State v. Shook

404 P.2d 724, 1 Ariz. App. 458
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedAugust 6, 1965
DocketNo. 2 CA-CR 21
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 404 P.2d 724 (State v. Shook) 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. Shook, 404 P.2d 724, 1 Ariz. App. 458 (Ark. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

MOLLOY, Judge.

This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence for grand theft. There are eight assignments of error.

The evidence at the trial established that the defendant was hired on or about April 7, 1963, as a service station attendant in' a privately owned service station in Tucson, Arizona. He was working the graveyard shift. On April 6, the defendant had registered at a small hotel in Tucson, Arizona. He checked out of the hotel on the evening of April 12, 1963. That same night he reported to the service station at approximately 10:30 p. m., and assumed charge of the station, its stock of mer[460]*460chandise on hand, the cash on hand, and certain used cars which were on sale by the owner of the station. Between 12 and 12:30 that night, the defendant had departed without notifying the owner or anyone else, the lights were turned off at the station, one of the used cars was missing and certain cash monies were gone.

The missing automobile was located some six months later in Sonora, Mexico, in a very run-down condition. Approximately a year later the defendant was apprehended. Interrogation by the police resulted in a partial confession which was introduced in evidence over objection. The defendant did not take the stand in defense.

The circumstances giving rise to the confession were that the defendant was taken from the Pima County jail at about 8:30 a. m., on May 21, 1964, to the city jail. In an interview room there he was questioned by a police officer. Subsequently, his written statement was prepared and signed in the presence of one other officer and a stenographer. The entire proceedings, including the signing of a written statement, was concluded by 10:30 a. m. Prior to commencing the interrogation, the officer informed the defendant of the nature of the charges against him, that the defendant did not have to make any statement and that any statement made might be used against him. Prior to the commencement of the questioning, the defendant asked if he would be provided with a lawyer and he was informed by the police officer that he would have to get his own lawyer. Other than this, there was no request by the defendant for counsel.

The charges filed against the defendant were grand theft of the automobile and grand theft of cash in excess of $50.00. In the written statement taken from the defendant he admitted the taking of the car, without any statement being made as to intent to permanently deprive the owner thereof, and he admitted taking $45.00, approximately, from the cash drawer. The jury convicted the defendant of the charge of grand theft of the automobile and acquitted the defendant of the charge of grand theft of $50.00 or more.

The first three assignments of error pertain to the admission of the confession in evidence. It is asserted that the trial court erred in admitting the confession because the defendant did not have benefit of counsel when the statement was taken. Also, there is assigned as error the sustaining of an objection to a question to a police officer as to whether, in the opinion of the police officer, there was sufficient time for the defendant to have procured counsel between the time that the defendant asked whether counsel would be provided to him and the time that the interrogation commenced.

This court believes the decision of State v. Miranda, 98 Ariz. 18, 401 P.2d 721, released on April 22, 1965, is conclusive of the defendant’s contention that his constitutional rights were violated in not providing him with counsel in connection with the interrogation at the police department. In this decision the landmark case of Escobedo v. State of Illinois (1964), 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977, is analyzed and found to contain five elements :

“(1) The general inquiry into an unsolved crime must have begun to focus on a particular suspect. (2) The suspect must have been taken into police custody. (3) The police in its interrogation must have elicited an incriminating statement. (4) The suspect must have requested and been denied an opportunity to consult with his lawyer. (5) The police must not have effectively warned the suspect of his constitutional rights to remain silent.”

In the case now before this court, elements (4) and (5) from this analysis are absent. Counsel for the defendant asks us to extend the rule of Escobedo so as to cover the present situation.

The triers of fact in criminal trials have the heavy responsibility of separating the guilty from the innocent. To perform [461]*461this task, they need as much light as can legitimately he cast upon the case at hand. Evidence which will aid juries in making rightful determinations should be kept from them only for the most cogent reasons. As the rate of crime in this country continues to rise, our society in its desperate efforts to fight this carcinoma at its innards will place greater emphasis upon the conviction of law violators. This is no time to be turning out the lights on the ■operating table where the distinction between cancer and healthy tissue must be made.

In the instant case, without the statement of the defendant, there is only ■circumstantial evidence of guilt. This court, and undoubtedly the jury that brought in its verdict in this case, will sleep better because of the defendant’s explanation. This court sees no boon to our way of life in extending the rule of Escobedo so as to nullify the insight given by the defendant’s admissions.

As to the question soliciting of the police officer his opinion as to the sufficiency of the time to obtain counsel, this court holds that the question calls for the conclusion of a witness in an area where opinion evidence is not particularly helpful to the trier of fact. It was not error to sustain the objection. Finn v. J. H. Rose Truck Lines (1965) 1 Ariz.App. 27, 398 P.2d 935.

The fourth assignment of error alleges that the defendant was prejudiced by the ■“frequent objections and interruptions” of the prosecuting attorney during the trial. In argument, it is stated that the State’s attorney made 140 objections. In answering brief, the State contends there were 132 objections so made, with only 61 being ■overruled. The prosecuting attorney was ■severely admonished by the trial court on several occasions and both counsel were once threatened with a jail sentence if -they did not quiet down.

Annoying as this conduct must have been to all participating in this trial, nevertheless this court does not find that the defendant was prejudiced. It seems more likely that the State’s case was prejudiced by the overzealousness of its counsel. There was no extraneous matter injected into the trial by these objections. With few exceptions, all objections were made to keep evidence out of the record, or to require the rephrasing of questions. Not finding that the defendant was prejudiced by this conduct, this court refuses to reverse the judgment of the trial court. Art. 6 § 27, Constitution of the State of Arizona, A.R.S.

The fifth assignment pertains to the admission of hotel records, the objection being that they were irrelevant. This court holds that the registration record pertaining to the defendant, showing when he checked out of the hotel, has some evidentiary value insofar as this case is concerned.

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Bluebook (online)
404 P.2d 724, 1 Ariz. App. 458, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-shook-arizctapp-1965.