State v. Moorman

744 P.2d 679, 154 Ariz. 578, 1987 Ariz. LEXIS 203
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 6, 1987
Docket6558
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 744 P.2d 679 (State v. Moorman) 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. Moorman, 744 P.2d 679, 154 Ariz. 578, 1987 Ariz. LEXIS 203 (Ark. 1987).

Opinion

FELDMAN, Vice Chief Justice.

Defendant, Robert Henry Moorman, challenges both his conviction and his sentence for first degree murder. We have review of this automatic appeal pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3) and A.R.S. §§ 13-4031 and -4033.

FACTS

On January 12, 1984, Moorman, an inmate of the Arizona State Prison at Florence, 1 was released to his 74-year-old adoptive mother, Roberta Claude Moorman, for a three-day compassionate furlough. The two were staying in room 22 of the Blue Mist Motel, close to the prison. The following evening, George Johnson, owner of a pizza restaurant near the motel, told two police officers, Donald Thuesen and Keith Hyland, that Moorman had asked if he could dispose of some “cow guts” in the restaurant’s dumpster. Johnson, who had worked at the prison and knew Moorman, was suspicious of Moorman’s “guilty look.” Johnson also mentioned to the officers that Moorman had said his mother was ill.

Officers Thuesen and Hyland confirmed Moorman’s furlough status with prison personnel. They learned that Moorman was staying with his mother at the Blue Mist Motel. After checking several dumpsters and discovering nothing out of the ordinary, at about 11:00 p.m. the officers decided to look in on Moorman and his mother at the motel. Moorman told them that his mother felt better and had left earlier that evening with a friend, whom *581 Moorman did not know. He told the officers that he did not know where his mother was, and that he was growing concerned. Moorman invited the officers into the motel room, which had a medicinal smell. Thuesen and Hyland also spoke with the motel owner, who thought he had seen Mrs. Moorman around 6:00 p.m. Because this latter information was consistent with Moorman’s statements, the officers did not then think anything was out of line with Moorman’s story.

Thuesen and Hyland informed their superior, Captain Terry Horrall, that Mrs. Moorman was missing. They unsuccessfully searched for her. At about 1:00 a.m. on the 14th, Thuesen and Hyland returned to the motel and parked. Moorman came out of the room and told the officers that his mother had not returned and that he was worried about her because she had not taken her blood pressure medicine. Captain Horrall and another officer arrived and Moorman brought them into his room to show them his mother’s medicine. The officers noticed small, brownish-red spots on the floor and wall; the floor appeared wet. During the conversation, Moorman told Horrall a different story from the one he had told Thuesen and Hyland earlier. He now said that his mother had asked him to purchase a knife as a gift for someone, and when he returned, she was gone. Horrall questioned Moorman about the “cow guts” and Moorman said that a cousin had given them to him and that he had flushed them down the toilet.

The police left Moorman’s room around 1:20 a.m. Horrall told Thuesen and Hyland to keep the room under surveillance. About fifteen minutes later, Moorman left the room to use a pay telephone. At that time, according to police logs and testimony, Horrall instructed Thuesen and Hyland not to let Moorman back into the room. The police logs say that the instruction was to “secure” Moorman. There was some confusion at trial whether Horrall’s command came seven minutes before or immediately after the police learned that a prison employee, at Moorman’s request, had picked up a box of “dog bones” from Moor-man shortly after midnight.

After receiving the instruction to secure Moorman, Thuesen asked Moorman if he wanted to sit in the police car with the officers and wait for his mother. Moorman got into the car. Shortly after 2:30 a.m., two prison authorities arrived and, out of Moorman’s hearing, told Thuesen and Hyland that the box retrieved from the prison contained human body parts. Thuesen then told Moorman that he was under arrest for suspicion of murder.

At trial, Moorman admitted that he had killed his mother, but claimed that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. See A.R.S. § 13-502. A jury rejected Moor-man’s insanity defense and convicted him of first degree murder. A.R.S. § 13-1105. The trial court sentenced him to death. A.R.S. § 13-703. Moorman contends that his conviction should be overturned and that he should receive a new trial for seven reasons:

1. Post-arrest incriminating statements and a confession should have been suppressed because the police lacked probable cause to arrest.

2. Evidence seized from his motel room should have been suppressed because the search warrant did not list the items to be seized.

3. Evidence seized without a search warrant from Moorman’s former living quarters at the prison should have been suppressed.

4. Statements and physical evidence taken at the police station should have been suppressed because Moorman was denied his right to counsel and because the statements were involuntary, unknowing, and unintelligent.

5. Irrelevant and unduly prejudicial photographs should not have been admitted.

6. A.R.S. § 13-502(B) (Supp.1986) is unconstitutional because it:

a. requires a defendant to prove insanity by “clear and convincing” evidence;

b. places the burden of proving insanity upon a defendant; and

*582 c. usurps the rule-making powers granted exclusively to the Arizona Supreme Court.

7. The trial judge erred in complying with defendant’s request that the jury not be instructed on lesser-included offenses.

In addition, Moorman claims that the trial court improperly sentenced him to death because it impermissibly found several aggravating factors and should have found other mitigating factors. We address each of these issues in turn.

I. PROBABLE CAUSE TO ARREST

Moorman contends that he was arrested without probable cause at 1:35 a.m. on Saturday, January 14, when Officers Thuesen and Hyland asked him to sit with them in the police car. Moorman argues that the fruits of his illegal arrest—statements and other evidence used against him—should have been suppressed. See Taylor v. Alabama, 457 U.S. 687, 102 S.Ct. 2664, 73 L.Ed.2d 314 (1982); Brown v. Illinois, 422 U.S. 590, 95 S.Ct. 2254, 45 L.Ed.2d 416 (1975). The trial court admitted the evidence on the ground that, regardless whether Moorman was under arrest at 1:35 a.m., the police had probable cause to arrest him at that time.

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

Related

State v. Osgood
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023
State of Arizona v. George Willie Rios
528 P.3d 479 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2023)
State v. Gaspar
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2022
Soza v. Marner
430 P.3d 1265 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2018)
State of Arizona v. Michael Jonathon Carlson
266 P.3d 369 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2011)
Moormann v. Ryan
628 F.3d 1102 (Ninth Circuit, 2010)
State v. Roque
141 P.3d 368 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2006)
Moormann v. Schriro
Ninth Circuit, 2005
State v. Smith
90 P.3d 221 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2004)
State of Arizona v. Tony Dewayne Smith
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2004
State v. Casey
71 P.3d 351 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2003)
State of Arizona v. Alice C. Jeffrey
Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2002
State v. Jeffrey
50 P.3d 861 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2002)
State v. Farley
19 P.3d 1258 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2001)
State v. Preston
4 P.3d 1004 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2000)
State v. Wagner
976 P.2d 250 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1999)
State v. Spreitz
945 P.2d 1260 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1997)
State v. Spears
908 P.2d 1062 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. Murray
906 P.2d 542 (Arizona Supreme Court, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
744 P.2d 679, 154 Ariz. 578, 1987 Ariz. LEXIS 203, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-moorman-ariz-1987.