State v. Luzanilla

861 P.2d 682, 176 Ariz. 397
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedNovember 4, 1993
Docket2 CA-CR 91-0053, 2 CA-CR 91-0853
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 861 P.2d 682 (State v. Luzanilla) 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. Luzanilla, 861 P.2d 682, 176 Ariz. 397 (Ark. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinions

OPINION

FERNANDEZ, Judge.

Appellant Anthony Luzanilla was convicted following two jury trials of two counts of first-degree murder, one count of trafficking in stolen property, two counts of theft, and one count of conspiracy to commit theft. The trial court sentenced appellant to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murders, five years for trafficking in stolen property, five years and 1.5 years for the theft convictions, and an enhanced term of 11.25 years for conspiracy to commit theft. The court ordered the non-murder sentences to be served concurrently with the sentence for the first murder.

The charges against Luzanilla arose after he called authorities in San Diego and advised them that his best friend and subsequent codefendant, Lee Engebretson, had murdered a woman R. and her mother in Tucson. According to appellant’s testimony, he and Engebretson had been driven to the victims’ residence late the previous evening after spending most of the evening with friends shoplifting beer and cigarettes, drinking, and driving around town. Apparently, both appellant and Engebret-son had dated R. and, according to appellant, when Engebretson knocked on the door at about 1:00 a.m., R. let them into the house and led them upstairs to her bedroom. Appellant testified that, unbeknownst to him, Engebretson had taken a gun and some ammunition from the truck of a friend with whom they had been driving around town and carried it with him into the victims’ home.

Appellant stated that he sat at the end of the bed in R.’s room while Engebretson tried to persuade her to have group sex with them. When she refused and told Engebretson that she did not love him, Engebretson shot her in the head. Appellant testified he did not know what was happening until he heard the shot. Immediately thereafter, the mother came, down the hallway toward the bedroom and Enge-bretson also shot her in the head. Appellant stated that he and Engebretson were in a panic when they left the house and they took R.’s car. After stopping at the homes of family and friends for money and clothing, appellant and Engebretson left town in R.’s car. Later that morning, they sold the gun at a pawn shop in Yuma. Appellant testified that he wanted to turn himself in because he had not done anything wrong, but he was afraid of Enge-bretson and Engebretson refused to surrender. After the two reached San Diego, appellant told Engebretson he wanted to turn himself in. When appellant went inside a gas station rest room, Engebretson left in the car. Appellant then called the authorities in San Diego.

[400]*400The state tried the case on the theory that appellant was not merely present but had planned with Engebretson to sexually assault and/or steal from R. The state presented evidence that appellant knew En-gebretson had the gun and that he and Engebretson had specifically asked their friend to leave them at R.’s so they could “do a threesome.” The state also presented testimony from two of appellant’s friends that appellant had suggested previously that they steal items from R. to sell in California and that he had even suggested to one of the friends that they kill her. In addition, another of appellant’s friends testified that appellant came to his house after the murders asking for money and clothing and told the friend that he, not Engebretson, had pulled the trigger.

After the first trial, the jury found appellant guilty of trafficking in stolen property, theft by control of R.’s 1977 Camaro, and theft by control of the gun. The jury acquitted him of first-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree burglary, and conspiracy to commit theft by control. The jury failed to reach a verdict on the first-degree murder charges. On retrial, the jury convicted appellant on both counts.

Appellant raises the following issues on appeal:

(1) whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the trafficking in stolen property charge for lack of jurisdiction,

(2) whether his retrial for first-degree murder on a felony murder theory was barred by the double jeopardy provisions of the federal and state constitutions,

(3) whether his confrontation clause rights were violated by the reading of testimony from Engebretson’s trial,

(4) whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for directed verdict on the count of premeditated first-degree murder of the mother, and

(5) whether the trial court abused its discretion in various evidentiary rulings made during the course of the trial. We find none of the issues raised merits reversal.

JURISDICTION OF TRAFFICKING IN STOLEN PROPERTY COUNT

Prior to the first trial, appellant sought dismissal of the charge of trafficking in stolen property on the ground that Pima County did not have jurisdiction because the gun was sold in Yuma County. He also moved for a directed verdict on that ground. Appellant contends the trial court erred in denying his motions, arguing there was no evidence that conduct constituting an element of the offense occurred in Pima County. We disagree.

Venue is proper in a county in which conduct constituting any element of the offense occurred. A.R.S. § 13-109(A). Proper venue is a jurisdictional requirement in criminal prosecutions, and the state must prove it by a preponderance of the evidence. State v. Mohr, 150 Ariz. 564, 724 P.2d 1233 (App.1986).

In this case, analysis of the venue issue begins with the definition of “traffic” found in A.R.S. § 13-2301(B)(3):

“Traffic” means to sell, transfer, distribute, dispense or otherwise dispose of stolen property to another person, or to buy, receive, possess or obtain control of stolen property, with intent to sell, transfer, distribute, dispense or otherwise dispose of to another person.

Because possession of stolen property is an element of trafficking and the state presented evidence that appellant possessed the stolen gun in Pima County, venue was properly established. Contrary to appellant’s argument, the state was not required to prove both that appellant possessed the stolen gun and that he formulated the intent to sell it while in Pima County. While evidence of possession without intent would not be sufficient to establish the completed crime of trafficking, evidence of the element of possession alone was sufficient to establish venue in Pima County. State v. Mohr, supra (evidence only of control of stolen property in Yavapai County sufficient to establish venue there).

[401]*401DOUBLE JEOPARDY EFFECT ON RETRIAL FOR FELONY MURDER

Appellant next argues that the double jeopardy provisions of both the state and federal constitutions barred the state from retrying him for the first-degree murders on a felony murder theory after the first jury acquitted him of first-degree burglary. Appellant reasons that, in acquitting him of first-degree burglary, the jury necessarily determined that he did not enter or remain in the victims’ home with the intent to commit a felony; therefore, there could be no underlying felony to support a felony murder theory.

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861 P.2d 682 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1993)

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Bluebook (online)
861 P.2d 682, 176 Ariz. 397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-luzanilla-arizctapp-1993.