State v. Sansing

• Decision Date: 24 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. CR-99-0438-AP.,CR-99-0438-AP.
• Citation: 77 P.3d 30,206 Ariz. 232
• Parties: STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. John Edward SANSING, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

77 P.3d 30

206 Ariz. 232

STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. John Edward SANSING, Appellant.

No. CR-99-0438-AP.

Supreme Court of Arizona.

September 24, 2003.

Janet A. Napolitano, Former Arizona Attorney General, Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General, Phoenix, by Kent E. Cattani, Chief Counsel, Capital Litigation Section, and Robert L. Ellman, Assistant Attorney General, and James P. Beene, Assistant Attorney General, and John P. Todd, Assistant Attorney General, and Monica B. Klapper, Assistant Attorney General, and Bruce M. Ferg, Assistant Attorney General, Tucson, Attorneys for State of Arizona.

James J. Haas, Maricopa County Public Defender, by Terry J. Adams and Spencer D. Heffel, Phoenix, Attorneys for John Edward Sansing.

SUPPLEMENTAL OPINION

McGREGOR, Vice Chief Justice.

¶ 1 On September 18, 1998, Sansing pled guilty to first degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and sexual assault. The trial judge conducted a sentencing hearing to determine if any aggravating and mitigating circumstances existed. A.R.S. § 13-703.B (2001).¹ The judge found that the State proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, two aggravating circumstances: (1) Sansing committed the crime in expectation of the receipt of pecuniary gain, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.5; and (2) Sansing committed the murder in an especially cruel, heinous, or depraved manner, A.R.S. section 13-703.F.6. The trial judge found Sansing failed to prove any statutory mitigating circumstances, A.R.S. section 13-703.G., but found Sansing established five non-statutory mitigating circumstances: (1) impairment from the use of crack cocaine; (2) difficult childhood; (3) acceptance of responsibility and remorse; (4) lack of education; and (5) family support. The judge determined that the mitigating circumstances were not sufficiently substantial to outweigh the aggravating circumstances and therefore sentenced Sansing to death. A.R.S. § 13-703.E.

¶ 2 We affirmed Sansing's convictions and sentences on his direct appeal. State v. Sansing, 200 Ariz. 347, 361 ¶ 47, 26 P.3d 1118, 1132 (2001). We struck the pecuniary gain finding, concurred with the trial court's finding of cruelty, and did not address the question of heinousness or depravity. Id. at 356, 358 ¶¶ 24, 34, 26 P.3d at 1127, 1129. After independently reweighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, we affirmed Sansing's death sentence. Id. at 360 ¶ 45, 26 P.3d at 1131.

¶ 3 The United States Supreme Court vacated the Sansing judgment and remanded for further consideration in light of Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002) (Ring II). Sansing v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 954, 122 S.Ct. 2654, 153 L.Ed.2d 830 (2002) (mem.). The only issue before this court is whether reversible error occurred when the trial judge sentenced John Edward Sansing to death under a procedure that violated Ring II. We conclude that the Ring II violation constituted harmless error.

I.

¶ 4 In Ring II, the United States Supreme Court held that Arizona's former capital sentencing scheme violated the right to a jury trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Ring II, 536 U.S. at 609, 122 S.Ct. at 2443. The Court declared that "[c]apital defendants, no less than non-capital defendants ... are entitled to a jury determination of any fact on which the legislature conditions an increase in their maximum punishment." Id. at 589, 122 S.Ct. at 2432. The Court reversed our decision in State v. Ring, 200 Ariz. 267, 25 P.3d 1139 (2001) (Ring I), and remanded for further proceedings consistent with its decision. Ring II, 536 U.S. at 609, 122 S.Ct. at 2443.

¶ 5 Following the Supreme Court's Ring II decision, we consolidated all death penalty cases for which we had not yet issued a direct appeal mandate to determine whether Ring II requires us to reverse or vacate the defendants' death sentences. In State v. Ring, 204 Ariz. 534, 555 ¶ 53, 65 P.3d 915, 936 (2003) (Ring III), we held that we will examine a death sentence imposed under Arizona's superseded capital sentencing statutes for harmless error.² "In cases in which a defendant stipulates, confesses or admits to facts sufficient to establish an aggravating circumstance, we will regard that factor as established." Id. at 563 ¶ 93, 65 P.3d at 944. As we further explained, "[o]ur harmless error inquiry then focuses on whether no reasonable jury could find that the mitigation evidence adduced during the penalty phase is `sufficiently substantial to call for leniency.'" Id. (quoting A.R.S. § 13-703.E).

II.

¶ 6 To establish the F.6 aggravating circumstance, the state needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt only one of the heinous, cruel, or depraved elements. State v. Gretzler, 135 Ariz. 42, 51, 659 P.2d 1, 10 (1983). The term especially cruel refers to the mental anguish or physical pain that the victim suffered prior to death. State v. Trostle, 191 Ariz. 4, 18, 951 P.2d 869, 883 (1997). Heinousness and depravity encompass the "mental state and attitude of the perpetrator as reflected in his words and actions." State v. Clark, 126 Ariz. 428, 436, 616 P.2d 888, 896 (1980).

A.

¶ 7 For the especially cruel element to exist, the trier of fact must find beyond a reasonable doubt that "the victim consciously experienced physical or mental pain prior to death." Trostle, 191 Ariz. at 18, 951 P.2d at 883. The victim, however, does not need to be conscious for "each and every wound" inflicted for cruelty to apply. See State v. Lopez (Lopez I), 163 Ariz. 108, 115, 786 P.2d 959, 966 (1990)

.

¶ 8 Sansing's admissions and stipulations, coupled with uncontroverted evidence presented at his sentencing hearing, painted a chilling picture of the events leading to Trudy's death. Admitted and stipulated facts indisputably establish that he murdered Trudy in an especially cruel manner.³ The testimony of Sansing's wife Kara and of the medical examiner provide further evidence of the cruelty.

¶ 9 On February 24, 1998, Sansing called the Victory Assembly Church to request a delivery of food for his family. When that church could not assist him, he called the Living Springs Assembly of God Church and made the same request. In response, Trudy Calabrese delivered two food boxes to the Sansing home. Before Trudy could leave, Sansing grabbed her from behind, threw her to the floor, and bound her wrists and ankles. Using a wooden club, Sansing then struck Trudy on the head with force sufficient to break the club into two pieces. Sansing later dragged Trudy into his bedroom, where he sexually assaulted her. He also stabbed her in the abdomen three times with a kitchen knife. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was multiple stab wounds and blunt force head trauma.

¶ 10 It took Sansing approximately fifteen minutes to subdue Trudy after first attacking her. Kara Sansing testified that Trudy fought a great deal. The medical examiner observed defensive wounds on Trudy's hands and wrists. Trudy begged the Sansing children to call 9-1-1, but Sansing ordered them to watch television. All four children told police that Trudy prayed for help. Kara's testimony corroborates her children's statements. She testified that before being struck Trudy pleaded, "God, please help me.... If this is the way you want me to come home, then I will come home." Trudy's defensive wounds, her pleas for help, and her attempts to resist Sansing's attack leave no doubt Trudy suffered mental anguish as she contemplated her ultimate fate. See State v. Carriger, 143 Ariz. 142, 160, 692 P.2d 991, 1009 (1984)

(inferring victim's mental distress and uncertainty of fate from pleas for mercy); State v. Summerlin, 138 Ariz. 426, 436, 675 P.2d 686, 696 (1983) ("Evidence of the victim's bruised hand indicat[es] that she attempted to ward off blows .... [and] indicat[es] of physical and mental pain."); State v. Lambright, 138 Ariz. 63, 75, 673 P.2d 1, 13 (1983) (finding the victim suffered mental anguish because evidence showed that the victim was abducted, sexually assaulted, and in fear for her life as shown by her trembling and begging to be released) overruled on other grounds by Hedlund v. Sheldon, 173 Ariz. 143, 840 P.2d 1008 (1992).

¶ 11 Furthermore, after binding and beating Trudy with a club, Sansing dragged Trudy into his bedroom and, by his own admission, raped her "while her arms and legs were bound." Kara testified that Trudy was conscious when Sansing raped her and that she heard Trudy speak during the sexual assault. The evidence of the rape independently establishes both mental and physical suffering. See Summerlin, 138 Ariz. at 436,

675 P.2d at 696 (finding rape an indication of physical and mental pain).

¶ 12 Sansing admitted that he struck Trudy on the head with a club. The medical examiner testified that the blows to the head were substantial, resulting in a tremendous amount of bleeding and would have caused pain. Sansing also admitted stabbing Trudy in the abdomen with a knife. The medical examiner observed three stab wounds. The deepest stab wound measured three and three-quarter inches and formed a criss-cross pattern, which the medical examiner attributed to a twisting of the knife. This physical finding was consistent with Kara Sansing's testimony that she observed her husband "grinding" the knife into Trudy. This wound struck both the colon and interior vena cava, causing a hemorrhage within the abdominal cavity. The other two wounds penetrated Trudy's stomach, large intestine, and kidney. The medical examiner testified that the stab wounds would have caused pain and would not have resulted in an immediate death. He explained several minutes had to have elapsed for Trudy to lose the amount of blood that she did. Accordingly, this evidence also separately establishes beyond a reasonable doubt that Trudy endured physical pain. See State v. Salazar, 173 Ariz. 399, 412, 844 P.2d 566, 579 (1992)

(finding murder especially cruel where victim suffered a cranial...