State v. Ramirez

• Decision Date: 24 March 1994
• Docket Number: No. CR-90-0359-AP,CR-90-0359-AP
• Citation: 178 Ariz. 116,871 P.2d 237
• Parties: STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. David Martinez RAMIREZ, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 237

871 P.2d 237

178 Ariz. 116

STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. David Martinez RAMIREZ, Appellant.

No. CR-90-0359-AP.

Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc.

March 24, 1994.

[178 Ariz. 118] Grant Woods, Atty. Gen. by Paul J. McMurdie, Chief Counsel, Criminal Appeals Section, Daniel J. Kiley, John Pressley Todd, Asst. Atty. Gen., Phoenix, for State.

Neal W. Bassett, Phoenix, for Defendant/Appellant.

OPINION

CORCORAN, Justice.

David Martinez Ramirez (defendant) was convicted of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder and sentenced to death on both counts. 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 to -4033, and we affirm defendant's convictions and sentences.

ISSUES PRESENTED

The following issues are presented on appeal: ¹

1. Does Arizona's death penalty appeal process violate the equal protection guarantees of the United States and Arizona Constitutions?

2. Did the trial court err in admitting defendant's statements under "the public safety exception" to Miranda?

3. Did the prosecutor improperly comment on defendant's post-arrest silence in his closing argument?

4. Did the trial court err when, in response to a question that the jurors had while deliberating, it instructed the jurors to rely on the instructions previously given?

5. Is A.R.S. § 13-703(C) unconstitutional because it permits a trial court to withhold sentencing information under certain circumstances?

6. Did the trial court err in finding that the murders were committed in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner?

7. Does the absence of DNA testing entitle defendant to mitigation of punishment?

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant, an acquaintance of Mrs. G and her 15-year-old daughter, visited Mrs. G and her daughter at their West Phoenix apartment on the evening of May 24, 1989. The following morning, at about 2:30 a.m., a resident of the apartment complex observed defendant talking with Mrs. G outside Mrs. G's apartment. Defendant was wearing a white shirt and dark pants. Defendant and Mrs. G were still talking when the resident went back inside her apartment at about 3:30 a.m.

Priscilla Arce, her sister Kathy, and Kathy's boyfriend, Larry Bernabe, lived in the apartment directly above Mrs. G's. At about 5:00 a.m., they were awakened by banging, screaming, and running noises coming from the apartment below. Bernabe and Kathy went down to Mrs. G's apartment to investigate. When Bernabe knocked on the front door, the noises immediately stopped, but no one answered. Bernabe decided to phone the police. Not having a phone in their apartment, he went to a neighbor's apartment to use their phone; there was no response to his knocks. Uncertain of what to do next, Bernabe and Kathy went back upstairs to their apartment and listened for any additional activity or noises.

About 5 minutes later, Bernabe heard a bang against the wall and one last loud female scream. Priscilla also heard a female scream "no, or help me, or something like that" and then one last "ugly scream." Bernabe ran back down to Mrs. G's apartment and tried to kick down the door. He called out to Mrs. G and her daughter, but there was no response. He then ran to a window at the back of the apartment and looked into the daughter's bedroom. He noticed that a lamp was on the floor and observed a shadow moving in the hallway near the bathroom. After briefly looking in Mrs. G's bedroom window, Bernabe proceeded to the public phones located near the apartment and dialed 911.

The police arrived 2-3 minutes later at about 5:36 a.m. Bernabe and Kathy directed them to Mrs. G's apartment. Sgt. Stahl and Lt. Richards immediately proceeded to the front door where they knocked and announced their presence. When no one responded, Lt. Richards went to the back of the apartment where he was joined by Officer Sapon. Meanwhile, at the front of the apartment, Sgt. Stahl was joined by Sgt. Howk. The police officers remained in contact with each other through the use of portable radios.

Lt. Richards and Officer Sapon looked in the daughter's bedroom window. Lt. Richards noticed blood on the window frame and latch. The officers then observed defendant entering the bedroom. Officer Sapon announced the police officers' presence and yelled at defendant to go to the front door. Defendant "grunted" and left the bedroom. Officer Sapon then broadcast over the police radio that he observed a subject wearing "a red shirt and suspenders." Lt. Richards further described the suspect as "Hispanic, wearing suspenders."

A minute or two later, Lt. Richards and Officer Sapon heard the sound of window blinds rustling in Mrs. G's bedroom. Lt. Richards investigated the noise while Officer Sapon remained at the daughter's bedroom window. While Lt. Richards was away, defendant returned to the daughter's bedroom. Officer Sapon once again told defendant to go the front door and unlock it.

Officer Hartson, who had arrived on the scene, obtained a passkey to the apartment from the manager of the apartment complex. He delivered the key to Sgts. Stahl and Howk, who were still at the front door. Before using the key, the police once again knocked on the door, announced their presence, and told defendant to open the door. When no one responded, Sgt. Stahl unlocked the door and he and Sgt. Howk entered the apartment.

The first thing they observed was a bloody knife blade without a handle lying in front of the door. As they approached the living room, they saw Mrs. G's clothed body lying on the floor. The officers drew their weapons and proceeded to the living room. As they walked toward Mrs. G's body, defendant approached them from the hallway. They yelled at defendant to put his hands on the back of his head; he responded by raising his hands in the air. Defendant was not wearing a shirt and "had blood all over his body, front to back." The only injuries defendant had sustained, however, were cuts on the inside of his fingers on both hands. Sgts. Stahl and Howk delivered defendant to Officer Hartson at the front door.

When informed that a male subject had been detained, Lt. Richards asked whether they had detained the "guy with the suspenders." When he was told no, Lt. Richards responded, "[t]here is a guy in that apartment with suspenders, you need to find him."

In the meantime, Officer Hartson placed defendant in an arm bar and made him kneel on the grass a few feet from the front door. Sgt. Howk stepped out of the doorway and asked Officer Hartson who else was in the apartment. Without informing defendant of his Miranda rights, Officer Hartson turned to defendant and asked him 3 questions. He first asked defendant what was going on. Defendant responded, "[w]e had a big fight." Officer Hartson then asked who else was inside. Defendant replied, "[m]y girl friend and her daughter." Last, Officer Hartson asked defendant if anybody else was hurt, to which defendant responded, "[y]eah, they're hurt pretty bad. We're all hurt pretty bad." Officer Hartson immediately relayed this information to Sgt. Howk.

Sgts. Stahl and Howk reentered the apartment and conducted a protective sweep. Sgt. Stahl testified that they "were looking possibly for the guy with the red shirt." No such suspect was found. However, upon entering the daughter's bedroom, they found the daughter's naked body lying face down on a blanket.

While Sgts. Stahl and Howk were still in the apartment, Officer Hartson escorted defendant to the patrol car. Defendant volunteered the following statement: "You can ask anyone, me and my girlfriend are very close, we're going to get married." Officer Hartson observed that defendant appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Investigator Fuqua, who was in charge of the investigation, supervised a detailed examination of the apartment. At trial, he described the murder scene. In the foyer area, blood was smeared on the walls on both sides of the entryway and on the front door. Just inside the door lay a bloody knife blade. The floor near the baseboard was stained with blood that appeared to be from the hair from someone's head.

Mrs. G's body lay face up on the living room floor near a love seat. Investigator Fuqua observed that she had suffered numerous stab wounds. On Mrs. G's left leg, beneath her knee, were droplets of blood, which appeared to have fallen straight down from their origin at a 90? angle. A cake knife, bent at a 45? angle, lay near her right arm, and a portion of its handle was in her hair. Also in her hair was a handle from another knife that matched the knife blade found near the front door.

The couch in the living room was stained with blood and pulled away from the wall. A blood spatter on the wall indicated that someone had been behind the couch. A pillow on the floor was also stained with blood, and blood was spattered on the wall near the television. A pair of blood-stained suspenders lay on a chair.

The bathroom had blood on the floor, door, walls, sink and bathtub. Water was running in the bathtub, diluting the blood in it. On the toilet seat, on top of a garment, lay a pair of scissors. The scissors were saturated with blood and had hair sticking to them. A portion of one of the shears was broken off.

The kitchen area was also covered with blood--on the floor, wall, sink, stove, and cabinets. Several drawers were pulled open, and at least two of them had blood droplets inside. A man's white shirt, stained with blood, lay on an ironing board in the dining area. In the hallway outside the kitchen lay a blood-soaked box cutter knife.

The daughter's bedroom was "in a state of considerable disarray." The daughter's blood-covered naked body was lying face down on the floor on a blanket. The dresser was pulled out about 3 feet from the wall, and the stereo speakers that had been on the dresser...