State v. Strong

875 P.2d 166, 178 Ariz. 507, 1993 Ariz. App. LEXIS 250
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedNovember 9, 1993
Docket2 CA-CR 92-0894
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 875 P.2d 166 (State v. Strong) 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. Strong, 875 P.2d 166, 178 Ariz. 507, 1993 Ariz. App. LEXIS 250 (Ark. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

OPINION

LIVERMORE, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was charged with unlawful sale of a narcotic drug and unlawful offer to sell a narcotic drug, both class two felonies. Following a jury trial, he was acquitted of the sale but convicted of the offer. He admitted one prior conviction and commission of the offense while on pretrial release. The trial court imposed a presumptive, enhanced term of 12.5 years in prison.

On appeal, appellant first argues that his conviction must be reversed because the jury was not instructed on one element of the offense, that is, intent to sell. Although the statute under which he was charged, A.R.S. § 13-3408(A)(7), only forbids “knowingly” offering to sell a narcotic drug and does not expressly require proof of intent to sell, appellant contends that this is nonetheless an element of the offense. He relies on commentary to the 1978 criminal code revisions indicating that prior case law remained applicable to the new provisions on drug offenses.

Admittedly, the predecessor to § 13-3408(A)(7) had been construed to require proof of a specific intent to sell. See State v. Enriquez, 109 Ariz. 570, 514 P.2d 491 (1973). Unlike the present statute, however, the pri- or statute contained no specific mens rea. Section 13-3408(A)(7) requires proof that the defendant “knowingly” offered to sell the drug. There is thus no reason to read into the statute the additional requirement of proof of intent to sell. The jury was properly instructed that it must find that appellant acted “knowingly,” and was given the statutory definition of that term. We therefore find no error in the instructions.

We also reject appellant’s related argument that, absent the incorporation of a specific intent requirement, § 13-3408(A)(7) is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, denies him equal protection and due process, and violates the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. One basis for this argument is his contention that without a mens rea requirement, the statute punishes persons whose “offers” are “fraudulent, insincere or made in jest.” This argument is negated by the requirement that a defendant act “knowingly,” that is, that the defendant “is aware or believes that his or her conduct” is that “described by a statute defining an offense....” A.R.S. § 13-105(6)(b). The conduct proscribed by the statute in question here is an offer to sell narcotic drugs. To be convicted, a defendant must be aware or believe that he or she is making such an offer. This clearly would not include the sort of conduct described by appellant. Accordingly, we find no merit to this constitutional claim. Appellant’s remaining constitutional claims have been disposed of by Division *509 One’s decision in State v. Padilla, 169 Ariz. 70, 817 P.2d 15 (App.1991).

Appellant next contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction because the evidence showed only preliminary negotiations. We disagree. We note initially that an offer to sell a narcotic drug is a completed offense. State v. Padilla, supra. That is, the state was not required to prove that the narcotic was produced or that money changed hands. The evidence here was that an undercover officer went to a residence where he had previously purchased crack cocaine from appellant to negotiate a larger purchase. The officer testified that appellant came outside and asked “if I still wanted to purchase the narcotics from him, the cocaine.” After the officer went to his truck to get appellant a beer, “Ricky and I talked about a price, being $400 for a half ounce of cocaine. Ricky said to come back at around 9:00 o’clock that evening and we’d be ready to go.”

The officer came back at 9:30, and appellant arrived shortly thereafter, asking what had taken the officer so long. He then said that he would be right back and left again in his vehicle. Appellant did not return, but was observed by surveillance officers cruising back and forth in front of the house. The surveillance officers concluded that appellant had spotted them and they drove off. Appellant followed the officers for awhile, then split off from them and never returned to the residence. He was arrested three months later. The evidence that appellant asked if the officer wanted to buy more cocaine and negotiated a price, together with his actions in arranging for a later meeting and his conduct and conversation at that second meeting, was more than sufficient to support the conviction.

Next, appellant argues that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting the officer’s testimony as to a statement made by “Doris,” another drug dealer who was present at the residence when the officer arrived. The officer parked his truck, walked to the rear of the residence and met Doris, who told him to “stick my head in and say hi to Ricky, meaning stick my head through the open window.” The officer did so, saw appellant playing drums and appellant responded that he would be out in a few minutes. Appellant argued that Doris’s statement was inadmissible hearsay, reinforcing the state’s case against appellant’s defense of misidentification.

Although its ruling is not entirely clear, it appears that the trial court concluded that the statement “say hi to Ricky” was not hearsay because it was not admitted to prove the truth of the words spoken, that is, to prove that the person she referred to was Ricky. We agree, for two reasons. First, the statement was not intended as an assertion by the declarant that the person inside her house was named Ricky. Rather, it was intended as a directive to the officer to speak to the person in her house, whatever his name might be. Had there been a dispute as to whether anyone was in the house, the statement' would have been hearsay. Cf. State v. Carrillo, 156 Ariz. 120, 750 P.2d 878 (App.1987), vacated in part on other grounds, 156 Ariz. 125, 750 P.2d 883 (1988). But no one disputed that another person was in the house who responded to the salutation and ultimately came out and spoke with the officer. Moreover, the issue here was not whether the person to whom the officer was referred was named Ricky, but rather whether he was the same person the officer identified in court as appellant. Because Doris’s statement was not intended as an assertion pertaining to that issue, it was not hearsay. Second, the statement was admissible to show the effect on the hearer, that is, how the officer first made contact with appellant that night. For that reason also, the statement was not hearsay. See State v. Hernandez, 170 Ariz. 301, 823 P.2d 1309 (App.1991).

Appellant also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in precluding expert testimony on eyewitness identification, citing State v. Chapple, 135 Ariz. 281, 660 P.2d 1208 (1983).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
875 P.2d 166, 178 Ariz. 507, 1993 Ariz. App. LEXIS 250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-strong-arizctapp-1993.