HOWARD, Chief Judge.
¶ 1 Following a jury trial, appellant Amy Gustafson was convicted of aggravated robbery, kidnapping, assault, second-degree burglary, aggravated assault on an incapacitated victim, and theft of a credit card. The jury found the allegations of dangerousness proven as to the aggravated robbery and kidnapping charges, and the trial court imposed concurrent sentences, the longest of which is 10.5 years. Gustafson appeals solely from the convictions and sentences for aggravated robbery and kidnapping, for which she received enhanced sentences based on the use of a "Taser" stun gun. She argues the court improperly denied her motion to strike the allegation of dangerous nature, filed as part of her motion for a judgment of acquittal, and asks that we vacate the dangerous nature findings and the sentences imposed for aggravated robbery and kidnapping and remand for resentencing without the dangerous nature enhancement. Because the trial court did not err, we affirm.
¶ 2 "We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the convictions." State v. Robles, 213 Ariz. 268, ¶ 2, 141 P.3d 748, 750 (App.2006). In October 2011, a male intruder, later identified as Albert Lewis,
¶ 3 "[A]s soon as [she] was tased," the victim told the perpetrators she had a pacemaker, something Gustafson already "knew," and stated, "[Y]ou don't want to kill me, you do not want to kill me." The victim was shocked with the stun gun "a minimum of three, maybe even four, five times," and testified that she "[a]bsolutely" was shocked with the stun gun after she had told Gustafson and Lewis she had a pacemaker. The victim testified the intruders then looked at the bank statements in her desk and asked her how to "get" the money reflected on the statements; she provided "fake" bank information and believed she "might have been tased at some point" while she was answering the questions about her banking account. Lewis and Gustafson remained in the victim's home for approximately 1.5 to two hours, after which it took the victim "[a]t least an hour and a half to two hours" to free herself and call the police. When the police arrived, she gave them a description of Lewis and provided Gustafson's name. The victim declined medical attention.
¶ 4 The lead detective in the case testified that during a search of Gustafson's home, officers discovered several items, including duct tape, a box containing a stun gun and the victim's purse, and other items belonging to the victim. During his testimony, the detective described having found a box with a stun gun which also contained "the probes on top of the [stun gun]." He further explained: "And the way this device works, this particular one, ... you plug it into the wall to charge it.... [A]nd you press the button and you contact the skin, preferably on the person that you want to tase, and it gives them a shock."
¶ 5 During the oral argument on her written motion for a judgment of acquittal/strike allegation of dangerous nature offense, Gustafson asked, inter alia, that the court strike the dangerous nature allegation regarding the aggravated robbery, kidnapping, and aggravated assault counts, and that it present the aggravated assault count to the jury as simple assault.
¶ 6 On appeal, Gustafson claims the trial court erred in denying her Rule 20 motion for a judgment of acquittal on the dangerous nature allegations of the aggravated robbery and kidnapping charges.
¶ 7 We review de novo the denial of a motion for a judgment of acquittal. State v. Tucker, 231 Ariz. 125, ¶ 27, 290 P.3d 1248, 1261 (App.2012). On a motion for a judgment of acquittal "`the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.'" State v. Parker, 231 Ariz. 391, ¶ 70, 296 P.3d 54, 70 (2013) (emphasis omitted), quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). As long as the record contains substantial evidence establishing the elements of the offense, a motion for a judgment of acquittal must be denied. See id. Substantial evidence is "`such proof that reasonable persons could accept as adequate and sufficient to support a conclusion of defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.'" State v. West, 226 Ariz. 559, ¶ 16, 250 P.3d 1188, 1191 (2011), quoting State v. Mathers, 165 Ariz. 64, 67, 796 P.2d 866, 869 (1990).
¶ 8 To prove Gustafson committed aggravated robbery and kidnapping in a manner that would qualify those offenses as "dangerous," the state was required to establish that she used a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument to commit the offenses as defined by A.R.S. §§ 13-105(13), 13-1902, 13-1903, and 13-1304(A).
¶ 9 Gustafson asserts no Arizona cases define a stun gun as a dangerous instrument as a matter of law, and we are not aware of any. Cf. Marquez v. City of Phx., 693 F.3d 1167, 1176 (9th Cir.2012) (noting no Arizona law has found use of "electronic control device" to be deadly force); see State v. Emerson, 171 Ariz. 569, 570-71, 832 P.2d 222, 223-24 (App.1992) (finding as a matter of first impression, loaded pellet gun is dangerous instrument for sentence enhancement purposes). However, "if an instrument is not inherently dangerous as a matter of law, like
¶ 10 Here, the jury was instructed that a "`[d]angerous instrument' means anything that is readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury under the circumstances in which it is used, attempted to be used or threatened to be used." In addition, the jury was given the following instruction defining a dangerous offense:
¶ 11 And, the jury was shown photographs of a "taser," a "[s]ealed bag allegedly containing a Red Taser Box," the concrete floor on which the victim landed after she was first shocked with the stun gun, and photographs of the victim bound with duct tape. In addition, on the verdict forms for aggravated robbery and kidnapping, the jury indicated it had found proven beyond a reasonable doubt "the offense to be of a dangerous nature, involving the use, discharge, or threatening exhibition of a deadly weapon/dangerous instrument."
¶ 12 Gustafson claims that the stun gun was not a dangerous instrument because "there was no evidence offered, not even a scintilla, to establish that the taser was `readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury' under the `circumstances in which it [wa]s used[,]' as required by A.R.S. § 13-105(12)." Gustafson also asserts the state could have, but did not "show[] that the manner of its use made the taser a dangerous instrument," and that the state did not introduce expert testimony on the potential dangers of the repeated use of a stun gun on an individual who had a pacemaker. However, the state produced evidence that Gustafson not only knew that the victim used a pacemaker, but that the victim also had told the intruders this fact and urged them not to "kill" her as a result of shocking her with the stun gun. The intruders nonetheless shocked the victim several times, in the first instance causing her to collapse onto a concrete floor, and later while she was restrained and bound with duct tape and tied to the headboard of her bed while her head was covered with a blanket.
¶ 13 Based on the evidence presented, combined with the jury's common sense and knowledge, the record contains substantial evidence to send the dangerous nature allegation
¶ 14 Moreover, to the extent Gustafson suggests that, because "the victim had no significant injuries and had declined medical treatment" the stun gun was not a dangerous instrument, we disagree. Neither § 13-105(12), nor § 13-105(13) requires that serious physical injury actually occur. Rather, § 13-105(12) only requires that the dangerous instrument be readily capable of producing death or serious physical injury in the circumstances in which it is used. In State v. Molina, 211 Ariz. 130, ¶¶ 9-10, 118 P.3d 1094, 1097 (App.2005), we rejected a similar argument that there was "insufficient evidence that ... ignited alcohol had been used in a manner consistent with the statutory definition of `dangerous instrument'" merely because the victim did not suffer serious physical injury from the assault. Likewise, because the victim here did not suffer a heart attack or request medical care after the incident does not mean the jury could not find "under the circumstances in which it [was] used, attempted to be used or threatened to be used" the stun gun was "readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury." § 13-105(12); cf. State v. Borbon, 146 Ariz. 392, 397, 706 P.2d 718, 723 (1985) (tire iron constituted dangerous instrument even though it was impossible for defendant to shatter the bulletproof glass door he hit with the iron; defendant hit door "so violently that the occupant [of the gas station cashier booth] was concerned that defendant would be able to break down the door and harm him").
¶ 15 Gustafson essentially asks us to reweigh the evidence, which we will not do. See State v. Lee, 189 Ariz. 590, 603, 944 P.2d 1204, 1217 (1997). Instead, we conclude the state presented sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could determine the stun gun, as used under the circumstances here, was a dangerous instrument. See § 13-105(12); West, 226 Ariz. 559, ¶ 16, 250 P.3d at 1191. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in denying the motion for a judgment of acquittal/motion to strike dangerous nature.
¶ 16 We further note, as did the Supreme Court of Iowa in State v. Geier, 484 N.W.2d 167, 171-72 (Iowa 1992), "many courts ... have deemed it appropriate to characterize stun guns as dangerous or deadly weapons." See, e.g., United States v. Agron, 921 F.2d 25, 26 (2d Cir.1990) (court takes "broad view" of "dangerous weapon," finding stun gun constituted dangerous weapon in drug conspiracy matter); United States v. Wallace, 800 F.2d 1509, 1513 (9th Cir.1986) (stun gun dangerous weapon under Federal Aviation Act of 1958, 49 U.S.C. § 1472(1), because it may produce "great bodily harm"); People v. Richard, 30 A.D.3d 750, 817 N.Y.S.2d 698, 702 (2006) (weighing the evidence, including manner in which stun gun was used, it was not unreasonable for jury to find it was a dangerous instrument); People v. MacCary, 173 A.D.2d 646, 570 N.Y.S.2d 322, 323-24 (1991) (prosecution provided sufficient evidence to permit jury to conclude "stun gun, as used herein, was a dangerous instrument," which was statutorily defined as "any instrument... which, under the circumstances in which it is used ... is readily capable of causing death or other serious physical injury"); cf. People v. Morillo, 104 A.D.3d 792, 960 N.Y.S.2d 224, 225 (2013) (evidence that defendant merely displayed stun gun legally
¶ 17 Finally, Gustafson argues that, because A.R.S. § 13-701 (setting out aggravating factors), addresses the use of a dangerous instrument in a different subsection than the use of a "remote stun gun," it "appear[s] ... that the use of a taser under Arizona statutory definitions does not constitute the use of a ... dangerous instrument." See § 13-701(D)(2), (22). As the state points out, however, the legislature did not place the same limitations upon the use of a remote stun gun as it did on the use of a dangerous instrument. Section 13-701(D)(2) permits as an aggravating factor the "[u]se, threatened use or possession of a ... dangerous instrument during the commission of the crime, except if this circumstance is an essential element of the offense of conviction or has been utilized to enhance the range of punishment under § 13-704." In contrast, there is no similar provision in § 13-701(D)(22) (use of remote stun gun as aggravating factor). This leads only to the inference that the legislature did not intend to treat them equally. Moreover, nothing in the statutory definition of a dangerous instrument, see § 13-105(12), would suggest the legislature did not intend that a remote stun gun not constitute a dangerous instrument. State v. Riggs, 189 Ariz. 327, 333, 942 P.2d 1159, 1165 (1997) (when "a statute's language is clear and unambiguous, we must give effect to that language and need not employ other rules of statutory construction").
¶ 18 For all of these reasons, we affirm Gustafson's convictions and sentences.
CONCURRING: GARYE L. VÁSQUEZ, Presiding Judge and MICHAEL MILLER, Judge.