State v. Steelman

• Decision Date: 13 September 1978
• Docket Number: No. 3299,3299
• Citation: 585 P.2d 1213,120 Ariz. 301
• Parties: The STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Willie Luther STEELMAN, Appellant.
• Court: Arizona Supreme Court

Page 1213

585 P.2d 1213

120 Ariz. 301

The STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Willie Luther STEELMAN, Appellant.

No. 3299.

Supreme Court of Arizona, In Banc.

Sept. 13, 1978.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 17, 1978.

Bruce E. Babbitt, Former Atty. Gen., John A. LaSota, Jr., Atty. Gen. by William J. Schafer, III, Thomas G. Bakker, Crane R. McClennen, Asst. Attys. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee.

John M. Neis, Pima County Public Defender by Robert B. Norgren, Kenneth J. Peasley, Asst. Public Defenders, Tucson, for appellant.

CAMERON, Chief Justice.

Defendant, Willie Luther Steelman, was charged in two indictments by a Pima County grand jury with one count of burglary, A.R.S. § 13-302; one count of kidnapping for robbery with a gun, A.R.S. §§ 13-491, 492; two counts of robbery armed with a gun, A.R.S. §§ 13-641, 643(B); and two counts of first degree murder, A.R.S. §§ 13-451, 452, 453. The defendant was tried in Apache County and a jury found him guilty of all charges on 23 July 1975. On 27 August 1975, the trial court entered a judgment of guilt on all charges and the defendant received the following sentences: not less than 10 nor more than 15 years imprisonment in the state prison on the burglary conviction; not less than 46 nor more than 50 years imprisonment in the state prison for the kidnapping conviction; not less than 25 nor more than 30 years imprisonment in the state prison on each robbery conviction; and the death penalty for each murder conviction. Notice of appeal in this court was filed by the Clerk of the Court in Apache County. A.R.S. § 13-1711; Rule 26.15, Rules of Criminal Procedure, 17 A.R.S.

The issues presented for consideration are:

1. Whether certain statements made by defendant to police officers were involuntary and should have been suppressed.

2. Whether the M'Naghten test for insanity was the proper test of criminal responsibility in light of (a) A.R.S. § 13-135 which exempts lunatics, (b) the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and (c) the protections conferred by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

3. Whether the motion under Rule 11, Rules of Criminal Procedure, 17 A.R.S., made by defendant's counsel during the trial should have been granted.

4. Whether two of the State's psychiatrists should have been prohibited from testifying because the information upon which they relied was obtained under the doctor-patient privilege or in violation of the defendant's privilege against self-incrimination and his right to counsel.

5. Whether certain medical testimony was based on incompetent evidence or was a violation of the defendant's right to confront witnesses under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

6. Whether a psychiatrist called by the defense should have been allowed to testify in surrebuttal to the State's rebuttal to the insanity defense.

7. Whether the defendant's insanity defense was rendered impotent because the surrebuttal witness was excluded and the State's psychiatrists were allowed to testify.

8. Is the Arizona death penalty statute, as construed, contrary to the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution?

The events leading up to the acts which form the basis of the charges in the instant matter are not in serious dispute and are part of a series of incidents which began in the late summer of 1973 when defendant Steelman left California for Denver, Colorado. In Denver, Steelman began to associate with one Douglas Gretzler. Steelman and Gretzler came to Phoenix, Arizona, in the fall of 1973 where a murder for hire resulted in the death of an accomplice named "Preacher" as well as the victims.

After this, Steelman and Gretzler kidnapped two young men and took them and their van to California where they killed them, stripped their bodies and placed them in some bushes near the road. Steelman and Gretzler later abandoned the van, obtained another vehicle, and drove back to Arizona. On the way back, they picked up a hitchhiker and killed him, together with two others who might have been able to give information regarding the kidnapping.

Steelman and Gretzler then went to Tucson where Steelman killed one Willie Sierra at a point near Gates Pass. They took money from the victim and used it to buy drugs which they used at a "crash pad" where they stayed for several days.

Then commenced a series of events on which the present convictions are based. Steelman and Gretzler were hitchhiking in the general vicinity of the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. On Euclid Avenue between Grant and Speedway, they were picked up by Vincent Armstrong, a former Tucson police officer who was then a student at the University of Arizona. Steelman climbed into the back of Armstrong's 1969 Firebird and Gretzler got into the front on the passenger's side. Once the car began to move, Steelman thrust a gun at Armstrong's ribs and began to instruct him to drive north toward the desert. Armstrong then acted frightened and told them he was too nervous to drive. On Steelman's direction, Armstrong pulled the car over into a church parking lot and crawled over the console while Gretzler walked around to the driver's side. Once the car began to move again and had reached about 30 or 35 miles per hour, Armstrong dove out, rolled over on the ground, picked himself up and began to run in the direction opposite the one taken by the car. Armstrong escaped and notified the police.

Steelman and Gretzler were next seen by James Nelson, sales manager of the Villa Pariso condominiums on Fort Lowell Road, who observed them in the Firebird driving slowly down the street as though looking for an address. Nelson later saw them on the grounds of the complex and, as he testified, assumed that they were workmen working on the still uncompleted complex. Nelson encountered them again as he completed his daily inspection tour; this time they asked him where the Sandbergs lived. The Sandbergs lived in one of the four or five occupied units of the complex so Nelson directed them to that condominium.

Rather than going to the Sandberg home, Steelman and Gretzler accosted a man they saw in the parking lot who was washing his car. The man was Michael Sandberg whose home they had inquired about earlier (apparently by coincidence). After Steelman displayed a gun he was carrying, Sandberg led the way back to his condominium. On the way they again encountered Nelson who greeted Sandberg warmly. Sandberg made very little, if any, reply which Nelson testified was completely out of character for Sandberg who was generally outgoing and cheerful. Nelson said that he came to within three feet of Steelman and Gretzler in a face-to-face encounter and was able to identify them.

The three men went into the Sandberg condominium where Sandberg's wife Pat was studying. Steelman and Gretzler first set about to change their appearance. With Pat Sandberg's assistance, Gretzler dyed his hair a darker shade. Steelman shaved his mustache and redid his hair. Steelman and Gretzler exchanged their "grubby" jeans and tee shirts for Michael Sandberg's slacks and sport coats.

The Sandbergs were then tied up with some twine found in the condominium. They were also gagged. The couple was then put in the bathroom while Steelman and Gretzler finished their other preparations to leave. After about an hour in the bathroom, Pat Sandberg apparently became upset and was given some of her own Valium to calm her down. Steelman untied her and had her sit in the living room so she could answer the door if anyone came. Steelman went down to the car to see who was there and had her go with him so she could introduce him as her brother. Michael Sandberg was moved to the bedroom and his feet were bound with the twine running back up to his neck, which was also bound with the twine. About 6:00 p. m., when it was dark and they were certain that the sales manager had left, Pat Sandberg was again tied with the twine, though this time her feet were also bound. Gretzler went into the bedroom and shot Michael Sandberg one time in the head, covering the gun with a pillow so there was no noise. He then returned to the living room where Steelman had turned Pat Sandberg's face to the couch so she "couldn't see it coming." Gretzler came out of the bedroom and shot her in the head. Steelman wasn't satisfied and took the gun and shot her once more.

After the shootings, Steelman and Gretzler wiped down the condominium as thoroughly as possible to eliminate fingerprints, gathered up the things they had decided to take with them, including an expensive camera and other items belonging to the Sandbergs, took the Sandbergs' car and drove back to the house where they had arranged to meet with three others. Donald Scott was there but the two others had not arrived and Steelman and Gretzler decided not to wait. They then left with Donald Scott traveling toward California. They told Scott the car was stolen but did not tell him about any of the other events of the day.

They stopped in Casa Grande where they tried to rent a motel room with a credit card but were unable to because the card had expired. Scott testified that he saw the name "Michael Sandberg" on the card that Steelman tried to use. In Stanfield, they stopped at Vic's Highway Motel located at the junction of I-8 and Highway 84. The rooms were paid for with an American Express Card issued to Michael Sandberg.

The next day they had the car worked on at a service station in Stanfield and cashed a check drawn on the Sandberg account. Scott testified that some time that day they took a walk in the desert and Steelman and Gretzler told him the story that they had decided to use: Gretzler was driving Steelman to his mother's funeral and Scott was a hitchhiker they had picked up along the way. They also told Scott to let them know if things "got to be too much" for him and they would let him leave.

As they approached Yuma, they pulled over into a rest area where they were subjected to...