State v. White

773 P.2d 482, 160 Ariz. 377, 28 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 15, 1989 Ariz. App. LEXIS 43
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 23, 1989
Docket1 CA-CR 88-395
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 773 P.2d 482 (State v. White) 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. White, 773 P.2d 482, 160 Ariz. 377, 28 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 15, 1989 Ariz. App. LEXIS 43 (Ark. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

OPINION

CONTRERAS, Judge.

In this criminal appeal, we consider the question of whether the imposition of consecutive sentences on four of the five separately charged offenses for which appellant was convicted violates either the state or federal double jeopardy clauses or the Arizona double punishment statute, A.R.S. § 13-116. We conclude that there is no constitutional or statutory violation, and *379 that the trial court properly imposed consecutive sentences. Appellant’s convictions and sentences are affirmed.

Appellant was involved in an accident in which four teenagers walking alongside the road were struck by a motor vehicle he was operating. Appellant fled the scene of the accident without rendering aid to the victims. One of the victims died, a second was seriously and permanently injured, and the other two were less severely injured. There was evidence that appellant was extremely intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Appellant subsequently entered a plea of no contest to the five separately charged offenses consisting of: 1) hit and run, in violation of A.R.S. § 28-661; 2) manslaughter, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-1103; 3) aggravated assault, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-1204; 4) assault, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-1203; and 5) endangerment, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-1201. Sentences of varying lengths were imposed and each sentence was to be consecutive to all other sentences. 1 Appellant was sentenced to a total term of 21.7 years’ imprisonment.

Appellant filed an appeal claiming that the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentences for his manslaughter, aggravated assault, assault, and endangerment convictions. Specifically, appellant contends that the imposition of consecutive sentences in this case constitutes a violation of the state and federal double jeopardy clauses as well as a violation of Arizona’s double punishment statute because he is being punished with consecutive sentences for his single act of recklessness.

As an initial matter, we consider the question of whether appellant has waived his right to appeal from the consecutive sentences imposed as a result of his failure to object to consecutive sentencing when that possibility was explained to him at the plea agreement proceeding. Generally, a plea of no contest constitutes a waiver of all non-jurisdictional defenses that arose before the plea was entered. State v. Owens, 127 Ariz. 252, 253, 619 P.2d 761, 762 (App.1980). However, even when an error is not timely objected to at the trial court level, the right to raise the matter on appeal is nevertheless preserved when the alleged error is fundamental. State v. Henley, 141 Ariz. 465, 468, 687 P.2d 1220, 1223 (1984). In this case, the only asserted error is the alleged illegality of the consecutive sentences imposed. We conclude that where the basis of the asserted error is the alleged illegality of the sentence imposed on the appellant, the error is fundamental and may not be waived. See, e.g., State v. Herrera, 131 Ariz. 35, 37-38, 638 P.2d 702, 704-05 (1981) (although appellant voluntarily entered into plea agreement, court remanded for resentencing because it concluded that even though plea and judgment of guilt were proper, the sentence was not). Accordingly, we proceed to consider the merits of appellant’s appeal.

Appellant’s first contention is that the imposition of consecutive sentences arising from his single act unconstitutionally places him in jeopardy more than once for the same offense in violation of the federal and state double jeopardy clauses of the respective constitutions. 2 This court has previously held, however, that for purposes of the state and federal double jeopardy clauses the term “offense” refers to the result of the act rather than the act itself so that a defendant may be charged with each and every criminal result flowing from his single act. See State v. Gunter, 132 Ariz. 64, 69, 643 P.2d 1034, 1039 (App.1982). The Gunter court specifically rejected an argument that the term “offense” should be defined in terms of the defendant’s intent in undertaking the ac *380 tion. Id. at 69-70, 643 P.2d at 1039-40. Instead, the court noted that focusing on the result of the act rather than the intent of the actor serves the general policy of the law. Id. at 70, 643 P.2d at 1040. Therefore, appellant’s contention that he cannot be sentenced consecutively because he did not intend to injure his victims is without merit. Consequently, we reject his double jeopardy contention.

Appellant’s second contention is that the imposition of consecutive sentences in this case violates the Arizona double punishment statute which reads: “An act or omission which is made punishable in different ways by different sections of the laws may be punished under both, but in no event may sentences be other than concurrent.” A.R.S. § 13-116 (1978). We conclude that our legislature did not intend § 13-116 to preclude consecutive sentencing where a convicted defendant has injured more than one individual as a result of his single act.

In State v. Gunter, supra, a similar double punishment argument was rejected by this court. In Gunter, the appellant had been convicted on two counts of assault with a caustic chemical as a result of his single act of throwing sulfuric acid in the faces of his wife and her companion. Id. at 66, 643 P.2d at 1036. The court rejected appellant’s contention that consecutive sentencing on the two aggravated assault charges violated the Arizona double punishment statute, concluding that the predecessor to § 13-116 “was not designed to'prohibit prosecution and punishment for an act which harms more than one person.” Id. at 70, 643 P.2d at 1040.

In reaching this conclusion, the Gunter court relied heavily on a California case, Neal v. State, 55 Cal.2d 11, 9 Cal.Rptr. 607, 357 P.2d 839 (1960), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 823, 81 S.Ct. 708, 5 L.Ed.2d 700 (1961). In rejecting a similar double punishment challenge to consecutive sentencing, the Neal

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Bluebook (online)
773 P.2d 482, 160 Ariz. 377, 28 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 15, 1989 Ariz. App. LEXIS 43, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-white-arizctapp-1989.