State v. Madsen

609 P.2d 1046, 125 Ariz. 346, 1980 Ariz. LEXIS 192
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 26, 1980
Docket4353
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 609 P.2d 1046 (State v. Madsen) 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. Madsen, 609 P.2d 1046, 125 Ariz. 346, 1980 Ariz. LEXIS 192 (Ark. 1980).

Opinion

CAMERON, Justice.

This is an appeal by Ronald Lee Madsen from a jury verdict and judgment of guilt to the crime of first degree murder in violation of A.R.S. §§ 13-451, —452, as amended; and § 13-453(A), as amended; and a sentence of death pursuant to A.R.S. § 13 — 454. 1 We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. § 13 — 4031.

We must determine five questions on appeal:

1. Was the search of defendant’s trailer violative of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution in that the search warrant did not describe with sufficient particularity the place to be searched?
2. Were certain of the prosecutor’s questions cross-examination by innuendo and prejudice?
3. Did the trial court err when, during the defendant’s closing argument, he struck from the record previously admitted evidence regarding a polygraph?
4. Was the death sentence appropriate in this case?
5. Did the trial court err in denying defendant’s motion for new trial based upon newly discovered medical evidence?

The facts necessary for a determination of this matter on appeal are as follows. Defendant Ron Madsen and his wife Robyn Lesene Madsen were married in September of 1974 and lived and worked near Bullhead City, Arizona. On 20 February 1976, Robyn filed for dissolution of marriage. A reconciliation was attempted but failed, and the parties were still separated in January of 1977.

About one week prior to Robyn’s death, defendant, accompanied by his friend Jay Charnell, drove to pick up Robyn for an outing. Jay was dropped off along the road with the agreement that when defendant returned with Robyn, Jay should pretend to be a hitchhiker. When defendant and Robyn drove by later, they picked up Jay who said he was going to Kingman for auto parts. Defendant asked Robyn if she wanted to stop in the desert to target shoot. Robyn declined, and defendant then suggested they get together the next weekend to sight in their rifles for an upcoming j avelina hunt. Robyn agreed and asked Jay to come along. He agreed.

On 23 January 1977, Jay, defendant, and Robyn went target shooting in the desert between Bullhead City and Kingman, Arizona. After a period of target shooting, defendant walked off to the right with his .30-06 rifle which had been sighted at *348 100 feet. Defendant told them he was looking for rabbits to shoot. Jay Charnell was throwing cans for Robyn to shoot. Jay testified he threw a can for Robyn, heard a loud shot, looked at Robyn and found her lying on the ground. She had been struck in the head by a bullet from the left. Jay testified that defendant approached from the left and said, “there, it’s done.” He also testified that defendant rubbed gravel on his arms so it would look like he had fallen. Defendant later claimed that he had tripped on a clump of grass, falling onto his hands and knees, and the gun had gone off as he fell.

Defendant covered Robyn’s head with a blanket, put her in the truck and drove her to the Mohave General Hospital in King-man, where she died from the gunshot wound. Jay testified that on the drive to Kingman, defendant practiced the story he would tell to explain the accidental shooting. He also practiced crying so he would appear emotionally distraught before the authorities.

Police met them at the hospital and interviewed them regarding the shooting. The stories Jay and defendant told regarding the incident were inconsistent in several regards. After Jay spoke to the police, he wrote defendant a note warning him he had not given the agreed-upon story. The note stated:

“You shot from the wrong side so I had to change the story. She was facing toward Bullhead. You were in the gully on the left of here. I was to your left. Robyn yelled its time to go and we started walking toward the truck. You slipped and the gun went off.”

Jay further testified that several days before the shooting, defendant had made him write and sign a note regarding the shooting. Jay claims to have been so intoxicated at the time of the writing that he did not remember the contents of the note until police showed it to him after Robyn’s death. That note said:

“I Jay A. Charnell, plotted the death of Robyn Madsen with Ron Madsen for the weekend of 1-8-77. /s/ Jay Charnell.”

Jay left the state shortly after the incident. He was arrested in Alabama and agreed to testify for the State.

While incarcerated awaiting trial, defendant became friends with a fellow inmate, Dan Ford. Through written notes, defendant offered Mr. Ford an initial $15,000 and $25,000 later if he would murder Jay Charnell and Robert Bennett, another witness. Defendant told Ford that his stepfather would pay him and that they would both go free.

Defendant was convicted of first degree murder, sentenced to death, and appeals.

SEARCH OF THE TRAILER

Defendant and Mr. Fred Madsen, defendant’s stepfather, and Lillie Madsen, defendant’s mother, lived in two trailer houses on Hancock Road on adjoining parcels of land. A wire fence encircled both trailers so that there was only one entrance for the two trailers. There was no fence separating the two trailers. Neither trailer had a street address indicated on it, but the elder Mad-sens’ trailer bore a sign, “the Madsen’s, Fred and Lillie.” Although the lot upon which defendant’s trailer was located was Number 698 E. Hancock Road, both he and the elder Madsens referred to the whole compound as 706 E. Hancock. Defendant gave 706 as his address on several occasions during the proceedings, and Jay Charnell gave 706 as defendant’s address at the hospital on the day of Robyn’s shooting.

After Robyn’s death, defendant dated a woman named Sherri Chute. During an argument while he was intoxicated, defendant showed Ms. Chute several notes he had concealed in the hatband of his cowboy hat. These notes incriminated both defendant and Jay Charnell in a conspiracy to murder Robyn. Ms. Chute noted the hiding place in which defendant again placed the notes, and later related the incident and the whereabouts of the notes to a Mr. Robert Bennett. When defendant was away from his trailer, Mr. Bennett and Ms. Chute went to the trailer, located and read the notes. Bennett then secured the notes by taping *349 them to the inside of one of the closets in the trailer. Bennett then informed a deputy sheriff of the contents and whereabouts of the notes. Pursuant to this information, Officer Dow filed an affidavit seeking authorization to search the premises at “706 E. Hancock Road, Riviera, Arizona.” Judge McCune issued the requested warrant for “the premises known as 706 E.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
609 P.2d 1046, 125 Ariz. 346, 1980 Ariz. LEXIS 192, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-madsen-ariz-1980.