State v. Valenzuela
| Decision Date | 28 September 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 1663,1663 |
| Citation | 101 Ariz. 230,418 P.2d 386 |
| Parties | STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Peter Munoz VALENZUELA, Appellant. |
| Court | Arizona Supreme Court |
Darrell F. Smith, Atty. Gen., Gary K. Nelson, Asst. Atty. Gen., Phoenix, for appellee.
Leon Thikoll, Tucson, for appellant.
Appellant, a minor, was charged with five counts of violating A.R.S. § 36--1002.04. The jury found him guilty on all five counts. He was sentenced to five consecutive terms of five to ten years on each count. The defendant complains to this court that: (1) There was insufficient evidence upon which a jury could have found him guilty of administering heroin to the prosecutrix; (2) The trial court erred in ruling that as a matter of law the prosecutrix, Carlotta Silvas, was not an accomplice in the crime charged against the defendant and that her testimony linking the defendant to the crime need not be corroborated; (3) In the light of the circumstances the trial judge abused his discretion in imposing such a harsh sentence upon this defendant.
In a criminal appeal, we have stated repeatedly that we will view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. State v. Reyes, 99 Ariz. 257, 408 P.2d 400 (1965); State v. Mangrum, 98 Ariz. 279, 403 P.2d 925 (1965). The information filed against the defendant alleged that the defendant, a minor, administered to the prosecutrix, Carlotta Silvas, also a minor, the narcotic drug, heroin, upon five separate occasions, in violation of A.R.S. § 36--1002.04. At the trial the prosecutrix testified in detail to the five separate occasions upon which she received a drug from the defendant. She testified that the substance which the defendant injected into her was tannish in color. Miss Silvas stated in detail the method employed by the defendant to administer the substance to her. No portion of the substance, which was alleged to have been administered to her by the defendant, was admitted in evidence. For illustrative purposes a 'paper' of heroin was admitted in evidence to show the jury that the drug heroin fit the description of the substance which, Miss Silvas stated, the defendant had given to her.
In hypothetical questions to an expert witness, based on the testimony of the prosecutrix concerning the color of the substance injected into her, the method used by the defendant in administering the substance, her reactions following the injection of the fluid into her bloodstream, and upon the expert's own knowledge of the habits of narcotic users and 'pushers', the expert stated that in his opinion the substance injected into the prosecutrix's bloodstream was heroin. In addition to this evidence there was testimony that the defendant told the prosecutrix's mother that he had given her daughter 'a fix'. An expert testified that this expression in the common parlance of narcotic users and 'pushers' means that one has been injected with heroin. The prosecutrix testified that the defendant continually referred to the substance, which he injected into himself and into her, as 'carga'. An expert stated that the term 'carga' is the local Mexican slang for heroin. The defense attempted to impeach the prosecutrix by showing that, at the preliminary hearing, she testified that the color of the substance, with which she had been injected, was white.
In the present case, the issue is whether the defendant administered the narcotic drug, heroin, to the prosecutrix. A sample of the actual drug which was alleged to have been administered to Miss Silvas by the defendant was not in evidence. However, there is no reason why this crime could not be proven by circumstantial evidence just as any other crime. People v. Robinson, 14 Ill.2d 325, 153 N.E.2d 65 (1958). However, in this case the state introduced both direct and circumstantial evidence sufficient for the jury to find that in fact the defendant had administered heroin to the prosecutrix.
The defendant attempted to impeach the prosecutrix by showing that she had stated at the preliminary hearing of this cause that the substance, with which she had been injected, was white. At the trial she stated that it was credibility and is not to be used as substantive evidence. Kerley Chemical Corp. v. Producers Cotton Oil Co., 2 Ariz.App. 56, 406 P.2d 258 (1965). It is the responsibility of the jury to determine the credibility of witnesses. Davidson v. Wee, 93 Ariz. 191, 379 P.2d 744 (1963); Atchison T. & S.F.R. Co. et al. v. Hicks, 64 Ariz. 15, 165 P.2d 167 (1946). The jury obviously believed the prosecutrix's testimony at the trial.
The defendant next complains that the trial judge committed error in finding as a matter of law that Carlotta Silvas was not an accomplice in the crime charged...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Jonas
...threatened by those unscrupulous individuals who turn minors into spineless creatures craving for narcotics. State v. Valenzuela, 101 Ariz. 230, 233, 418 P.2d 386, 389 (1966). Other courts have also recognized that a drug sale to a child is "significantly more culpable" than a sale to an ad......
-
State v. Hernandez
...Evidence § 355, at 404--05. Taking the State's proof at its fullest value, as we are required to do on appeal, State v. Valenzuela, 101 Ariz. 230, 418 P.2d 386 (1966), the defendant's presence at the service station at the time of this theft is well established by an eyewitness identificati......
-
State v. Skinner
...Cir. 1957). We therefore hold that the prior decisions of this court, Otero v. Soto, 34 Ariz. 87, 267 P. 947 (1928); State v. Valenzuela, 101 Ariz. 230, 418 P.2d 386 (1966); and others which hold that such statements may not be used substantively are by this decision overruled. In deciding ......
-
State v. Phillips
...it protect children. Furthermore, it is illogical to assume a child can molest herself. An analogous situation arose in State v. Valenzuela, 101 Ariz. 230, 418 P.2d 386, where we held that a minor could not be an accomplice of a defendant who was charged with the crime of inducing minors to......