State v. Politte

664 P.2d 661, 136 Ariz. 117, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 691
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 30, 1982
Docket2 CA-CR 2530, 2 CA-CR 2566-2
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 664 P.2d 661 (State v. Politte) 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. Politte, 664 P.2d 661, 136 Ariz. 117, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 691 (Ark. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

OPINION

BIRDSALL, Judge.

The appellants Gary Lindell Politte and Michael Jay Zucker were tried together on multiple counts against each. Politte was convicted of 5 counts of unlawful sale of a narcotic drug having a value of not less than $250, one count of sale with a value less than $250, one count of offer to sell and conspiracy to commit a class 2 felony (narcotics offenses). Zucker was found guilty of the conspiracy and one count of sale of narcotics with a value not less than $250. Multiple other counts charging Zucker with narcotics offenses were dismissed for insufficient evidence at the close of the state’s case. Both appellants were sentenced to prison terms. We affirm.

There were other defendants indicted with these two appellants. Except for one, Lisa Auletta, non-trial dispositions were made as to all of them. Auletta was promised before trial that even if she was found guilty the state would, at some point, permit her to plead to a probation offense. She remained a defendant throughout the presentation of the state’s case after which the state honored its promise and the charges against her were not submitted to the jury.

The appellants present only one common issue on appeal, that the admission of Lisa Auletta’s declarations under the co-conspirator exception to the hearsay rule denied them their constitutional right to confront the witnesses against them inasmuch as defendant Auletta would have been available for cross-examination had the state entered into a plea agreement with her before appellant’s trial rather than after the close of evidence. This is the only issue raised by Politte. We will consider this common issue first and then turn to the issues presented by Zucker.

The facts pertinent to our disposition of this appeal are contained in our discussion of the issues.

Sixth Amendment Confrontation Right

Out-of-court statements of the co-defendant and alleged co-conspirator, Lisa Auletta, were admitted in evidence over objection. These statements implicated both appellants in the conspiracy. They were not hearsay. Rule 801(d)(2)(E), Arizona Rules of Evidence, 17A A.R.S. 1 The statements were thus admissible unless rendered inadmissible for other reasons. The appellants contend that the admission of these statements violated their Sixth Amendment right to confrontation, Dutton v. Evans, 400 U.S. 74, 91 S.Ct. 210, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (1970). They assume that before these statements are admissible it is necessary that the declarant be “unavailable” to testify. Relying upon this premise, the appellants make a lengthy and involved argument that the state made the witness unavailable by delaying her plea to a “probation available” offense until after the trial. The state likewise makes an equally *121 long and involved argument in which it asserts its right to control the timing of such a plea so that the declarant will not be “available” to possibly testify falsely exonerating the co-defendant. There is no “unavailability” requirement in the rule and we find none in those decisions which permit a co-conspirator’s statements. Dutton v. Evans, supra; State v. Ferrari, 112 Ariz. 324, 541 P.2d 921 (1975). The principle upon which the admission of such statements rests is that a conspirator is not only liable for the acts of a co-conspirator but is likewise bound by the declarations of the co-conspirator. 4 Wigmore, Evidence Sec. 1079(1), (Chadbourn Rev. 1972).

The appellant Zucker urges the following additional issues:

1) The Auletta statements were unreliable;
2) His instruction on facilitation should have been given;
3) His trial should have been severed;
4) Sufficiency of the evidence;
5) Is the Arizona wiretap statute unconstitutional?;
6) Was the wiretap evidence admissible?

Reliability

Again both the appellant and the state have made extended arguments pro and con on the reliability of the declarant’s statements. The trial court, after an extensive hearing, found that they were reliable. Our own review of the record supports this finding. The evidence fell within the firmly rooted evidentiary rule allowing a co-conspirator’s statements, see Ohio v. Roberts, 448 U.S. 56, 100 S.Ct. 2531, 65 L.Ed.2d 597 (1980), and reliability can be inferred. The appellant’s arguments on this issue go to the weight rather than the admissibility of the evidence, as, for example, that the declarant would have a motive for lying. We see no need for detailed discussion of reliability.

Facilitation

The appellant Zucker requested that an instruction on the crime of facilitation, A.R.S. § 13-1004 2 be given, claiming it was a lesser included offense of the sale charge. Although the facts here may have supported a conviction for facilitation, that was not the charge. The charge of unlawful sale against the appellant was on the theory of aiding and abetting, and the evidence justified his conviction on that theory. The appellant is not entitled to an instruction on another offense even though he might have been charged with and convicted of that offense. State v. Teran, 130 Ariz. 277, 635 P.2d 870 (App.1981). Facilitation is not a necessary included offense of unlawful sale since the sale can be committed without necessarily committing facilitation. See State v. Harris, 134 Ariz. 287, 655 P.2d 1339 (1982).

Severance

The appellant presents three reasons for finding the trial court erred in denying his several motions for severance. We discuss them in order.

Antagonistic Defenses

The co-defendant Auletta’s participation was for all practical purposes admitted and her counsel’s opening statement, her major participation in the trial, sounded in entrapment. On the other hand the appellant’s defense was insufficiency of the state’s evidence against him. Although our Supreme Court has said that “it is generally held that separate trials should be allowed where the defenses of several defendants ... are antagonistic,” State v. Escherivel, 113 Ariz. 300, 552 P.2d 1194 (1976), it was not necessary to that decision since there the motion to sever was untimely and its denial was not error for that reason. The authority cited, 70 A.L.R. 1184, has been *122 superseded in 82 A.L.R.3d 245. In this later annotation we find that, although such a ground for severance is recognized, reversible error is found only in the presence of strong and cogent reasons. Also, there is reputable authority for the proposition that actual prejudice must be shown in addition to the antagonistic defenses. 82 A.L.R.3d 258.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
664 P.2d 661, 136 Ariz. 117, 1982 Ariz. App. LEXIS 691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-politte-arizctapp-1982.