State v. Gallegos
| Citation | 870 P.2d 1097,178 Ariz. 1 |
| Decision Date | 15 March 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. CR-91-0149-AP,CR-91-0149-AP |
| Parties | STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Michael Steven GALLEGOS, Appellant. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Arizona |
Michael Steven Gallegos (defendant) was convicted of first degree murder and sexual conduct with a minor under the age of 15. The trial court sentenced him to death for murder and to a presumptive consecutive 20-year sentence for sexual conduct with a minor. This automatic appeal followed. See A.R.S. § 13-4031; rules 26.15, 31.2(b), and 31.15(a)(3), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const. art. 6, § 5(3), and A.R.S. §§ 13-4031, -4033. For the following reasons, we affirm defendant's convictions but remand this case for resentencing on the first degree murder conviction.
The following issues are presented on appeal:
1. Was the evidence sufficient to support defendant's conviction for sexual conduct with a minor?
2. Did the trial court's instructions on sexual conduct with a minor, taken as a whole, mislead the jury?
3. Did the trial court err in instructing on the mental state of knowingly, intoxication, and ignorance?
4. Did the trial court err in precluding defendant's statements to a detention officer?
5. Did the admission of DNA evidence relating to the probabilities of a random DNA match constitute fundamental reversible error?
6. Was the aggravating factor of especially heinous, cruel, or depraved under A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6) unconstitutionally vague as applied?
7. Was the aggravating factor of especially heinous, cruel, or depraved inapplicable because of lack of proof that defendant performed the bodily movements that killed the victim?
8. Did the trial court err in concluding that defendant murdered the victim in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner?
9. Did the trial court err in using the victim's age to support two aggravating factors?
10. Did the trial court err in concluding that the mitigating factors failed to sufficiently outweigh the aggravating factors so as to call for leniency?
The victim's mother (Mrs. W) met defendant's brother Jerry Gallegos (Gallegos) in Flagstaff in 1984. They moved to Phoenix in 1986 and eventually lived together in West Phoenix. By March 1990, the 8-year-old victim was the only child of Mrs. W who lived with the couple. In November 1989, the victim's half-brother, George, moved to Flagstaff to live with defendant and defendant's family. Defendant's parents became George's legal guardians. Defendant and George were friends and attended Coconino High School together.
George visited his mother (Mrs. W) and half-sister (the victim) in Phoenix during holidays, and defendant sometimes accompanied him. Defendant and George were on spring break in March 1990 and spent the week in the victim's home in Phoenix. They worked on their respective vehicles most of that week. In the afternoons, they were responsible for supervising the victim when she came home from school because both Mrs. W and Gallegos worked during the day.
Gallegos worked as an automotive repair foreman at a truck and trailer repair shop in Phoenix. On Thursday, March 15, 1990, at about 4:30 p.m., defendant and George went to Gallegos's repair shop to work on their vehicles. After the other employees left for the day, Gallegos supervised both defendant's and George's repair work. They drank some beer and worked on their vehicles until about 9:30 p.m. On their way home, Gallegos purchased a case of beer. They arrived home about 10:00 p.m. and continued working on the vehicles until about 10:30 p.m. During this time, Gallegos shared a couple of beers from his case with them. When defendant and George came into the house at about 10:30 p.m., the victim was bathing; she went to bed shortly thereafter. Mrs. W stopped by the victim's room to kiss her goodnight on her way to bed. Gallegos took a shower and then played a video game with defendant and George before he retired at about 11:30 p.m. On his way to bed, Gallegos checked the case of beer and found that the case was all "basically there."
As to the events that transpired later that night, defendant confessed on two occasions and testified at trial as follows. After Gallegos retired, defendant and George continued playing video games and drank more beer. Defendant suggested and George agreed that they go into the victim's room to fondle her. Once they were inside the victim's room, defendant lifted her nightgown and rubbed baby oil on the small of her back. When she began to awaken, George put his hand over her mouth, and defendant put his hand over George's hand and over the victim's nose. The victim gasped for air and made sounds "like a little pig" but eventually went limp. Believing that the victim was dead, they decided to "finish her off." They pulled her body off the bed and placed her on the floor. George attempted to insert his penis into the victim's vagina. Defendant then had anal intercourse with her for 15 to 20 minutes. During this time, George stuck his penis inside the victim's mouth. After defendant completed the sex act, the two carried the victim's body out of the house and down the street where they dropped her naked body under a tree. They then returned to the house and went to bed.
Early the next morning, Mrs. W and Gallegos got up to go to work. The couple did not attempt to awaken the victim, because she did not have school that day. Mrs. W did, however, go into defendant and George's room to give them money to buy milk. George took the money and went to the store to purchase the milk. When he returned, defendant went outside to work on his vehicle. After talking with defendant, George called Mrs. W at work and told her that the victim was missing. Mrs. W left work and arrived back at the house at about 10:00 a.m. George also contacted both Gallegos and the police. When Gallegos and the police arrived, they began an extensive search of the neighborhood. Defendant and George participated in the search, but they deliberately avoided the area where they had dropped the victim's body. About 1:00 p.m., an unidentified boy alerted the police as to the body's location. The police found the victim's naked body under the tree where defendant claims that he and George left her the night before. Defendant's confessions and testimony in his own defense are the only evidence implicating George.
The detective in charge of controlling the crime scene testified that the body was located 252 feet from the victim's house. The naked victim was lying supine with her legs spread apart. The body was dirty and covered with grass. The officer noted obvious trauma to the vaginal area and some type of oil located on one leg and in the vaginal area. He further stated that he observed that the victim had sustained contusions to the left side of the face, the center forehead, the right eye, and the right side of the nose.
George Bolduc, M.D., the medical examiner who performed the autopsy, determined that the victim died of asphyxiation due to suffocation. He later testified at trial that the victim's rectum was "marketedly dilated" and that the anal trauma occurred while the victim was alive. He noted that the victim had various bruises and abrasions all over her face and body, some of which were red, indicating that they occurred while the victim was still alive. She also suffered a blunt force injury to her head, which caused a hemorrhage of the scalp. Mrs. W testified that, before the night of the murder, the victim had no noticeable bruises or marks.
The police searched the victim's house and seized numerous articles of evidence, including her underwear, nightshirt, and bed sheet. In the kitchen area, the police found an empty beer bottle and 2 empty cardboard beer cartons in a plastic trash container. They also found 2 empty beer cans across the room on the dishwasher and noted the presence of several hard liquor bottles on the kitchen shelves. In the carport, the police found another empty beer can and noticed a large cardboard box that was filled 3 to 4 feet high with empty aluminum beer and soda cans. After photographing the victim's room, the police dusted the room for fingerprints.
Because the house showed no signs of forced entry, the investigation focused on defendant and George. The police transported them to the police station for questioning. Officer Armando Saldate, Jr. and Detective Michael Chambers escorted them into separate interview rooms. Officer Saldate advised defendant of his Miranda rights and then questioned defendant while Detective Chambers simultaneously questioned George. After initially denying any involvement in the victim's death, defendant confessed to Officer Saldate. He later confessed a second time in the presence of both Officer Saldate and Detective Chambers. The trial court determined that these confessions were voluntary.
When George was confronted with defendant's confessions, he denied any involvement in the victim's death. He stated that if defendant had implicated him, it was only because he did not want to take the blame alone. The two were subsequently indicted for the murder and sexual molestation of the victim.
The state submitted blood samples taken from defendant and George, along with the evidence obtained at the crime scene, to Cellmark Diagnostic Laboratories, Inc. (Cellmark) for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing. Cellmark later notified the state that George could not be included as a contributor to the evidence. The state then dismissed the case against George based on insufficient evidence.
During defendant's trial, the parties made the following stipulations regarding the tests of the...
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State v. Thompson
...456 P.3d 453, 461-62 (2020).3 We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury's verdicts. State v. Gallegos , 178 Ariz. 1, 9, 870 P.2d 1097, 1105 (1994).4 After this case was tried in 2019, the legislature amended § 13-751 and eliminated multiple aggravators, including,......
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