

Appellant was brought to trial 185 days after his initial appearance. Rule 8.2, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, requires that a defendant who is not in custody must be tried within 120 days from the date of initial appearance or 90 days from the date of arraignment, whichever is the lesser.

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

Related

State Ex Rel. Porter v. Recht
566 S.E.2d 283 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2002)
State v. Fodor
880 P.2d 662 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1994)
Commonwealth v. Silva
516 N.E.2d 161 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, 1987)
Smith v. State
443 A.2d 985 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 1982)
Commonwealth v. Gurney
433 N.E.2d 471 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 1982)
State v. Tresize
623 P.2d 1 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1980)
State v. LaBarre
610 P.2d 1058 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1980)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
561 P.2d 764, 114 Ariz. 440, 1977 Ariz. App. LEXIS 518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-labarre-arizctapp-1977.