VICE CHIEF JUSTICE PELANDER , opinion of the Court: 1 After the Arizona Department of Child Safety ("DCS") initiates proceedings to terminate parental rights by motion under A.R.S. 8-862(D), if a parent fails to appear at a termination adjudication hearing without good cause, Arizona law vests the juvenile court with discretion to find that the parent has waived his or her legal rights and admitted the motion's allegations. A.R.S. 8-863(C); Ariz. R.P. Juv. Ct. ("Rule") 66(D)(2). We...
JUSTICE BOLICK , opinion of the Court: 1 We consider in this case whether the state must prove that a defendant knew an item he possessed was "contraband" to convict the defendant under A.R.S. 13-2505(A) of knowingly possessing contraband while being confined in a correctional facility or transported to it. We hold that when such a defendant possesses an item that is statutorily defined as contraband, the state need prove only that the defendant knowingly possessed the item, not that...
JUSTICE BOLICK , opinion of the Court: 1 This case involves challenges to qualifications for expert witnesses in a medical malpractice action. We hold that a defendant may move for summary judgment based on a proposed expert's lack of requisite qualifications under A.R.S. 12-2604 without first challenging the sufficiency of the expert affidavit under A.R.S. 12-2603. We also hold that, pursuant to 12-2604, an expert is unqualified to testify on standard of care if she did not engage...
JUSTICE BOLICK , opinion of the Court: 1 Registered sex offenders must notify law enforcement officials of their new "residence" or address within seventy-two hours after they move and must "register as a transient not less than every ninety days" if the person "does not have an address or a permanent place of residence." A.R.S. 13-3822(A). Lynn Lavern Burbey was convicted of a felony for failing to satisfy the first requirement after leaving a halfway house and becoming homeless. We...
VICE CHIEF JUSTICE PELANDER , opinion of the Court: 1 After affirming a defendant's conviction and death sentence in a capital case, this Court is statutorily required to appoint counsel to represent the defendant in state post-conviction relief ("PCR") proceedings. A.R.S. 13-4041(B). Such proceedings are governed by Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 32. Rule 32.5 sets forth the required contents of a PCR petition and states that "[t]he petition shall be accompanied by a declaration...
VICE CHIEF JUSTICE PELANDER , opinion of the Court: 1 The primary issue we address here is whether the state may constitutionally prohibit a city's practice, prescribed by local ordinance, of destroying firearms that the city obtains through forfeiture or as unclaimed property. We conclude that a generally applicable state statute on this subject controls over a conflicting municipal ordinance, that the legislature may require the Attorney General to investigate and file a special action...
JUSTICE BRUTINEL , opinion of the Court: 1 During Mark Haskie, Jr.'s trial on felony charges arising from an incident of domestic violence, Dr. Kathleen Ferraro, testifying as an expert witness, described general behavioral tendencies of adult victims of domestic abuse. Haskie argues that Dr. Ferraro's testimony should have been excluded as impermissible profile evidence. Because the testimony helped the jury understand the victim's behavior and was more probative than prejudicial,...
JUSTICE TIMMER , opinion of the Court: 1 The Arizona electorate approved Proposition 206, "The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Act," in the November 2016 election, thereby increasing the minimum wage and establishing earned paid sick leave. Petitioners ask us to declare that Proposition 206 violates the Arizona Constitution's Revenue Source Rule, Separate Amendment Rule, and Single Subject Rule. We decline to do so, holding instead that Proposition 206 does not violate these provisions....
JUSTICE LOPEZ , opinion of the Court: 1 This case concerns the standards a trial court applies in granting a new trial or ordering remittitur or additur under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 59. Although a trial court should be circumspect when modifying a jury verdict, it nonetheless may do so if it states the Rule 59(a) or (i) grounds for the order and explains its ruling with sufficient particularity to avoid speculation as to its basis. BACKGROUND 2 This case arises from a motor...
JUSTICE GOULD , opinion of the Court: 1 In this case we are asked to determine what constitutes an actionable claim for abuse of a vulnerable adult under the Adult Protective Services Act (APSA), A.R.S. 46-451 through -459. We hold that such a claim requires proof that: (1) a vulnerable adult, (2) has suffered an injury, (3) caused by abuse, (4) from a caregiver. A.R.S. 46-451(A)(1)(b), -455(B). In making this determination, we abolish the four-part test for an actionable claim...
CHIEF JUSTICE BALES , opinion of the Court: 1 This case concerns the transfer of child custody proceedings from state to tribal court under 25 U.S.C. 1911(b) of the Indian Child Welfare Act ("ICWA"). We hold that 1911(b) addresses transfer only of foster care placement and termination-of-parental-rights actions. Although 1911(b) does not apply to state preadoptive and adoptive placements, such as the proceeding involved here, it also does not prohibit the transfer of such actions...
JUSTICE BOLICK , opinion of the Court: 1 We consider whether police can form a reasonable suspicion that an individual is engaged in criminal activity and is armed and dangerous, thus justifying a pat-down search, based merely on where they encounter the individual (e.g., a "high-crime neighborhood") and a companion's flight. Viewing the totality of the circumstances, we hold that the police here did not have an individualized reasonable suspicion sufficient to justify the pat-down...
JUSTICE BOLICK , opinion of the Court: BACKGROUND 1 Darrel Pandeli was sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of Holly Iler. This Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence. State v. Pandeli ( Pandeli I ), 200 Ariz. 365 , 382-83 94, 26 P.3d 1136 , 1153-54 (2001). However, the United States Supreme Court vacated the judgment and remanded the case for further consideration in light of Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 , 122 S.Ct. 2428, 153 L.Ed.2d 556 (2002). Pandeli v....
VICE CHIEF JUSTICE PELANDER , opinion of the Court: 1 Under A.R.S. 12-510, claims by governmental entities generally are not barred by statutes of limitations. For actions relating to real property, however, Arizona's statute of repose provides that, "notwithstanding any other statute," an action "based in contract" against certain identified parties must be filed within "eight years after substantial completion of the improvement of real property." A.R.S. 12-552(A). We hold that...
CHIEF JUSTICE BALES , opinion of the Court: 1 Arizona Rule of Evidence 410(a)(4) requires a court to exclude statements made by a defendant during plea discussions with a prosecutor if the discussions do not result in a guilty plea. This case concerns whether statements made in furtherance of a deferred prosecution agreement are protected by Rule 410(a)(4). We hold that this evidentiary rule does not apply to discussions about deferred prosecution and that a knowing waiver of its...
CHIEF JUSTICE BALES , opinion of the Court: 1 This automatic appeal concerns Abel Daniel Hidalgo's 2015 death sentences for murdering Michael Cordova and Jose Rojas. We have jurisdiction under article 6, section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and A.R.S. 13-4031 and -4033(A). BACKGROUND 2 In late December 2000, Hidalgo agreed to kill Michael Cordova in exchange for $1,000 from a gang member. He accepted the offer without knowing Cordova or why the gang wanted him murdered. One...
JUSTICE BOLICK , opinion of the Court: 1 Arizona's Constitution and laws forbid bail for defendants accused of sexual conduct with a minor under age fifteen when the proof is evident or the presumption great that the defendant committed the crime. Because that prohibition is not narrowly focused to protect public safety, we hold that it violates the Fourteenth Amendment's due process guarantee. I. 2 Article 2, section 22(A) of the Arizona Constitution's Declaration of Rights provides...
JUSTICE TIMMER , opinion of the Court: 1 A law enforcement officer must ordinarily obtain a search warrant to take an involuntary blood sample from a suspect. Arizona's medical blood draw exception to the warrant requirement, however, requires medical personnel to provide upon request a portion of any blood sample taken from a patient when the officer has probable cause to believe that the patient had been driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. A.R.S. 28-1388(E). This...
CHIEF JUSTICE BALES , opinion of the Court: 1 We here consider whether the trial court erred by summarily denying petitions for post-conviction relief alleging that petitioners' natural life sentences for homicides committed as juveniles are unconstitutional in light of Miller v. Alabama, ___ U.S. ___, 132 S.Ct. 2455 , 183 L.Ed.2d 407 (2012). Because the United States Supreme Court held in Montgomery v. Louisiana, ___ U.S. ___, 136 S.Ct. 718 , 193 L.Ed.2d 599 (2016), that Miller...
CHIEF JUSTICE BALES , opinion of the Court: 1 Under Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 15.1(i)(1), the state, within sixty days of arraignment, "shall provide to the defendant notice of whether [it] intends to seek the death penalty." Here, the State did not file such a notice after Jesse Mesa was arraigned; instead, after discovering new evidence, it obtained a second indictment adding two charges, dismissed the first case, and filed a death notice in the second case. We hold that when...
