State v. Lerma

495 P.2d 880, 17 Ariz. App. 110, 1972 Ariz. App. LEXIS 634
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedApril 17, 1972
DocketNo. 1 CA-CR 391
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 495 P.2d 880 (State v. Lerma) 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. Lerma, 495 P.2d 880, 17 Ariz. App. 110, 1972 Ariz. App. LEXIS 634 (Ark. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

STEVENS, Presiding Judge.

Alex Leon Lerma, hereinafter referred to as the defendant, was tried by a jury and convicted of the possession of a stolen automobile. He was adjudged guilty, and he was sentenced to “ * * * be incarcerated in the State Prison at Florence, Arizona for a term of not less than four (4) years, nor more than five (5) years, sentence to begin as of the time defendant reaches the State Prison in Florence, Arizona.” The defendant appealed and presents three questions for our consideration. These are:

1. the sufficiency of the evidence;

2. error in the receipt of hearsay evidence ; and,

3. whether he was entitled to credit against his sentence for the 4 months and 7 days he spent in confinement in the county jail before sentence was pronounced.

The defendant was arrested on or about 2 August 1970. A preliminary hearing was held on 13 August 1970, at the conclusion ■of which he was bound over to the Superior Court. His bond was fixed in the sum of $550.00, a bond which he did not post. On 26 August 1970 the information •on which he was tried was filed in the Superior Court and we quote the pertinent charging portion thereof as follows:

“The said ALEX LEON LERMA on or about the 2nd day of August, 1970 and before the filing of this information at and in the County of Maricopa, State of Arizona, possessed a motor vehicle belonging to Antonia Sagasta, to wit: a 1964 Four door Chevrolet, Arizona License No. LPF063, which he knew or had reason to believe had been stolen, all in violation of A.R.S. § 28-1423

The defendant was arraigned and the trial was set for 7 October. On that day he entered a plea of guilty and the time was fixed for the passing of sentence. On 23 October he was permitted to withdraw his plea of guilty and his trial took place on 19 and 20 November. The judgment of guilt and sentence were entered on 11 December 1970.

THE THEFT

While the fact of the theft is not disputed, we deem it appropriate to briefly outline the circumstances. The defendant is not charged with the theft of the automobile. The theft was established by the testimony of the owner. The owner had parked the automobile at approximately 6 P.M. on 2 August 1970. She locked the ignition so that it could not be activated without a key and she left the parked car to engage upon her employment. She gave no one permission to use the car and when she left her work at 9 P.M. on the same-, day the car was gone. There was a prompt report of the theft to the police. Not long after midnight the car was found parked some distance from the place of the owner’s employment. The engine was' still warm. The owner was called, she went to the location where the car was found ahd the car was returned to her.

THE HEARSAY

We first consider the error urged in the receipt of hearsay evidence. This relates to a statement made by the owner to the police at the place where the stolen car was recovered and returned to her. The police officer testified that the owner handed him a key which she said she had found in the front seat of the car. Later [112]*112the officer showed the key to the defendant who advised the officer that it was his house key. The key was then placed with the other property of the defendant and not thereafter seen by the officer.

Before the evidence recited above was presented to the jury, the trial court conducted a voluntariness hearing in the absence of the jury in relation to the admission of the defendant’s statement made to the officer wherein the defendant acknowledged the ownership of the key. During the hearing relative to the voluntariness of the statement we find the following :

“Q. And the key was located inside the car?
“A. Yes, sir. She said she found it in the front seat.
“MR. RAYES: Object to what she said.
“THE COURT: Well, for this hearing, why the answer can stand.”

From these proceedings counsel for the defendant was fully forewarned as to the evidence which could be contemplated. The trial court properly found that the defendant’s admission that he owned the key was voluntary.

The record clearly indicates that the defendant was in the custody of the police officer' at the time the statements in question with regard to his ownership of the key found in the stolen vehicle were made. It is our opinion that:

“The statements were freely made by accused without any threat, mistreatment, coercion, or any force which might render the statements involuntary.” Mc-Daniels v. State of Arizona, 62 Ariz. 339, 349, 158 P.2d 151, 155 (1945).

These statements were in actuality mere admissions of fact, which might or might not prove incriminating in their effect, and did not constitute a confession of guilt.

Notwithstanding the above, a confession or admission against interest is admissible where freely and voluntarily made in response to questions propounded by any public officer when, as in the instant case, the proper MIRANDA warnings have been given.

In the presence of the jury the defendant objected to the officer’s statement that the defendant had admitted the ownership of the key. The basis of the objection was that the admission arose out of an in-custody-interrogation. The objection was overruled based upon a proper showing that the defendant had been advised as to his rights and that he understood them. As to this matter no issue is presented in the appeal.

In the presence of the jury the circumstances of the discovery of the key, the statement by the owner as to where it was-found, and the admission by the defendant were the subject of the officer’s testimony. The officer admitted that he had not again seen the key and that in all probability he could not identify it. There was a defense objection that there was an absence of a proper foundation as to the identity of the key. The objection did not embrace the present contention relative to the hearsay statement attributed to the owner of the vehicle. The objection as to the foundation was overruled.

At the conclusion of the officer’s testimony we find the following motion made by the defense:

“At this time I move to strike the testimony as to the key. There’s been improper identification, improper identification as to the key. The person who-found the key is not even here to testify. All that it’s based on is hearsay testimony. Therefore I object, and I move to strike the testimony as to the key being found—given to the police officer by Mrs. Sagasta.”

[The person identified in the motion was the owner of the car in question.]

It is observed that the thrust of the motion is the lack of foundation and is not hearsay as such. Even should it be considered as a clear-cut motion to strike based upon the use of hearsay evidence the motion was not [113]*113timely. We quote briefly from two Arizona Supreme Court opinions:

“However, it is equally apparent that the basis for the objection was not an assertion of hearsay.

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Related

State v. McMurry
513 P.2d 953 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1973)

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Bluebook (online)
495 P.2d 880, 17 Ariz. App. 110, 1972 Ariz. App. LEXIS 634, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lerma-arizctapp-1972.