State v. Eagle

• Decision Date: 23 February 2000
• Docket Number: No. CR-98-0221-PR.,CR-98-0221-PR.
• Citation: 994 P.2d 395,196 Ariz. 188
• Parties: STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. George Roosevelt EAGLE, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

994 P.2d 395

196 Ariz. 188

STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. George Roosevelt EAGLE, Appellant.

No. CR-98-0221-PR.

Supreme Court of Arizona.

February 23, 2000.

Janet Napolitano, Attorney General, By Paul J. McMurdie and J.D. Nielsen, Phoenix, Attorneys for Appellee.

Dean W. Trebesch, Maricopa County Public Defender, By Anna M. Unterberger, Deputy Public Defender, Phoenix, Attorneys for Appellant.

OPINION

ZLAKET, Chief Justice.

¶ 1 Defendant George Roosevelt Eagle was convicted on two counts of kidnapping, three counts of sexual assault, one count of sexual abuse, and one count of aggravated assault in connection with an attack on two women in their home. Details of these crimes are set forth in State v. Eagle, 196 Ariz. 27, 992 P.2d 1122 (App.1998), and need not be repeated here. The trial judge sentenced the defendant to presumptive terms of imprisonment on all counts, with those for the aggravated assault and one of the kidnapping charges running concurrently. The remaining sentences were imposed consecutively. See id. at 29 ¶ 7, 992 P.2d at 1124 ¶ 7.

¶ 2 The only issue upon which we granted review is Eagle's claim that consecutive sentences for his kidnapping and sexual assault convictions amount to double jeopardy. At the heart of this argument is the contention that completion of a sexual offense, as enumerated in A.R.S. § 13-1304(A)(3), constitutes an element of "class 2 kidnapping" under § 13-1304(B). Therefore, the defendant asserts, both crimes essentially amount to the "same offense," for which he may not be punished twice.

¶ 3 A.R.S. § 13-1304 reads as follows:

A. A person commits kidnapping by knowingly restraining another person with the intent to:

1. Hold the victim for ransom, as a shield or hostage; or

2. Hold the victim for involuntary servitude; or

3. Inflict death, physical injury or a sexual offense on the victim, or to otherwise aid in the commission of a felony; or

4. Place the victim or a third person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury to the victim or such third person.

5. Interfere with the performance of a governmental or political function.

6. Seize or exercise control over any airplane, train, bus, ship or other vehicle.

B. Kidnapping is a class 2 felony unless the victim is released voluntarily by the defendant without physical injury in a safe place prior to arrest and prior to accomplishing any of the further enumerated offenses in subsection A of this section in which case it is a class 4 felony. If the victim is released pursuant to an agreement with the state and without any physical injury, it is a class 3 felony. If the victim is under fifteen years of age kidnapping is a class 2 felony punishable pursuant to § 13-604.01. The sentence for kidnapping of a victim under fifteen years of age shall run consecutively to any other sentence imposed on the defendant and to any undischarged term of imprisonment of the defendant.

(Emphasis added).

¶ 4 Division One of the Court of Appeals upheld Eagle's convictions and sentences, concluding that kidnapping is a completed class 2 felony once the requirements of § 13-1304(A) have been satisfied. According to that court, the language in subsection (B) classifies the crime for sentencing purposes, but "[t]he classification of the particular kidnapping offense ... does not alter the statutory elements of the crime of kidnapping." Eagle, 196 Ariz. at 32,992 P.2d at 1127 (¶22). The court also found that there is no such thing as "second-degree kidnapping" in Arizona, id. ¶ 23, expressly disagreeing with State v. Sterling, a Division Two opinion holding that "the voluntary release by the defendant without physical injury of the victim in a safe place prior to arrest is an element of the offense of second-degree kidnapping." 148 Ariz. 134, 136, 713 P.2d 335, 337 (App.1985) (emphasis added). We granted review to resolve this conflict and now substantially adopt Division One's resolution of the matter. In doing so, we expressly disapprove of Sterling's holding on this issue.

Double Jeopardy

¶ 5 Eagle argues that his consecutive sentences violate both the state and federal Double Jeopardy Clauses. The former provides that a person may not "be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense." Ariz. Const. art. II, § 10. The latter guarantees that one may not "be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb." U.S. Const. amend. V. Because the two clauses have been held to grant the same protection to criminal defendants, we need only analyze Eagle's claim under the federal provision. See State v. Cook, 185 Ariz. 358, 365, 916 P.2d 1074, 1081 (App.1995) ("[T]here is no indication that there is a different double jeopardy analysis under the Arizona Constitution."); Hernandez v. Superior Court, 179 Ariz. 515, 522, 880 P.2d 735, 742 (App. 1994) ("Arizona's courts generally interpret this clause `in conformity to the interpretation given by the United States Supreme Court to the [federal Double Jeopardy] [C]lause....'").

¶ 6 The Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits the imposition of multiple punishments for the same offense. See Whalen v. United States, 445 U.S. 684, 688, 100 S.Ct. 1432, 1436, 63 L.Ed.2d 715 (1980). Thus, courts will generally presume that the legislature did not intend to authorize cumulative or consecutive sentences when two statutory provisions proscribe the same conduct. See id. at 692, 100 S.Ct. at 1438. On the other hand, when statutes describe different offenses, consecutive sentences are permissible without implicating the prohibition against double jeopardy. See id. at 693, 100 S.Ct. at 1438. In deciding whether a defendant has been punished twice for the same offense, it is necessary to examine the elements of the crimes for which the individual was sentenced and determine "whether each [offense] requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not." Blockburger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 304, 52 S.Ct. 180, 182, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). Thus, in evaluating Eagle's double jeopardy claim, we must decide whether our kidnapping and sexual assault statutes each contain an element not present in the other.

The Arizona Kidnapping Statute

¶ 7 A convenient starting point for our analysis is the formal title of A.R.S. § 13-1304, which reads, "Kidnapping; classification; consecutive sentence." Although "headings are not part of the law itself, where an ambiguity exists the title may be used to aid in the interpretation of the statute." State v. Barnett, 142 Ariz. 592, 597, 691 P.2d 683, 688 (1984). We think there is little, if any, ambiguity here. Nevertheless, the title clearly distinguishes, as does the statute itself, the crime of kidnapping from its classification. Subsection (A) of the text completely defines the crime of kidnapping as it exists in Arizona. Its elements are plainly set forth: a knowing restraint coupled with one or more of the specifically listed intentions. In the present context, it is only the intent to commit a sexual offense on the victim that is required to complete the kidnapping. The sexual offense itself need not be brought to fruition.

¶ 8 Subsection (B) deals entirely with classifications of punishment. Its language presupposes that the required elements of a kidnapping, as set forth in subsection (A), have been proven. The crime is punishable as a class 2 felony unless certain mitigating but nonessential conditions are found, in which case it may be punished less severely.¹

¶ 9 As the defendant would have us read the statute, the absence of § 13-1304(B) factors, not their presence, would constitute elements of "class 2 kidnapping" that must be charged and proven to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. Cf. Jones v. United States, 526 U.S. 227, 234, 119 S.Ct. 1215, 1220, 143 L.Ed.2d 311 (1999). Thus, the state would have to establish one or more negatives: that the defendant did not voluntarily release the victim; that the victim was not without physical injury; that the victim was not released in a safe place prior to arrest; and that the victim was not released prior to the accomplishment of an enumerated offense. See A.R.S. § 13-1304(B).

¶ 10 We reject this reading of the statute. If the legislature's intent was to create separate crimes having distinct "elements," it could easily have said so in clear, direct, and positive language. Instead, as we have noted, the legislature chose to define a single crime known as kidnapping, and to treat it presumptively as a class 2 felony. "Degrees" of kidnapping are nowhere mentioned. Cf. A.R.S. §§ 13-1104, 13-1105 (setting forth second degree murder and first degree murder, respectively); A.R.S. §§ 13-1203, 13-1204 (defining the crimes of assault and aggravated assault, respectively); A.R.S. §§ 13-1902, 13-1903, 13-1904 (defining robbery, aggravated robbery, and armed robbery, respectively). The clause beginning with "unless," and the rest of the first sentence of section 1304(B), deals with factors that could change the classification and thus alter a defendant's exposure, but the elements of the crime remain the same. See Patterson v. New York, 432 U.S. 197, 210, 97 S.Ct. 2319, 2326, 53 L.Ed.2d 281 (1977) (concluding that if a legislature chooses to recognize a factor that lessens the degree of criminality or punishment, due process "does not require the State to prove its nonexistence in each case in which the fact is put at issue").

¶ 11 Interestingly, Division Two of the Court of Appeals seems to have followed similar reasoning in State v. Mendibles, 126 Ariz. 218, 613 P.2d 1274 (App.1980), a case not expressly overruled by its later Sterling decision. In Mendibles, the court upheld a conviction for unlawful imprisonment, a lesser included charge of kidnapping. The relevant subsection in the applicable statute is almost identical to § 13-1304(B). It reads: "Unlawful imprisonment is a class 6 felony unless the victim is released voluntarily by the defendant without physical injury in a...