OPINION PELANDER, Justice. 1 We granted review to determine whether the Arizona Securities Act ("ASA"), A.R.S. 44-1801 to -2126, authorizes a cause of action for secondary liability based on aiding and abetting others' primary securities fraud. More than three decades ago, based on federal case law that has since changed, we recognized such aiding and abetting claims. State v. Superior Court ( Davis ), 123 Ariz. 324 , 599 P.2d 777 (1979), overruled in part on other grounds by State...
OPINION BALES, Vice Chief Justice. 1 This automatic appeal concerns Fabio Evelio Gomez's 2010 death sentence for murdering Joan Morane. We have jurisdiction under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031, -4032, and -4033(A) (2011). FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 Joan lived in an apartment complex where Gomez also lived with his girlfriend and infant son. In December 1999, a friend found Joan's door unlocked and furniture in disarray. Joan was missing....
OPINION BERCH, Chief Justice. 1 On August 14, 2012, this Court issued an order affirming the superior court's judgment that the submittal of two versions of an initiative, one of which was subsequently circulated for signatures, did not warrant excluding the initiative from the ballot. This opinion explains our order. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 Ann-Eve Pedersen and the Quality Education and Jobs Supporting I-16-2012 Committee (collectively, the "Committee") support an initiative...
OPINION BERCH, Chief Justice. 1 On August 21, 2012, we issued an order reversing the superior court's ruling and disqualifying Joseph Lodge from participating as a Libertarian Party write-in candidate for the August 28, 2012, primary election. We further ordered that his name not be placed on the official ballot for the 2012 general election for the office of Coconino County Superior Court Judge, Division Five. This opinion explains our Order. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 Joseph...
OPINION PELANDER, Justice. 1 The State of Arizona filed an interlocutory appeal from an order issued in the general stream adjudications of the Gila River System and Source and the Little Colorado River System and Source. At issue is whether federal water rights were impliedly reserved on lands granted by the United States government to the State of Arizona to support education and other public institutions ("State Trust Lands"). We accepted review and now affirm the superior court's ruling...
OPINION BALES, Vice Chief Justice. 1 This case involves the intersection of municipal zoning regulations and the right of tattoo artists to ply their trade. After the City of Mesa denied Ryan and Laetitia Coleman a permit to operate a tattoo parlor, the Colemans filed this action alleging violations of their rights to free speech, due process, and equal protection under the federal and Arizona Constitutions. The superior court dismissed the complaint under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 12(...
OPINION BRUTINEL, Justice. 1 On January 27, 2012, the Yuma County Superior Court disqualified Alejandrina Cabrera under A.R.S. 38-201(C) (2001) from appearing on the ballot as a candidate for the San Luis City Council. On February 7, 2012, we affirmed the superior court's judgment, stating that an opinion would follow. This is that opinion. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 On December 29, 2011, San Luis Mayor Juan Carlos Escamilla, in his capacity as a qualified elector for the...
OPINION BRUTINEL, Justice. 1 A jury found Gilbert Martinez guilty of one count of first degree burglary, four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of kidnapping, one count of theft, and one count of first degree murder. After a mistrial in the penalty phase, a second jury determined he should be sentenced to death. We have jurisdiction over this automatic appeal under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (2010). I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND...
OPINION BERCH, Chief Justice. 1 A jury found Ronnie Lovelle Joseph guilty of felony murder and other crimes. He was sentenced to death for the murder and to prison terms on the other convictions. We have jurisdiction over this automatic appeal under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (2010). I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 1 2 Ronnie Joseph went to the apartment where his wife, Darlene Brown, lived with Jerry Roundtree and her fourteen-year-...
OPINION PELANDER, Justice. 1 A jury found Rodney Hardy guilty of first degree burglary, kidnapping, and two counts of first degree murder. He was sentenced to death on both murder counts and to prison terms on the other counts. We have jurisdiction over his appeal under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (Supp.2011). 1 I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 On Thursday, August 25, 2005, Hardy's wife Tiffany Lien called her friend Meleigha and said...
OPINION BRUTINEL, Justice. 1 In 2009, Pete J. VanWinkle was sentenced to death for the first degree murder of Robert Cotton. We have jurisdiction over this automatic appeal under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (2010). I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 1 2 On May 1, 2008, when Maricopa County Jail inmates VanWinkle and Robert were out of their cells for recreation time, jail videos show Robert, who walked with a visible limp, climbing the...
OPINION BRUTINEL, Justice. 1 In 2009, a jury found Isiah Patterson guilty of the first degree murder of Consquelo Barker, and he was sentenced to death. We have jurisdiction over this automatic appeal under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (2010). 1 I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 At approximately 1:30 a.m. on March 17, 2006, Patterson and Consquelo, his girlfriend, were in his Mesa apartment with their three-year-old son when they began...
OPINION BERCH, Chief Justice. 1 On June 27, 2012, we issued an order affirming the superior court's judgment that nominating petitions designating the office sought as "Superior Court," without specifying the office and division number, did not substantially comply with A.R.S. 16-314 (Supp.2011), -331, and -333 (2006). This opinion explains our reasoning. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 Joseph Lodge is a judge of Division Five of the Superior Court in Coconino County who seeks to...
OPINION BALES, Vice Chief Justice. 1 This case concerns a challenge to the nomination of Lois Jean McDermott, a Democratic candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives in Legislative District 24. McDermott appealed from a superior court judgment striking her from the primary election ballot because she incorrectly identified her surname as "Cheuvront-McDermott" in her nomination paper. We issued an order affirming in part and reversing in part, concluding that McDermott could appear...
OPINION BALES, Vice Chief Justice. 1 This automatic appeal arises from Scott Douglas Nordstrom's 2009 death sentences for his 1996 murders of Thomas Hardman and Carol Lynn Noel. We have jurisdiction under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (2011). FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 On May 30, 1996, Scott Nordstrom and Robert Jones shot and killed Thomas Hardman and Clarence O'Dell while robbing the Moon Smoke Shop in Tucson. State v. Nordstrom (...
AMENDED OPINION BERCH, Chief Justice. 1 We granted review to decide whether a trustee may foreclose on a deed of trust without the beneficiary first having to show ownership of the note that the deed secures. We hold that Arizona's non-judicial foreclosure statutes do not require the beneficiary to prove its authority or "show the note" before the trustee may commence a non-judicial foreclosure. I. Factual and Procedural Background 2 These consolidated cases involve two properties in...
OPINION BALES, Justice. 1 This automatic appeal arises from Dale Shawn Hausner's convictions and death sentences for six murders; he also was convicted and sentenced for seventy-four non-capital offenses. We have jurisdiction under Article 6, Section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 (2011). We reverse Hausner's conviction for one count of animal cruelty and otherwise affirm his convictions and sentences. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND 2 Between June 2005 and...
OPINION BRUTINEL, Justice. 1 Improvements on land leased from the state qualify for a reduced ad valorem tax rate if they "become the property of the ... state ... on termination of the leasehold interest in the property." A.R.S. 42-12009(A)(1)(a) (2009). We hold that this provision applies when, at the time of taxation, improvements exist on the land that, under the terms of the lease, would become the state's property upon lease termination. I. 2 In 1993, the predecessor-in-interest...
OPINION BRUTINEL, Justice. 1 Nelson Boteo-Flores was detained by police during a stolen vehicle investigation. We consider here whether a lawful investigative stop had become a de facto arrest before Boteo-Flores confessed to the crime. Based on the totality of the circumstances, we find a de facto arrest. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY 2 Tucson police officers went to an apartment complex and saw a black pickup truck matching the description of a stolen vehicle. * The officers took...
OPINION PELANDER, Justice. 1 The issue presented is whether the superior court must hold an evidentiary hearing when the results of postconviction DNA testing conducted under A.R.S. 13-4240 are favorable to the petitioner. We hold that, although the court must hold a hearing, an evidentiary hearing is not necessarily required. I. 2 In April 1998, four members of the West Side Guadalupe gang — Reyes, Coronado, Isidro, and Cupis — drove in Reyes's car to the east side of Guadalupe. They...
