State v. Price

145 P.3d 647, 213 Ariz. 550, 490 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 10, 2006 Ariz. App. LEXIS 134
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedOctober 31, 2006
Docket1 CA-CR 04-0508
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 145 P.3d 647 (State v. Price) 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. Price, 145 P.3d 647, 213 Ariz. 550, 490 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 10, 2006 Ariz. App. LEXIS 134 (Ark. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

OPINION

THOMPSON, Judge.

¶ 1 Jacob Price (defendant) raises three issues on appeal following his conviction for one count of drive-by shooting, a class 2 dangerous felony, three counts of aggravated assault, class 3 dangerous felonies, one count of possession of a dangerous drug, a class 4 felony, and one count of misconduct involving weapons, a class 4 felony. For the following reasons, we affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences.

DISCUSSION

A. The Identification of Defendant

¶2 Defendant first asserts that the identification of him violated his constitutional right to a fair trial. Specifically, he asserts that the trial court erred in denying his late motion for a Dessureault hearing, committed fundamental error in allowing an in-eourt identification that was tainted by a suggestive pretrial show-up with defendants picture, and by denying his request for a Dessureault instruction. See State v. Dessu-reault, 104 Ariz. 380, 453 P.2d 951 (1969). We find no abuse of discretion by the trial court.

¶ 3 Defendant admits that his motion was untimely when it was made on the second day of trial. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 16.1(b). Rule 16.1(c) provides that any motion not timely raised ... shall be precluded unless the party did not or could not through reasonable diligence have known the basis for the motion. Nevertheless, the trial court did consider and deny the motion. We find no abuse of discretion in the trial courts determination that the motion was untimely or its conclusion that there was no merit to the allegation that the identification procedure was unduly suggestive, or that it tainted the in-eourt identification. See State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 603, 832 P.2d 593, 620 (1992) (finding no error when the trial court determined that the witnesses’ identification of defendant was reliable under the totality of the circumstances).

¶ 4 As to defendants claim that the victims in-court identification was tainted, we find that the victim had a good opportunity to see defendant in his vehicle prior to when he began shooting, that she made the show-up identification based on defendants identify card left in the abandoned vehicle shortly after the crime, and that her identification of defendant was highly consistent with her earlier description of the shooter to the police. Although the use of defendants identity card was suggestive, there is no indication that the identification was unreliable. See State v. Williams, 144 Ariz. 433, 440, 698 P.2d 678, 685 (1985) (holding that a suggestive identification is admissible when the circumstances surrounding the identification show the identification to be reliable). The victim testified at trial that she was 100 percent positive that the defendant seated in the courtroom was the shooter based on her initial observation of him in his vehicle. Because we find no error in the in-eourt identification of defen *552 dant and find that the pretrial identification was not unduly suggestive, defendant was not entitled to a Dessureault instruction in addition to the instruction that the jury needed to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crime. See State v. Moran, 109 Ariz. 30, 31, 504 P.2d 931, 932 (1972); State v. Barr, 183 Ariz. 434, 442, 904 P.2d 1258, 1266 (App.1995) (the trial court is not required to provide additional instructions that merely reiterate or enlarge the instructions in a defendant’s language) (citations omitted).

B. Lesser-ineluded Jury Instruction

¶ 5 Defendant next asserts that the trial court erred in denying his request for a jury instruction on the lesser-ineluded offense of disturbing the peace on the aggravated assault charges. We review the trial courts decision to refuse a jury instruction under an abuse of discretion standard. State v. Brown, 204 Ariz. 405, 407-08, 64 P.3d 847, 849-50 (App.2003).

¶ 6 The trial court must instruct on a lesser-ineluded offense if requested and if the evidence supports such an instruction. State v. Detrich, 178 Ariz. 380, 383, 873 P.2d 1302, 1305 (1994); Ariz. R.Crim. P. 23.3. The test for whether an offense is a lesserineluded offense is whether the offense is, by its nature, always a constituent part of the greater offense, or whether the charging document describes the lesser offense even if it is not always a constituent part of the greater offense. State v. Chabolla-Hinojosa, 192 Ariz. 360, 363, § 12, 965 P.2d 94, 97 (App.1998). A lesser-ineluded offense instruction must be given if the jury could rationally find that the state failed to prove the distinguishing element of the greater offense. See Detrich, 178 Ariz. at 383, 873 P.2d at 1305; State v. Corona, 188 Ariz. 85, 89, 932 P.2d 1356, 1360 (App.1997).

¶ 7 Here, defendant was charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault and misconduct involving a weapon arising from a vehicle to vehicle drive-by shooting. His defense was that he was misidentified as the shooter despite the fact that his identity card and gun were found in the suspect vehicle which was registered to defendant and his sister. Had the jury accepted defendants version of the facts, it would have been required to acquit him. Under no theory could he have been guilty of disturbing the peace. Because defendants sole defense was mistaken identity, the trial court did not err in denying his motion for a lesser-ineluded offense instruction.

C. Sentencing Issues

¶ 8 Finally, defendant asserts that his sentences on five of the six charges were unconstitutional, pursuant to Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296, 124 S.Ct. 2531, 159 L.Ed.2d 403 (2004), because a jury did not determine the aggravating factors used for sentencing. Defendant concedes, while preserving the argument for higher review, that this court has already found Atizonas sentencing scheme constitutional. See State v. Superior Court (Tinnell), 209 Ariz. 195, 197, §§ 6-7, 98 P.3d 881, 883 (App.2004). He asserts that the method used in his case rendered his sentencing, as related to aggravating sentences, unconstitutional.

¶ 9 The trial court found that defendant was a danger to the community and that, by a preponderance of the evidence, defendant was involved in an unrelated homicide shooting for which he was later acquitted [CR 2002-016477] tried before the same judge.

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Related

State v. Price
171 P.3d 1223 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
145 P.3d 647, 213 Ariz. 550, 490 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 10, 2006 Ariz. App. LEXIS 134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-price-arizctapp-2006.