State v. White

770 P.2d 328, 160 Ariz. 24, 27 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 37, 1989 Ariz. LEXIS 22
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 9, 1989
DocketCR-86-0389-AP
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 770 P.2d 328 (State v. White) 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. White, 770 P.2d 328, 160 Ariz. 24, 27 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 37, 1989 Ariz. LEXIS 22 (Ark. 1989).

Opinion

WILLIAM A. HOLOHAN, Justice

(Retired).

The defendant, Robert Earl White, was tried and convicted of second degree burglary and sexual assault. He was sentenced to an aggravated term of 20 years’ imprisonment on the burglary conviction to run consecutively to a mandatory life sentence on the sexual assault conviction. Thereafter, the defendant filed a timely notice of appeal from the judgments of conviction and the sentences imposed by the trial court. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3) and A.R.S. §§ 13-4031, -4033.

Defendant raises the following issues for consideration:

1. Was there sufficient evidence submitted to the jury to support its finding that the defendant had prior convictions?
2. Did the trial court commit fundamental error by refusing the defendant’s request for a live lineup just prior to ■ trial?
3. Did the trial court err in ruling that the probative value of defendant’s convictions outweighed their prejudicial effect?
4. Was the jury properly instructed on the burden of proof and was it fundamental error for the court not to instruct, sua sponte, the jury on the presumption of innocence?
5. Was it error for the defendant to be tried by a judge pro tempore?
6. Should the defendant’s clothing have been excluded from evidence as fruit of an illegal seizure?
7. Did the trial court abuse its discretion in failing to grant a mistrial based upon alleged prosecutorial misconduct in closing argument?
8. Did the trial court violate A.R.S. § 13-116, prohibiting double punishment, by sentencing the defendant to consecutive sentences for the burglary conviction and the sexual assault conviction?
9. Was the defendant denied equal protection of the law because of his probationary status?

In addition, we review the record for fundamental error.

On March 1, 1986, the victim returned from work at approximately 6:00 p.m. and went to the apartment of her neighbors, Juan and Melody Trujillo, who were taking care of her two-year-old son, Travis. The defendant, an acquaintance and co-worker of Juan Trujillo, was at the Trujillo apartment at the time, drinking beer and watching television.

The Trujillos offered the victim a beer and introduced her to the defendant. During her visit the defendant asked the victim numerous questions about her personal life and whether she would like to “party” with him. She declined his offer. Before she left to go clean-up, the victim also turned down the defendant’s offer to “help” her take a shower. Leaving the Trujillo’s apartment with her son, the victim went to visit another neighbor. On her way back to her own apartment, however, the victim encountered the defendant and Juan outside the apartments. She spoke with them briefly before entering her own apartment to take a shower. As she was adjusting the shower temperature, she heard a knock at the front door. She turned the water *27 off and went to the door. Without opening the door, she asked who was there and the defendant identified himself by name. She told him to go away and that she was in the shower. As she resumed her shower, the defendant appeared in her bathroom, undressed. She grabbed a towel, attempted to cover herself, and ordered him out of the bathroom. Instead, the defendant grabbed her, pulled her from the shower, and began hitting her. The defendant forced the victim to the bathroom floor, repeatedly punched her in the face causing her head to hit the bathtub, and then sexually assaulted her. Hearing the victim’s screams, the Trujillos entered her apartment and Juan attempted to open the bathroom door. The door would not open more than six inches but it was enough for Juan to see the defendant punching the victim while holding her head by her hair. He told his wife that the defendant was raping the victim and directed her to call the police. Both Trujillos returned to their apartment and called the police.

When the defendant completed his assault on the victim, he got dressed, told the victim it was her fault because she had invited him in, and returned to the Trujillos’ apartment, adjusting his clothes as he went. He then asked Juan to drive him home. Juan refused and told him the police were on the way. The defendant left the apartment building on foot.

When the police arrived both the victim and the Trujillos identified and described the defendant as the assailant. The Trujillos gave the police directions to the defendant’s residence. When the police arrived at the defendant’s house, an officer knocked on the front door and asked to speak with the defendant whom they could see from the front door. When the defendant saw the officer at his front door, he attempted to flee, but the officers apprehended him in a nearby parking lot. The police seized the defendant’s clothing at the police station and analysis of his pants revealed the presence of semen. The police also recovered semen from the victim. 1

Later that evening, the police conducted a photo lineup. The victim identified two of the six photographs, including the defendant’s, as possibly being the attacker. At a subsequent Dessureault hearing, 2 the trial judge found the lineup was not unduly suggestive, noted that the two photographs were so similar he could not tell them apart, and refused to require a physical lineup. By the time of the hearing the defendant had altered his appearance by shaving off his mustache and cutting his hair shorter. Juan Trujillo, who had worked with the defendant some 6 to 7 months, testified at the trial and positively identified the defendant as the attacker.

A grand jury indicted the defendant on one count of burglary in the second degree, a class 3 felony, and one count of sexual assault, a class 2 felony. The state later alleged two prior felony convictions, and amended that allegation to include a more recent felony conviction. The state also invoked the provisions of A.R.S. § 13-604.02(B) by alleging that the defendant committed the alleged offenses while he was on probation. 3 After a hearing on the admissibility of defendant’s prior convictions for impeachment, the trial judge ruled that the state could impeach the defendant with two of his priors, but he prevented the prosecutor from mentioning that these felony convictions also involved rape or other sexual misconduct. The jury *28 convicted the defendant on both counts. 4 After returning a verdict, the jury tried the allegations of prior convictions and found them to be true.

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Bluebook (online)
770 P.2d 328, 160 Ariz. 24, 27 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 37, 1989 Ariz. LEXIS 22, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-white-ariz-1989.