State v. Lacy

• Decision Date: 31 December 1996
• Docket Number: No. CR-93-0402-AP,CR-93-0402-AP
• Citation: 187 Ariz. 340,929 P.2d 1288
• Parties: , 233 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 3 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Clifford Dean LACY, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 1288

929 P.2d 1288

187 Ariz. 340, 233 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 3

STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Clifford Dean LACY, Appellant.

No. CR-93-0402-AP.

Supreme Court of Arizona In Banc.

Dec. 31, 1996.

[187 Ariz. 344] Grant Woods, Attorney General by Paul J. McMurdie, Chief Counsel, Criminal Appeals Section, Linda L. Knowles, Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, for Appellee.

Harriette P. Levitt, Tucson, for Appellant.

OPINION

ZLAKET, Vice Chief Justice.

On March 24, 1982, the bodies of Susan England and Teresa Acuna, students at the University of Arizona, were found in their Tucson apartment. Defendant Lacy was charged with both homicides in 1991. He was convicted of two counts of first degree murder in April 1993 and sentenced to death. This automatic appeal followed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const. art. VI, § 5(3), A.R.S. § 13-4031, and Rule 31.2(b), Ariz.R.Crim.P.

FACTS

Susan's brother, Robert, was a medical student living with the young women. At approximately 11:15 p.m. on March 23, he left their apartment to study at the library. Susan was getting ready for bed, and Teresa was at work. Robert would later testify that he probably did not lock the door, believing that Teresa would secure it when she returned home.

Around 2:00 a.m., Rick Howell, another student living in the area, got on his bicycle to go to the library. He heard several unusual noises and rode towards them. Stopping near the victims' residence, he saw a light-colored compact car pull out of the driveway.

When Robert returned to the apartment at about 5:30 a.m., he discovered his sister, bound and gagged, lying on the living room floor. As he spoke to a 911 operator, he saw Teresa draped over a bed in an adjacent room. A box wrench lay across one of her arms. Robert also noticed that his white Dodge Omni, which had been parked in front of the apartment, was missing, along with a microwave oven, stereo system, and his medical bag.

Both young women died of gunshot wounds. Susan had been shot three times behind her right ear. She also had a blunt force injury on the right side of her scalp and some fresh scratches on her right arm. Teresa had been shot once in the face and again in the back of her head. The order in which the shots were fired could not be determined.

The police found bullet casings in the apartment near the bodies of both victims. These were later traced to a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol that co-defendant Bruce Stubblefield had given away soon after the murders. Investigators also obtained numerous fingerprints from the apartment, none of which matched those of defendant or Stubblefield. In the bedroom, they discovered a piece of paper bearing a partial bloody shoeprint in a diamond/arrowhead pattern, similar to that of an athletic shoe. There was no sign of forced entry into the premises.

Officers later located the abandoned Dodge Omni. Much of the car's interior had been burned, and the only fingerprints that could be lifted from it matched Susan's. They also found two shoeprints on the ground near its left rear door. These prints, like that in the apartment, were partial and had a diamond/arrowhead pattern.

On May 31, 1983, while in custody for an unrelated burglary, defendant spoke to police about the murders. He told them that he had accompanied Stubblefield to the apartment on the night in question. He said that Stubblefield owed him money from an earlier burglary the two had committed. According to defendant, Stubblefield knew one of the girls and intended to get some chemicals from her to make angel dust (PCP), which he would then sell to repay the debt. Using a key, Stubblefield entered the apartment. When Susan came out of the bedroom, he asked her for the chemicals. She refused, they began to argue, and he struck her. Teresa then came into the room and swung at Stubblefield with a wrench. He turned in her direction and fired a gun.

Defendant claimed that during this altercation he was standing in the kitchen. When the gun went off, he got scared and decided to leave. He attempted to exit the back door but found a table in the way. As he turned and headed towards the front door, he saw Stubblefield shoot Teresa in the face. He then heard a car outside and told his partner they had to go. Stubblefield instead hit Susan on the head with the gun. At that point, defendant saw a microwave oven, picked it up, and ran out the front door. He put the microwave behind some bushes, waited a while, and then returned to the apartment to find out what was delaying Stubblefield. When he re-entered the premises, he observed that Stubblefield had tied up Susan and was shooting her twice in the head. He then ran away. About five minutes later, Stubblefield, driving his own car, picked up defendant and the two retrieved the microwave. When defendant asked why he had shot the women, Stubblefield told him to shut up. He then drove defendant home.

In his statement, defendant asserted that the Omni was parked in the driveway when he left. He also admitted that he wore tennis shoes on the evening in question, while Stubblefield was in dress shoes.

Over eight years later, defendant and Stubblefield were charged with both murders and burglary of the apartment. They were tried separately. Stubblefield was acquitted by a jury that did not hear defendant's statements because they were ruled inadmissible. Although the burglary charge against defendant was dismissed on statute of limitations grounds, he was subsequently convicted of two counts of first degree murder. The jury, instructed as to both premeditated and felony murder, found him guilty of the latter on each count. The trial judge sentenced him to death, finding as aggravating factors the presence of multiple victims, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(8), and crimes that were especially heinous, cruel or depraved, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6).

TRIAL ISSUES

Preindictment Delay

Defendant argues that the case against him should have been dismissed due to a preindictment delay of more than eight years. He claims prejudice because of a loss of evidence, including raw data from a polygraph exam, the sneakers he was wearing at the time of his 1982 burglary arrest, and the testimony of various witnesses, such as his deceased wife, whom he says could have provided him with an alibi. He also complains that the lack of reports or notes by the detective initially assigned to the case hindered his review of investigative leads and witness interviews. Further harm occurred, he asserts, because another detective who worked on the case had a poor memory of events by the time it went to trial.

The statute of limitations is a defendant's primary protection against stale prosecutions. See United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 789, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2048, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977); State v. Broughton, 156 Ariz. 394, 397, 752 P.2d 483, 486 (1988). In first degree murder cases, however, charges may be brought at any time. See A.R.S. § 13-107(A).

The due process guarantee of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution also protects defendants from unreasonable delay. See Stoner v. Graddick, 751 F.2d 1535, 1541 (11th Cir.1985); Broughton, 156 Ariz. at 397, 752 P.2d at 486. This safeguard, however, is narrower than that provided by statutes of limitation. Lovasco, 431 U.S. at 789, 97 S.Ct. at 2048; Broughton 156 Ariz. at 397, 752 P.2d at 486. A person claiming a due process violation must show that the prosecution intentionally slowed proceedings to gain a tactical advantage or to harass the defendant, and that actual prejudice resulted. Id.

Defendant does not allege that the delay here was intentional. He merely asserts that the prosecutor had enough information to try him after the 1983 statement and, therefore, any delay was unnecessary and unjustified. In Lovasco, however, the United States Supreme Court expressly refused to adopt a constitutional requirement that the state must file charges immediately upon securing sufficient evidence to prove guilt. 431 U.S. at 792, 97 S.Ct. at 2050.

Moreover, even in cases where an accused experiences some prejudice from a lapse of time, prosecutions following investigative delays do not necessarily offend due process. Broughton, 156 Ariz. at 398, 752 P.2d at 489. Here, the murder weapon was not recovered until 1991, and charges were filed shortly thereafter against both defendant and Stubblefield. Although the gun may not have been a crucial element of the state's case against defendant, it was nevertheless an important piece of evidence. Absent proof of an intentional delay for strategic or harassment purposes, therefore, this claim must fail. See Stoner, 751 F.2d at 1543 (finding 19-year non-investigative delay not violative of due process where there was no evidence it was intentional and to gain a tactical advantage).

Voluntariness of the 1983 Statement

Defendant argues that his 1983 statement should not have been admitted because police induced it with an implied promise of leniency. Having examined the totality of circumstances, we cannot agree. See State v. Scott, 177 Ariz. 131, 136, 865 P.2d 792, 797 (1993), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 842, 115 S.Ct. 129, 130 L.Ed.2d 73 (1994).

In Arizona, confessions are prima facie involuntary, and the state has the burden of proving otherwise by a preponderance of the evidence. State v. Lopez, 174 Ariz. 131, 137, 847 P.2d 1078, 1084 (1992), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 894, 114 S.Ct. 258, 126 L.Ed.2d 210 (1993). A confession must not have been induced by direct or implied promises, however slight. State v. Tapia, 159 Ariz. 284, 290, 767 P.2d 5, 11 (1988).

While defendant was in custody for an unrelated burglary in November 1982, Detectives Bustamante and Lowe talked to him about the young women's deaths. Defendant initially denied any knowledge of the murders. At the end of the interview, Bustamante made the following statement:

See I can't, I can't sit here and tell you or promise you...