State v. Castaneda
| Decision Date | 21 December 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 1 CA-CR 02-0066.,1 CA-CR 02-0066. |
| Citation | 102 P.3d 985,209 Ariz. 366 |
| Parties | STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Joel CASTANEDA, Appellant. |
| Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
Terry Goddard, Attorney General, By Randall M. Howe, Chief Counsel, Criminal
Appeals Section and Eric J. Olsson, Assistant Attorney General, Diane L. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General, Tucson, Attorneys for Appellee.
James J. Haas, Maricopa County Public Defender, By Spencer D. Heffel, Deputy Public Defender, Phoenix, Attorneys for Appellant.
¶ 1 This appeal returns to us on remand from the Supreme Court of Arizona. The supreme court remanded for us to reconsider our prior memorandum decision in light of its opinion in State v. Sepahi, 206 Ariz. 321, 78 P.3d 732 (2003). After further review, we vacate that part of our previous decision that addressed the issue on which the supreme court granted review and resolve the question by this opinion.1
¶ 2 As in Sepahi, this appeal involves the applicability of a statute that increases punishment for "dangerous crime[s] against children." Ariz.Rev.Stat. ("A.R.S.") § 13-604.01 (Supp.2004). Thus, the question is not defendant's guilt, but whether the Arizona Legislature authorized additional punishment beyond that already authorized for aggravated assault.
¶ 3 This appeal differs from Sepahi in its facts and procedural posture, however. We are obliged to follow the decisions of our supreme court. State v. Anderson, 185 Ariz. 454, 916 P.2d 1170 (App.1994). Sepahi requires us to hold that the State may not invoke the special sentencing provisions of the statute: Defendant was not shown to have "focused on, directed against, aimed at, or target[ed] a victim under the age of fifteen." Sepahi, 206 Ariz. at 322, ¶ 7, 78 P.3d at 733 (quoting Williams, 175 Ariz. at 103, 854 P.2d at 136).
¶ 4 Proof of this requirement was not contested in Sepahi. 206 Ariz. at 323, 324, ¶¶ 13, 19, 78 P.3d at 734, 735. Indeed, defense counsel conceded that the defendant's conduct "was directed at and targeted the minor victim." Id. at 324 n. 3, ¶ 19, 78 P.3d at 735 n. 3. That concession flowed from facts clearly showing that defendant's conduct was aimed directly at the child victim. Defendant and his companion had approached an adult and the child victim. A verbal confrontation escalated when defendant struck the child, she responded by striking back, and defendant then used a firearm to shoot the victim at close range. Defendant was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault arising out of this conduct. Id. at 321-22, ¶ 4, 78 P.3d at 732-33. Thus, it was undisputed that the factual basis for a crime against a child was satisfied.2
¶ 5 This case also involves a shooting at which both a child and others were present. In this case, however, it is disputed whether the offense was a crime "against" a child. Although defendant's conduct placed a child at risk of injury, the others present were placed at equal risk by defendant's conduct. All persons who were present were victims of the reckless discharge of a firearm, and the risk was no greater to the child than to the others. Neither a judge nor jury specifically found that defendant had "targeted" the child, and defendant has not conceded that he did so.3
¶ 6 Defendant Castaneda, aged nineteen, was driving his car in which a juvenile was a passenger. Castaneda pointed out a person nicknamed "Dice" on the street as Castaneda drove by. Castaneda told his passenger that Dice had been responsible for several drive-by shootings of Castaneda's home and vehicle. Dice was standing near the victim A.G., who was thirteen years of age, and also next to another young person. Castaneda stopped the vehicle, leaned across both the front seat and the body of his passenger to discharge a firearm out of the passenger's window several times in the direction of Dice and the others. The bullets struck Dice once and A.G. twice. Castaneda was convicted of aggravated assault against A.G. based on reckless conduct. He was also convicted of two other counts of aggravated assault and one count of drive-by shooting.
¶ 7 No finding was made that defendant targeted a child. The evidence fails to indicate that A.G. was targeted as a victim. The recklessness of Castaneda's assault endangered all three persons present, not A.G. solely, individually, or particularly. A.G. was not exposed to danger in any different kind or greater degree than the other victims. Because defendant's conduct was not focused on or aimed at A.G., the additional punishment provision does not apply.
¶ 8 The outcome would be different if the assault conviction involving A.G. had rested on an intentional shooting of A.G. In such a case, the defendant by definition targets the victim. See Sepahi, supra. See also State v. Carlisle, 198 Ariz. 203, 206-07, ¶ 12, 8 P.3d 391, 394-95 (App.2000) (). If a defendant intended to injure the victim, it would be clear that his conduct targeted that victim. If the victim were a child, the sentence for the crime would be subject to the special sentencing statute.
¶ 9 But even intentional conduct against one victim may constitute unfocused conduct as to another victim injured fortuitously. For example, a defendant can intend to shoot one victim but commit assault on another victim by recklessly firing the weapon in the second victim's presence and striking him or placing him in fear of injury. See A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(1), (2) (2001). See also Williams, 175 Ariz. at 101, 854 P.2d at 134 (). Fortuitous injury to a child cannot be punished under the special sentencing provision. Sepahi, 206 Ariz. at 323, ¶ 11, 78 P.3d at 734 (quoting Williams, 175 Ariz. at 103, 854 P.2d at 136).
¶ 10 Although an intentional assault against A.G. would have qualified for special sentencing, intentional conduct is not invariably required. Our supreme court in Williams rejected any notion that the defendant must act intentionally. 175 Ariz. at 101, 854 P.2d at 134. Id. In contrast, a reckless driver who does not harass the bus but nevertheless collides with it would not act with the requisite focus. State v. Miranda-Cabrera, 209 Ariz. 220, 225, ¶ 22, 99 P.3d 35, 40 (App.2004).
¶ 11 Reckless conduct does not always involve targeted victims, however. Reckless conduct can imperil more than one person, and indeed can place everyone present in danger of injury. Therefore, the fact that one person was injured by such an assault does not necessarily mean that defendant's conduct was directed against that victim. Williams, 175 Ariz. at 101, 854 P.2d at 134. See also A.R.S. § 13-1203(A)(1) ().
¶ 12 The issue therefore must be resolved by analysis beyond the culpable mental state required for the offense. See Williams, 175 Ariz. at 102, 854 P.2d at 135 (). To determine whether the assault involving A.G. qualifies for special sentencing, we must apply the rule, announced by our supreme court in Williams and expressly reaffirmed in Sepahi, that "the defendant's conduct must be focused on, directed against, aimed at, or target a victim under the age of fifteen." Sepahi, 206 Ariz. at 323, ¶ 12, 78 P.3d at 734 (quoting Williams, 175 Ariz. at 103, 854 P.2d at 136).4
¶ 13 Applying that test, we find no evidence that A.G. was targeted. Instead, all the evidence indicates that defendant intended to harm Dice. No evidence showed that defendant aimed at A.G. or intended to hurt A.G. Defendant aimed in the direction of Dice, and the two others happened to be standing next to Dice. The evidence shows no more than that the child victim was "fortuitously injure [d]" in the attempt to harm Dice. Id. at 323, ¶ 11, 78 P.3d at 734 (quoting Williams, 175 Ariz. at 103, 854 P.2d at 136).
¶ 14 This case is therefore much like Williams, in which the supreme court held that special sentencing did not apply. Williams was convicted of aggravated assault based on recklessness. While driving drunk, Williams rammed his truck into a passenger vehicle, injuring a child. But he did not target the child, who was merely a passenger in the vehicle. 175 Ariz. at 104, 854 P.2d at 137. Similarly, A.G. was merely present when defendant fired at Dice.
¶ 15 The State nevertheless argues that defendant's conduct qualifies as a dangerous crime against children. It relies on two evidentiary facts to support its position: the proximity of the victims to the shooter, and the fact that the child victim was struck twice. From this evidence, the State argues that defendant "focused his criminal conduct directly" upon A.G.
¶ 16 The mere fact that defendant fired in Dice's direction and that A.G. was standing nearby does not establish that he targeted this victim in particular. See Williams, 175 Ariz. at 104, 854 P.2d at 137. Nor does the fact that defendant struck A.G. allow special sentencing. His conviction for the aggravated assault of A.G. is fully consistent with a determination that he either discharged his weapon with reckless disregard of the safety of all present, or that he fired it with the intent to hit Dice but instead struck A.G. All of the evidence that related to the focus of defendant's conduct...
To continue reading
Request your trial