State ex rel. Montgomery v. Brain

• Decision Date: 24 May 2018
• Docket Number: No. 1 CA-SA 17-0186,1 CA-SA 17-0186
• Citation: 422 P.3d 1065
• Parties: STATE of Arizona EX REL. William MONTGOMERY, Maricopa County Attorney, Petitioner, v. The Honorable Mark H. BRAIN, Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, in and for the County of Maricopa, Respondent Judge, Shundong Hu, Real Party in Interest.
• Court: Arizona Court of Appeals

422 P.3d 1065

STATE of Arizona EX REL. William MONTGOMERY, Maricopa County Attorney, Petitioner,

v.The Honorable Mark H. BRAIN, Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, in and for the County of Maricopa, Respondent Judge,Shundong Hu, Real Party in Interest.

No. 1 CA-SA 17-0186

Court of Appeals of Arizona, Division 1.

FILED May 24, 2018

Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Phoenix, By Daniel Strange, Counsel for Petitioner

The Law Offices of David Michael Cantor, PC, Phoenix, By Michael Alarid, III, Counsel for Real Party in Interest

Judge Michael J. Brown delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Paul J. McMurdie and Judge Randall M. Howe joined.

BROWN, Judge:

¶ 1 In this special action, we hold that a person who uses a dangerous instrument in committing an animal cruelty offense may not be sentenced as a dangerous offender. Because we reject the State's argument that it may pursue enhancement of an animal cruelty crime as a dangerous offense, we accept special action jurisdiction but deny relief.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

¶ 2 Police responded to a report of animal cruelty. A witness stated she heard a dog crying and went to her apartment complex's courtyard to see where the noise was coming from. She observed Shundong Hu in his apartment using a rod to hit a dog that was inside a pet enclosure. When police entered Hu's apartment, they saw a puppy with a bleeding mouth. The dog was taken to an animal care center for treatment and the medical records indicated the dog suffered "[c]ranial trauma." Police obtained a warrant the next day to search Hu's apartment and discovered a metal rod under the bed that "appeared to have blood and dog hair on it."

¶ 3 As relevant here, the State charged Hu with intentionally or knowingly subjecting an animal to cruel mistreatment, a class 6 felony, in violation of Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 13-2910(A)(9). The State also alleged the crime was a dangerous offense because it "involved the discharge, use, or threatening exhibition of a pole and/or rod, a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, in violation of A.R.S. §§ 13-105 and 13-704."

¶ 4 Hu moved to dismiss the dangerousness allegation, asserting that as a matter of law "a dangerous offense cannot be committed against an animal." He did not dispute that the metal rod could constitute a dangerous instrument; instead, he argued the legislature's inclusion of the phrase "on another person" in the statutory definition of dangerous offense, A.R.S. § 13-105(13), means a dangerous offense may be committed only against a person, not an animal. The State countered that the plain language of § 13-105(13) indicates that a sentencing enhancement based on the use of a dangerous instrument is not limited to circumstances involving "another person."

¶ 5 Focusing on the definition of dangerous instrument, the superior court granted Hu's motion, explaining as follows:

There are two ways to interpret the dangerous instrument definition: (1) it could be limited to items being used in a way readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury to a person ; or (2) it could encompass items being used in a way readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury to anything . Under the latter interpretation, poisoning someone's $1000 exotic fish tank with a gallon of bleach would constitute the crime of criminal damage, a class 6 dangerous felony. Surely the legislature did not intend such results.

¶ 6 The State petitioned for special action, asserting the superior court erred by dismissing the allegation of dangerousness. We have accepted jurisdiction because the State has no adequate remedy on appeal and the petition presents a legal issue of statewide importance. See Ariz. R.P. Spec. Act. 1(a) ; State ex rel. Montgomery v. Rogers , 237 Ariz. 419, 421, ¶ 5, 352 P.3d 451, 453 (App. 2015).

DISCUSSION

¶ 7 We review the superior court's interpretation of statutes de novo. State v. Gates , 243 Ariz. 451, 453, ¶ 7, 410 P.3d 433, 435 (2018). "In interpreting a statute, our goal is to give effect to the legislature's intent." Id. "If the statutory language is unambiguous, we apply it as written without further analysis." State v. Jurden , 239 Ariz. 526, 530, ¶ 15, 373 P.3d 543, 547 (2016). Because "this case involves the intersection of multiple statutes, we construe them together, seeking to give meaning to all provisions." State v. Francis , 243 Ariz. 434, 435, ¶ 6, 410 P.3d 416, 417 (2018) (citation omitted). If we conclude the statutes are reasonably susceptible to more than one interpretation, "we consider other factors, including 'the context of the statute, the language used, the subject matter, its historical background, its effects and consequences, and its spirit and purpose.' " Glazer v. State , 237 Ariz. 160, 163, ¶ 12, 347 P.3d 1141, 1144 (2015) (quoting Wyatt v. Wehmueller , 167 Ariz. 281, 284, 806 P.2d 870, 873 (1991) ).

A. Construction of Related Statutory Definitions

¶ 8 As provided in A.R.S. § 13-704, the legislature has mandated increased punishment for a person convicted of a felony offense that is also considered "dangerous." A dangerous offense is "an offense involving the discharge, use or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument or the intentional or knowing infliction of serious physical injury on another person." A.R.S. § 13-105(13) (emphasis added). A "person" is defined in pertinent part as a "human being." A.R.S. § 13-105(30). A dangerous instrument is "anything that under the circumstances in which it is used, attempted to be used or threatened to be used is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury." A.R.S. § 13-105(12). " 'Serious physical injury' includes physical injury that creates a reasonable risk of death, or that causes serious and permanent disfigurement, serious impairment of health or loss or protracted impairment of the function of any bodily organ or limb." A.R.S. § 13-105(39). Finally, " '[c]ruel mistreatment' means to torture or otherwise inflict unnecessary serious physical injury on an animal or to kill an animal in a manner that causes protracted suffering to the animal." A.R.S. § 13-2910(H)(2).

¶ 9 The State contends the word "or," emphasized above in the definition of dangerous offense, is clear in the sense that it must be read in the disjunctive, meaning the second phrase "on another person" does not apply to the first phrase involving a dangerous instrument. In other words, the State argues the two phrases unambiguously constitute independent clauses, meaning that when a dangerous instrument is used in committing a felony, the State need only prove a dangerous instrument was discharged, used, or threatened as part of the felony offense, regardless of whether it was targeted against a person, an animal, or any other living organism. Read in isolation, the State's proffered construction is defensible. See State v. Bowsher , 225 Ariz. 586, 587, ¶ 7, 242 P.3d 1055, 1056 (2010) ("The word 'or' generally means '[a] disjunctive particle used to express an alternative or to give a choice of one among two or more things.' " (quoting Black's Law Dictionary 1095 (6th ed. 1990) ) ). However, we must construe the meaning of dangerous offense in light of its related definitions to achieve harmony and thereby discern legislative intent. See id. at 589, ¶ 14, 242 P.3d at 1058 (recognizing that in construing multiple statutes, we seek to harmonize all the provisions).

¶ 10 Like the State, Hu does not offer an interpretation that considers each of the definitions affecting the meaning of dangerous offense. He focuses solely on the definition of dangerous instrument, asserting that "the only way" to interpret this provision is to add the words "to a person" at the end of the definition. Otherwise, he contends, the statute would be interpreted to cover harm to anything, which would require rewriting the statutory language and lead to absurd results.

¶ 11 Taking into account the parties' competing arguments, we must find the most sensible reading of the definition of dangerous offense that is in harmony with the definitions of dangerous instrument and serious physical injury, as well as other related statutes, including the dangerous offense and animal cruelty statutes. See id. In doing so, we note that our supreme court has recognized that not every crime involving the use of a dangerous instrument may be enhanced as a dangerous offense. See State v. Orduno , 159 Ariz. 564, 769 P.2d 1010 (1989) (exempting felony driving under the influence offenses from dangerous offense enhancements).

¶ 12 The definitions of dangerous instrument and serious physical injury are silent as to whether they apply in situations involving non-humans. Although both terms are "general" in nature, that does not mean they encompass every conceivable crime. Cf. Phillips v. O'Neil , 243 Ariz. 299, 302, ¶ 11, 407 P.3d 71, 73 (2017) (noting that the "general terms" canon of construction "is based on the reality that it is possible and useful to formulate categories (e.g., 'dangerous weapons') without knowing all the items that may fit—or may later, once invented, come to fit—within those categories" (quoting Antonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts 101 (2012) ) ). Dangerous instrument and serious physical injury are general in the sense they are broadly defined and would presumably include many items or injuries that could fall within those general categories. But the legislature did not use the same type of language to define the scope of when those two categories apply; instead of defining a general class, the legislature limited dangerous instrument and serious physical injury to specific circumstances, failing to further specify who or what must be the target of the dangerous instrument or the recipient of the serious physical injury. Accordingly, the definitions of dangerous instrument and serious physical...