State v. Spreitz

• Decision Date: 11 September 1997
• Docket Number: No. CR-94-0454-AP,CR-94-0454-AP
• Citation: 945 P.2d 1260,190 Ariz. 129
• Parties: , 252 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 3 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Christopher John SPREITZ, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 1260

945 P.2d 1260

190 Ariz. 129, 252 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 3

STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Christopher John SPREITZ, Appellant.

No. CR-94-0454-AP.

Supreme Court of Arizona En Banc.

Sept. 11, 1997.

Grant Woods, Attorney General by Paul J. McMurdie, Chief Counsel, Criminal Appeals Division, Jon G. Anderson, Assistant Attorney General, Phoenix, for Appellee.

Law Office of David Alan Darby by David Alan Darby, Julie L.C. Duvall, Tucson, for Appellant.

OPINION

JONES, Vice Chief Justice.

Christopher John Spreitz (defendant) was convicted of first degree murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping. His victim was Ruby Reid. The trial court sentenced Spreitz to death for the murder and to fourteen-year consecutive prison terms for each of the non-capital convictions. Appeal to this court for the death sentence is mandatory. Ariz. R.Crim. P. 26.15 and 31.2(b). This court has jurisdiction under Arizona Constitution article VI, section 5(3), and Arizona Revised Statutes sections 13-4031 and -4033(A). We affirm.

I. Facts

On May 18, 1989, Ruby Reid spent the evening at the Red Dog Saloon in Tucson. She had been a regular patron for a number of years. On the night in question, a bartender friend saw Ms. Reid leave the bar at approximately 11:30 p.m. Because she did not own a car and the bar was near her home, she was on foot as usual.

Meanwhile, defendant spent several hours drinking with his roommate at another bar in the vicinity. At about midnight, defendant and his roommate returned home. The roommate's girlfriend testified that shortly after they arrived, defendant remarked that he was going out to see if he could "pick up a date."

Between 12:35 and 12:45 a.m., Tucson Police Officer Ramon Batista noticed a man he later identified as defendant drive into a convenience store parking lot across the road from where Batista was parked. Officer Batista noted the make and color of defendant's car. After watching defendant talk to another man for a few minutes, Officer Batista drove through the convenience store parking lot, observing that defendant was wearing torn jeans over spandex shorts and a white T-shirt.

At approximately 1:45 a.m., Officer Batista again noticed defendant's car in downtown Tucson. Contrary to the earlier convenience store sighting where the officer recalled the car was running cleanly, the car was now smoking heavily and leaving a trail of oil. Officer Batista pulled defendant over, and with defendant out of his car, observed that his hands, arms, legs, shoes, and shirt appeared to be smeared with blood and fecal matter, his shirt was torn, and he smelled of feces. The officer noted that defendant had removed his jeans and was now wearing spandex shorts with the same T-shirt. Explaining his condition, defendant said he had fought with the man seen with him by the officer earlier that evening.

Another police officer, Sergeant Victor Chacon, drove by and stopped when he observed defendant's appearance. Sgt. Chacon expressed concern about the condition of the man with whom defendant had allegedly fought and asked defendant to take the officers to the scene of the fight. Defendant rode unrestrained in the back seat of Officer Batista's patrol vehicle. Upon arrival at the purported scene, however, the officers were unable to find any signs of an altercation, injuries to the other man, or the cause of the oil leak in defendant's car. Sgt. Chacon called another police officer to take photographs of defendant, who consented to being photographed. Officer Batista noticed that defendant was flushed and his breath smelled of beer and concluded that he had been drinking. However, Officer Batista also testified that defendant's actions evidenced no physical or mental impairment. Officer Batista issued defendant a repair order for his car and released him no later than 2:30 a.m. Friday, May 19. After defendant arrived home a short time later, he told his roommate's girlfriend that he had had a fight with a man and he was not certain if the man were alive or dead.

On Monday morning, May 22, a horseback rider discovered Ruby Reid's naked and decomposing body in the desert on the outskirts of Tucson. At the scene, police detectives observed tire tracks leading back to the pavement, oil stains in the dirt, footprints, and drag marks in the dirt leading away from the body. They also found feces-stained pants, tennis shoes, socks, a used tampon, and a torn brassiere. Two blood-stained rocks lay next to the body.

The medical examiner testified that, due to the advanced state of decomposition, he could not determine the full extent and nature of the victim's injuries. For the same reason, the examiner was unable to confirm or reject the presence of semen. The injuries he was able to catalog included: bruising on the legs, arms, and back; bruising and abrasions on the buttocks; several broken ribs; internal bleeding; a broken jaw; several head lacerations; and a skull fracture where the skull had been "shoved in." The examiner concluded that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma to the head.

The police were initially unable to develop leads in the case. However, on Wednesday, May 24, at the police station, the officer who had photographed defendant the previous Friday morning encountered the investigating detective in the Reid murder. The events of Friday morning, May 19, were mentioned during their conversation, causing the detective to sense that the blood- and feces-covered driver might be connected to the murder. Accordingly, the detective obtained a search warrant for defendant's apartment and car. In addition, the detective ran a computer check and discovered that defendant was subject to several outstanding warrants for unsatisfied traffic citations. The defendant was at home when the detective and other officers executed the warrant at 1:30 a.m. on May 25 and arrested him based on the outstanding warrants.

At the police station, defendant was advised of his Miranda rights and, upon questioning, confessed to the murder of Ruby Reid. He claimed that he "picked up" Ms. Reid at a convenience store and that she voluntarily went with him, intending to "party." After they arrived in the desert, defendant said that Ms. Reid reneged on her promise to have sex with him and that they fought. He stated that Ms. Reid slapped him and that he punched her in the mouth. He admitted further that he removed her clothing and had vaginal intercourse with her. Finally, defendant confessed that he hit Ms. Reid in the head with a rock more than once to make her stop yelling. He then left, not knowing if she were alive or dead. Shortly thereafter he was stopped in downtown Tucson by Officer Batista.

When the detectives searched defendant's car, they found blood spatter in various locations inside the trunk. The investigating criminologist was able to determine that some of the blood was not consistent with defendant's blood characteristics.

II. Procedural History

A. The Arrest, Indictment, Pretrial Proceedings, and Trial

Defendant's arrest occurred May 25, 1989. On June 2, 1989, he was indicted by a grand jury on counts of first degree murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping. The trial court fixed a pretrial conference date for August 8, 1989, but continued it at defendant's request until August 30. At the pretrial conference on August 30, defendant waived his Rule 8 speedy trial rights, and the court set trial for February 14, 1990. Defendant thereafter waived Rule 8 speedy trial rights in writing numerous times, obtaining several new trial dates between August 8, 1989, and April 23, 1991. The reasons for continuing the trial included claims that analysis of DNA evidence was not yet complete, that defendant was attempting unsuccessfully to engage another attorney, that defense counsel was ill, and that defense counsel had not received materials necessary to interview an FBI laboratory supervisor.

In April 1991, defendant requested that the court continue the trial date pending a Frye hearing to determine admissibility of the state's DNA evidence. On April 23, 1991, defense counsel waived the Rule 8 speedy trial requirements to accommodate the Frye hearing. The court consolidated defendant's action with another case for purposes of the Frye hearing and did not at that time set a new trial date.

In April 1992, defense counsel requested a stay in the Frye hearing while she filed a petition for special action with the court of appeals regarding the scope of the hearing. The court of appeals declined to accept jurisdiction in June 1992. Defendant immediately filed a petition for special action with this court, again requesting a stay and a determination of scope. The trial court continued the proceedings several more times while awaiting disposition of the special action in this court. In a letter dated August 19, 1992, the trial judge wrote this court asking for an early ruling on the petition for review. This court denied review of the special action in October 1992.

In August 1993, the trial court required the parties to brief and argue the effect of this court's decision in State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 858 P.2d 1152 (1993), on the DNA hearing. After oral argument on October 4, 1993, the trial court took the matter under advisement. In December 1993, the trial court ruled that DNA evidence would be admissible if certain foundational requirements were met. In February 1994, the court set a hearing on pending motions for the following April and reset the trial for June 28, 1994.

In May 1994, defendant filed motions to suppress evidence gathered during his arrest, search, and detention, all of which defendant alleges were illegally conducted. The court heard oral argument on July 6 and denied all motions by order dated July 19, 1994. Meanwhile, the trial court had continued the trial from June 28 to August 9, 1994 at the request of defense counsel.

Against all expectations, the admissibility hearings did not...