State v. Sproule
| Decision Date | 05 November 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 1CA-CR95-0922,1CA-CR95-0922 |
| Parties | , 232 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 19 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Javier SPROULE, Appellant. |
| Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
Presiding Judge Cecil B. Patterson, Jr. and Judges Rudolph J. Gerber and Jefferson L. Lankford, having considered this appeal, affirm the trial court's decision.
Javier Sproule ("Defendant") was convicted of first degree murder. He appeals the trial court's imposition of a life sentence without possibility of release. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm Defendant's sentence.
Defendant was charged with first degree murder, a class 1 felony, and burglary in the first degree, a class 2 felony. The state gave written notice of its intent to seek the death penalty. The state also amended the charges to allege the dangerous nature of the offenses.
A jury trial commenced and the Defendant was convicted as charged. The trial court then held a sentencing hearing to determine whether the death penalty should be imposed. At that hearing, the court heard and considered evidence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances through testimony presented by both the state and Defendant.
The state presented three statutory aggravating circumstances in support of its sentencing request of death: that Defendant committed the murder in a cruel, heinous or depraved manner; that he committed the murder for pecuniary gain; and that he had a prior conviction for a serious offense. See Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated ("A.R.S.") § 13-703(F).
The trial court found that the state had proved the existence of one statutory aggravating circumstance, i.e., Defendant's prior conviction of a serious offense. The court also found that Defendant had proved the existence of two mitigating circumstances, i.e., his age and home life in a dysfunctional family. The trial court concluded that the statutory and nonstatutory mitigating circumstances collectively were sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. The court sentenced Defendant to a term of natural life for the first degree murder conviction and a consecutive twenty-one year term for the first degree burglary conviction. It is from this sentencing order that Defendant appeals.
Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion because it failed to consider a sentence of life with the possibility of release after twenty-five years. See A.R.S. § 13-703(A). Defendant urges this court to vacate his sentence and remand with instructions to weigh the two sentencing alternatives, make appropriate findings on the record, and resentence Defendant.
The relevant sentencing statute is our guide. A defendant found guilty of first degree murder must suffer the death penalty or life imprisonment. A.R.S. § 13-703(A). To determine if the death penalty is warranted, the court must hold a separate sentencing hearing. A.R.S. § 13-703(B). At that hearing, the court is required to consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances but only for the purpose of determining whether the death penalty shall be imposed. A.R.S. § 13-703(B), (E), (F) and (G). If the court finds that those circumstances do not warrant the death penalty, the court must impose a life sentence. A.R.S. § 13-703(A). The trial court, in its discretion, may then choose between a term of natural life imprisonment or life with the possibility of release after a specified number of years. Id.
The trial court's discretion in this area of sentencing forms the basis of Defendant's challenge. 1 As Defendant correctly...
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State v. Fell
...required to follow the court of appeals' decisions in State v. Guytan, 192 Ariz. 514, 968 P.2d 587 (App.1998), and State v. Sproule, 188 Ariz. 439, 937 P.2d 361 (App.1996), it did not overrule them. Rather, it distinguished those cases. Thus, they remain good law. And as the court stated in......
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State v. Fell
...not required to follow the court of appeals' decisions in State v. Guytan, 192 Ariz. 514, 968 P.2d 587 (App. 1998), and State v. Sproule, 188 Ariz. 439, 937 P.2d 361 (App. 1 996), it did not overrule them. Rather, it distinguished those cases. Thus, they remain good law. And as the court st......
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State v. Long
...Absent finding a clear abuse of discretion, we will not modify a sentence that is within the statutory limits. State v. Sproule, 188 Ariz. 439, 440, 937 P.2d 361, 362 (App.1996); State v. Stewart, 118 Ariz. 281, 283, 576 P.2d 140, 142 (App.1978). If sufficient and appropriate aggravating ci......
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State v. Guytan
...court had no obligation to articulate the factors it considered in choosing to impose a natural-life sentence. State v. Sproule, 188 Ariz. 439, 440, 937 P.2d 361, 362 (App.1996). Furthermore and contrary to the defendant's contention, the court did not say that the defendant had been convic......