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OPINION
TOCI, Judge.
¶ 1 The state appeals from the trial court’s order setting aside Dunton Francis’ license suspension entered by the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division (“ADOT”) and restoring his driving privileges. In Forino v. Arizona Department of Transportation, 191 Ariz. 77, 952 P.2d 315 (App.1997) (review denied March 17, 1998) we held that ADOT’S failure to hold an implied consent hearing as required by statute within thirty days of a timely request did not invalidate the license suspension, in the absence of prejudice to the driver. The question raised by this appeal is whether the trial court was entitled to disregard our decision in Forino and reach its own conclusion as to the meaning of the statutes that we construed in Forino. We conclude that the trial court erred and therefore reverse.
I. BACKGROUND
¶2 Francis was arrested on March 21, 1996, for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. His driver’s license was suspended under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 28-691(D) (Supp.1996) after he refused to take a breath test. He timely requested a hearing on April 4,1996, which ultimately was scheduled for September 12,1996, well beyond the thirty-day time period set forth in A.R.S. sections 28-691(F) and (G) and 28-446(B) (Supp.1996).
¶ 3 At the close of the hearing, the Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) upheld the one-year license suspension, finding that the scheduling delay was “beyond the norm” but “not unconscionable.” He also found that Francis had “not been unduly prejudiced” since the license suspension had been stayed pending the outcome of the hearing. Francis thereafter filed a motion for rehearing, which the ALJ denied.
¶ 4 Francis timely appealed to superior court. He argued that the language of A.R.S. section 28-446(B) was mandatory and that ADOT’s failure to set the hearing within thirty days divested ADOT of jurisdiction, requiring that the suspension be voided. He also argued that the ÁLJ improperly considered evidence and that he never “refused” to take the breath test.
¶ 5 After hearing oral argument and reviewing the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal, the trial court set aside ADOT’s license suspension, finding that Francis timely requested a hearing, that the hearing was not held within thirty days as required by A.R.S. section 28-446(B), and that Francis “at no time waived that procedural defect.” The trial court stated that “[i]t is apparent that the Legislature meant for the 30 days to be an outside limit____ [T]he Motor Vehicle Division is quite strict in enforcement of its rules against drivers who fail to make timely requests — the same ought to apply to them. It is the Court’s view that prejudice is presumed by the statute.” The court noted that it did not consider the other two arguments raised by Francis.
¶ 6 The state filed a motion for reconsideration, requesting that the trial court reconsider its ruling in light of this court’s recent decision in Forino, which held that, in the absence of prejudice demonstrated by the driver, the thirty-day time period in A.R.S. sections 28-691(F) and (G) and 28t446(B) was directory and not mandatory. 191 Ariz. at 81, 952 P.2d at 319. The trial court refused to follow Forino and denied ADOT’s motion in an October 23, 1997 minute entry. The state filed a timely notice of appeal from the trial court’s order.
II. DISCUSSION
¶ 7 In an appeal to the superior court from an administrative decision under the implied consent law, the scope of review is limited to a consideration of whether the ALJ’s action was illegal, arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. Robinson v. Prins, 161 Ariz. 195, 196, 777 P.2d 693, 694 (App.1989). The ALJ’s decision will be set aside only if it is not supported by competent evidence. Id., 777 P.2d 693
¶ 8 On appeal, Francis acknowledges that the Forino decision “provides authority directly opposite to the Superior Court’s decision.” He states that he will “attempt to gently persuade [us] of the error of [our] decision in Forino.” We are not persuaded, however, that we erred when we decided Forino. We agree with its conclusion that the failure to hold a timely hearing does not divest ADOT of jurisdiction of a license suspension absent a showing of prejudice by the licensee. Forino, 191 Ariz. at 81, 952 P.2d at 319.
¶ 9 Thus, Forino governs this case. ADOT’s failure to hold an implied consent hearing within 30 days of Francis’ request did not invalidate the suspension of his driving privileges unless Francis could demon strate prejudice. There was, of course, no prejudice shown, because Francis had retained his driving privileges until the time of the hearing. The ALJ properly found that Francis had not suffered undue prejudice as a result of the delay of his suspension hearing.
¶ 10 We now turn to the trial judge’s refusal to follow Forino. In denying ADOT’s motion for reconsideration, the trial judge stated:
Although the State urges the construction adopted by the Court of Appeals that “shall” really only means “may,” this Court does not share that view. The effect of such a ruling would be to allow the State to hold a hearing whenever it got around to it while requiring the motorist to file the hearing request within 15 days. If the Legislature meant that it was a merely a good idea to hold the hearing within 30 days, it should have used a word other than “shall.”
The trial judge was clearly wrong in refusing to follow this court’s decision in Forino. The superior court is bound by decisions of the court of appeals; its precedents furnish a proper guide to that court in making its decisions. See Senor T’s Restaurant v. Industrial Comm’n, 131 Ariz. 389, 393, 641 P.2d 877, 881 (App.1981) (Froeb, J., concurring), vacated on other grounds, 131 Ariz. 360, 641 P.2d 848 (1982). Under the doctrine of stare decisis, once a point of law has been established, it must be followed by all courts of lower rank in subsequent cases where the same legal issue is raised. Stare decisis promotes uniformity, certainty, and stability of the law; fosters reliance on judicial decisions; and contributes to the integrity of the judicial process. See State v. Cox, 43 Ariz. 174, 182-83, 30 P.2d 825, 828 (1934); 5 Am. Jur.2d Appellate Review § 599 (1995).
¶ 11 The fact that a petition for review was pending before our supreme court at the time of the motion for reconsideration did not diminish Forino’s significance as precedent.
As to the trial court, Forino became binding precedent when it was published. It remains so until this court, in a published opinion, refuses to follow it or it is vacated by our supreme court. Whether Forino is to be disaffirmed is not a question for the superior court. A lower court cannot refuse to follow the rulings of a higher court. This would bring about a “deadly conflict between the jurisdiction and power” of the appellate courts and the superior courts of this state. See Justice Court of Tempe Precinct v. Keswick, 102 Ariz. 536, 539-40, 433 P.2d 984, 987-88 (1967). “Any other rule would lead to chaos in our judicial system.” See McKay v. Industrial Comm’n, 103 Ariz. 191, 193, 438 P.2d 757, 759 (1968).
III. CONCLUSION
¶ 12 ADOT’s failure to hold an implied consent hearing within the statutory time period did not deprive the agency of jurisdiction to suspend Francis’ driver’s license. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s decision to the contrary and remand the matter so that the trial court may consider the other two issues raised in Francis’ administrative appeal. If the trial court finds that neither of these issues have merit, it must affirm the ALJ’s order suspending Francis’ driving privileges for a twelve-month period and remand the case to the ALJ for a determination of the effective dates of the suspension.
NOYES, P.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. Subsequently renumbered as A.R.S. § 28-1321(D) (1998).
. Subsequently renumbered as A.R.S. §§ 28-1321(1), 28-1321(K), and 28-3306(D) (1998), respectively. Both the former and current versions of the statutes provide that ADOT shall set a hearing within thirty days of the receipt of the request.
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GERBER, Judge.
¶ 1 This case presents the issue of legal standards for a lent employee. James Kevin Wiseman and Chong Wiseman (Wiseman) argue on appeal that DynAir Tech of Arizona, Inc. (DynAir) was not immune from tort liability for Mr. Wiseman’s workplace accident and that a question of fact exists concerning his status as a lent employee. We affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 2 On appeal from summary judgment, we view the facts in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. State ex rel. Corbin v. Challenge, Inc., 151 Ariz. 20, 24, 725 P.2d 727, 781 (App.1986).
¶ 3 While unemployed in late 1993, Wise-man, a certified Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airframe and powerplant (A & P) mechanic, heard about an opportunity to work for DynAir, an FAA-certified repair station. To take advantage of this opportunity, he had to be hired by PDS Technical Services (PDS), a labor contractor who provided temporary workers to the aerospace industry. Under a written service agreement between PDS and DynAir, PDS agreed to provide its employees to DynAir. PDS hired Wiseman, signed him to a written contract, and assigned him to DynAir as a temporary employee.
¶4 When Wiseman reported to DynAir for work, it instructed him about safety, security, communications, policies regarding working on aircraft, completing of DynAir work forms, using protective equipment, and handling hazardous materials. Although he mostly worked alone, at times he did work with crews composed of both PDS and DynAir workers. DynAir required that all work comply with FAA repair station authorization.
¶ 5 Wiseman used primarily his own tools, although he sometimes used DynAir’s tools and equipment. If a PDS employee did not wish to use his own tools or lacked the tool required for a particular job, then DynAir was responsible for furnishing the needed tools. In addition, DynAir was required to supply all other materials, facilities, space, and equipment needed.
¶ 6 While working at DynAir, Wiseman was injured when he fell from a platform. He sued DynAir on the theory that it caused his injuries by negligently maintaining and inspecting the platform. DynAir moved for summary judgment under the claim that Wiseman’s exclusive remedy, as a lent employee, was workers’ compensation. The trial court entered judgment in DynAir’s favor. Wiseman appealed from the judgment. We have jurisdiction under A.R.S. § 12-2101(B).
DISCUSSION
¶ 7 Three elements must be proved to establish that a “lent employee” has become the employee of the “special employer”:
(a) the employee has made a contract of hire, express or implied, with the special employer;
(b) the work being done is essentially that of the special employer; and
(c) the special employer has the right to control the details of the work.
Word v. Motorola, Inc., 135 Ariz. 517, 520, 662 P.2d 1024, 1027 (1983), quoting 1C A. Larson, Workmen’s Compensation Law, § 48.00 (1982). When all three factors are met, the special employer is hable for workers’ compensation and entitled to the benefit of the statutory tort immunity given to complying employers. Id. See A.R.S. § 23-1022.
¶ 8 While agreeing that the second and third factors are satisfied, Wiseman argues that a genuine issue of fact exists as to the first element. He asserts that the issue of consent is for the jury because reasonable minds could differ as to whether he expressly or impliedly consented to a contract of hire with DynAir.
¶ 9 Because Wiseman does not dispute the second and third factors from Word, we examine only whether the uncontroverted facts establish the first factor as a matter of law. The employee’s consent to a contract of hire may be implied from the circumstances. Araiza v. U.S. West Business Resources, 183 Ariz. 448, 452, 904 P.2d 1272, 1276 (App.1995). A contract of hire is implied if the employee accepts the assignment from the general employer to work for the special employer and accepts control, direction, and supervision by the special employer. Avila v. Northrup King Co., 179 Ariz. 497, 502, 880 P.2d 717, 720 (App.1994). Consent can be implied even if the job is only for a short time. Lindsey v. Bucyrus-Erie, 161 Ariz. 457, 459, 778 P.2d 1353, 1355 (App.1989) (three-day duration of employment was sufficient to imply consent).
¶ 10 The issue of implied consent to a contract of hire frequently arises in cases where the employee works for a labor contractor. A labor contractor hires employees and sells their services as temporary help to other employers. Araiza, 183 Ariz. at 452, 904 P.2d at 1276. A special employer obtains workers from a labor contractor and enjoys immunity from civil suits brought by lent employees injured while working for it. The lent employee “need only be aware of and consent to the facts that give rise to the lent employee relationship. He need not be aware of and consent to the legal consequences of such facts.” Avila, 179 Ariz. at 504, 880 P.2d at 722. Where the facts of employment are undisputed, the existence of an employment relationship is a matter of law.
¶ 11 Wiseman argues that a jury could infer that he did not consent to employment with DynAir because his contract was with PDS, PDS paid him, only PDS could fire him, and his PDS contract prohibited him taking a job with DynAir during his assignment and for 90 days thereafter. We. disagree. This arrangement is typical when a labor contractor assigns an employee to a special employer. See Avila, 179 Ariz. at 499, 880 P.2d at 719 (labor contractor employed lent employee and paid his wages; employee impliedly consented to employment with special employer); Lindsey, 161 Ariz. at 458-59, 778 P.2d at 1354-55 (employee of Manpower consented to employment with special employer); Nation v. Weiner, 145 Ariz. 414, 701 P.2d 1222 (App.1985) (nurse employed by temporary medical personnel agency had implied contract of hire with hospital to which she was assigned.) Wise-man’s contract and payment arrangement were no different from those in the usual lent employee situations.
¶ 12 In Araiza, the plaintiff argued that an implied contract of hire did not exist because the contract between Manpower and U.S. West indicated that Manpower was his sole employer. 183 Ariz. at 452, 904 P.2d at 1276. Manpower employed Araiza and assigned him to U.S. West Business Resources. We concluded that the contract did not overcome the true employment relationship because “ ‘[i]t is not the appellation which the parties give to the relationship, but rather the objective nature of the relationship, determined upon an analysis of the totality of the facts and circumstances of each case which is determinative.’” Id. at 453, 904 P.2d at 1277, quoting Anton v. Industrial Comm’n of Arizona, 141 Ariz. 566, 568, 688 P.2d 192, 194 (App.1984).
¶ 13 When a labor contractor supplies its employee to another employer, the employee may be deemed to have two employers, both immune from tort liability for injuries the employee receives on the job. Lindsey, 161 Ariz. at 458, 778 P.2d at 1354. Contracts between labor contractors and their employees frequently restrict the employee from seeking sole employment with the special employer or declare that the worker is the employee of the labor contractor alone. Araiza decided that such a contract provision did not preclude finding that a special employment relationship existed. Wiseman agreed not to take a job with DynAir during and for 90 days after his assignment to DynAir. Here, as in Araiza, a contractual provision prohibiting sole em ployment with a special employer does not preclude the court from finding that Wise-man impliedly consented to a contract of hire with DynAir.
¶ 14 Ordinarily, “[w]hen the employee arrives at the work site and the employer directs and controls his work, the legal [lent employee/special employer] relationship is established as a matter of law.” Lindsey, 161 Ariz. at 459, 778 P.2d at 1355. Wiseman does not dispute accepting PDS’s assignment to work at DynAir nor does he dispute working there for at least six weeks. At his deposition, he admitted that he saw his employment at PDS as a stepping stone to employment with DynAir.
¶ 15 Wiseman argues that DynAir did not direct or control the method or manner of his work because FAA rules and manufacturers’ manuals govern his work. However, DynAir determined whether there was compliance with the FAA requirements, directed his work assignments and required him to document his work on forms. Wiseman admitted receiving a work card and an assignment from a DynAir supervisor at the beginning of each shift and returning the work card to the supervisor when he finished the job. If he completed a task before shift end, he reported to the supervisor for another assignment. DynAir demonstrated that the work cards contained step-by-step work instructions with references to manufacturers’ manuals, drawings, and other technical data. Frequently, an inspector had to approve his work after he completed it for compliance with the FAA’s regulations. These supervisory acts establish that DynAir directed and controlled Wiseman’s work.
¶ 16 DynAir’s lack of complete freedom in directing the method or manner of work is not dispositive of its employment relationship with Wiseman. PDS only directed Wiseman to show up for work' at DynAir; it had no control over his method of work. Furthermore, the FAA certified Wiseman and required him to comply with FAA standards, facts consistent with Wiseman being subject to the direction and control of a special employer. See Nation, 145 Ariz. at 419 n. 4, 701 P.2d at 1227 n. 4 (rejecting contention that employee’s status as a licensed professional nurse precluded a finding of an employment relationship). DynAir’s direction and control of Wiseman’s work was sufficient to imply that he consented to a contract of hire with DynAir.
¶ 17 Wiseman also contends that his subjective perception determines whether he accepted control or direction from DynAir. Further, he asserts that a jury question concerning implied consent exists because he did not perceive himself as having accepted direction or control from DynAir. However, as noted above, “for the lent employee doctrine to apply, the employee need only be aware of and consent to the lent employee relationship. He need not be aware of and consent to the legal consequences of such facts.” Avila, 179 Ariz. at 504, 880 P.2d at 724.
¶ 18 Wiseman knew that PDS was a labor contractor and that as an employee of PDS he would be assigned to work for another employer. His subjective conviction that he did not receive direction or control from DynAir over the manner of his work does not change the objective facts necessary to show implied consent to a contract of hire. As a matter of law, he worked under an implied contract of hire with DynAir.
¶ 19 Wiseman also asserts that his relationship to DynAir is analogous to a subcontractor’s employee’s relationship to a general contractor. The record does not support this argument. Wiseman admitted that he most frequently worked by himself and not as part of a crew. When he did work as part of a crew, unlike a subcontractor with its employees, PDS did not supervise him. Even if we accept this reasoning, Wiseman would still have an employee relationship with DynAir because his ease would fall within the statutory employer doctrine. However, the “statutory employer doctrine governs only situations where an ‘employer (owner or general contractor) procures work to be done for him by a contractor____’” Word, 135 Ariz. at 519, 662 P.2d at 1026. Wiseman acknowledges on appeal that PDS was not a subcontractor of DynAir. His argument that he envisioned himself as working for a subcontractor fails.
¶ 20 Wiseman cites eases from other states that are factually distinguishable or inconsistent with Arizona ease law. In Kowalski v. Shell Oil Co., 23 Cal.3d 168, 151 Cal.Rptr. 671, 588 P.2d 811 (1979), Kowalski’s employer, the C. Norman Peterson Company, was not a labor contractor but instead contracted with Shell to perform maintenance work at a refinery. Kowalski worked with a crew of Peterson carpenters and a Peterson foreman supervised him. Peterson supplied its employees with tools, equipment, hard hats, and Peterson identification badges. The court affirmed the jury’s finding that Kowalski was not Shell’s special employee. Uncontradicted evidence persuaded the court that Shell did not exercise control over Kowalski’s duties because Peterson’s foreman supervised him at all times. Here, in contrast, PDS is a labor contractor; Wiseman did not work with a PDS supervised crew, and PDS never provided him with equipment.
¶ 21 Similarly, in Appeal of Longchamps Electric, Inc., 137 N.H. 731, 634 A.2d 994 (1993), Longchamps, although not a labor contractor, agreed to supply its electricians’ services to Mikol. A Longchamps’ employee supervised the injured employee while he worked at Mikol, and Mikol neither supervised nor instructed him concerning his work. Mikol did not contract for the services of any individuals but rather for the services of a Longchamps electrical crew. The appellate court affirmed the lower court’s finding that the worker was an employee of Longchamps only. In this case, DynAir contracted for individual PDS employees, not for a crew of employees under PDS’s direct work supervision.
¶ 22 In both Barajas v. USA Petroleum Carp., 184 Cal.App.3d 974, 229 Cal.Rptr. 513 (1986), and Novenson v. Spokane Culvert & Fabricating Co., 91 Wash.2d 550, 588 P.2d 1174 (1979), labor contractors provided the workers to the defendant companies. Barajas held that it could not say as a matter of law that the worker had an employment relationship with the assigned special employer, noting that the existence of the special employment relationship is generally a question for the trier of fact. 229 Cal.Rptr. at 517. Novenson concluded that consent to an employment agreement with the assigned employer should not be imputed to the employee as a matter of law and that material factual questions existed concerning his consent to enter into a contract of hire.
¶23 California’s and Washington’s ease law makes the existence of the lent employee/special employer relationship a question of fact. In Arizona, by contrast, the circumstances of each case determine whether the issue is one of fact or law. If the facts of the employment are undisputed, the issue is decided as a matter of law. See Avila, 179 Ariz. at 505, 880 P.2d at 725.
CONCLUSION
¶24 The undisputed evidence supports the trial court’s ruling that Wiseman impliedly consented to a contract of hire with DynAir and thus that DynAir is immune from tort liability for his injuries. Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of DynAir.
EHRLICH, P.J., and TOCI, C.J., concur.
. Retitled Larson’s Workers' Compensation Law in 1997.
. Wiseman indicated in his statement of facts that he was required to check-in with Pfeifer, the PDS administrator at DynAir, at the beginning of 'each of his workdays. However, his deposition testimony does not clearly support this statement. Instead, the testimony appears to indicate that he reported to Pfeifer on his first day of work at DynAir. In any event, even if he checked in with Pfeifer each workday, there is no evidence that Pfeifer ever gave him a work order for a task to be done at DynAir. Pfeifer managed the contract between DynAir and PDS. His duties involved recruiting workers, hiring and firing, payroll, and similar administrative tasks.
. The requisite control over a skilled worker to satisfy the lent employee test is discussed in Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law:
... the "control” which the special employer must assume need not extend to directing the technical details of a skilled employee's activity. This would mean that skilled employees would hardly ever be employees under the [workmen’s compensation] act. What is essential, according to the Supreme Court of Arizona, is the right to control the time and place of services, the person for whom rendered, and the degree and amount of services.
A. Larson, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, section 48.30 (1997)(citing Carnes v. Industrial Comm’n, 73 Ariz. 264, 240 P.2d 536 (1952)).
. The statutory employer statute, A.R.S. § 23-902(B), provides that
[w]hen an employer procures work to be done for him by a contractor over whose work he retains supervision or control, and such work is a part or process in the trade or business of the employer, then such contractors and the persons employed by him, and his subcontractor and persons employed by the subcontractor, are ... employees of the original employer.
. We note that the subcontractor argument would not help Wiseman’s position anyway. Under A.R.S. § 23-902(B), a statutory employer is immune from tort liability.
. In Lindsey v. Bucyrus-Erie, Division Two adopted the dissent's criticism of the Novenson majority on the issue of laborers provided by a labor broker. 161 Ariz. at 458, 778 P.2d 1353.
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FIDEL, Presiding Judge.
¶ 1 A minor guest sustained personal injuries at the Safari Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, from the shattering of a plate glass panel in a sliding door. The hotel owner, Appellant Crow-Barker-Paul Limited Partnership (“Safari”), appeals from an adverse judgment and asks us to grant either judgment notwithstanding the verdict, new trial, or remittitur. Safari also asks us to reverse the trial court’s imposition of sanctions arising from its rejection of an offer of judgment.
¶ 2 In the course of our opinion, we consider what duties may arise when a hotel owner maintains plate glass doors in use that were installed before the enactment of legislation requiring safety glass in future installations. We differentiate the owner’s statutory and common-law duty under such circumstances, consider whether the jury was adequately instructed on each, and consider whether the evidence permitted the conclusion that Safari had violated its common-law duty of care.
¶ 3 We also consider whether a parent who brings an action on his minor child’s behalf for personal injuries and on his own behalf for medical treatment to the child may combine those claims in a single offer of judgment or must differentiate them in separate offers in order to take advantage of the offer of judgment rule.
¶4 We also consider whether the trial court properly handled what it treated as a spurious foundational objection when it permitted the proponent of the challenged evidence to amend the pretrial statement to add a foundational witness.
¶ 5 Finding no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s rulings on these or other issues, we affirm.
I. History
¶ 6 In July 1992, Tarik Sheppard (“Tarik”) — then fifteen years old — was playing in a basketball tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona. The members and coaches of Tarik’s team were registered guests at the Safari Hotel. Tarik was injured on the hotel premises when his teammate, Melvin Johnson, closed the sliding glass door to his. hotel room as Tarik was about to enter the room. The parties dispute whether Tarik touched the door before it shattered or was merely reaching for the handle. The parties also dispute whether Johnson shut the door with ordinary or excessive force. They do not dispute that the door shattered into pieces of glass, severely lacerating Tarik’s arms.
¶ 7 Tarik’s father, Daniel Sheppard (“Sheppard”), brought this suit against Safari. Because Tarik was a minor at the time, Sheppard asserted Tarik’s claim for personal injuries and his own claim for the cost of necessary medical treatment for his son.
¶ 8 Safari denied liability, alleged Tarik’s comparative fault, and named Tarik’s Mend, Melvin Johnson, as a non-party at fault. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 12-2506(B) (Supp.1997) (permitting apportionment of fault to non-parties). The case proceeded to a trial by jury and concluded in a $445,000.00 verdict in Sheppard’s favor; the jury assigned Safari 100% of the fault.
¶ 9 Before trial, Sheppard had filed, and Safari had declined to accept, an offer of judgment pursuant to Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 68:
[Plaintiff], by and through his attorneys undersigned, ... offers to allow Judgment to be taken by [Plaintiff] against [Defendant] in the amount of Two Hundred Forty-Nine Thousand Five Hundred ($249,-500.00) Dollars, plus court costs accrued to date, and for which [Plaintiff] must prepare and file a Satisfaction of Judgment in favor of [Defendant].
¶ 10 The Mai court entered formal judgment for Sheppard in the amount of $560,-937.96 on February 20, 1997; the judgment included the jury verdict, taxable costs of $8,790.23, and sanctions of $107,147.73 arising from Safari’s failure to accept the offer of judgment. Safari moved alternatively for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or new trial/remittitur, the trial court denied these motions, and Safari filed a timely appeal from both the judgment and the denial of its post-trial motions.
II. Duty to Install Safety Glass
¶ 11 Safari argues that, in a misleading and incomplete jury instruction, the trial court wrongly suggested that Safari had a pre-accident duty under the Arizona Revised Statutes or the Uniform Building Code to remove the unbroken existing glass from the sliding door in Melvin Johnson’s hotel room' — Room 249 — and “retrofit” the door with safety glass. The court’s instruction was further mistaken, according to Safari, in suggesting that the violation of this duty was negligence per se. Safari further argues that, in the absence of evidence that it had notice of a dangerous condition in Room 249, it had no common-law duty to replace the glass, and that the court thus erred in deny ing its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
A. Supplemental Background
¶ 12 To place these arguments in context, we provide some further background:
¶ 18 In 1956, when the Safari Hotel was built, the Arizona Revised Statutes neither required safety glass nor proscribed plate glass in hotel sliding doors.
¶ 14 As of July 1, 1974, with the enactment of a set of safety glazing statutes, see A.R.S. §§ 36-1631 to -1635 (1993), the Arizona Legislature made it unlawful to install any form of glass other than safety glass in hazardous locations in public buildings, including hotel and motel sliding doors. See A.R.S. §§ 36-1631(1), -1631(3), -1633. The safety glazing statute, however, does not impose a statutory duty to retrofit pre-1974 installations with safety glass. See Piccola v. Woodall, 186 Ariz. 307, 311, 921 P.2d 710, 714 (App.1996).
¶ 15 After Tarik’s accident, the Safari Hotel staff discarded the broken glass from the sliding door in Room 249, preserving none for later expert examination. Nor is there a record of the year in which that doorpane was installed. Upon the basis of witness descriptions of the broken glass, however, Safari’s expert witness, Edward Beers, offered the opinion that the pane was made of safety glass and may have been installed as recently as a week before the accident.- In contrast, Sheppard’s expert, Arthur Freedman, concluded from witness descriptions of the glass and from the nature of Tarik’s cuts that the pane was made of annealed (plate) glass, not safety glass.
¶ 16 As of 1973, the Uniform Building Code (“UBC”) established safety glass standards comparable to those embodied in AR.S. §§ 36-1631 to -1633. On direct examination, Freedman testified without objeetion that, pursuant to UBC standards, “annealed glass is an unsafe material” in a sliding door. He also testified without objection that, pursuant to such standards, an owner who replaced annealed glass after 1973 was obliged to do so with safety glass. He did not suggest on direct examination that the code imposed an obligation to retrofit. On cross-examination, however, Safari’s counsel asked Freedman to assume that the Safari hotel became aware after the promulgation of the UBC “that one of the doors in [its] building has annealed glass.” Upon that assumption, Safari’s counsel asked whether the owner would be obliged under the code to substitute safety glass. Freedman answered that the owner would be so obliged.
1Í17 Room 249 was located in the east building of the Safari Hotel. From the evidence submitted, the jury might have reasonably concluded that, during the twenty-one months before Tarik’s accident, glass door-panes had broken in that building; within that time frame, of the forty-eight panes within the building, eleven had been replaced by the hotel.
¶ 18 Over Safari’s objection, the trial court incorporated the provisions of A.R.S. §§ 36-1631 to -1635 into a jury instruction that provided in pertinent part:
It is unlawful after July 1 of 1974 for any person who is responsible for installation of glazing materials, to knowingly install, cause to be installed or consent to the installation of glazing [materials] other than safety glazing materials in any hazardous location.
If you find that the glass sliding door in room 249 of the Safari Hotel present on July 5 of 1992, was installed after July 1 of 1974, and was not safety glazing as defined above, then you may find that Defendant was negligent. You should then determine whether that negligence was a cause of injury to Plaintiff Tarik Sheppard.
The court did not refer in its instruction to the UBC.
¶ 19 Safari requested and the trial court declined to give the following additional jury instruction:
The Uniform Building Code does not require the owner of premises to rebuild or retrofit his property in order to comply with a Uniform Building Code enacted after the date the property was constructed.
The court explained, “I am not giving any instruction with respect to the Uniform Building Code, [which] only comes in by reading that learned treatise to the experts on cross and on direct-examination.”
B. Statutory Duty to Retrofit; Negligence Per Se
¶ 20 Safari argues for a new trial on the ground that the trial court erroneously suggested to the jury in the quoted instruction that a hotel owner was statutorily obliged after 1974 to retrofit annealed glass sliding doorpanes installed before 1974 with panes of safety glass. Safari further argues that the instruction was phrased in terms of negligence per se. Both arguments are patently mistaken.
¶ 21 First, the court expressly defined its instruction as applicable only “[i]f you find that the glass sliding door in room 249 ... was installed after July 1 of 1971.” (emphasis added). No statutory obligation to retrofit pre-1974 installations can reasonably be read into that instruction.
¶ 22 Second, the court instructed, if the jurors found that the door had been installed with something other than safety glass after 1974, “then you may find that Defendant was negligent.” (emphasis added). This is not the language of negligence per se. Cf. RAJI (Civil) 3d Negligence 1 (1997) (“If you find from the evidence that a person has violated any of [the following] laws, that person is negligent.” (emphasis added)).
C. Common-Law Duty to Retrofit
¶ 23 Although Safari may have had no statutory duty to retrofit an unbroken annealed glass doorpane installed before 1974, see Piccola, 186 Ariz. at 311, 921 P.2d at 714, it had a common-law duty to avoid subjecting its guests to a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm. See id. at 310, 921 P.2d at 713; see also Murphy v. El Dorado Bowl, Inc., 2 Ariz.App. 341, 343-44, 409 P.2d 57, 59-60 (1965). The trial court defined this duty to the jury in the following instruction:
The duty of a hotel like defendant to its guests is to maintain its premises in a reasonably safe condition. Defendant is required to use ordinary care to inspect for, warn of, safeguard against or remedy a dangerous condition of which Defendant has notice.
Safari does not object to the court’s instruction on appeal.
¶ 24 Safari seeks judgment notwithstanding the verdict, however, contending that Sheppard introduced no evidence that Safari had pre-accident notice of an unreasonably dangerous condition in Room 249. We disagree. “Actual knowledge of the dangerous condition is not required. The duty to inspect arises when the [owner] ‘has reason to suspect’ a defect.” Piccola, 186 Ariz. at 311, 921 P.2d at 714.
¶ 25 Sheppard introduced substantial evidence to establish that Safari had reason to suspect a defect. Arthur Freedman testified from a review of hotel records that the glass doors in the east building were breaking with regularity and that Safari had already replaced eleven of the forty-eight doorpanes in that building in the twenty-one months before Tarik’s accident. The jury could reasonably have inferred that, in the course of Safari’s clean-up and replacement effort, the Safari management had abundant opportunity to discover that its guests were exposed to the danger of annealed glass doors.
¶26 Moreover, it was undisputed that Tarik’s friend Melvin Johnson had reported a malfunction in the Room 249 door to Safari management before Tarik’s injury — specifically, that the door was not rolling properly in its track. This testimony, coupled with Freedman’s testimony, permitted the jury to conclude that Safari should have known before the accident that a door containing annealed glass was unstable within its track. That door was the single entrance and exit for Room 249. Upon such evidence, the jury could properly have concluded that Safari had reason to suspect a dangerous condition and that it breached its common-law duty to use ordinary care to inspect for, warn of, safeguard against, or remedy that condition.
D. What the Uniform Building Code Required
¶ 27 The trial court refused Safari’s request to instruct the jury that the Uniform Building Code does not require an owner to rebuild or retrofit his property to replace non-conforming glass installed before the enactment of the code. Relying heavily on Piccola, Safari proffers the rejected UBC instruction as a necessary corrective or clarification to the instruction that the trial court chose to give.’
¶28 Safari reasons from a faulty premise. Mistakenly equating what the Arizona Revised Statutes require as a matter of law with the standards established by the UBC, Safari misreads both the trial court’s instruction and Piccola. First, it assumes incorrectly that the trial court informed the jury of the requirements of the UBC. The trial court did not do so. It adapted its instruction from the language of A.R.S. §§ 36-1681 to -1635, not the language of the code; told the jury what “the law” requires, not what the code requires; and expressly informed counsel that it was “not giving any instruction with respect to the Uniform Building Code.”
¶29 Second, Safari overstates the holding of Piccola. We held there that the safety glazing statute, A.R.S. §§ 36-1631 to - 1635, does not impose a statutory duty to retrofit pre-1974 construction with safety glass. See Piccola, 186 Ariz. at 311, 921 P.2d at 714. Similarly, we held that the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does not impose that statutory duty upon landlords. See id.; see also supra n. 7. This was statutory interpretation, however, and did not foreclose reference to the UBC as a source of standards pertinent to the common-law assessment of unreasonable danger on the premises. Further, in Piccola, we relieved a landlord of liability for a hazardous condition that the tenant had had a reasonable opportunity to discover and correct. See Piccola, 186 Ariz. at 312, 921 P.2d at 715 (applying Restatement (Second) of Torts § 358(2) (1965)). In that landlord/tenant case, we did not consider in any respect the obligations owed by hotel management to hotel guests.
¶ 30 In short, the UBC instruction proposed by Safari as a corrective was unsupported by the law, inconsistent with the evidence, and unresponsive to the instruction that it was tendered to correct. The trial court, having declined to give any instruction concerning the UBC, did not err by refusing to give the instruction that Safari proposed.
¶ 31 We review jury instructions as a whole to determine whether the jury was properly guided in its deliberations. See Terry v. Gaslight Square Assocs., 182 Ariz. 365, 368, 897 P.2d 667, 670 (App.1994). Viewing the instructions in this case as a whole, we find them applicable, appropriate to the evidence, and supported by the law.
III. Hearsay
¶ 32 Safari argues that the trial court improperly allowed Sheppard’s counsel to introduce Tarik’s out-of-court statements to his parents describing how the accident occurred. These statements, Safari maintains, were inadmissible hearsay, wrongly regarded by the trial court as admissible prior consistent statements under Rule 801(d)(1)(B), Arizona Rules of Evidence. We will not reverse based upon an evidentiary ruling unless we find a clear abuse of discretion and demonstrable prejudice. See Cotterhill v. Bafile, 177 Ariz. 76, 81, 865 P.2d 120, 125 (App.1993). We find neither here.
¶ 33 Tarik’s father testified at trial; Tarik’s mother testified through deposition. According to his mother, when Tarik described the accident to her, he did not tell her that he had walked into the sliding glass door, nor did he tell her that Melvin had slammed the door. According to both parents, Tarik said that he was reaching for the door handle when the glass shattered and cut him. These descriptions of Tarik’s account after the accident were consistent with Tarik’s account at trial.
¶ 34 The parties dispute whether these statements were properly admitted to rebut Safari’s implication that Tarik was fabricating how the accident occurred. Safari denies that it accused Tarik of fabrication, but its denial is contradicted by the record. Both in cross-examining Tarik and in final argument, Safari’s counsel explicitly undertook to persuade the jury that Tarik was misrepresenting how the accident occurred.
¶35 Safari argues also that Sheppard did not meet the Rule 801(d)(1)(B) foundational requirement of showing that Tarik made his statements to his parents before the motive to fabricate arose. Safari never made this objection to the trial court, however, and it comes too late upon appeal.
¶ 36 Further, Safari never argues how it was prejudiced by the parents’ rendition of Tarik’s account of the accident. The parents’ comments on this subject were so general and innocuous that they added nothing substantial to Tarik’s own trial court account, which Safari subjected to a thorough cross-examination. We therefore find this issue wholly without merit.
IV. Amendment of Joint Pretrial Statement
¶ 37 Safari argues that the trial court improperly allowed Sheppard’s witness, Don Naumann, to testify at trial to provide a foundation for photographs of the sliding glass door that he took in August 1992. Specifically, Safari maintains that, because Naumann was not listed as a witness on the joint pretrial statement, he should have been precluded from testifying at trial.
¶ 38 The issue surfaced at trial when Sheppard’s expert, Arthur Freedman, referred to Naumann’s photographs, which Freedman had reviewed and relied upon in formulating his opinions. Safari objected that Freedman could not provide the necessary foundation for the photographs and that Naumann could not be called to do so as he had not been listed on the pretrial statement. The trial court, on its own motion, cured this omission by allowing Sheppard to amend the pretrial statement to add Naumann as a foundational witness. Safari contends that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing this amendment when it had “repeatedly indicated it would strictly enforce the Joint Pre-Trial Statement and not admit evidence or witnesses not listed.”
¶ 39 To find this issue raised at trial and perpetuated on appeal is troubling. Naumann and his photos had been identified to Safari in Sheppard’s initial disclosure statement, copies of the photos had been given to Safari almost three years before trial, and Safari had known for those three years that Freedman would rely on the photos in forming his opinions. The trial court correctly described Safari’s foundational objection as a “plain game,” adding, “This is the only trial I have had in the last seven months where the foundation in every exhibit was objected to.” (emphasis added).
¶40 The trial court did not abuse its discretion by thwarting such gamesmanship. Rather, the trial court properly exercised its discretion pursuant to Rule VI(a)(4) of the Uniform Rules of Practice of the Superior Court to permit an unlisted witness for “good cause.” See Allstate Ins. Co. v. O’Toole, 182 Ariz. 284, 287-88, 896 P.2d 254, 257-58 (1995). Foundational objections serve a useful purpose when there is a legitimate foundational question to explore. To make such objections, however, merely to force one’s adversary to “do it the hard way” wastes court time and client dollars. To lawyers tempted to interrupt or slow the serious work of trial with similar objections in the future, we commend these passages from “A Lawyer’s Creed of Professionalism of the State Bar of Arizona”:
A. 2. I will endeavor to achieve my client s lawful objectives ... in litigation as expeditiously and economically as possible;
B. 3. In litigation proceedings I will agree to ... waiver of procedural formalities when the legitimate interest of my client will not be adversely affected;
C. 9. In civil matters, I will stipulate to facts as to which there is no genuine dispute.
V. Counsel’s Alleged Misconduct
¶ 41 Safari argues that three acts of misconduct by Sheppard’s counsel (Cohen) require the grant of a new trial. The trial court found none of them a basis for mistrial or new trial. We review for abuse of discretion and find none.
A. Improper Reference to Insurance
¶42 Cohen elicited a reference to insurance companies in direct examination of Sheppard’s glass expert, Edward Holds-worth:
Q: Can you give the jury an idea what type of person or company would consult with you?
A: (Holdsworth) Well, roughly 10, maybe, 15 percent of our work is what we loosely define as forensic work, that includes activity such as today where I appear in court giving evidence. Also includes working for insurance companies. Many times they wish to know simply if a claim seems reasonable from a physical evidence standpoint.
(emphasis added).
¶ 43 Safari acknowledged in its written motion for mistrial that “the mere mention of insurance in a negligence action will not constitute grounds for a mistrial.” Rather, it must be shown to have unduly prejudiced Safari’s right to a fair trial. See Cervantes v. Rijlaarsdam, 190 Ariz. 396, 398, 949 P.2d 56, 58 (App.1997); Davis v. Marquardt, 20 Ariz.App. 372, 374, 513 P.2d 379, 381 (1973). Yet Safari has attempted no showing of prejudice on appeal, asserting merely that Holdworth’s reference to consulting for insurance companies tended “to bolster [his] credibility.”
¶ 44 An attorney is entitled to attempt to bolster the credibility of a forensic expert in a personal injury trial by introducing evidence that the witness consults for parties on both the plaintiff’s and defense side. Although one can ordinarily do so without reference to insurance, Safari provides us with no basis for reversal, given its failure to argue or identify any prejudice from the passing reference in this case.
B. Handling of Glass Exhibit
¶ 45 Safari claims that Cohen intentionally violated a trial court ban on demonstrations when he placed his hand in a box of safety glass while examining Safari’s witness, Mr. Beers. According to Safari, Cohen “swirled his hand or attempted to swirl his hand around the glass” in a prejudicial attempt to discredit Beers’s testimony that even safety glass can cause severe lacerations. According to Cohen, his “hand may have dropped below the cardboard,” but he did not recall touching the glass.
¶ 46 Safari incorrectly represents that the trial court “confirmed on the record that it saw and heard [Cohen] handle the glass.” The trial court merely commented that it “heard glass tin[k]ling,” to which Cohen responded that the tinkling might have resulted from his moving the box. After considering the argument and explanations of counsel, the trial court found no basis for mistrial, and Safari provides no reason for us to substitute our judgment. See Bledsoe v. Salt River Valley Water Users’ Ass’n, 179 Ariz. 469, 473, 880 P.2d 689, 693 (App.1994).
C. Closing Argument
¶47 Safari adds that Cohen engaged in reversible misconduct by stating to the jury in closing arguments that he had spoken with Tarik’s parents regarding the value of the case. We are puzzled by this argument. Cohen represented not only Tarik, a teenager, but also his father, Daniel Sheppard. The jury could not possibly have been surprised, much less prejudiced, by hearing that Cohen and Tarik’s parents had discussed the sum that Cohen would ask the jury to award. Safari does not attempt to argue how such prejudice might have occurred. On this ground, as on the others mentioned, the trial court found no basis for mistrial or new trial, and we defer.
VI. Loss op Chance Testimony
¶ 48 Safari argues that, because the trial court improperly admitted evidence of Tarik’s professional basketball aspirations, the jury returned an excessive verdict, inflated by passion and prejudice and by the improper economic assessment of a lost chance.
¶49 The jury learned that, at the time Tarik was injured, he was a star basketball player in the Riverside Church program, which showcased talented young basketball players in the New York City area. Tarik had been named most valuable player on his high school team the season before his accident, and was often named most valuable player when the Riverside group toured the country. He maintained a strict practice regimen, performed well in his studies, and dreamed of playing professional basketball. Friends sometimes called him “NBA” or “Franchise.” After the accident, Tarik’s basketball skills were diminished, though to a disputed degree, and his aspirations were more modest than before.
¶50 Safari had moved in limine to exclude evidence regarding the impact of the accident on Tarik’s basketball aspirations, and Sheppard had agreed not to claim loss of earning capacity or special damages on the basis of such evidence. Sheppard maintained, however, that as part of Tarik’s general damages claim, he could permissibly establish how the accident had diminished Tarik’s playing skill and, in consequence, altered Tarik’s self-perception and future hopes.
¶ 51 The trial court permitted the disputed evidence as relevant to Tarik’s general damage claim. The court instructed the jury, however, as follows:
Damages that are speculative, remote or uncertain may not form the basis for your award.
[Tarik] is not claiming that he is entitled to a lost NBA salary based on a lost chance to play in the NBA. It is speculative, remote, or uncertain whether he would play in the NBA. However, [Tarik] is claiming damages for loss of enjoyment of an activity, basketball, and the diminution in his ability to play basketball.
¶ 52 Both in presenting and arguing the evidence in question, Sheppard confined himself to a general damage claim for loss of enjoyment, not a special damage claim for loss of a chance. We find that the trial court appropriately handled this issue, both in evidentiary rulings and instructions.
¶ 53 As for Safari’s assertion that the verdict was excessive or the product of passion and prejudice, we defer to the trial court’s contrary finding. The amount of an award for damages is a question peculiarly within the province of the jury, and the award will not be overturned or tampered with unless we find that the verdict was, indeed, the result of passion or prejudice. A reviewing court will not alter a jury’s damage verdict unless it finds the amount so unreasonable that it “shocks the conscience” of the court. See Larriva v. Widmer, 101 Ariz. 1, 7, 415 P.2d 424, 430 (1966).
¶ 54 According to Tarik’s surgeon, the glass cut through virtually every structure in the mid-portion of Tarik’s left arm; Tarik underwent lengthy microsurgery to repair lacerations to the left forearm muscles, medial nerve, ulnar nerve, medial artery, brachial artery, ulnar artery, two major nerves of the hand, and multiple tendons. Tarik required extensive physical therapy and suffers permanent impairment, including numbness of the left index and middle fingers. He also carries permanent scars that are thick and wide. The trial court, after hearing such evidence, did not find the verdict excessive or shocking to the conscience. Neither do we.
VII. Offer of Judgment
¶ 55 Safari next contends that the trial court erred in sanctioning Safari under Ariz. R. Civ. P. 68(d) for its failure to accept Sheppard’s offer of judgment. Rule 68(d) states:
If the judgment finally obtained is equal to, or more favorable to the offeror than, the offer, the offeree must pay, as a sanction, those reasonable expert witness fees and double the taxable costs of the offeror ... incurred after the making of the offer, and prejudgment interest on unliquidated claims to accrue from the date of the offer.
Safari argues that the offer of judgment was invalid because it did not apportion the judgment between two separate plaintiffs in accordance with Duke v. Cochise County, 189 Ariz. 35, 938 P.2d 84 (App.1996).
¶ 56 The Duke court relied on cases from other jurisdictions in holding that “unapportioned joint offers [comprising multiple parties or claims aré] invalid for purposes of imposing sanctions under Rule 68(d), regardless of the outcome at trial.” Id. at 41, 938 P.2d at 90. The court reasoned that unapportioned joint offers of judgment “deprive[ ] the offeree of the opportunity to assess his or her chances of doing better at trial against one or more of the parties covered by the joint offer.” Id.
¶57 The trial court distinguished this ease from Duke as one initiated by a single adult plaintiff on behalf of his minor son. Neither Duke nor the cases that it cited involved a single plaintiff acting as a representative of another in the capacity of next friend, conservator, or guardian ad litem. Rather, they involved multiple plaintiffs, multiple claims, or both.
¶ 58 We recognize that Daniel Sheppard advanced not only Tarik’s injury claim but also his own claim for the costs of Tarik’s medical care. These are ordinarily two aspects of an individual personal injury claim, however, and were divided solely due to Tarik’s minority. In our opinion, the trial court correctly found the Duke rationale inapplicable in such a case, and properly subjected Safari to the application of Rule 68(d).
VIII. Conclusion
¶ 59 For the reasons discussed above, we affirm the judgment against Safari and the denial of Safari’s request for new trial, remittitur, or judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
LANKFORD and GRANT, JJ., concur.
. The original complaint named Pals Land, Inc., and Trammel Crow, So. Ca., Inc., dba Safari Resort, as Defendants. Defendant Crow-Barker-PauI No. 1 Limited Partnership was later substituted as the proper defendant by stipulation of the parties.
. When we speak of "retrofitting” in this opinion, we refer to the process of searching out unbroken plate glass dooipanes in sliding doors on the premises, removing them, and replacing them with panes of safety glass.
. Sections 36-1631 to -1635 were added to the Arizona Revised Statutes by Laws 1973, ch. 31, § 1, eff. July 1, 1974. In an accompanying historical note, the Legislature stated, "The provisions of this act do not apply to a contract awarded prior to the effective date of this act.” Ch. 31, § 2, 1973 Ariz. Sess. Laws 222, 224.
. It was proper for Freedman to testify regarding the UBC standards and the obligations imposed upon Safari under the code. See Hohlenkamp v. Rheem Mfg. Co., 134 Ariz. 208, 213, 655 P.2d 32, 37 (App.1982) (approving admission of industry safety codes through expert witness testimony).
. The court’s instruction included statutory labeling standards and definitions of hazardous locations, public buildings, and safety glazing material.
. The court explained to counsel that it deemed the instruction necessary to cover the possibility — a possibility arising from the testimony of Safari’s expert Mr. Beers — that the jury might find that the glass had been replaced after July 1974.
. In Piccola, we rejected the argument in a landlord/tenant context that the mere existence of the safety glazing statute, A.R.S. §§ 36-1631 to - 1635, should place landlords on constructive notice of the danger posed by plate glass doorways on their rented premises. Piccola, 186 Ariz. at 311, 921 P.2d at 714. The court did not consider in that case whether a different standard should apply to those who manage a hotel. Nor need we determine that question in this case, as Sheppard has not invoked the statute as a source of constructive notice.
. In the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, A.R.S. § 33-1324(A)(1) (Supp.1997) requires landlords to "[c]ompIy with the requirements of applicable building codes materially affecting health and safety.” Accord Piccola, 186 Ariz. at 311, 921 P.2d at 714. This is not a landlord/tenant case, however, and the trial court did not draw any part of its instructions from that statute.
. Counsel for Safari, when cross-examining Mr. Freedman, elicited expert testimony that section 104 of the UBC requires hotel management to engage in retrofitting if the management becomes aware of annealed glass in use in sliding doors upon its premises. The purely statutory analysis in Piccola does not suggest that the record in that case included expert analysis of the standards of the UBC.
. We note from the record that Safari’s counsel, when arguing in support of its UBC instruction, acknowledged that the trial court’s instruction concerned statutory requirements, not the requirements of the UBC. Counsel requested that Safari’s instruction be amended to provide, ”[T]he law does not require ... the owner of premises to rebuild or retrofit his property in order to comply with the Uniform Building Code enacted after the date the property was constructed.” (emphasis added). Even as amended, however, the instruction continued to address the Uniform Building Code. Further, its broad wording was subject to misconstruction concerning an owner’s obligation under common law. Safari argues on appeal only for the original version of its instruction and does not argue that the trial court erred in declining to give the proposed amended form.
. Although Appellant makes the same argument with respect to Diane Storm, Tarik’s aunt, Storm testified that Tarik did not tell her anything about how the accident had occurred.
. Rule 801(d)(1)(B) provides that a statement is not hearsay if the statement is:
consistent with the declarant’s testimony and is offered to rebut an express or implied charge against the declarant of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive.
. See Brinkerhoff v. Swearingen Aviation Corp., 663 P.2d 937 (Alaska 1983); Taylor v. Clark, 883 P.2d 569 (Colo.Ct.App.1994); Gilbert v. City of Caldwell, 112 Idaho 386, 732 P.2d 355 (Idaho Ct.App.1987); Bergmann v. Boyce, 109 Nev. 670, 856 P.2d 560 (1993); True v. T & W Textile Machinery, Inc., 112 N.C.App. 358, 435 S.E.2d 551 (1993), aff'd, 337 N.C. 798, 448 S.E.2d 514 (1994); D'Huyvetter v. A.O. Smith Harvestore Prods., 164 Wis.2d 306, 475 N.W.2d 587 (Wis.Ct. App.1991).
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GARBARINO, Judge.
¶ 1 The State appeals the trial court’s entry of a directed verdict in favor of Richard Lee Cannon (defendant) on one count of aggravated driving with an alcohol concentration of .10 or greater following the jury’s determination of guilt. . For the following reasons, we affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2 On April 14, 1996 at approximately 9:00 p.m., Officers Sam Palmer and Lynette Butcher stopped defendant as he was driving. When they made contact with defendant, Officer Butcher noticed that his eyes were bloodshot and watery, and both officers noticed a strong odor of alcohol coming from him. Defendant told Officer Butcher that he had consumed four beers. Officer Butcher conducted field sobriety tests on defendant, including the horizontal gaze nystagmus (HGN) test, the walk and turn test, and the one-leg stand test. Officer Butcher found all six cues present in the HGN test and observed defendant step out of the appropriate stance, lose his balance while pivoting, and step off of the imaginary line during the walk and turn test. During the one-leg stand test, defendant swayed three to five inches from the center point and failed to follow directions properly.
¶3 Officer Palmer served as a back-up officer. After defendant was given his Mi randa warnings at the police station, Officer Palmer questioned defendant in order to complete an alcohol influence report. Defendant indicated he had consumed approximately three beers, that he began drinking sometime before sundown and stopped drinking thirty minutes later, and that he had last eaten at 2:00 p.m. Officer Palmer did not take part in administering the field sobriety tests.
¶4 Defendant’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was tested at 9:41 p.m. and at 9:48 p.m., resulting in levels of .109 and .097, respectively. Defendant was charged with two counts of aggravated driving or actual physical control while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs, class four felonies. The State also alleged that defendant’s driver’s license was suspended at the time of the offenses.
¶ 5 At trial, defendant stipulated to the fact that his driver’s license was suspended at the time of the traffic stop. After the State rested, defense counsel moved for a directed verdict pursuant to Rule 20, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure. The court denied the motion. Defense counsel called Chester Flaxmayer, a criminalist, and the State called Officer Butcher and criminalist Janet Anderson-Seaquist in rebuttal. After both sides rested, defense counsel renewed the motion for directed verdict, which was again denied.
¶ 6 The jury found defendant not guilty of count one, driving while impaired, guilty of driving while his license was suspended, and guilty of count two, driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .10 or greater while his license was suspended. Defendant renewed his motion for a directed verdict on count two, and the court granted the motion. The State timely appealed.
ISSUE
Whether the trial court erred by granting defendant’s motion for a directed verdict on count two following the jury’s determination of guilt.
DISCUSSION
¶ 7 Rule 20 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure provides:
a. Before Verdict. On motion of a defendant or on its own initiative, the court shall enter a judgment of acquittal of one or more offenses charged in an indictment, information or complaint after the evidence on either side is closed, if there is no substantial evidence to warrant a conviction. The court’s decision on a defendant’s motion shall not be reserved, but shall be made with all possible speed.
b. After Verdict. A motion for judgment of acquittal made before verdict may be renewed by a defendant within 10 days after the verdict was returned.
After trial, a trial court may only redetermine the quantum of evidence if it is satisfied that it erred by considering improper evidence during the trial. State v. Villarreal, 136 Ariz. 485, 487, 666 P.2d 1094, 1096 (App.1983).
To find that the evidence was sufficient before the jury got the case, but not after, can be justified only on the basis. of a mistake of law on the part of the court and not fact on the part of the jury. If after verdict of guilt the trial judge grants a motion for acquittal but does not specify in his order the legal basis for his finding “no substantial evidence to warrant a conviction”, we must assume on review that he has disagreed with the jury’s factfinding and is not now raising some previously undisclosed legal, rather than factual, deficiency. Absent a change in position on prior evidentiary rulings by the trial judge, this is not proper.
State ex rel. Hyder v. Superior Ct., 128 Ariz. 216, 224, 624 P.2d 1264, 1272 (1981) (citation omitted).
¶8 On January 31, 1997, the trial court judge granted a directed verdict and stated: “[T]he Court does now consider that it previously considered H.G.N. for improper purposes, that H.G.N. should not have been allowed to quantify the blood alcohol reading of the law.” The judge also stated: “I don’t think I ruled — as I recollect back on it, I don’t think I ruled inappropriately on evidentiary issues to be submitted to the jury, but the Court did rule inappropriately on the legal factors involved in deciding the prior Rule 20 motions.”
¶ 9 We believe the trial court was referring to the supreme court’s holding in State v. Superior Court (Blake), 149 Ariz. 269, 280, 718 P.2d 171, 182 (1986), which states, “[HGN test results are] not admissible in any criminal case as direct independent evidence to quantify blood alcohol content.” Results may be admitted, however, to corroborate or attack the chemical analysis of a defendant’s blood alcohol content. Id.
¶ 10 The State argues that defendant did not raise the affirmative defense under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated section 28-692(B) (Supp.1997); therefore, the jury could convict if it found that defendant’s BAC level was .10 or higher within two hours of driving. Section 28-692(B) states:
B. It is an affirmative defense to a charge of a violation of subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section if the person did not have an alcohol concentration of 0.10 or more at the time of driving or of being in actual physical control of a vehicle. If a defendant produces some credible evidence that his alcohol concentration at the time of driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle was below 0.10, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant’s alcohol concentration was 0.10 or more at the time of driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle.
The trial court presumably found that “some credible evidence” had been elicited during trial to justify the affirmative defense instruction given to the jury. The State did not object to the instruction. In fact, the State agreed at trial that the affirmative defense had been raised.
¶ 11 Mr. Flaxmayer testified that after looking at the Field Sobriety Test Worksheet completed by Officer Butcher, defendant’s performance on the one-leg stand test did not indicate impairment. He testified that the observance of six cues during the HGN test indicates a potential BAC level of .05 or above. He then described the way the body absorbs, distributes, and eliminates alcohol. He testified that on an empty stomach, alcohol is absorbed by the body within fifty minutes. Mr. Flaxmayer concluded that “[b]ased upon the information that is in the police report, including time of the tests, time of driving, and the test results, there is certainly information there to indicate that he could be below .10 at time of driving.” Mr. Flaxmayer was unable to perform a proper retrograde extrapolation in this case because he needed to know the time at which defendant consumed his last drink or an estimate of how much alcohol defendant consumed within fifty minutes prior to driving. This information was unknown. He also testified that defendant’s ability to keep his foot off the ground during the one-leg stand test for more than twenty-six seconds would indicate that defendant’s BAC was possibly under .10.
¶ 12 At one point, the State argued to the court that Mr. Flaxmayer’s expert opinion that defendant’s BAC level was below .10 at the time of driving was nothing more than a conclusion that anyone could draw, and that his opinion has little or no weight in terms of proof that defendant was below a .10 at the time of driving because neither he nor the State’s expert could quantify defendant’s BAC level at the time of driving. However, we believe that Mr. Flaxmayer’s testimony constituted “some credible evidence” that defendant’s BAC level at the time of driving was below .10. Therefore, the State was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant’s BAC level at the time of driving was .10 or above. State v. Gallow, 185 Ariz. 219, 221, 914 P.2d 1311, 1313 (App.1995).
¶ 13 The State’s criminalist was unable to perform a retrograde extrapolation and essentially conceded that she could not rebut the affirmative defense. Therefore, defendant was entitled to a directed verdict on count two. See id. After reviewing the record, we find no evidence with which a jury could find that defendant’s BAC was .10 or above at the time of driving, although somehow the jury did so. Based on the above analysis, the trial court apparently recognized that it should have granted defendant’s motion for directed verdict at the conclusion of the evidence. However, because the jury’s verdict had already been rendered, the trial court could only acquit if it found it had made an evidentiary error. See Villarreal, 136 Ariz. at 487, 666 P.2d at 1096.
¶ 14 The trial court stated that it erred by considering HGN test results as proof of defendant’s BAC level. Officer Butcher testified that “[i]f you have four or more clues or cues, there is a certain percent that the person is over a .10.” She further testified that in her opinion, her observance of six out of six cues during the HGN test, administered approximately two minutes after the traffic stop, indicated that defendant’s BAC at the time of the test was .10. She later testified that she was trained that six cues indicates a BAC level of .06 or higher.
¶ 15 Without a breath test at the time of driving, and without a retrograde extrapolation to determine defendant’s BAC level at the time of driving, Officer Butcher’s testimony regarding the HGN test was the only evidence the jury could have relied upon to quantify defendant’s BAC level at the time of driving. This evidence should not have been admitted as direct, independent evidence to quantify defendant’s BAC level. See State v. Superior Ct. (Blake), 149 Ariz. at 280, 718 P.2d at 182. Therefore, the trial court correctly entered a directed verdict on count two following the jury’s verdict.
¶ 16 The State argues that even if it were to concede that the affirmative defense had been raised, sufficient evidence was presented from which the jurors could conclude that defendant’s BAC level was .Í0 or higher at the time of driving. It argues that the jurors were free to rely on their common sense and life experiences to make this determination. We find this difficult to conceive considering that both experts were unable to perform a retrograde extrapolation of defendant’s BAC level and considering that defendant’s BAC levels were both above and below .10. Without knowing the time defendant started and stopped drinking, this calculation cannot be made regardless of how much common sense the jurors possessed.
CONCLUSION
¶ 17 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the trial court’s entry of a directed verdict in favor of defendant as to count two.
SULT, P.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966).
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OPINION
NOYES, Judge.
Appellant W.M. Grace Corporation (“Grace”) appeals from denial of its motion for relief from judgment pursuant to Rule 60(c)(5) and (6), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. Grace asserts that, under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 12-2302 (1994), the judgment against it has been satisfied by medical payments to appellee in advance of the judgment. We agree.
Facts and Procedural History
Martha Bustos (“Bustos”) sued Grace for damages after she slipped and fell in a facility owned and managed by Grace. After the case was transferred to arbitration, Grace filed a $5,000 offer of judgment, which Bustos declined. Prior to the arbitration hearing, Grace’s insurance carrier paid Bustos $5,000 under the no-fault medical payment provision of Grace’s policy. The arbitrator later found in favor of Bustos in the amount of $3,244. Before the award was reduced to judgment, Grace filed an objection and sought reimbursement for expert witness fees under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 68(d) because the award was less than the offer of judgment. In its objection, Grace also pointed out “that there is an issue regarding whether [Grace] is entitled to credit for the insurance ‘medical payments’ benefits already paid to Plaintiff (and reimbursement for the excess).” The trial court denied Grace’s motion and entered judgment for Bustos.
After the parties agreed that Grace would not appeal and that Bustos would waive costs, Grace refused to pay the judgment. Bustos then had a writ of garnishment issued, and Grace had the writ quashed. Grace then filed a motion pursuant to Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure 60(c)(5) and (6) for relief from the judgment. Grace argued that under A.R.S. section 12-2302, it was entitled to a credit for the $5,000 advance payment to Bustos, thus leaving the $3,244 judgment satisfied.
The court denied Grace’s Rule 60(c) motion, concluding that section 12-2302 did not apply because “the medical payments coverage that was paid ... is not the type of payment envisioned by the statute.” Grace appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(0 (1994).
Analysis
The question is whether A.R.S. section 12-2302 applies to payments made by a defendant’s insurer to plaintiff pursuant to a no-fault medical payment provision of defendant’s policy. We hold that it does. Statutory interpretation is an issue of law and is reviewed de novo. Chaffin v. Comm’r of the Arizona Dep't of Real Estate, 164 Ariz. 474, 476, 793 P.2d 1141, 1143 (App.1990).
Section 12-2302(B) provides as follows:
If judgment is entered against a defendant by whom or on whose behalf an advance payment has been made and in favor of a plaintiff to whom or for whose benefit an advance payment has been made, such defendant shall be entitled to a reduction of the amount of damages awarded to such plaintiff equal to the amount or value of such advance payments as may be found by the court to have been made. However, in no event shall a person who has made such advance payments be entitled to reimbursement for amount paid in excess of the damages awarded to such plaintiff or in the event' such plaintiff fails to recover judgment in his favor.
Section 12-2301(1) (1994) defines “advance payment” as
any money or other thing of value voluntarily paid or provided before trial, as compensation or reimbursement for damages, to or for the benefit of any person having or asserting a claim for damages for personal injuries ... against the person by whom or on whose behalf such payment is made.
“The primary rule of statutory construction is to find and give effect to legislative intent.” Mail Boxes Etc., U.S.A. v. Industrial Comm’n of Ariz., 181 Ariz. 119, 121, 888 P.2d 777, 779 (1995). We look first to the language of the statute on the presumption that the legislature says what it means. Id.; Canon Sch. Dist. v. W.E.S. Constr. Co., 177 Ariz. 526, 529, 869 P.2d 500, 503 (1994). Words are given their ordinary meaning unless the context of the statute requires otherwise. Mail Boxes, 181 Ariz. at 121, 888 P.2d at 779. If statutory language is clear and unambiguous, it is normally conclusive unless clear legislative intent to the contrary exists or impossible or absurd consequences would result. Id., State ex rel. Fox v. New Phoenix Auto Auction, Ltd., 185 Ariz. 302, 304, 916 P.2d 492, 494 (App.1996). The effect and consequences of alternative statutory constructions may also be considered. Canon, 177 Ariz. at 530, 869 P.2d at 504.
Grace argues that the plain language of the statute entitles it to credit the $5,000 advance payment against the judgment. Bustos argues that Grace is not entitled to such a credit because Grace’s insurance policy has no provision for offsetting no-fault medical payments against liability payments. Bustos relies on several cases, but those cases are distinguishable because they involve policy-coverage disputes between insured and insurer. See Schultz v. Farmers Ins. Group, 167 Ariz. 148, 805 P.2d 381 (1991) (dispute between insured and insurer over nonduplication of medical benefits endorsement in an insurance contract); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Scott, 107 Ariz. 609, 491 P.2d 463 (1971) (dispute between insured and insurer over policy provision stating that insurer’s coverage would be deemed excess coverage if insured recovered benefits from other insurance); Sahadi v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 132 Ariz. 422, 646 P.2d 307 (App.1982) (dispute between insured and insurer over policy provision deeming insurance regarding a non-owned automobile to be excess insurance over other collectible automobile medical expense insurance); Caballero v. Farmers Ins. Group, 10 Ariz.App. 61, 455 P.2d 1011 (1969) (garnishment proceeding regarding insurer’s obligation to indemnify insured).
Unlike the cases relied on by Bustos, the case presented here does not involve obligations of an insurer to an insured; rather, it involves the obligation, if any, of Grace to Bustos. The contract that defines the obligations of Grace’s insurer to Grace neither defines nor creates any obligations of Grace to Bustos.
Bustos also contends that the $5,000 advance payment was not made voluntarily because Bustos was entitled to the payment as a beneficiary of the no-fault medical payment provision in Grace’s policy. We agree that Bustos was a beneficiary, but we conclude that the payment was voluntary because it was made on behalf of Grace, and Grace at that point had no obligation to make payment. Bustos was “entitled” to the payment only because Grace had paid for an insurance policy that provided some no-fault coverage. But the statute does not distinguish between liability payments and no-fault medical payments. Section 12-2301 defines “advance payment” as “any money or other thing of value voluntarily paid or provided before-trial, as compensation____” (Emphasis added.)
By the plain language of the statute, then, Grace is entitled to credit the liability judgment with the advance payment made to Bustos pursuant to the no-fault medical payment provision of Grace’s insurance policy. Our holding furthers the purpose of the statute to encourage potential defendants to advance payments to assist plaintiffs in meeting their immediate needs, without having to either admit liability or pay twice for the same injury. Minutes of Committee on Judiciary, Suffrage and Elections, 29th Legis., 1st. Sess. 304 (Ariz.1969). No-fault medical expense insurance is one way a tort victim can receive advance payment before judgment is entered and without regard to liability. Construing the statute as Bustos suggests would discourage defendants from obtaining no-fault coverage because it would expose those defendants to double recovery by plaintiffs; first on the no-fault coverage, and then again on the liability coverage.
We agree with the Restatement (Second) of Torts, which provides that “[a] payment made by a tortfeasor or by a person acting for him to a person whom he has injured is credited against his tort liability....” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 920A (1979). The Restatement also provides that liability is reduced where payments are “made under an insurance policy maintained by the defendant, whether made under a liability provision or without regard to liability, as under a medical-payments clause.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 920A emt a (1979).
For a final argument, Bustos invokes the collateral source rule, which provides that compensation from a source independent of the tortfeasor is not credited to the tortfeasor and does not reduce the damages that can be recovered from the tortfeasor. Burrington v. Gila County, 159 Ariz. 320, 325-26, 767 P.2d 43, 48-49 (App.1988). This rule is inapplicable in this case, however, because the payment here was made by Grace’s insurer. A tortfeasor’s insurer is not a collateral source. Sahadi v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 132 Ariz. at 424, 646 P.2d at 309.
Reversed and remanded with directions to grant Grace’s motion for relief from judgment.
LANKFORD, P.J., and GARBARINO, J., concur.
|
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OPINION
MARTONE, Justice.
¶ 1 This is a direct appeal under A.R.S. § 19-122(C)(Supp.l997) from the judgment of the superior court holding that an initiative measure, known as Proposition 200, has a title legally sufficient in form to satisfy Article IV, Part 1, Section 1(9) of the Arizona Constitution. We affirmed by order following oral argument in order not to delay the ballot printing process. This is our opinion.
I.
¶2 Arizonans for Clean Elections circulated and filed an initiative petition. Attached to each petition sheet was a complete copy of the proposed measure. The first three lines of the attached measure are typed, double spaced, as follows:
Be it enacted by the voters of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. In title 16, chapter 6, add the following article:
ARTICLE 2. CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT
¶ 3 The substantive provisions that follow are single spaced in capital letters. “ARTICLE 2. CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT,” is the only article proposed in the measure.
¶ 4 The Secretary of State decided that the initiative was supported by a sufficient number of voter signatures and certified it for the November 3, 1998 general election ballot as Proposition 200. In preparing the ballot the Secretary of State asked the Attorney General for legal advice about the title of the measure. The Attorney General advised her to use the heading, “CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT,” in the third line of the measure.
¶ 5 Dorothy Dean Meyers is a qualified elector residing and registered to vote in Maricopa County. Meyers sought an injunction under A.R.S. § 19-122(C) ordering the Secretary to revoke her certification of Proposition 200 and prohibiting the printing of Proposition 200 on the general election ballot. Meyers claimed the measure completely lacked a title in violation of Article IV, Part 1, Section 1(9) of the Arizona Constitution. After a hearing, the trial court concluded that the measure had a title in “CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT,” particularly when viewed under the substantial compliance test. Meyers appealed directly to this court within the 10 days required by A.R.S. § 19-122(C).
II.
¶ 6 The Constitution requires that “[e]ach sheet containing petitioners’ signatures shall be attached to a full and correct copy of the title and text of the measure so proposed to be initiated____” Ariz. Const. art. IV, pt. 1, § 1(9). A.R.S. § 19-121(A)(3) (Supp.1997) repeats the rule for signature sheets filed with the Secretary of State. A.R.S. § 19-112(B) (Supp.1997) does the same and adds the requirement that the title and text be printed in no smaller than eight point type.
¶ 7 Meyers argues that because the measure attached to the petition begins with an enacting clause, all that follows is text — as distinguished from the required title and text. She concedes that if the four words “CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT” were at the top of the page rather than in the third line as the title of an article, then those words would satisfy constitutional and statutory title requirements. Meyers argues the measure’s lack of a title kills the initiative because A.R.S. § 19-121.01(A)(l)(a) (Supp. 1997) requires the Secretary of State to remove and not count signatures on sheets not attached to a copy of the “title and text of the measure.” In addition, A.R.S. § 19-112(C)(Supp.l997) requires an affidavit that each petition sheet was at all times during circulation attached to a copy of the title and text. ■ Petition sheets containing defective affidavits of circulators are invalid. Brousseau v. Fitzgerald, 138 Ariz. 453, 456, 675 P.2d 713, 716 (1984).
¶ 8 Arizonans for Clean Elections argues there is a title — it just happens to be the title of Article 2.
III.
¶ 9 In deference to the people’s power to legislate we liberally construe statutory and constitutional requirements that go to the form of an initiative petition. Kromko v. Superior Court, 168 Ariz. 51, 57-58, 811 P.2d 12, 18-19 (1991). This means that the “legal sufficiency” standard of A.R.S. § 19-122(C) requires substantial, not necessarily technical, compliance with the law. Id. at 58, 811 P.2d at 19. Although substantial compliance is not sufficient when the Constitution expressly makes any departure fatal, id., our Constitution does not do so with respect to the title requirement.
¶ 10 We have said that the constitutional requirement that an initiative petition be attached to the title and text of the proposed measure means there must be “some title and some text.” Barth v. White, 40 Ariz. 548, 556, 14 P.2d 743, 746 (1932). But beyond this instruction and the constitutional and statutory provisions described ante, nothing in our law guides the drafters of initiatives, or this court, as to the form of a title to an initiative measure.
¶ 11 We agree with Meyers that if technical compliance were required, this measure would not have a title. A title should precede the measure. We also agree with Meyers that it is unusual for the proponents of an initiative not to put the title before the measure. It is obviously the prudent and wise thing to do to avoid litigation of this sort. But because it is an initiative, the substantial compliance rule applies.
¶ 12 There are two factors here that compel us to conclude that there has been substantial compliance in fact. First, the title of Article 2 is visually set off from the text by its spacing, centering, and capitalization. The format of the measure draws a reader’s attention to “CITIZENS CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT.” Second, and critically important here, this measure contains only one article and thus the title of the article is de facto the title of the measure. Had Article 2 not had a title, or had there been more than one article, we would have had a different case. But for these two critical factors, there would not have been substantial compliance here. See State ex rel. Esch v. Lake County Bd. of Elections, 61 Ohio St.3d 595, 575 N.E.2d 835, 836 (Ohio 1991)(striking down initiative for lack of a title where it began directly with legislative language).
¶ 13 While these fortuitous factors saved this measure, future petition circulators may not be so lucky. It is as simple as putting the title first.
ZLAKET, C.J., and JONES, V.C.J., and FELDMAN and McGREGOR, JJ., concurring.
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OPINION
FIDEL, Presiding Judge.
¶ 1 When legal malpractice occurs in the course of litigation, the malpractice claim does not accrue, and the statute of limitations does not start to run, until the appellate process in the underlying litigation is “completed or is waived by a failure to appeal.” Amfac Distribution Corp. v. Miller, 138 Ariz. 152, 154, 673 P.2d 792, 794 (1983). But when is the appellate process completed in an appeal finally resolved by the court of appeals without a petition for supreme court review? Is it completed when the deadline passes for filing a petition for review, or not until the court of appeals issues its mandate bringing the appeal to a formal, final end? On that margin, here a matter of four days, turns compliance with the statute of limitations in this case.
¶ 2 We hold that the mandate establishes the completion of the appellate process and that the trial court, which used the earlier date, erred in entering summary judgment for Defendants on statute-of-limitations grounds. We uphold summary judgment, however, upon the independent basis that the parties had no attorney-client relationship.
History
¶ 3 Plaintiff Joel Erik Thompson, Ltd. assigned a collection matter concerning an unpaid client fee to Transworld Systems, Inc., dba Credit Management Services (“CMS”). Plaintiffs agreement with CMS authorized CMS to “sue, settle or adjust any claims as may be necessary.” As assignee, CMS was entitled to do so in its own name. CMS retained the Defendant law firm, Skarecky, Cales & Holder (“SCH”), to handle the collection. Plaintiff retained a 50% contingency interest in whatever recovery SCH might achieve for CMS.
¶ 4 SCH brought suit on behalf of CMS against Plaintiffs former clients, the Powers-es, whose answer included a third-party complaint against Plaintiff alleging that, contrary to owing him any further fee, they should be refunded a sum that they had overpaid. Plaintiff filed his own answer to the third-party complaint, having been advised by SCH that CMS did not authorize that firm to do so on his behalf.
¶ 5 The lawsuit was set for arbitration. Before the hearing, Plaintiff advised William Holder, an attorney with SCH, that he had suffered a heart attack and must move to continue the arbitration. Holder responded that he and CMS preferred to proceed with the hearing as scheduled, at which, as CMS and Plaintiff had common positions on disputed matters, Holder could “handle everything.” Relying upon that representation, Plaintiff did not move to continue. Though he ultimately attended the arbitration, he deferred to Holder to prepare for and conduct it.
¶ 6 The Powerses presented expert testimony at arbitration concerning the unreasonableness of Plaintiff’s fee, and CMS presented none to counter. Nonetheless, the arbitrator ruled in favor of CMS in the amount of $4,587.35, plus interest, and dismissed the third-party complaint against Plaintiff. After the hearing, anticipating that the Powerses would appeal and seek a trial de novo in superior court, Plaintiff asked Holder to present expert testimony to support the reasonableness of the fee if the case went to trial.
¶ 7 When the Powerses did appeal, Plaintiff phoned Holder and named two attorneys who would testify as experts regarding the reasonableness of the unpaid fee. By then, however, the deadline for listing additional witnesses had passed. Holder decided not to attempt to secure the testimony of Plaintiffs experts by filing an untimely list of supplementary witnesses, but instead by arguing that Plaintiff’s experts, though unlisted by name, had been adequately disclosed in a catch-all pre-arbitration listing of “[a]ll witnesses listed by all other parties.” As the Powerses, before the arbitration, had listed “other attorney to testify on the issue of the reasonableness of [Plaintiffs] charges,” Holder argued that Plaintiffs experts fell within this category and had been sufficiently disclosed.
¶8 The Powerses objected to the proposed testimony of unnamed expert witnesses, and the trial court sustained the objection. Thereafter, the trial court ruled against CMS on the original complaint, awarded the Powerses $1,812.65 in damages on their third-party complaint against Plaintiff, and awarded them attorneys’ fees of $2500 and costs of $78.25 against both CMS and Plaintiff.
¶ 9 The award to the Powerses was reduced to judgment, appealed, and upheld by this court in 1 CA-CV 93-0180. The deadline to petition for review of our decision was September 9, 1994. After the deadline passed with no petition, this court issued its mandate in favor of the Powerses on September 13,1994.
¶ 10 In the interim, during the pendency of the appeal, SCH filed a separate suit in justice court on behalf of CMS against Plaintiff seeking reimbursement for its expenses in the underlying case. Plaintiff, when served with that lawsuit, objected that SCH’s representation of CMS constituted a conflict of interest. In the face of this objection, SCH withdrew from representing CMS. Substituted counsel later provided Plaintiff with copies of correspondence from SCH to CMS recommending and drafting a demand letter to be submitted to Plaintiff.
¶ 11 On September 12, 1996, Plaintiff filed the present action. He initially denominated it as one for “Legal Malpractice,” but on October 2, 1996, filed a First Amended Complaint denominated as one for “Legal Malpractice and Breach of Contract.” In Counts I and II, Plaintiff alleged that SCH had breached its duty as his representative by failing to timely list his expert witnesses. In Count III, Plaintiff alleged that, when SCH counseled CMS to file suit against him, SCH’s actions constituted both a conflict of interest and a breach of contract.
¶ 12 SCH moved for summary judgment on all claims and to dismiss Count III for failure to state a claim. Following hearings, the trial court granted SCH’s motions, and Plaintiff filed a timely notice of appeal.
Statute of Limitations
¶ 13 The trial court ruled that Plaintiffs three claims were barred by the statute of limitations. To review the validity of this ruling, we must determine whether Plaintiffs cause of action accrued on September 9, 1994, when the deadline passed for filing a petition for review from this court’s decision in the underlying case, or on September 13, 1994, when this court issued its mandate bringing that case to a formal, final end. Assuming a two-year statute of limitations for all counts, if the cause of action accrued on September 9, 1994, Plaintiff filed an untimely complaint on September 12, 1996; if the cause of action accrued on September 13, 1994, Plaintiffs September 12, 1996, complaint was timely.
¶ 14 The parties’ arguments turn entirely upon a nuance that emerges from comparison of this court’s decision in Amfac Distribution Corp. v. Miller, 138 Ariz. 155, 673 P.2d 795 (App.) (“Amfac I”), aff'd, 138 Ariz. 152, 673 P.2d 792 (1983), with our supreme court’s decision approving and supplementing that decision in Amfac Distribution Corp. v. Miller, 138 Ariz. 152, 673 P.2d 792 (1983) (“Amfac II”).
¶ 15 The supreme court held that a legal malpractice claim arising from underlying litigation accrues when the underlying “appellate process is completed or is waived by a failure to appeal.” Amfac II, 138 Ariz. at 154, 673 P.2d at 794. The court of appeals similarly, but variously, pegged accrual to the moment when the underlying “judgment ... ha[s] become final,” when the underlying “litigation is.terminated,” when “there ha[s] been ... final adjudication,” and at “the conclusion of the appellate process.” See Amfac I, 138 Ariz. at 156, 157, 158, 673 P.2d at 796, 797, 798. As the appellate process is not formally completed, terminated, concluded, or final until the mandate issues, each of these formulations supports Plaintiffs view that his cause of action accrued on September 13,1994.
¶ 16 SCH seizes upon a different passage from Amfac I, however, to support an argument for an earlier accrual date. Specifically, in the course of that decision, to illustrate the proposition that damages remain too speculative to permit a cause of action “[wjhere there has been no final adjudication” of the lawsuit underlying a legal malpractice claim, we wrote:
One court has stated it this way:
[N]o cause of action accrued until after the plaintiffs discovered or could reasonably have discovered the malpractice and until after the judgment ... had become final. The judgment did not become final until the Court of Appeals decided the appeal and the time to appeal to the [state] Supreme Court ... had expired.
Id. at 156, 673 P.2d at 796 (quoting Woodruff v. Tomlin, 511 F.2d 1019, 1021 (6th Cir.1975)). Mistaking this quotation as the ultimate Amfac holding, SCH argues that Plaintiffs claim accrued four days before the mandate when his time to petition the supreme court for review expired.
¶ 17 We reject SCH’s argument for four reasons. First, SCH stakes its argument upon language that was merely an illustrative quotation, not this court’s holding, and certainly not the ultimate holding of the supreme court. Second, both this court and the supreme court have pegged the date of accrual to the termination of the appellate process; the issuance of the mandate both accomplishes and formally signifies that termination. Third, the law might minutely accelerate finality by pegging accrual to the earlier date, but at the cost of setting a trap for the unwary — a trap perfectly illustrated by this case. As the law does not favor statutes of limitations, we decline to achieve so scant a gain — here a matter of four days— at so high a cost. And finally, the issuance of the mandate provides a “bright-line” event to count from; and in counting time, a bright-line rule serves all.
¶ 18 For the foregoing reasons, we hold that Plaintiffs cause of action accrued on September 13, 1994, and that the trial court erred in dismissing his lawsuit on statute-of-limitations grounds.
Attorney-Client Relationship
¶ 19 Plaintiffs claims for legal malpractice and breach of contract were predicated upon the assertion of an attorney-client relationship between Plaintiff and SCH. The trial court ruled for SCH not only on statute-of-limitations grounds, but on the alternative ground that no attorney-client relationship existed.
¶ 20 Plaintiff did not challenge this alternative basis for the trial court’s ruling in his opening brief. In his reply brief, however, he asserted without elaboration that he filed an affidavit in the trial court which sufficed to create an issue of material fact concerning a contractual relationship between SCH and himself. Plaintiffs cursory treatment of this issue in a reply brief does not suffice to preserve it for appeal. See Ariz. R. Civ.App. P. 13(a)(5) (appellant’s opening brief shall contain “[a] statement of the issues presented for review”); Skousen v. Nidy, 90 Ariz. 215, 217, 367 P.2d 248, 249 (1961) (a party who fails to present argument or authority to support a claim of error waives that claim); Carrillo v. State, 169 Ariz. 126, 132, 817 P.2d 493, 499 (App.1991) (“Issues not clearly raised and argued on appeal are waived.”). Moreover, having examined the affidavit in question, we disagree that the trial court overlooked any genuine issue of material fact.
¶ 21 The trial court explained its ruling in its minute entry of September 17,1997:
[SCH] dealt solely with CMS [in the instant matter] until a counterclaim[ ] was filed against CMS and [Plaintiffs] principal. [Plaintiff] represented himself with regard to the counterclaim.
The assignment of [Plaintiff’s] claim was total and complete. If Plaintiff had an agreement with anyone, it was of a contingent nature and it was with CMS: that is, to share in any recovery obtained by CMS. There is no evidence of a contract with [SCH], Nor is there any evidence of a client-attorney relationship with [SCH]. Thus, there was no contractual or relational duty owed [Plaintiff] by [SCH].
¶ 22 Plaintiffs affidavit supported the trial court’s finding. There Plaintiff acknowledged that CMS expressly advised him that it did not authorize SCH to defend the third-party complaint, and he acknowledged that he “represented himself ... as to the counterclaim.” Plaintiff asserted, however, that “he relied upon Mr. Holder’s representations and upon SCH to represent [his] 50% interest in the claim set forth in the Complaint.” Similarly, in his response to SCH’s motion for summary judgment, Plaintiff stated, “It did not require a separate contract between Plaintiff and SCH to establish an attorney-client relationship between them because CMS was acting on behalf of Plaintiffs 50% interest____”
¶ 23 In short, in his presentation to the trial court, Plaintiff attributed an attorney-client relationship with SCH to the fact that he retained a 50% contingency interest in the claim that SCH advanced on behalf of CMS. In Cruz v. Lusk Collection Agency, 119 Ariz. 356, 580 P.2d 1210 (App.1978), however, we ruled to the contrary that when a collection agency retains lawyers to pursue an assigned claim, the lawyers represent only the collection agency and not the assignor. See id. at 360, 580 P.2d at 1214 (citing Cohn v. Thompson, 16 P.2d 364, 365 (Cal.App. Dep’t Super. Ct.1932)). We therefore conclude on the basis of Cruz that the trial court did not err to find no contractual or attorney-client relationship arising from Plaintiffs retention of a contingency interest in the claim that he assigned to CMS.
¶24 Plaintiff alternatively asserted to the trial court that ‘William Holder of SCH specifically assumed a separate contractual obligation with Plaintiff regarding the counterclaim when he verbally agreed to present Plaintiffs cause if [Plaintiff] would agree not to seek a continuance of the arbitration hearing.” Plaintiff failed, however, to argue any basis to the trial court for construing Holder’s assurances as a contract and not as a gratuitous undertaking. Nor did he argue to the trial court that Holder or SCH should be held hable for financial losses arising from the negligent performance of a gratuitous undertaking. Cf. Restatement (Second) of Torts § 323 (1965) (permitting recovery for physical injury arising from the negligent performance of a gratuitous undertaking). Nor has he argued these issues to any degree before this court. Absent argument or authority, they are waived. See Skousen, 90 Ariz. at 217, 367 P.2d at 249.
Conclusion
¶ 25 The trial court did not err in granting summary judgment to SCH on Plaintiffs First Amended Complaint. The judgment is affirmed.
EHRLICH and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
. For the sake of convenience, we will use the term "Plaintiff” to denote both Joel Erik Thompson individually and Joel Erik Thompson, Ltd., a professional corporation, the actual party to this suit.
. Our determination that a two-year statute of limitations was satisfied makes it unnecessary for us to determine (1) whether Plaintiff was entitled to a three-year statute of limitations for the cause of action embodied in Count III; and (2) whether he waived, by non-assertion in the trial court, any claim that a three-year statute should apply to Count III.
. Although the trial court described its ruling on Count III as a "summary judgment/dismissal," the trial court considered affidavits and other evidence in ruling on that count, and we therefore treat its ruling as a summary judgment. See Ariz. R. Civ. P. 12(b) (If, upon a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, "matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56....”).
. The parties routinely refer to the third-party complaint as a counterclaim, as did the trial court in its minute entry ruling.
|
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OPINION
FLÓREZ, Judge.
¶ 1 Appellant, Tire Shredders, Inc., asks this court to reverse the judgment the trial court entered in favor of appellees Pima County and its board of supervisors and the real party in interest, K & B Tire Company, dismissing its special action complaint with prejudice. Tire Shredders argues that the board acted in excess of its authority, abused its discretion, and acted arbitrarily and capriciously during the bidding and contract award process for waste tire disposal for the county. Tire Shredders also contends that the trial court erroneously granted K & B’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, in which the county partially joined; erroneously ruled on the merits of the claim by treating the motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment rather than holding the order to show cause hearing Tire Shredders had requested; erroneously refused to list the county purchasing agents in the judgment; and erroneously awarded attorney’s fees and costs to K & B.
¶ 2 The facts are as follows. In December 1996, Pima County issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) “[t]o provide Pima County Solid Waste Management with waste tire removal and recycling services for a one year period with renewal options.” The RFP requested services for both “auto/light truck tires” and “other tires,” stating:
Contractor shall remove, or process and remove for recycling, or for an approved alternative use, tires in a manner which is acceptable to and verifiable by County. Acceptable methods are reuse as retreads and processing for material recovery by a proven technology. Acceptable methods for Group B mil also include use for energy recovery and landfilling of waste tires at a permitted tire monofill. All other methods are unacceptable.
Despite the RFP’s express limitation of tire disposal services to those enumerated in A.R.S. § 44-1304(D), the statute did not include use as daily cover material for a solid waste landfill. Appendix A to the RFP, however, defined “Alternative Use” as “using properly processed waste tires as alternative daily cover at County landfills.”
¶ 3 Tire Shredders submitted a proposal to dispose of the tires by shredding them and using them to cover county landfills. Prior to the board of supervisors meeting on May 6, 1997, K & B sent a letter to the board pointing out a conflict between the RFP definition of alternative use and the statute. K & B also asserted that daily cover material is not as beneficial a method of disposal as the forms of recycling it provides and stated that it would have addressed this in its proposal had the RFP expressly provided for that method. On May 6,1997, the county administrator recommended that the board award the contract to Tire Shredders, the apparent low bidder. After debate on the benefits and drawbacks of the methods, the board voted to “reject the RFP; that Pima County issue new RFP’s with the new language and come back to the Board at their regular meeting of June 3,1997.”
¶ 4 Tire Shredders submitted a new bid using alternative daily cover; K & B submitted a new bid for recycling and reuse. The. revised RFP specifically requested both methods of tire removal. The county administrator determined that both bids complied with the revised RFP and recommended that the board choose Tire Shredders’. Tire Shredders’ proposal was the lowest bid under the “alternate daily cover” method, and K & B’s proposal was the lowest under the “recycling and reuse” method. The minutes of the June 3 meeting state, “Upon roll call vote being taken, the motion carried by a four to one vote, Supervisor Eckstrom voting ‘Nay,’ to approve Method 2; to award the Low Bid to the low bidder, K & B Tires, under Method 2.”
¶ 5 Tire Shredders filed a special action complaint in superior court, seeking review of the board’s award of the contract to K & B and requesting that the court order the county to terminate its contract with K & B and award it to Tire Shredders. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the county and K & B on their motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and this appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
¶6 On appeal from a special action, we conduct a two-part review of the superior court’s rulings, first determining whether the court “in its discretion assumed jurisdiction of the merits of the claim.” Bilagody v. Thorneycroft, 125 Ariz. 88, 92, 607 P.2d 965, 969 (App.1979). If we determine that the court accepted jurisdiction, we then review its decision on the merits. Id. If we determine that the trial court did not assume jurisdiction of the claim, then we determine whether it abused its discretion in declining to accept jurisdiction. Id.
¶ 7 The first issue we must resolve is whether the trial court accepted jurisdiction and ruled on the merits of the case or whether it declined to accept jurisdiction. Tire Shredders argues that it presented valid claims pursuant to Rule 3, Ariz. R.P. Spec. Action, 17B A.R.S., which the trial court improperly dismissed.
¶8 A special action proceeding is the proper method to seek relief against a public entity by a low bidder on a public contract whose harm is irreparable because it cannot recover contractual damages. See City of Scottsdale v. Deem, 27 Ariz.App. 480, 556 P.2d 328 (1976). Rule 3, Ariz. R.P. Spec. Action, provides that only three questions may be raised in a special action:
(a) Whether the defendant has failed to exercise discretion which he has a duty to exercise; or to perform a duty required by law as to which he has no discretion; or
(b) Whether the defendant has proceeded or is threatening to proceed without or in excess of jurisdiction or legal authority; or
(c) Whether a determination was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion.
¶ 9 Tire Shredders’ complaint stated that the board lacked a legal or factual basis to reject the original RFP, that the competitive bidding process had been violated by the board’s awarding the contract to K & B because K & B had failed to identify a source for the tires that would be used as tire-derived fuels, that the board had acted without authority in awarding the bid to K & B because only the purchasing agent has the authority to do so, and that the board had abused its discretion in not awarding the contract to Tire Shredders because its bid had been the lowest under both RFPs. Tire Shredders’ claim was thus one for the injury caused by not being awarded the contract based on the county’s alleged abuse of discretion, its arbitrary and capricious actions, and its actions in excess of its statutory authority.
¶ 10 We agree that Tire Shredders’ complaint raised proper questions under Rule 3, Ariz. R.P. Spec. Action. Despite the court’s language in its ruling, we disagree that it dismissed Tire Shredders’ complaint for failure to state a claim. Rather, the judgment states the court “read [Tire Shredders’] Complaint for Special Action, its Amended Complaint for Special Action, [the] Motion to Dismiss, [Tire Shredders’] Opposition thereto and [the] Reply Briefs, and ... considered the testimony and heard arguments of counsel presented at the July 14, 1997 hearing.” The court’s consideration of matters outside the pleadings effectively treated the motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment. Ariz. R. Civ. P. 12(b), 16 A.R.S. The court thus accepted jurisdiction of the complaint and ruled on the merits. We must therefore determine whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying special action relief. Hamilton v. Municipal Court of Mesa, 163 Ariz. 374, 788 P.2d 107 (App.1989).
¶ 11 Tire Shredders contends that the trial court erred in treating the motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment, arguing it was thus disadvantaged because discovery is generally not permitted in special actions and because the court failed to hold its requested order to show cause hearing. A motion to dismiss a special action may be treated as a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, Ariz. R. Civ. P. Ariz. R. Civ. P. 12(b); In re Estate of O’Connor, 139 Ariz. 450, 679 P.2d 96 (App.1984). Rule 12(b) states:
If, on a motion asserting ... failure of the pleading to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.
¶ 12 Tire Shredders argues that the trial court should have granted its application for an order to show cause hearing requiring appellees to show why the trial court should not grant the relief requested in the complaint and should have allowed further discovery before granting summary judgment for K & B. Tire Shredders argued that it wanted to address at a hearing the arguments by K & B that Tire Shredders had not stated a claim appropriate for special action. Tire Shredders also told the trial court it should be allowed to reply to the county’s and K & B’s pleadings. Tire Shredders failed to state what information it sought to discover or to move for discovery.
¶ 13 Rule 4(f), Ariz. R.P. Spec. Action, provides: “If a triable issue of fact is raised in an action under this Rule, it shall be tried subject to special orders concerning discovery.” A discovery request will not be granted, however, unless the information needed is disclosed to the court or good cause is shown for discovery. Lewis v. Arizona Dep’t of Econ. Sec., 186 Ariz. 610, 925 P.2d 751 (App.1996). We review the denial of a discovery request for an abuse of discretion. Id. We note, however, that discovery is geiierally not justified in special actions. Lewis; see also Riggins v. Graham, 20 Ariz.App. 196, 511 P.2d 209 (1973).
¶ 14 Tire Shredders never stated what information it sought to discover. It asked the court to resolve the questions of 1) whether the board’s rejection of the RFP was illegal under A.R.S. § 11-254.01 or whether it violated procurement procedures and 2) whether the board’s rejecting the low bid was supported by the evidence and was arbitrary and capricious under § 11-254.01 based on its claim that rejecting the RFP had violated the statute’s competitive bidding process requirement. Although these issues may, in some instances, involve mixed questions of fact and law, neither in the trial court, nor on appeal, has Tire Shredders presented a factual question. Nor has it shown that the trial court was required to determine facts rather than issues of law. The parties do not dispute the facts. Therefore, we find no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s failure to order additional discovery.
¶ 15 Having concluded the trial court properly accepted jurisdiction and considered the merits of the complaint, we review de novo its grant of summary judgment, although denominated by the trial court as a dismissal of the complaint, to determine whether appellees were entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56; Gonzalez v. Satrustegui, 178 Ariz. 92, 870 P.2d 1188 (App.1993).
¶ 16 Tire Shredders contends that, at its May 6 meeting, the board only had the authority to reject the bids, not to reject the RFP and initiate the second bidding process, which ultimately resulted in the award of the contract to K & B. Section 11-254.01(B) also states: “The board may reject all bids if rejection is in the public interest.” Again, despite the language in the minutes, the board did not, in fact, reject the RFP. Instead, it rejected all bids submitted in response to the RFP. The RFP was then revised to include information on two possible methods of tire disposal and was again sent to the bidders with notification about the revisions. The number of the RFP did not change, nor did the principal objective expressed in it — to dispose of waste tires. We conclude, therefore, that the powers enumerated in § 11-254.01 include the implied authority to draft a revised RFP and begin the bidding process anew. Hancock. In any event, the effect of the board’s action was to reject all bids, an act within its statutory authority.
¶ 17 Tire Shredders next contends that the board lacked legal authority to award the contract to K & B at its meeting on June 3, 1997. The board may exercise only the powers granted it or necessarily implied by statute. Hancock v. McCarroll, 188 Ariz. 492, 937 P.2d 682 (App.1996). We interpret statutes to give effect to their legislative intent, looking to their language as the most reliable indicator of that intent. Alaface v. National Inv. Co., 181 Ariz. 586, 892 P.2d 1375 (App.1994). Section 11-254.01(B) states in relevant part:
Bids shall be opened publicly at the time and place stated in the invitation. On board approval, the county purchasing agent shall make awards with reasonable promptness by giving written notice to the responsible bidder whose bid conforms to the invitation and whose bid is the most advantageous to the county concerning price, conformity to the specifications and other factors.
Tire Shredders argues that because the board itself made the award to K & B, it violated § 11-254.01 and acted in excess of its authority. Tire Shredders asserts that only a county purchasing agent has the authority to award contracts. Although we agree that this reading of the statute is technically accurate, we disagree that the statute requires the elevation of form over substance and voiding of the contract with K & B. See Transporting Renewable Resources, Inc. v. Industrial Comm’n, 185 Ariz. 543, 917 P.2d 272 (App.1996). In fact, according to the statute, the implied authority to award contracts, i.e., to choose among bids, lies with the board. A county purchasing agent has no authority to award contracts without “board approval.” § 11-254.01. Thus, we conclude that the language in the minutes stating that the board had awarded the contract to K & B does not indicate that the board acted in excess of its statutory authority-
¶ 18 Tire Shredders contends that K & B was not the lowest responsible bidder so that the board lacked statutory authority to award it the contract, citing Brown v. City of Phoenix, 77 Ariz. 368, 272 P.2d 358 (1954); Osborn v. Mitten, 39 Ariz. 372, 6 P.2d 902 (1932); and City of Phoenix v. Wittman Contracting Co., 20 Ariz.App. 1, 509 P.2d 1038 (1973). Each of these cases is distinguishable. In Brown, the City of Phoenix awarded the lease of airport space for a car rental business to the “less favorable bidder,” 77 Ariz. at 375, 272 P.2d at 363, thus disregarding the city charter requirement that the lease be awarded to the “highest responsible bidder.” Id. at 370, 272 P.2d at 360. The court held that, although the city council had discretion to award the contract to a lower bidder, it could do so only “after due investigation into the facts” and by exercising “reasonable, honest and prudent discretion ... in the best interests of the city, its citizens and taxpayers.” Id. at 375, 272 P.2d at 363. In Osborn, the court held that the rejection of a bid for county advertising and publications by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors constituted an abuse of discretion because the county code required that the contract be awarded to “the lowest responsible bidder.” 39 Ariz. at 377, 6 P.2d at 904. The court also noted that the board did have some discretion in determining the lowest responsible bidder, not only as to the bid amount, but as to factors such as the bidder’s facilities, skill, capacity, accessibility, experience, and integrity. Id. Finally, in Wittman, after noting that the City of Phoenix charter required the city council to award a contract to the “lowest responsible bidder,” the court held that, once the council determined that it was going to accept a bid, its only remaining actions in awarding the contract were ministerial. 20 Ariz.App. at 5, 509 P.2d at 1042.
1Í19 No statute or charter provision required the board of supervisors to choose the lowest responsible bidder. Section 11-254.01(B) simply requires that the contract be awarded to “the responsible bidder whose bid conforms to the invitation and whose bid is the most advantageous to the county concerning price, conformity to the specifications and other factors.” We conclude that § 11-254.01 grants the board discretion in awarding a contract and that the board had discretion to award the contract to K & B as the bidder most advantageous to the county. Moreover, under the cases discussed above, “most advantageous” does not unequivocally mean the lowest bidder. Rather, the cases indicate that the board has discretion to determine which bid meets its requirements, in this case, the bid that is responsible, economically sound, and most advantageous to the county in other ways. The board determined that K & B, as the lowest responsible bidder for method two, could best provide the desired services to the county.
¶20 Tire Shredders also contends that, even if the board had discretion to award the contract to K & B, its decision to do so was arbitrary and capricious because Tire Shredders was “the lowest responsible bidder.” We consider two questions pursuant to this contention: 1) whether the board abused its discretion or acted arbitrarily and capriciously in not awarding the contract to Tire Shredders and 2) whether the board abused its discretion or acted arbitrarily and capriciously in awarding the contract to K & B.
¶ 21 Tire Shredders bore the burden of showing the trial court that the board had abused its discretion. Board of Supervisors, Santa Cruz County v. Rio Rico Volunteer Fire Dist., 119 Ariz. 361, 580 P.2d 1215 (App.1978). In general, an abuse of discretion “is discretion manifestly unreasonable, or exercised on untenable grounds, or for untenable reasons.” Torres v. North American Van Lines, Inc., 135 Ariz. 35, 40, 658 P.2d 835, 840 (App.1982). If the record indicates that reasonable persons “could differ as to the propriety of the action taken by the board of supervisors, then it cannot be said it abused its discretion.” Rio Rico Volunteer Fire Dist., 119 Ariz. at 364-65, 580 P.2d at 1218-19; see also Gregory v. Thompson, 159 Ariz. 512, 515, 768 P.2d 674, 677 (App.1989) (appellate court is not a “super- board of supervisors” and mil not “substitute [its] judgment for that of the board of supervisors”).
¶22 K&B presented evidence in its motion indicating that, even if Tire Shredders was the lowest bidder, other factors supported the board’s decision to reject its bid. Before the board meeting on the original RFP, the county wrote to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) requesting permission to conduct a pilot project using the method of tire disposal Tire Shredders had proposed, alternate daily cover (ADC). DEQ wrote K & B a letter stating, “[N]o landfills in Arizona ... are currently approved to use shredded waste tires as ADC.” At the board meeting, however, a letter was presented from Pima County Solid Waste Management, which indicated that DEQ had approved ADC for a pilot project. K&B had argued this pilot project was not sufficient in scope to dispose of all the tires the county had stockpiled. Tire Shredders did not propose using any method other than ADC.
¶ 23 The revised RFP requested bids for two different methods of recycling waste tires: “alternate daily cover” and “recycling and reuse.” K&B was the lowest bidder for the recycling and reuse method. Tire Shredders was the lowest bidder for the alternate daily cover method. When the board decided to utilize the recycling and reuse method, it awarded the contract to K & B. Tire Shredders asserts that, because its method was more in “the public interest,” the board’s decision to award the contract to another bidder was arbitrary and capricious. The choice of method, however, was solely for the board. Our review of the evidence supports the trial court’s conclusion that the board did not act arbitrarily and capriciously when it chose the recycling and reuse method and awarded the contract to K & B and when it rejected the alternate daily cover method and did not award the contract to Tire Shredders.
¶24 Tire Shredders also contends that the board could not award the contract to K & B, arguing the competitive bidding process was undermined by the board’s decision to make public all the bids submitted in response to the first RFP before it issued the revised RFP. The first RFP contained a section explaining that, pursuant to A.R.S. § 39-121.01, the public records statute, “all information submitted with bid responses ... becomes public information and upon request, is subject to release and/or review by the general public including competitors.” Section 11-254.01(B) also implicitly empowers the board to make bids public because it authorizes the board to reject all bids. All bids, both those accepted and rejected, become public records.
¶ 25 Tire Shredders also requested rescission of the board’s contract with K & B on the ground that K&B had failed to include in its bid the necessary information about a source for the tire-derived fuel processing. Even if the board abused its discretion in awarding the contract to K & B, the relief available does not include compelling the board to rescind its contract with K&B. Any question about who should have been awarded the contract after it has been performed is moot. ASH, Inc., v. Mesa Unified Sch. Dist. No. 4, 138 Ariz. 190, 673 P.2d 934 (App.1983); see also Western Sun Contractors v. Superior Court, 159 Ariz. 223, 766 P.2d 96 (App.1988). In addition, a special action proceeding is used to compel a nondiscretionary act or to remedy an abuse of discretion. Ariz. R.P. Spec. Action 3; Book Cellar, Inc. v. City of Phoenix, 139 Ariz. 332, 678 P.2d 517 (App.1983). An abuse of discretion by a public entity in awarding a contract cannot be remedied by rescission of the contract, however, because the “abuse of discretion has no bearing on the validity of the law or of the franchise.” Duffield v. Ashurst, 12 Ariz. 360, 368, 100 P. 820, 824 (1909). Thus, we conclude that neither this court nor the trial court has authority to require the board to rescind its contract with K&B.
¶ 26 Finally, Tire Shredders appeals the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees and costs to K & B and requests, instead, that it be awarded attorney’s fees and costs. We agree that the trial court had no authority to award K&B attorney’s fees. Section 12-2030, A.R.S., allows attorney’s fees to be awarded to a private party from the government in a special action. It does not, however, allow attorney’s fees to a private party from another private party. See also Western Sun (no authority to award attorney’s fees to losing bidder in suit against another private party). Thus, we reverse the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees.
¶ 27 We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of Tire Shredders’ special action complaint and reverse its award of attorney’s fees to K & B Tire Company. We also deny Tire. Shredders’ request for attorney’s fees from Pima County pursuant to § 12-2030.
DRUKE, C.J., and BRAMMER, J., concur.
. The statute was amended in 1997 to include daily cover at a solid waste landfill.
. Tire Shredders does allege that K & B failed to conform to the bid specifications in both the first and second RFPs; the staff memorandum prepared on K & B's second proposal, however, indicated that its bid conformed to the second RFP’s specifications.
. Tire Shredders also claimed that the trial court erred in denying its request that two county purchasing agents be listed in the judgment. Because we conclude that Tire Shredders’ appeal is without merit, we need not address this issue.
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OPINION
RYAN, Judge.
¶ 1 These consolidated appeals require us to examine the scope of the special method that Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 42-146 prescribes for valuing “golf courses” for property tax purposes. Specifically, we must decide whether this special valuation method applies when the owner has recorded an instrument restricting the property to use as a golf course but, as of the valuation date, construction of golf course improvements has barely begun and golf cannot be practiced or played on the property. We hold that the special valuation method of A.R.S. section 42-146 does not apply in these two cases. Therefore, we reverse and remand.
FACTS AND PROCEDURE
¶2 The parties agree upon the dispositive facts.
PhxAz Limited Partnership
¶3 PhxAz Limited Partnership was the owner of a 713 acre parcel of real property in Phoenix. PhxAz undertook to develop the property as a master-planned community comprising single-family houses, apartments, a golf course, a resort, and retail and commercial office space. In 1991, the City of Phoenix certified PhxAz’s property as a planned community development district called Desert Springs.
¶4 The City’s master plan for the area set aside 213 acres for development as the Kierland Golf Course. The City approved the zoning of the subparcel for that purpose. PhxAz contracted for a golf course architectural design. The initial design plans were completed in December 1994.
¶ 5 That same month, PhxAz entered into contracts for constructing golf course improvements. PhxAz recorded a “Declaration of Restriction for Golf Course Use” pertaining to the planned course on December 21, 1994. On December 30, 1994, the City of Phoenix issued grading permits. The 18-hole Kierland Golf Course was completed by the end of 1995.
¶ 6 For tax year 1995, the Maricopa County Assessor took the position that as of the valuation date of January 1, 1995, the 213-acre golf course parcel did not constitute a “golf course” for the purposes of A.R.S. section 42-146(G). The assessor declined to value the property according to the method prescribed by A.R.S. section 42-146(A). PhxAz administratively appealed. The State Board of Equalization agreed with the County and set a full cash value of $13.2 million.
¶ 7 PhxAz challenged this ruling by appealing to the Tax Court in Superior Court. On cross-motions for summary judgment the tax court held for PhxAz, finding that “once the deed restriction is recorded, the property under construction is entitled to golf course valuation under 42-146.” The final judgment valued the 213-acre parcel at $106,995 without apportioning the amount between the land and the golf improvements.
¶ 8 The County appealed and this court docketed the County’s appeal as case no. 1 CA-TX 98-0001.
CN Residential Limited Partnership
¶ 9 The facts in appellee CN Residential Limited Partnership’s (“CN”) case are similar to those in PhxAz’s case. In mid-1992, the City of Scottsdale approved golf course zoning for a parcel of state land within its boundaries. In early 1993, CN bought a larger piece of land from the State Land Department containing that parcel.
¶ 10 CN engaged an architect to prepare golf course plans. The architect completed the initial plans in 1994. On December 15, 1994, CN entered into contracts for constructing golf course improvements. On December 30,1994, CN recorded a “Declaration of Restriction for Golf Course Use.”
¶ 11 For tax year 1995, the Maricopa County Assessor declined to value the restricted parcel as a golf course under A.R.S. section 42-146. The assessor set a full cash value of approximately $4.4 million.
¶ 12 CN appealed to the Superior Court, Maricopa County. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. In addition to asserting that A.R.S. section 42-146 did not apply, the County’s cross-motion contended that if the trial court applied section 42-146 to CN’s property, it would also have to determine a value for the improvements on that land.
¶ 13 The motions were heard by the same trial judge who had considered and ruled on the cross-motions for summary judgment in PhxAz Limited Partnership’s appeal. The trial judge followed his earlier reasoning in that case and granted summary judgment for CN. He explained in part:
The County ... says the statute requires a completed golf course before its largesse applies. But I do not see that in the statute. The County extrapolates that from the statutory definition of “golf course” as “substantially undeveloped land including amenities such as ... golf greens and tees ... which may be used for golfing or golfing practice____” They point to that definition and say see that’s what this entire statute is talking about. But it seems to me that that definition can be read in two different ways: highly favorable tax treatment may be given to (1) undeveloped land that may in the future be used for golfing, or (2) to land that has in place amenities, such as golf greens and tees, and right now may he used for golfing. I think the first definition is the most reasonable. (Emphasis in the original).
¶ 14 The County appealed from formal judgment for CN, and this court docketed the appeal as case no. 1 CA-CV 98-0119. Following an unopposed joint motion by CN and PhxAz, we consolidated this case with case no. 1 CA-TX 98-0001. We have jurisdiction. A.R.S. § 12-2101(B).
DISCUSSION
¶ 15 The County contends the courts below erred in holding that as of January 1, 1995, the taxpayers’ properties constituted “golf courses” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 42-146 and should not have been valued as such. It contends the legislature intended for the statutory golf course valuation method to apply only to completed, “playable” golf courses. The County urges that the courts below misinterpreted a crucial portion of the statutory definition of “golf course” in section 42-146(G), and mistakenly concluded that recording a deed restriction under section 42-146(E) was the sole statutory prerequisite to valuation as a “golf course.”
¶ 16 The County also argues that the trial courts violated the requirement of A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5) that “current usage” be “included in the formula for reaching a determination of full cash value.” Finally, the County contends that the valuation procedures under A.R.S. section 42-146(A), which center on an intricate protocol for valuing in-use golf course improvements based on applying economic obsolescence to the Department of Revenue’s (“DOR”) 1988 per-hole costs, could not have been intended to apply to golf courses that were still under construction.
¶ 17 The taxpayers contend the courts below correctly held that their properties were entitled to valuation under A.R.S. section 42-146 for tax year 1995. The taxpayers urge that recording a golf course deed restriction is sufficient to create a “golf course” under A.R.S. section 42-146 because doing so restricts the use of the property from the moment it becomes effective — regardless of whether golf course improvements have been constructed. The taxpayers further contend that the deed restrictions in this case established their properties as golf courses be cause prior zoning approvals and the threat of penalties under A.R.S. section 42-146(E) would have effectively prevented the taxpayers from attempting to use their properties for another purpose.
¶ 18 Our task here is not to make an initial public policy choice concerning how to value property on which a golf course is under construction; it is rather to interpret and apply a statute. We presume that in formulating the statute the legislature has already considered and resolved the policy question. Our goal in interpreting A.R.S. section 42-146 is to identify and effectuate the legislature’s intent. See Zamora v. Reinstein, 185 Ariz. 272, 275, 915 P.2d 1227, 1230 (1996) (court’s goal is to fulfill intent of legislature that wrote statute); Hayes v. Continental Ins. Co., 178 Ariz. 264, 268, 872 P.2d 668, 672 (1994) (in determining and giving effect to legislature’s intent, court considers statute’s context, language, subject matter and historical background, its effects and consequences, and its spirit and purpose). A statute’s language is the best and most reliable index of the legislature’s intent. See Zamora, 185 Ariz. at 275, 915 P.2d at 1230.
¶ 19 By the plain terms of A.R.S. section 42-146(A), property that a taxpayer wishes to have valued under the method the statute provides must constitute a “golf course” within section 42-146(G). “Golf course” is specifically defined in A.R.S. section 42-146(G):
G. As used in this section, “golf course” means substantially undeveloped land, including amenities such as landscaping, irrigation systems, paths and golf greens and tees, which may be used for golfing or golfing practice by the public or by members and guests of a private club but not including commercial golf practice ranges operated exclusive of golf courses valued under this section, clubhouses, pro shops, restaurants or similar buildings associated with the golf course which are generally used by the public or by members and guests entitled to use the golf course.
¶ 20 Neither taxpayer’s property was a “golf course” within section 42-146(G)’s terms on January 1, 1995. The essence of a “golf course” under subsection G is that it be “substantially undeveloped land ... [that] may be used for golfing or golfing practice by the public or by members and guests of a private club____” (Emphasis added). Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged) 1396 (1971), defines “may” in relevant part as “have permission to,” “liberty to,” or “likely to.” See also Black’s Law Dictionary 979 (6th ed.1990) (defining may as “[a]n auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb by expressing ability, competency, liberty, permission, possibility, probability or contingency”).
¶2-1 There is no dispute that both taxpayers’ properties were “substantially undeveloped land” on January 1, 1995. But it is also undisputed that no one could have had “permission” or “liberty” to use either property “for golfing or golfing practice____” At that time neither property was capable of being used as a golf course.
¶ 22 We cannot agree with the trial court that the legislature used “may” in section 42-146(G) in the sense of “be in some degree likely to.” It is difficult to conceive that the legislature would have made the applicability of a special valuation method with such significant consequences as that provided in section 42-146(A) turn on an unspecified degree of probability that a parcel of property would be committed to use for golfing or golfing practice at an unspecified point in the future. Indeed, neither taxpayer argues for that interpretation of subsection G on appeal.
¶23 Instead, the taxpayers argue that section 42-146(E) provides that recording a golf course deed restriction is sufficient to create a “golf course” under A.R.S. section 42-146. The taxpayers maintain that record ing such a deed prevents alternative uses of the land, regardless whether the golf course can be used, thus entitling them to valuation under section 42-146(A). In support of their argument, the taxpayers observe that even as of January 1, 1995, undoing the City of Phoenix’s planned community development process to enable non-golf course uses of their properties would have been a formidable, expensive, and doubtful task. They also point out that if they had later used their properties as other than golf courses, they would have had to pay statutory penalties in the form of property tax differentials possibly reaching back as far as ten years.
¶ 24 A.R.S. section 42-146(A) makes application of the special golf course valuation method “[s]ubject to subsection E of this section....” Subsection E provides in relevant part:
E. As a condition for valuation under this section, the owner shall record a deed restriction with the county recorder and file a copy of the restriction with the county assessor, restricting the property to use as a golf course for at least ten years. The deed restriction must be refiled as necessary to ensure that the deed restriction always applies for at least ten years. The valuation of a golf course under this section constitutes a covenant between the county assessor and the owner of the golf course that the use of the property will remain unchanged for the duration of the deed restriction. If the property is converted to a different use in violation of the covenant, there shall be added to the tax levied against the property on the next tax roll a penalty equal to the difference between the total amount of property taxes that would have been levied on the property for the preceding ten years or the period of time the property was assessed under this section, whichever period is less, had the property not been assessed under this section and the property taxes paid for the same period. (Emphasis added).
¶ 25 The taxpayers’ main contention, and the lower court’s central reason for its rulings, is that recording a deed restriction to golf course use is both necessary and sufficient to qualify real property as a “golf course” that should be valued under A.R.S. section 42-146(A). We disagree.
¶26 First, this proposition attributes an incorrect meaning to the term “condition” in the introductory clause of A.R.S. section 42-146(E). In ordinary English, “condition” is used to describe an occurrence or state of affairs without which some event, obligation, or legal relationship cannot arise. See Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (Unabridged) 473 (1971); see also Black’s Law Dictionary 293 (6th ed.1990) (defining condition as “[a] future and uncertain event upon the happening of which is made to depend the existence of an obligation”). Thus, contrary to the taxpayers’ and the superior courts’ analyses, “condition” does not mean an occurrence or state of affairs that is sufficient to require valuation under section 42-146(A). The “condition” in the introductory clause of section 42-146(E) establishes only that recording a deed restriction is necessary before the property may be valued under section 42-146(A). It does not establish that recording a deed restriction is sufficient to require valuation under section 42-146(A).
¶27 We believe that the recording of the deed is not, by itself, sufficient to require valuation under section 42-146(A) because such a reading would ignore the other language of subsection A. See Williams v. Thude, 188 Ariz. 257, 259, 934 P.2d 1349, 1351 (1997) (“Each word, phrase, clause, and sentence [of a statute] must be given meaning so that no part will be void, inert, redundant, or trivial.” [citation omitted]). A.R.S. section 42-146(A) provides as follows:
In recognition of the importance of the open space and economic benefits of golf courses, all golf courses shall be uniformly valued based on guidelines prescribed by the department. Subject to subsection E of this section, values shall be made on the assumption that no other property use is possible, and the land shall be valued at five hundred dollars per acre. Improvement value of the golf course is established by the department’s 1988 per hole cost, as prescribed in subsection C of this section for the grade of the golf course as described in the department’s assessment practices manual for golf course assessment effective January 1, 1986. The per hole cost shall be multiplied by the number of holes included. The value shall be adjusted to reflect the application of economic obsolescence which shall be determined uniformly in the following manner.
1. Determine the number of actual rounds played during the most recent twelve months ending July 31.
2. Multiply the rounds played during the peak month by twelve to determine the number of rounds of play the course would have had under optimum conditions.
3. Divide the actual number of rounds played during the year by the optimum rounds played.
4. The quotient is the relationship between the actual rounds played and projected play under optimum conditions ... after the economic obsolescence has been deducted.
5. Apply the obsolescence by multiplying the total per hole cost by the per cent good.
6. The obsolescence factors developed through the application of the procedures outlined in paragraphs 1 through 5 of this subsection shall be applied to the data submitted annually by golf course owners and managers on a form as prescribed by the department.
7. Add the replacement cost new less the depreciation for the structures and additional items to determine the full cash value of the facility improvements.
8. To determine the full cash value of the golf course, add the per acre value as reflected in this section, the valuation of the golf course improvements adjusted for obsolescence pursuant to paragraphs 1 through 6 of this subsection, and the valuation of the structures and additional items pursuant to paragraph 7 of this subsection.
¶28 The special golf course valuation method comprises two distinct elements: (1) land value is to be fixed at $500.00 per acre, and (2) improvement value is to be determined through a protocol that applies projected economic obsolescence to DOR’s 1988 per-hole cost. The improvements valuation component depends on the number of “actual rounds played” during a period preceding the valuation date. It plainly presupposes that the golf course to be valued is complete and in use. Moreover, despite the qualitative differences between the two valuation components, the legislature elected to promulgate the special golf course valuation method as a unit contained entirely within a single subsection of A.R.S. section 42-146. We infer from this approach, as we inferred from the definition of “golf course” in A.R.S. section 42-146(G), that the legislature intended the special golf course valuation method to be applied only to completed, operational golf courses. Accordingly, any reading of the statute that does not account for how the valuation method is applied would also mistake when the method should be .applied.
¶ 29 In short, by adopting the valuation method specified in section 42-146(A), the legislature intended to provide a tax benefit to golf course owners based on the economic benefits the courses provided. Subsection A’s valuation criteria recognize that these benefits flow only from an operational golf course. Thus, the tax benefit is appropriately only applied to an operational golf course.
¶30 The taxpayers’ argument that they would suffer penalties for changing the property’s use after filing the deed restriction actually supports our conclusion. The statute requires the penalties to be paid precisely because the taxpayers’ failure to use the land as a golf course has deprived the state of the economic benefits it would have realized from an operational golf course.
¶ 31 Nor are we persuaded that the Department of Revenue’s Assessment Procedures Manual (1995) (“Manual”) supports the taxpayers’ interpretation of section 42-146(E). The Manual states in relevant part:
A.R.S. § 42-146.E requires a binding legal commitment to use a parcel of land as a golf course for a period of at least 10 years. Where this occurs, the ownership rights associated with the parcel have been limited and a legal impediment to development has been imposed.
It shall be the responsibility of the golf course owner to record a deed restriction with the County Recorder, with a copy to the Assessor, restricting the property use to a golf course for at least 10 years. Upon receipt of the recorded restriction to use, the Assessor shall determine the valuation based on this guideline.
Id. at 2.2C9.
¶32 Nowhere in Chapter 2, Subsection C, pertaining to Golf Courses, does the Manual refer either to partially completed golf courses or to golf courses under construction. Subsection C instead uniformly discusses the valuation and classification of completed, operational golf courses containing improvements. Subsection C begins by stating, “A golf course consists of a large tract of land, supporting facilities and improvements devoted to the sport of golf.” Id. at 2.2C1. The section that precedes the passage on which the taxpayers rely establishes 11 grades of golf courses “for use in valuing golf courses for ad valorem tax purposes.” These grades and the associated designations are as follows:
GCA Golf Course, Minimal Quality
CB Golf Course, Simple Design
GCC Golf Course, Good Design
GCD Golf Course, Championship
GCE Golf Course, Miniature, Budget
GCF Golf Course, Miniature, Standard
GCG Golf Course, Pitch & Putt
GCH Golf Course, Par 3
GCHE Golf Course, Par 3 Expensive
GCJ Golf Course, Executive
GCK Driving Range
There is no designation or description for “Golf Course, Under Construction” or “Golf Course, Partially Completed.”
¶ 33 Finally, the two paragraphs that immediately precede the passage on which the taxpayers rely recognize that golf courses can be built on land that is not suitable for other purposes:
Golf courses are frequently built on land that is not readily adaptable to commercial, industrial or residential development. A golf course can operate effectively on land subject to noise pollution, flooding or used to provide a drainage system for a developed area.
The land comprising the golf course playing area, practice area (not including commercial golf practice ranges), and parking area will be valued at $500 an acre for ad valorem tax purposes. A.R.S. § 42-146.A. That portion of land used for the club house, pro shop, restaurant, or similar buildings or improvements not included in the total course deed restriction, will be valued comparably with similar land used for commercial purposes.
Id. at 2.2C9. Again, these paragraphs contain no reference to land restrictively deeded as a golf course but on which there is no operational golf course.
¶34 The entire discussion in Chapter 2, Subsection C of the Manual presupposes a complete, operating golf course. Read in context, the passages cited by the taxpayers do not establish that recording the deed restriction is sufficient to require valuation under A.R.S. section 42-146(A).
¶ 35 Finally, the parties have devoted significant space in their briefs to debating whether their cases raise a “valuation classification” issue or a “classification” issue. To the extent the cases before us deal with classification, we think A.R.S. section 42-162(B) is consistent with the view we adopt here. Under that statute, the legislature has chosen to allow the “intended use” of “partially completed or vacant improvements” to affect the classification of “the improvement[s] on the land and that portion of the land that is necessary to support the use of the structure or structures.... ” Here the record is devoid of evidence that either of the properties the taxpayers wished to have valued as golf courses as of January 1, 1995, contained partially completed or vacant structures.
¶ 36 Neither taxpayer’s property was entitled to valuation under A.R.S. section 42-146(A). Because we so hold, we need not consider the County’s alternative contention that valuation under section 42-146(A) should have been disallowed because neither taxpayer’s property met the “current use” requirement of A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5). We also need not consider the County’s contention that the courts below erred in entering judgment setting particular valuations for the taxpayers’ properties under A.R.S. section 42-146 and in denying the County’s motion for new trial as against taxpayer PhxAz.
¶37 Each taxpayer requests its attorney’s fees on appeal under A.R.S. section 12-348(B). Because neither taxpayer has prevailed, we deny the requests.
CONCLUSION
¶ 38 We reverse and remand the judgments with directions to enter judgment reinstating the State Board of Equalization’s 1995 tax valuation of the Kierland Golf Course, owned by taxpayer PhxAz Limited Partnership, and the Maricopa County Assessor’s 1995 valuation of the Grayhawk Raptor Golf Course, owned by taxpayer CN Residential Limited Partnership.
GARBARINO, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
. Taxpayer PhxAz points out that nothing in section 42-146(G) provides that the amenities listed in the definition must be in place before the property may be considered a "golf course.” While this is true, subsection G nevertheless clearly states that only property that "may be used for golfing or golfing practice" is a "golf course” within section 42-146. Only a completed golf course, presumably featuring some of the specific improvements listed in subsection G, fulfills that necessary criterion.
. For the purpose of classification of property under this section, partially completed or vacant improvements on the land including improved common area tracts shall be classified according to their intended use as demonstrated by objective evidence. For property not valued by the department, an improvement on the land is considered to be partially completed when the foundation of the structure or structures to be located on the property is in place. The only portion affected by the reclassification is the improvement on the land and that portion of the land that is necessary to support the use of the structure or structures, except that common area tracts in residential developments associated with partially completed improvements shall receive the same classification as the partially completed improvements. Properly that is not valued by the department, that does not have a structure or structures and that is actively used for commercial purposes shall be classified as prescribed by subsection A of this section. This subsection does not apply to property that is classified as agricultural pursuant to § 42-167.
A.R.S. § 42-162(B).
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OPINION
HOWARD, Judge.
¶ 1 In this statutory special action, petitioner Connie Self challenges the Administrative Law Judge’s (ALJ) award delaying for two years the recalculation of workers’ compensation death benefits for her minor children. We set aside the award.
¶ 2 As a result of Selfs husband’s work-related death, she and her three minor children were entitled to death benefits pursuant to A.R.S. § 23-1046, which provides in pertinent part:
A. In case of an injury causing death, the compensation therefor shall be known as a death benefit, and shall be payable in the amount, for the period, and to and for the benefit of the persons following:
2. To the surviving spouse, if there is no child, thirty-five per cent of the average wage of the deceased, to be paid until such spouse’s death or remarriage, with two years’ compensation in one sum upon remarriage.
3. To the widow or widower, if there is a child or children, the additional amount of fifteen per cent of such wage for each child until the age of eighteen years or until the age of twenty-two years if the child is enrolled as a full-time student in any accredited educational institution, the total not to exceed sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the average wage.
4. To a single surviving child, in the case of the subsequent death of a surviving husband or wife, or if there is no surviving husband or wife, twenty-five per cent of such average wages, or if there is more than one surviving child, twenty-five per cent for one child, and fifteen per cent for each additional child, to be divided among such children share and share alike, but not exceeding a total of sixty-six and two-thirds per cent of the average wage. Compensation to any such child shall cease upon death, upon marriage or upon reaching the age of eighteen years, except, if over eighteen years and incapable of self-support, when he becomes capable of self-support.
Self would have been entitled to a death benefit of 80% of her husband’s average wage, i.e., 35% for herself and 15% for each child; however, because of the limitation in subsection (A)(3), she received 66%% of her husband’s average wage.
¶ 3 When Self remarried, her 35% monthly benefit terminated and she received a lump sum payment of two years’ compensation pursuant to subsection (A)(2). She then requested, pursuant to subsection (A)(3), the full minor children’s portion of the death benefit (3 x 15% or 45% of the average wage) because, now that she was no longer receiving her surviving spouse’s benefit, the total monthly benefit no longer exceeded 66% %. Following a hearing, the ALJ concluded that the two years’ compensation was “an advance on the compensation [Self] would have received over the next two years if she had not remarried” and held that the total allotment for the children should remain at 31%% per month (66%% minus 35%) for the two years following Selfs remarriage and should be recalculated thereafter.
¶ 4 In this case of first impression in Arizona, we must determine whether Selfs remarriage benefit, two years’ compensation, is an independent award or advance monthly compensation that is to be included with the surviving children’s benefit in calculating the 66%% maximum monthly benefit.
¶ 5 Respondents ' frame the issue as whether the lump sum award is compensation, asserting that, if it is, it must necessarily be included in the total that is subject to the 66%% limitation in subsection (A)(3). We determine that the “one sum” award under subsection (A)(2) is compensation within the meaning of § 23-901, but that determination does not resolve the issue of whether the legislature intended that the one-time lump sum be included in calculating “the total” under subsection (A)(3) or whether the 66%% limitation applies only to the monthly benefits.
¶ 6 We review issues of statutory construction de novo and attempt to give effect to the legislature’s intent. Universal Roofers v. Industrial Comm’n, 187 Ariz. 620, 931 P.2d 1130 (App.1996). We infer that intent from the language of the statute and from the general purpose of the act. Salt River Project/Bechtel Carp. v. Industrial Comm’n, 179 Ariz. 280, 877 P.2d 1336 (App.1994). We construe workers’ compensation statutes liberally and remedially, “with a view of effectuating the principle of placing the burden of death and injury on the industry.” Circle K Store No. 1131 v. Industrial Comm’n, 165 Ariz. 91, 96, 796 P.2d 893, 898 (1990).
¶ 7 Respondents argue that we only need apply the plain meaning of the statute to determine this issue. The task is not that simple. The 66%% limitation in subsection (A)(3) does not by its own terms refer to either the 35% monthly payment to the wife or the lump sum award under subsection (A)(2). It simply refers to “the total,” and we must therefore construe the statute in order to determine whether the limitation applies only to the children’s monthly payments under subsection (A)(3), to all monthly payments, or to all monthly payments and the lump sum payment. In addition, subsection (A)(3) uses the term “widow” which, using the plain meaning of the word, would preclude a remarried spouse from receiving any children’s benefits. See Black’s Law Dictionary, 1598 (6th ed. 1990). By not arguing for this result, however, respondents are necessarily engaging in their own statutory interpretation. Similarly, subsection (A)(2) does not state that the lump sum is to be considered advance compensation for the subsequent two years, as found by the ALJ, nor does it state that the children’s award under (A)(3) should be maintained at the then current level for two years thereafter. The respondents’ position, therefore, again requires construction of the statute. Our task is to construe the statute in accord with the intent of the legislature and policy of the statutory scheme which is to place the financial burden on the industry rather than the surviving family. Circle K.
¶ 8 For guidance, we turn to other jurisdictions with similar statutes. State ex rel. Vivian v. Heritage Shutters, Inc., 23 Ariz.App. 544, 534 P.2d 758 (1975). Most courts that have considered this issue have concluded that the lump sum payment is an independent payment, not advance compensation, and therefore have required immediate recalculation of the surviving minor children’s benefit.
¶ 9 In Aswell v. Rockwood Ins. Co., 519 So.2d 394 (La.App.1988), for example, the Louisiana Court of Appeals interpreted § 23:1233, La.Rev.Stat.Ann., a statute very similar to Arizona’s, which provides: “[wjeekly payments to a surviving spouse shall continue until the death or remarriage of the surviving spouse. In the case of remarriage of a surviving spouse, two years[’] compensation payments shall be payable in one lump sum.” Like Arizona’s statute, the Louisiana provisions limit death benefits to 65% of the decedent’s wages and require that the benefits be paid to the surviving spouse for the common benefit of the spouse and the dependent children. La.Rev.Stat.Ann. §§ 23:1232 and 23:1235. Reviewing decisions from other jurisdictions, the court in Aswell concluded that the remarriage lump sum payment was an independent payment that created an incentive to remarry, not advance compensation benefits. Once the spouse remarries, “the only compensation benefits left to be paid are those which are due to the remaining dependents] ... without further reference to the remarrying widow.” Aswell, 519 So.2d at 399. The court found no legislative intent requiring the remarried spouse to remain a dependent for the two years following remarriage or to penalize the minor child for the remarriage. Accordingly, the court required immediate recalculation of the surviving minor child’s benefits.
¶ 10 Respondents argue that the courts in five of the majority rule cases were able to conclude that the lump sum is an independent award because their statutory language provides for a payment “equal to” two years’ compensation. This minor difference in wording, however, is insufficient to demonstrate a difference in legislative policy. The phrase “two years’ compensation,” whether preceded by “equal to” or not, still simply provides, as stated in Aswell, “a means for calculating the lump sum payment and is not intended to refer to advanced compensation benefits for two additional years.” 519 So.2d at 399. See also Lackey v. D & M Trucking, 9 Kan.App.2d 679, 687 P.2d 23 (1984). This, we find, furthers the policy of placing the financial burden of the employee’s death on industry rather than on the surviving family. Circle K.
¶ 11 Respondents also attempt to distinguish those decisions involving statutes that require immediate reapportionment when a particular beneficiary’s entitlement terminates. Although we acknowledge this distinction, it is not persuasive. In each of those decisions, the court determined that the lump sum payment was either a “final payment,” Arkansas Vinegar Co. v. Ashby, 294 Ark. 412, 743 S.W.2d 798 (1988), a “separate benefit,” Yardley v. Montgomery, 580 S.W.2d 263 (Mo.1979), or a payment in return for termination of the spouse’s right to compensation, Builders Exchange, Inc. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Board, 64 Pa.Cmwlth. 94, 439 A.2d 215 (1982), rather than an advance on compensation. Immediate reapportionment to the remaining dependents occurred, therefore, because the surviving spouse’s periodic death benefit terminated.
¶ 12 The language and effect of § 23-1046 also support the conclusion that the lump sum payment is an independent award. First, subsection (A)(2) requires payment of the surviving spouse’s 35% benefit for two years in a lump sum upon his or her marriage. Unless we construe the statute to mean that the “one sum” is not a lump sum but rather a stream of monthly payments for the succeeding twenty-four months, application of the limitation under (A)(3) is difficult at best. The lump sum equals 70% of the employee’s average wage for a year or 840% of the monthly wage, which indicates that the lump sum is a different category of payment. Because the lump sum payment by itself exceeds the 66^% maximum, the limitation could not have been meant to apply to the lump sum award. If the lump sum payment is included literally in calculating the 66|% maximum, all monthly payments would be reduced to zero until the suspended monthly payments equaled the lump sum.
¶ 13 Second, under subsection (A)(2), the lump sum benefit is paid regardless of whether there are dependent children. When there are no surviving dependent children, there are no future payments, and therefore, the lump sum cannot be offset against them. Third, subsection (A)(4), which provides for increased rather than decreased surviving children’s benefits if the surviving spouse dies, does not support including the lump sum in calculating the 661% maximum. In that section, the legislature could have provided, but did not, that the surviving children’s increased benefits would be offset by the lump sum payment if a remarried surviving spouse dies within the two years after the payment.
¶ 14 In addition, treating the lump sum as advance compensation effectively perpetuates the spouse as a dependent for two years after remarriage. Aswell. See also A.R.S. § 23-1064 (wife presumed dependent of deceased husband employee). We find no legislative intent to extend the spouse’s dependency unnecessarily. The intent of the lump sum is to lessen the disincentive to remarry which would be inherent in a flat cut-off of benefits. 5 Arthur Larson & Lex K. Larson, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 64.42 (1997). The insurer benefits because monthly payments, which would otherwise continue for the widow’s life, are terminated. Finally, respondents agree that, if a surviving spouse dies within the two year period, the insurer cannot recover any portion of the lump sum payment, relying on § 23-1068. Although that statute may support their position, it applies only to benefits “payable” and does not resolve any issue of entitlement to benefits. A more cogent rationale for the result is that the surviving spouse is, by reason of her remarriage, entitled to an immediate lump sum, and not to a stream of monthly benefits over the ensuing two years.
¶ 15 We conclude, in accordance with the policy of worker’s compensation statutory scheme, that the lump sum payment on remarriage in § 23-1046(A)(2) does not apply against the 66^% limitation in subsection (A)(3). The surviving spouse’s periodic benefit terminates upon remarriage and the lump sum benefit is an independent payment rather than an advance on monthly compensation. Therefore, when the surviving spouse’s monthly benefit terminates, the dependent children’s monthly death benefit should be recalculated immediately without consideration of the lump sum benefit.
¶ 16 The award is set aside.
PELANDER, P.J., and ESPINOSA, J., concur.
. See Death & Permanent Total Disability Trust Fund v. Tyson Foods, Inc., 304 Ark. 359, 801 S.W.2d 653 (1991) (lump sum payment is not a weekly death benefit); Arkansas Vinegar Co. v. Ashby, 294 Ark. 412, 743 S.W.2d 798 (1988) (payment is a final payment); Lackey v. D & M Trucking, 9 Kan.App.2d 679, 687 P.2d 23 (1984) (payment upon remarriage is not a redemption of employer’s liability and children were entitled to reapportionment as of date of remarriage); Yardley v. Montgomery, 580 S.W.2d 263 (Mo.1979) (payment is award separate from death benefit); Blumenfeld v. Rust Craft Greeting Cards, Inc., 51 N.J. 1, 236 A.2d 883 (1967) (payment did not discount compensation due to children and compensation must be recomputed as of date of remarriage); Newman v. Public Oversight Board, 127 A.D.2d 302, 515 N.Y.S.2d 347 (1987), overruling Carlin v. Lockport Paper Co., 214 A.D. 354, 212 N.Y.S. 65 (1925) (remarriage lump sum independent payment); State ex rel. Endlich v. Industrial Comm’n, 16 Ohio App.3d 309, 475 N.E.2d 1309 (1984) (lump sum payment upon remarriage is a "dowry” to the widow which does not prevent immediate reapportionment of benefits to the children); Builders Exchange, Inc. v. Workmen’s Compensation Appeal Bd., 64 Pa.Cmwlth. 94, 439 A.2d 215 (1982) (lump sum is payment for termination of spouse’s right to indefinite compensation and is not credited against the children); accord American Mut. Liab. Ins. Co. v. Smith, 766 F.2d 1513 (11th Cir.1985) (federal statute requiring lump sum payment upon remarriage requires increase in compensation to children at time of remarriage). See also 5 Arthur Larson & Lex K. Larson, Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 64.42 (1997). But see Employers Nat. Ins. Co. v. Winters, 101 N.M. 315, 681 P.2d 741 (N.M.App.1984) (redistribution does not occur until two years after lump sum payment), and Freeman v. Texas Compensation Ins. Co., 603 S.W.2d 186 (Tex.1980) (same).
. At oral argument, petitioner withdrew her contention that the children’s death benefit should be recalculated based on § 23-1046(A)(4) rather than § 23-1046(A)(3), and we need not consider it.
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OPINION
PER CURIAM.
¶ 1 Presiding Judge Susan A. Ehrlich, Judge Rudolph J. Gerber and Chief Judge Philip E. Toci have considered this special action review of an Arizona Industrial Commission (“Commission”) award and decision upon review denying a claim against the Commission’s No Insurance Section, Special Fund Division (“Special Fund”) for costs and attorneys’ fees that this court previously awarded against Respondent Employer (“La-brie”). Because these costs and fees are not “compensation” that the Special Fund is obligated to pay under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 23-907(B) (Supp.1997), we affirm the award and decision upon review. We also exercise our discretion to deny sanctions for a frivolous appeal.
¶ 2 Petitioner Employee (“Claimant”) filed a workers’ compensation claim against Labrie. The Special Fund denied this claim. See generally A.R.S. § 23-907(B). Following hearings at which Claimant, Labrie, and the Special Fund were separately represented by counsel, an Administrative Law Judge (“ALJ”) resolved credibility conflicts in Claimant’s favor and found his claim compensable. Labrie requested review, and the ALJ affirmed the award.
¶ 3 Labrie then timely filed a special action petition. This petition identified the Special Fund as one of the respondents. The Special Fund filed a notice of appearance, see generally Arizona Rules of Procedure for Special Actions 10(f), but it did not file a brief. Labrie filed an opening brief, Claimant filed an answering brief, and Labrie’s counsel notified the court that Labrie would not file a reply brief.
¶ 4 The court then issued its decision affirming the award and decision upon review;. See Labrie v. Industrial Comm’n, 1 CA-IC 95-0129 (App. May 7, 1996) (memorandum decision). The court also granted Claimant’s request for costs and attorneys’ fees for a frivolous appeal under Rule 25, Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure. Id. slip op. at 7. The court subsequently issued an order awarding the requested amount of costs and attorneys’ fees. Finally, the court issued a judgment against Labrie for Claimant’s costs and attorneys’ fees.
¶ 5 Claimant then filed a request for investigation, see generally A.R.S. section 23-1061(J) (1995), claiming that the Special Fund was obligated to pay Claimant’s costs and attorneys’ fees previously awarded against Labrie. Another ALJ subsequently scheduled a hearing, but Claimant and the Special Fund agreed to submit memoranda in lieu of a hearing. Claimant and the Special Fund then submitted memoranda.
¶ 6 The ALJ then issued an award denying Claimant’s claim against the Special Fund for costs and attorneys’ fees. Although Division Two had recently held the Special Fund liable to pay a “benefit penalty” imposed against an uninsured employer under A.R.S. section 2S-980(B) (1995), see No Ins. Section/Special Fund Division v. Industrial Comm’n, 187 Ariz. 131, 132-33, 927 P.2d 791, 792-93 (App.1996) (Ehrlich, J., dissenting), the ALJ distinguished Claimant’s claim because costs and attorneys’ fees for a frivolous appeal were not “compensation” that the Special Fund was obligated to pay under A.R.S. section 23-907(B).
¶ 7 The ALJ affirmed this award on administrative review. Claimant then brought this special action. The court has jurisdiction under A.R.S. sections 12-120.21(A)(2) (1992) and 23-951(A) (1995).
¶8 On review, Claimant again relies on No Ins. Section to argue that the Special Fund was obligated to pay the judgment for Claimant’s costs and attorneys’ fees. Because the ALJ correctly distinguished a benefit penalty under A.R.S. section 23-930(B) from costs and attorneys’ fees for a frivolous appeal, we disagree.
¶ 9 An employee of an uninsured employer may pursue a civil action against the employer or file a workers’ compensation claim. See A.R.S. § 23-907(A),(B). If an employee files a compensation claim, it is to be processed as any other claim. See A.R.S. § 23-907(B). Once an award for workers’ compensation becomes final, the Commission must pay the employee his or her benefits from the fund established by A.R.S. section 23-1065 (Supp.1997). See id. The uninsured employer is liable to repay this fund upon receiving notice of the amount of the compensation payments and statutory penalty, and the payments from the special fund “act as a judgment against” the uninsured employer. See A.R.S. § 23-907(C).
¶ 10 In No Ins. Section, the claimant was awarded a benefit penalty under section 23-930(B) against an uninsured employer. The claimant then claimed that the Special Fund was obligated to pay this benefit penalty. See No Ins. Section, 187 Ariz. at 131, 927 P.2d at 792. Division Two agreed, defining a benefit penalty as “compensation” within the meaning of the Workers’ Compensation Act. Consequently, because section 23-907(B) requires the Special Fund to pay compensation benefits, the Special Fund was obligated to pay the benefit penalty. Id. at 132-33, 927 P.2d at 793-94.
¶ 11 In contrast to a benefit penalty awarded under A.R.S, section 23-930(B), a Rule 25 sanction is not a benefit provided under the Workers’ Compensation Act and therefore is not compensation within that Act. See A.R.S. § 23-901(4) (1995) (defining “compensation” as “the compensation and benefits provided by this chapter”). Furthermore, the Workers’ Compensation- Act does not authorize an award of costs or attorneys’ fees. See Pettinato v. Industrial Comm’n, 144 Ariz. 501, 503-04, 698 P.2d 746, 748-49 (App.1984). No Ins. Section therefore does not support Claimant’s claim that the Special Fund is obligated to pay the judgment for costs and attorneys’ fees.
¶ 12 Claimant alternatively argues that statutory authority is unnecessary to support his claim against the Special Fund, citing Clark Equipment Co. v. Arizona Property & Cas. Ins. Guar. Fund, 189 Ariz. 433, 943 P.2d 793 (App.1997) (Noyes, J., dissenting in part). Clark does not support Claimant’s argument. In that case, statutory authority, A.R.S. section 12-341.01(A) (1992), supported the award of attorneys’ fees against the Guaranty Fund because the claim arose out of an insurance contract. Id. at 445, 943 P.2d at 805. This court rejected the Guaranty Fund’s argument that additional specific statutory authority was necessary to apply section 12-341.01(A) to the Guaranty Fund. Id. at 445-47, 943 P.2d at 805-07; see also Saenz v. State Fund Workers’ Compensation Ins., 189 Ariz. 471, 475-76, 943 P.2d 831, 835-36 (App.1997) (applying section 12-341.01(A) to action for breach of settlement agreement).
¶ 13 The current case, in contrast to Clark, involves a judgment against Labrie for Claimant’s costs and attorneys’ fees. Absent statutory authority requiring the Special Fund to pay this judgment, Claimant has no claim against the Special Fund.
¶ 14 For these reasons, we affirm the award and decision upon review. We also deny the Special Fund’s request for sanctions under Rule 25.
. Section 23-930(B) provides that the Commis- ■ sion shall award the claimant a benefit penalty if the Commission “finds that unfair claim process-mg or bad faith has occurred in the handling of a particular claim.”
|
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OPINION
MARTONE, Justice.
¶ 1 A jury convicted Beau John Greene of first degree murder (both premeditated and felony murder), robbery, kidnapping, theft, and six counts of forgery. The trial court sentenced him to death for the murder conviction, and to terms of imprisonment for the noncapital crimes. Appeal to.this court is automatic under Rules 26.15 and 31.2(b), Ariz. R.Crim. P., and direct under A.R.S. § 13 — 1031. We affirm except as to the kidnapping conviction.
I. BACKGROUND
¶ 2 Roy Johnson, a music professor at the University of Arizona, was last seen around 9:30 p.m. on February 28, 1995. He was leaving the Green Valley Presbyterian Church where he had just given an organ recital. Although his wife expected him home before 10:00 p.m., the ordinarily punctual Johnson did not make it back that night. Four days later, authorities found his body lying face down in a wash. Greene admitted at trial that he killed Johnson.
¶ 3 Greene testified that he had been using methamphetamine continuously for several days preceding the murder and that he had neither slept nor eaten much during that time. He said that he was suffering from withdrawal from drugs when he killed Johnson.
¶4 The day of the murder, Greene’s Mends, Tom Bevan and Loriann Verner, told Greene he could no longer stay in their trailer located west of the Tucson Mountains. A drug dealer had threatened to shoot Greene over an outstanding debt and Bevan and Verner feared Greene’s presence in their trailer would ruin their relationship with the drug dealer. Greene stole a truck and drove to Tucson where the truck broke down. Sometime that night, during Johnson’s drive home from the concert, Greene and Johnson crossed paths, but the record does not tell us how.
¶ 5 Greene’s story, disbelieved by judge and jury, is as follows. Johnson approached Greene in a park. Greene claims that Johnson wanted to perform oral sex on him, and offered to pay him for it. Greene accepted, and the two drove to a secluded parking lot in Johnson’s ear. Greene says he then changed his mind and told Johnson that he would not follow through. In response, Johnson purportedly smiled and touched Greene’s leg. Greene claims he “freaked out” at Johnson’s touch, and struck him several times in the head with his fist. He moved Johnson’s motionless body to the back of the car, drove to a wash, and dumped the body. Next, Greene says, he walked back to the car and drove away. He claims he then realized that he needed money so he returned to the wash, walked down to the body, and stole Johnson’s wallet.
¶ 6 Several pieces of evidence undermine Greene’s version of the killing. First, medical testimony indicates that a heavy flat object — not a human fist — damaged Johnson’s skull. Fist bones striking a person’s head will ordinarily shatter long before the thick bones of the skull, yet neither of Greene’s hands were injured. Second, only one set of tire tracks and footprints entered and left the wash, suggesting that Greene did not return for the wallet, but had it with him when he left immediately after the murder. Third, Greene told Bevan he beat someone to death with a club and dumped the body near Gates pass.
¶ 7 After dumping Johnson’s body in the wash, Greene drove Johnson’s car directly to the Bevan/Verner trailer. He told Bevan about the killing. Greene asked Bevan for some clean shoes. He also took a small rug to cover the bloody car seats.
¶ 8 Greene left the trailer and headed for K-mart, the first of several stops he made on a spending spree using Johnson’s cash and credit cards. To explain any discrepancies between his signature and those on the credit cards, Greene wrapped his hand with K-Y jelly and gauze and feigned injury. Among other things, he bought clothes, food, camping gear, a scope and air rifle, and a VCR (which he later traded for methamphetamine). He eventually abandoned Johnson’s car in the desert. On March 2nd, the police arrested Greene at a Mend’s house.
II. ISSUES
Greene raises the following issues:
A. Trial Issues
1. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by allowing Johnson’s wife to testify regarding Johnson’s moral values;
2. Whether the trial court committed reversible error in denying appellant’s motion for a directed verdict as to count three, robbery;
3. Whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction for kidnapping;
4. Whether the felony murder conviction cannot stand because the predicate felony convictions are invalid;
5. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by allowing the state to elicit testimony concerning letters Greene wrote after his arrest to Tom Bevan and Joseph Fausto (a.k.a.“Dr.G.Jones”).
B. Sentencing Issues
1. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by admitting into evidence and relying upon in the aggravation/mitfgation hearing a letter Greene wrote to Christina George after his conviction;
2. Whether the imposition of the death penalty was improper;
3. Whether the trial court committed reversible error by imposing aggravated consecutive sentences on the noncapital offenses;
III. ANALYSIS
A. Trial Issues
1. WIDOW’S TESTIMONY
¶ 9 Greene claims the trial court erred by failing to limit Johnson’s widow’s testimony to the specific character trait of heterosexuality. The state recalled Mrs. Johnson to rebut the testimony of Greene’s former girlfriend who testified that Greene had told her that he killed Johnson in response to a homosexual advance. Mrs. Johnson testified that Greene’s claim “was preposterous____[Johnson] was a man of great honor and integrity, of great moral principle, of deep, abiding faith. And most importantly, he was devoted to me as I was to him.” Tr. of Mar. 12,1996, at 92.
¶ 10 Greene agrees that once a victim’s sexual preference is put in issue, the state may offer rebuttal evidence regarding the victim’s heterosexuality. See State v. Rivera, 152 Ariz. 507, 518, 733 P.2d 1090,1101 (1987); see also Rule 404(a)(2), Ariz. R. Evid. But accusing a married person of making a non-spousal sexual advance places far more than sexual preference in issue. All sorts of character issues are implicated, such as fidelity, integrity, honesty, trustworthiness, and loyalty. Thus, for purposes of rebuttal, Greene’s accusation implicated all of these.
¶ 11 Mrs. Johnson’s testimony that her husband was devoted and faithful to her tends to show that the victim would not have made sexual advances toward Greene. Her testimony that he was a man of honor, integrity, and good moral character directly rebuts Greene’s accusations of Johnson’s infidelity. Admission of the testimony in question was proper rebuttal evidence. Rule 404(a)(2), Ariz. R. Evid. There was no error.
2. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE-ROBBERY
¶ 12 Greene moved for a directed verdict arguing that there was “no substantial evidence to warrant a conviction” on the robbery count. Rule 20(a), Ariz. R.Crim. P. Substantial evidence is proof that a rational trier of fact could find sufficient to support a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Murray, 184 Ariz. 9, 31, 906 P.2d 542, 564 (1995). We construe the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict, and resolve all reasonable inferences against the defendant. State v. Gallegos, 178 Ariz. 1, 9, 870 P.2d 1097, 1105 (1994).
¶ 13 A person commits robbery if, in the course of taking property of another from his person or immediate presence and against his will, he or she uses force with the intent to coerce the surrender of property or to prevent resistance. A.R.S. § 13-1902(A)(1989). Greene argues that there is no direct evidence that he intended to take the victim’s property at the time he used force. He argues that he killed Johnson in response to the homosexual overture, dumped the body, and only then decided to steal his car and wallet. For these reasons, Greene claims his circumstances were similar to those in State v. Lopez, 158 Ariz. 258, 762 P.2d 545 (1988), where this court overturned a robbery conviction because of insufficient evidence.
¶ 14 Greene’s reliance on Lopez is misplaced. Unlike Greene, the Lopez defendants discarded the victim’s wallet and burned his car after the murder “for the purpose of removing themselves from the scene, to attempt to prevent or delay identification of the body, and to destroy evidence.” Id. at 264, 762 P.2d at 551. Thus, there was no evidence that the earlier use of force against the victim was accompanied by an intent to commit a robbery. Id. Here, Greene was hungry, tired, and craving methamphetamine when he encountered Johnson. He had been thrown out of his temporary residence, had no transportation, and was seeking to avoid a drug dealer who had threatened to shoot him. After stealing Johnson’s car, and within hours after killing him, he began spending Johnson’s money and using his credit cards.
¶ 15 The examination of the crime scene revealed only one set of tire tracks and footprints to and from the wash. A rational trier of fact could have found beyond a reasonable doubt that Greene’s. use of force against Johnson was accompanied by an intent to take Johnson’s property. The Rule 20 motion was properly denied.
3. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE-KIDNAPPING
¶ 16 Greene next argues that a rational trier of fact could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly restrained Johnson with the intent to inflict death, physical injury, or a sexual offense on the victim, or to otherwise aid in the commission of a ' felony. See A.R.S. § 13-1304(A)(3)(1989).
¶ 17 Nothing in the record tells us how Greene got into Johnson’s car. The car was not damaged in any way. Although Greene apparently used a heavy flat object to kill Johnson, nothing indicates whether he found this object in the car, or carried it with him. Moreover, no evidence demonstrates that Greene, while in the car, knowingly restrained Johnson before bludgeoning him, or whether he simply chose to strike him at an opportune moment.
¶ 18 Although it seems highly probable that at some point Johnson was restrained before death, the evidence is insufficient to support such a finding beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, we reverse the kidnapping conviction and order the entry of a judgment of acquittal on the kidnapping charge.
4. FELONYMURDER
¶ 19 Greene argues that we must reverse the felony murder conviction because the convictions for robbery and kidnapping cannot stand. Although we reverse the kidnapping conviction, the robbery conviction remains as a sufficient predicate crime to affirm Greene’s felony murder conviction. See A.R.S. § 13-1105(A)(2)(Supp.1997). Because Greene admitted that he killed Johnson, Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 73 L. Ed.2d 1140 (1982) and Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137, 107 S.Ct. 1676, 95 L.Ed.2d 127 (1987), are satisfied. In addition, we note that Greene was also convicted of premeditated murder.
5. POST-ARREST LETTERS
¶ 20 Greene argues that the court erred when it permitted the state to cross-examine him about two letters he wrote after his arrest: one to Joseph Fausto (a.k.a.“Dr. G.Jones”) and the other to Tom Bevan. Greene claims the contents of the letters amounted to irrelevant and impermissible “other acts” evidence under Rule 404(b), Ariz. R. Evid.
¶ 21 Greene’s argument fails because the letter to Bevan was relevant to show Greene’s consciousness of guilt. See Rule 401, Ariz. R. Evid. In the letter, Greene indicated that he had reviewed Be-van’s recorded statement to authorities, yet nowhere in the letter did Greene challenge the truth of Bevan’s statement. Greene was concerned only about Bevan informing on him.
¶22 The letter to Fausto is also relevant because it rebuts claims that Greene felt remorse for committing the charged offenses: “Looks like I been a baaaad boy. Fuck it! I always did like to stir shit! The fucker wanted to pay me to have sex with him ... Oops ... sorry faggot, wrong white boy!” Tr. of Mar. 13, 1996, at 155. In addition, the letter contains statements relevant to Greene’s claim that he hit Johnson with only his fists: “Coroner’s report said multiple skull fractures, and cause of death blunt force trauma. Sounds to me like he got his fuckin’ skull caved in!” Id. at 156, 107 S.Ct. 1676.
¶ 23 Moreover, the letters were not “other acts” evidence introduced for the purpose of proving that Greene acted in conformity with them. See Rule 404(b), Ariz. R. Evid. The letters were direct evidence that Greene committed the charged offense. There was no error.
B. SENTENCING ISSUES
1. GEORGE LETTER
¶24 Approximately two weeks after his convictions, Greene, at the request of another inmate, wrote a threatening letter to an inmate named Christina George. Greene argues that the court erred in admitting this letter at sentencing because it was not relevant, or, if relevant, its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. See Rules 401, 402, 403, Ariz. R. Evid.
¶ 25 Although the court admitted the entire letter, it relied on only the following:
Mother fuckin’ snitch’s rank right up there with child molesters & homosexuals. And if you have seen the news lately then you probably got a pretty good idea as to how I feel about faggots!
Very sincerely yours,
Beau Greene
convicted murderer
death row alley
4-D-25
State’s Ex. 1. These statements create inferences relevant to a finding of an especially heinous or depraved state of mind. See A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6)(Supp.1997); State v. Salazar, 173 Ariz. 399, 412, 844 P.2d 566, 579 (1992)(“In determining whether a crime is heinous or depraved we focus on the defendant’s mental state and attitude as evidenced by his words and actions.”). The letter was probative of Greene’s attitude about the murder and provides insight into his callous fascination with being a “convicted murderer,” apparently headed for death row. Moreover, the probative value of these statements is not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. See Rule 403, Ariz. R. Evid. There was no error.
2. PROPRIETY OF THE DEATH SENTENCE
¶26 In capital cases, we independently review the trial court’s findings of aggravating and mitigating circumstances to determine if the death penalty is appropriate. A.R.S. § 13-703.01(A)(Supp.1997). The trial court found that the murder was committed for pecuniary gain, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(5)(Supp.997), and in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6)(Supp.1997).
a. Pecuniary Gain
¶ 27 The aggravating factor of pecuniary gain is present when “[t]he defendant committed the offense as consideration for the receipt, or in expectation of the receipt, of anything of pecuniary value.” A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(5)(Supp.1997). The evi dence must show that financial gain was a motive for the murder. State v. Soto-Fong, 187 Ariz. 186, 208, 928 P.2d 610, 632 (1996), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 117 S.Ct. 1826, 137 L.Ed.2d 1033 (1997).
¶ 28 The trial court found that the medical testimony and the crime scene evidence completely negated Greene’s version of the killing. According to the medical examiner, Greene could not have fractured Johnson’s skull with his fists. Further, the medical examiner testified that a heavy flat object was used to kill Johnson. The use of an instrument implies premeditation. It also undermines Greene’s account, and, therefore, his credibility. Likewise, evidence at the crime scene reveals the falsity of Greene’s proffered motivation for the killing. The single set of tire tracks and footprints near the wash indicates that Greene did not return for Johnson’s wallet as he claims, but instead had the wallet with him when he left the wash immediately following the murder.
¶ 29 The trial court’s finding that Greene intended to profit from the murder was also supported by Greene’s admitted need for money, drugs, and transportation. Greene testified that he was hungry, tired, and craving methamphetamine when he encountered Johnson. He was homeless, had no transportation, and was attempting to avoid a drug dealer who had threatened to shoot him over an outstanding debt. Greene testified that the two most important things in his life at the time were to get more drugs and to win back his girlfriend.
¶30 Greene’s actions after the murder also demonstrate a pecuniary motive. Driving Johnson’s car, and within hours of the murder, Greene began using Johnson’s credit cards. Greene wrapped his hand in K-Y jelly and gauze and feigned injury to explain any discrepancy in credit card signatures. With the stolen credit cards, he purchased camping equipment, food, and electronic equipment that he later traded for drugs. He also bought food and took it to his girlfriend’s house for her son.
¶31 Greene argues the court failed to properly consider the effect of his methamphetamine use on his ability to accurately perceive and recall the events that night. But if Greene’s memory is suspect, all that remains is uneontradicted evidence offered by the state. Moreover, during trial, Greene recalled, in great detail, events both before and after the murder. On cross examination, he stated unequivocally that neither usage nor withdrawal from methamphetamine had ever affected his memory.
¶ 32 We have held that when one comes to rob, the accused expects pecuniary gain and this desire infects all other conduct. See State v. Landrigan, 176 Ariz. 1, 6, 859 P.2d 111, 116 (1993). The evidence supports beyond a reasonable doubt a finding that Greene, coming off of methamphetamine and penniless, killed Johnson to obtain cash or credit cards so that he could make fraudulent purchases to exchange for money or drugs. Thus, the trial court found that Greene’s admitted need for money, drugs, and transportation in combination with the crime scene evidence showed that Greene intended to profit from the murder no later than the moment he picked up the object to kill Johnson. We agree. Greene murdered Johnson for pecuniary gain.
b. Especially Heinous or Depraved
¶33 The trial court also found that the murder was especially heinous or depraved under the (F)(6) aggravating circumstance. The terms “heinous” and “depraved” focus on the defendant’s state of mind at the time of the offense. See State v. Amaya-Ruiz, 166 Ariz. 152, 178, 800 P.2d 1260, 1286 (1990). We have said that “[t]he especially heinous, cruel, or depraved circumstance is phrased in the disjunctive, so if any one of the three factors is found, the circumstance is satisfied.” State v. Murray, 184 Ariz. 9, 37, 906 P.2d 542, 570 (1995). Factors we consider in determining whether a murder was especially heinous or depraved include: (1) relishing of the murder; (2) gratuitous violence; (3) mutilation; (4) senselessness; (5) helplessness; and (6) witness elimination. See State v. Ross, 180 Ariz. 598, 605, 886 P.2d 1354, 1361 (1994); see also State v. Gretzler, 135 Ariz. 42, 51-52, 659 P.2d 1, 10-11 (1983). In this case, the trial court found relishing, senselessness, and helplessness.
¶ 34 “Relishing” refers to words or actions “that show debasement or perversion.” State v. Roscoe, 184 Ariz. 484, 500, 910 P.2d 635, 651 (1996). The defendant must say or do something that indicates he savored the murder. Id. The court found relishing based on a statement Greene made to Tom Bevan along with Greene’s later display of the victim’s license to Bevan, and letters he wrote while incarcerated.
(1) Statement to Bevan
¶ 35 When Greene arrived at Be-van’s trailer, he told Bevan that he had “clubbed” a “faggot.” The court conceded that Greene may simply have been “relating, in perhaps his vulgar vernacular, an explanation of his conduct.” Tr. of Aug. 26, 1996, at 7. The state argues, however, that this language is enough like the language used in State v. West, 176 Ariz. 432, 862 P.2d 192 (1993), to support a finding of relishing. We disagree.
¶ 36 West told people he “beat the fuck out of some old man.” Id. at 448, 862 P.2d at 208. He “bragged about cuts and bruises on his hand coming from beating up ‘the old man he ripped off.’” Id. Moreover, West boasted of the murder repeatedly and to different friends in detail. He told one friend that “ ‘he had beat this old man up and tied his arms and legs behind his back and threw him in the closet and then he ripped his stuff off and the car.’ ” Id. at 437, 862 P.2d at 197. While the facts of the instant ease are close to those in West, they do not reach the level necessary to support a finding of relishing.
(2) Display of Driver’s License
¶ 37 The trial court also gave weight to the fact that Greene “displayed” Johnson’s driver’s license to Bevan. The court believed that Greene was exhibiting a “trophy souvenir of Roy Johnson’s murder” amounting to “proof of his kill.” Tr. of Aug. 26, 1996, at 7. A souvenir taken from a crime may constitute relishing. See, e.g., State v. Clark, 126 Ariz. 428, 437, 616 P.2d 888, 897 (1980)(saving spent bullet from crime); State v. Lambright, 138 Ariz. 63, 75, 673 P.2d 1, 13 (1983) (wearing a necklace with a charm that had belonged to victim), overruled on other grounds by Hedlund v. Sheldon, 173 Ariz. 143, 840 P.2d 1008 (1992). These facts, however,' do not support such a conclusion.
¶ 38 Greene claims he “displayed” the license to counter Bevan’s disbelief. Bevan’s trial testimony is consistent with this account:
Q: What was your reaction when he said [he may have killed a guy] to you?
A: I did not really believe it at the time, no.
Q: You indicated to us, sir, that you had actually held the driver’s license. Was there a reason that you picked that up and held it?
A: No, he just handed it to me so I looked at it.
Q: Did he tell you why he was handing it to you?
A: No.
Q: Did he make any statements to you while he handed you the driver’s license?
A: No.
Based on this testimony, we are not convinced that Greene was displaying the license as a trophy or indicating his enjoyment of the crime.
(3) Post-Arrest Letters
¶ 39 The trial court believed that letters Greene wrote following his arrest demonstrate relishing. The general rule is that a “defendant’s state of mind may be inferred from behavior at or near the time of the offense.” State v. Martinez-Villareal, 145 Ariz. 441, 451, 702 P.2d 670, 680 (1985). Post-murder behavior is relevant to prove heinousness or depravity when it provides evidence of “a killer’s vile state of mind at the time of the murder____” State v. Gretzler, 135 Ariz. 42, 51, 659 P.2d 1, 10 (1983)(empha-sis added). Thus, post-murder statements suggesting indifference, callousness, or a lack of remorse constitute “relishing,” only when they indicate, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the killer savored or enjoyed the murder at or near the time of the murder.
(a) Fausto Letter
¶ 40 About one month after his arrest, Greene wrote to his friend Joseph Fausto (a.k.a.“Dr.G.Jones”). The trial court noted that in the letter Greene had “no qualms about stating that he is the ‘wrong white boy’ to be picked up by a ‘faggot’ who ended up with ‘his fuckin’ skull caved in.’ ” Tr. of Aug. 26, 1996, at 7. The court concluded that Greene was “brag[ging] about his conduct because he enjoyed caving in the victim’s skull.” Id. We agree that the statements constitute bragging and show a tremendous lack of remorse. In some cases, bragging about a crime is sufficient proof of relishing where the defendant’s statements provide clear insight into his state of mind at the time of the killing. See, e.g., State v. West, 176 Ariz. 432, 862 P.2d 192 (1993); State v. Runningeagle, 176 Ariz. 59, 65, 859 P.2d 169, 175 (1993) (finding relishing where defendant laughed as he returned to the car after the murder and bragged that he had. been in a “good fight”). We do not believe, however, that Greene’s statements show beyond a reasonable doubt that he actually enjoyed the killing, or reveal his state of mind at or near the time of the killing.
(b) George Letter
¶41 The court also relied upon a letter Greene wrote to Christina George, an inmate, about two weeks after he was convicted, but before sentencing. In its finding, the court noted that Greene placed the words “convicted murderer” and “death row alley” on the lines below his signature, and concluded that because he was “look[ing] forward to the notoriety of his death, there is no doubt he relished Roy Johnson’s.” Tr. of Aug. 26, 1996, at 8. Although Greene’s anticipation that he would be sentenced to death reflects extraordinary callousness and lack of remorse, it does not provide sufficient insight as to whether he relished the killing at or near the time he killed. Moreover, the relative remoteness of the George letter persuades us that the state did not prove relishing beyond a reasonable doubt.
¶42 We find that the statement and letters certainly demonstrate Greene’s vile state of mind and callous attitude toward the murder. Nevertheless, they do not show that Greene relished the murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Absent a finding of relishing, the (F)(6) aggravator cannot stand, because senselessness and helplessness, without more, are ordinarily insufficient to prove heinousness or depravity. See State v. Ross, 180 Ariz. 598, 607, 886 P.2d 1354, 1363 (1994).
c. Statutory Mitigation
¶ 43 The trial court did not find any of the mitigating factors set forth in A.R.S. § 13-703(G) (Supp.1997). Greene disputes only the trial court’s (G)(1) finding. Greene argues that the trial court erred by failing to find that due to his drug use, his “capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was significantly impaired.”
¶ 44 Greene testified that at the time of the murder he was withdrawing from drugs. Other than his own statement, Greene presented no evidence of the effect the withdrawal had on his capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or his ability to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law at the time of the offense.
¶45 To the contrary, Greene’s behavior shows that he did appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct. After the murder, Greene asked Bevan for clean pants and shoes. Because Bevan did not have pants for him, Greene rubbed dirt on the bloodstains, “trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.” Tr. of Mar. 13, 1996, at 104. Greene also took a small rug to cover the bloody car seats. In addition, he feigned injury to his hand in order to use Johnson’s stolen credit cards. We agree with the trial court that the evidence is insufficient to establish the existence of the (G)(1) mitigating circumstance.. Furthermore, we agree that Greene failed to establish any of the mitigating factors in A.R.S. § 13-703(G).
d. Nonstatutory Mitigation
¶46 The trial court considered the following offered mitigation and found it insuffi ciently substantial to call for leniency: drug use and -withdrawal; dysfunctional family history; lack of felony criminal record; educational achievement; ability to provide for himself and Ms family, and to have a good marriage and productive life; positive influence on step-brother; and the effect that the execution would have on his children.
(1) Drug Use and Withdrawal
¶ 47 Evidence showed that Greene had a history of substance abuse dating back to 1983. Despite occasional periods of sobriety, Greene always reverted to heavy use.
¶ 48 In State v. Jones, 185 Ariz. 471, 491, 917 P.2d 200, 220 (1996), this court gave “some weight” to evidence of that defendant’s history of alcoholism and drug abuse, and his own statement that on the night of the murder he had not slept for three or four days and was under the influence of methamphetamine and alcohol.
1149 Greene’s drug use on the days before the murder is undisputed. From Friday, February 24, 1995, until Tuesday, February 28, 1995 (the date of the murder), Greene used methamphetamine every day. During this time he ate very little and did not sleep. Unlike the defendant in Jones, however, Greene testified that he was not under the influence of drugs at the time he killed. Nor was there expert testimony of any causal connection between drug use or withdrawal and the offense. See State v. Rienhardt, 190 Ariz. 579, 592, 951 P.2d 454, 467 (1997)(rejecting history of substance abuse as a mitigating circumstance when no evidence establishes a causal connection between the drug abuse and the crime). While it is true that Greene killed to get money to buy drugs, this is not the sort of causal connection that would support a claim of mitigation. To hold that a motivation to kill fueled in part by a desire for drugs is mitigating would be anomalous indeed. We reject this claimed mitigating circumstance.
(2) Dysfunctional Family History
¶ 50 Greene’s parents separated when he was thirteen, and Greene lived primarily with his father, a trapper, who migrated between Arizona and Washington. During this time, he had little formal education. In 1983, when he turned seventeen, he moved back to Washington to live with Ms mother. Greene’s mother testified that she was “hog wild” and “into the drugs and the drinking and the partying” when Greene returned. Tr. of July 29, 1996, at 47. She admitted contributing to Greene’s problems with methamphetamine.
¶ 51 This court has held that “family background may be a substantial mitigating circumstance when it is shown to have some connection with the defendant's offense-related conduct.” State v. Towery, 186 Ariz. 168, 189, 920 P.2d 290, 311 (1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 1128, 117 S.Ct. 985, 136 L.Ed.2d 867 (1997). Greene’s mother introduced him to methamphetamine, and encouraged, or at least failed to discourage, his use through her own open and flagrant use. But because adults have personal responsibility for their actions, adult offenders have a difficult burden of proving a connection between family background and offense-related conduct. See State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 524, 898 P.2d 454, 473 (1995). At the time of the murder, Greene was 29 years old; he had had little or no contact with his mother in years. Greene’s mother may have introduced him to drugs, but Greene failed to show how this influenced his behavior on the night of the murder. See Towery, 186 Ariz. at 189, 920 P.2d at 311. Thus, we do not find Greene’s dysfunctional family history to be a mitigating circumstance.
(3) Lack of Felony Criminal Record
¶ 52 We have said that the “[L]ack of prior felony convictions may constitute a nonstatutory mitigating circumstance.” Stokley, 182 Ariz. at 523, 898 P.2d at 472. Although Greene has no prior felony convictions, he has a 1986 misdemeanor conviction for theft. We agree with the trial court that Greene’s lack of a felony conviction is a mitigating circumstance, but entitled to little weight.
(4) Educational Achievement
¶ 53 Greene received his G.E.D. in 1985. In 1989, he obtained a degree from the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, specializing in Harley-Davidson repair. Although we find this educational achievement to be slightly mitigating, see State v. Hensley, 142 Ariz. 598, 604, 691 P.2d 689, 695 (1984)(ob-taining G.E.D. is mitigation), it is not sufficiently substantial to overcome the aggravator in this case. See id.; see also Murray, 184 Ariz. 9, 45, 906 P.2d 542, 578 (1995) (earning high school diploma and becoming a paralegal was not sufficiently substantial mitigation to overcome aggravator).
(5) Good Marriage and Productive Life
¶ 54 Greene met his ex-wife in January of 1989, and married her in November of that same year. From 1989 until sometime in 1993, he fathered two children, completed trade school, and was employed.
¶ 55 We have found mitigation where the defendant was an adequate family member, see State v. Stanley, 167 Ariz. 519, 529, 809 P.2d 944, 954 (1991), but refused to find mitigation where the defendant had maintained minimal contact with his child. See State v. West, 176 Ariz. 432,451, 862 P.2d 192, 211 (1993). Sometime after his marriage ended in 1994, Greene’s parental rights to his children were severed and his financial support for his children was minimal to nonexistent. He thus did not have a good marriage or healthy family life. We reject this claim of mitigation.
¶ 56 As for leading a productive life, we have found mitigation where the defendant had for some periods been gainfully employed, State v. Soto-Fong, 187 Ariz. 186, 211, 928 P.2d 610, 635 (1996), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 117 S.Ct. 1826, 137 L.Ed.2d 1033 (1997), and refused to find mitigation where the defendant was unable to hold down a job for any significant period and was frequently unemployed, State v. Spears, 184 Ariz. 277, 294, 908 P.2d 1062, 1079 (1996). Greene was unemployed at the time of the murder and failed to provide evidence of gainful employment after trade school in 1990. We reject this mitigating circumstance.
(6) Positive Influence on Step-Brother
¶ 57 Greene’s step-brother, a middle school teacher, testified that Greene taught him new perspectives and self-reliance. Although past good conduct and character is a relevant mitigating circumstance, see State v. Williams, 183 Ariz. 368, 384, 904 P.2d 437, 454 (1995), a single good deed, removed in time from the crime, does not rise to that level and is not mitigating. See State v. Willoughby, 181 Ariz. 530, 549, 892 P.2d 1319,1338 (1995) (finding a “great number” of past good deeds to have mitigating value).
(7) Effect of Execution on Greene’s Children
¶ 58 Greene’s ex-wife testified that she was concerned about the effect Greene’s execution would have on her children. We give some mitigating weight to the effect Greene’s execution would have on the emotional well-being of his children. See State v. Maturana, 180 Ariz. 126, 135, 882 P.2d 933, 942 (1994).
(8) Additional Arguments
¶ 59 Greene submits two additional mitigating factors not found by the trial court: (1) Greene is remorseful, and (2) Greene is capable of rehabilitation. Any claims of remorse are completely negated by Greene’s vile state of mind, as shown by letters Greene wrote long after the offense, and at a time when he was not using drugs. Nor has Greene presented any evidence that he is capable of rehabilitation. We reject both of these factors.
e. Independent Reweighing
¶ 60 We independently review the trial court’s findings of aggravation and mitigation, and if an error is made, we independently determine if the mitigation is sufficiently substantial to warrant leniency in light of existing aggravation. A.R.S. § 13-703.01 (Supp.1997). In weighing, we consider the quality and the strength, not simply the number, of aggravating and mitigating factors. See State v. McKinney, 185 Ariz. 567, 578, 917 P.2d 1214, 1225 (1996). Although we have rejected the (F)(6) finding, leaving pecuniary gain as the sole aggravator, upon independent reweighing we conclude that the mitigation, considered individually and collectively, is not sufficiently substantial to warrant leniency. We have a very strong (F)(5) here, with relatively trivial nonstatutory mitigation.
3. IMPOSITION OF AGGRAVATED SENTENCES
¶ 61 Based on findings of “pecuniary gain” and a “heinous or depraved” state of mind, the trial court imposed aggravated sentences on the robbery, kidnapping, and theft-by-control convictions. Greene claims that because these findings are either an essential element of, or irrelevant to, the offenses in question, the trial court erred in relying upon them.
¶ 62 But an element of a crime can also be used for enhancement and aggravation purposes. See State v. Lee, 189 Ariz. 608, 620, 944 P.2d 1222, 1234 (1997), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 118 S.Ct. 1192, 140 L.Ed.2d 321 (1998) (citing State v. Lara, 171 Ariz. 282, 285, 830 P.2d 803, 806 (1992)). Pecuniary gain is an aggravating circumstance in determining a robbery sentence. See id. at 620-21, 944 P.2d at 1234-35. A.R.S. sections 13-702(0(5) (heinous, cruel or depraved), and (C)(6) (pecuniary gain) require the trial court to consider these factors in sentencing on the noncapital convictions. There is no error here.
IV. DISPOSITION
¶ 63 We affirm Greene’s convictions and sentences for first degree murder, robbery, theft, and forgery, including the sentence of death. We reverse the conviction for kidnapping and order that a judgment of acquittal be entered on that count.
JONES, V.C.J., and MOELLER, J. (retired), concur.
. Greene also argues that the trial court erred by allowing a friend of the Johnson family to testify at the aggravation/mitigation hearing that Johnson "was a decent family man.” Tr. of Aug. 22, 1996, at 34. This testimony was relevant to rebut Greene's continued accusations of Johnson’s infidelity and homosexuality. There was no error. See Rule 404(a)(2), Ariz. R. Evid.; Rule 26.7(b), Ariz. R.Crim. P.("[A]ny party may introduce any reliable, relevant evidence, including hearsay, in order to show aggravating or mitigating circumstances....”).
. An automatic notice of appeal in a capital case is sufficient as a notice of appeal with respect to all judgments entered in the case. Rule 31.2(b), Ariz. R.Crim. P. Greene does not contest the theft and forgery convictions on appeal, and thus they are automatically affirmed.
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OPINION
JONES, Vice Chief Justice.
¶ 1 In this case we interpret and apply AR.S. § 13-4433(A) pertaining to pretrial witness interviews by defendants and their counsel. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article 6, section 5(3) of the Arizona Constitution and Rule 8(b) of the Arizona Rules for Special Actions.
Facts and Procedural History
¶2 Defendant James M. Champlin, Jr., was charged with six counts of serious criminal misconduct: Counts I and IV, sexual conduct with a minor; Counts II, III and V, molestation of a child; and Count VI, public sexual indecency. Our review deals with four of those counts, I, II, V and VI, committed during three separate incidents against three victims — Alejandro and Jonathan, minors, and Shelley, an adult. The particular date on which each incident occurred is critical to our analysis.
¶ 3 Counts I and VI: On August 4, 1996, defendant is alleged to have touched Alejandro improperly in a movie theater in the presence of Shelley, who may have witnessed the conduct. Alejandro was the named victim of the crime of sexual conduct with a minor (Count I), and Shelley was identified as victim of the crime of public sexual indecency (Count VI).
¶4 Count II: On September 15, 1996, defendant is alleged to have touched Alejandro improperly in a movie theater in the presence of Jonathan, who may have witnessed the conduct. As a result, Alejandro was again named the victim of the crime of sexual conduct with a minor (Count II).
¶ 5 Count V: On a day between June 1 and July 28, 1996, defendant is alleged to have touched Jonathan improperly in a movie theater in the presence of Alejandro, who may have witnessed the conduct. On this occasion, Jonathan was named the victim of the crime of child molestation (Count V).
¶ 6 After learning that Alejandro, Jonathan, and Shelley would not submit to pretrial defense interviews, defendant filed a motion to compel depositions with the trial court. The trial court denied the motion, believing that the three prospective witnesses were protected against pretrial discovery as victims under A.R.S. § 13-4433(A). Defendant filed a special action in the court of appeals, which declined jurisdiction in an order dated March 18,1997. Defendant then filed a petition for review in this court. We granted review in order to provide guidance under article 2, section 2.1 of the constitution and to apply section 13-4433(A) to the facts of this case.
The Issue
Whether the trial judge erred in failing to order pretrial defense interviews of Alejandro, Jonathan, and Shelley under the terms of Rule 15.3 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure and A.R.S. § 13-4433(A).
Discussion
¶ 7 Defendant wishes to conduct witness interviews of Alejandro, Jonathan, and Shelley: Alejandro, regarding defendant’s alleged conduct against Jonathan on a day between June 1 and July 28, 1996, and regarding his perception of Shelley’s ability to see defendant’s alleged conduct against himself (Alejandro) on August 4, 1996; Jonathan, regarding defendant’s alleged conduct against Alejandro on September 15, 1996; and Shelley, regarding defendant’s alleged conduct against Alejandro on August 4,1996. Defendant argues that these are not victim interviews, but are witness interviews and that no question posed will touch upon alleged criminal conduct of which the particular interviewee is also a named victim. This, he contends, should be permitted under the language of Rules 15.3(2) and 39(b), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure; article 2, section 2.1 of the Arizona Constitution; and A.R.S. § 13^433(A).
¶8 Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 15.3 states in part:
a. Availability. Upon motion of any party or a witness, the court may in its discretion order the examination of any person except the defendant and those excluded by Rule 39(b) upon oral deposition under the following circumstances:
(2) A party shows that the person’s testimony is material to the case or necessary adequately to prepare a defense or investigate the offense, that the person was not a -witness at the preliminary hearing or at the probable cause phase of the juvenile transfer hearing, and that the person will not cooperate in granting a personal interview.
Thus, a trial judge may, in the exercise of sound discretion, order the deposition of an uncooperative witness, subject to the limitations of Rule 39(b). Rule 39(b) protects victims: a victim has the “right to refuse an interview, deposition, or other discovery request by the defendant, the defendant’s attorney, or other person acting on behalf of the defendant.” Ariz. R.Crim. P. 39(b)(ll). The rule was promulgated by this court in 1989, one year before the Arizona Constitution was amended to include the Victims’ Bill of Rights, Ariz. Const, art. 2, § 2.1 (the Amendment), and three years before the legislature enacted the implementing statute:
A. Unless the victim consents, the victim shall not be compelled to submit to an interview on any matter, including a charged criminal offense witnessed by the victim that occurred on the same occasion as the offense against the victim, that is conducted by the defendant, the defendant’s attorney or an agent of the defendant.
A.R.S. § 13^4-33(A) (emphasis added).
¶ 9 While Rule 39(b)(ll) does not contain the “same occasion” limitation and thus on its face would provide broader victim protection than section 13^4433(A), the latter provision was enacted pursuant to the constitutional grant of legislative power set forth in the Amendment.
¶ 10 Defendant argues that section 13-4433(A) accords “victim” protection to crime witnesses only if the witness was also the victim of an offense committed by defendant “on the same occasion.” Consequently, defendant contends that because the crimes charged occurred on separate occasions, he is entitled to interview Jonathan regarding conduct Jonathan may have witnessed against Alejandro under Count II, and to interview Alejandro regarding conduct Alejandro may have witnessed against Jonathan under Count V.
¶ 11 Defendant appears to concede that this interpretation would not bring about an interview with Shelley under Count I regarding alleged conduct she witnessed against Alejandro on August 4, or with Alejandro under Count VI regarding Shelley’s ability to perceive that conduct, because both Shelley and Alejandro, though witnesses, were also identified as victims of the offenses committed by defendant on August 4, i.e., “the same occasion.” Defendant nevertheless makes an argument that because the charge under which Shelley is a victim (public sexual indecency, a class 1 misdemeanor) is less serious than the charge under which Alejandro is a victim (sexual conduct with a minor, a class 2 felony) and because Shelley and Alejandro are both material witnesses of this incident, the court should allow these interviews as well. We reject this argument as contrary to the plain meaning of the statute.
¶ 12 In contrast, the state argues that the language of section 13^t433(A), precluding victim interviews “on any matter,” permits a victim, who may on another occasion witness separate criminal conduct by the same defendant, to refuse an interview even as to the separate conduct. It argues that the clause “including a charged criminal offense witnessed by the victim that occurred on the same occasion as the offense against the victim” is merely a category included within the broad sweep of “any matter.” The state thus contends that a person who is the defendant’s victim one day may properly refuse an interview as to conduct by the same defendant which he or she witnesses against another victim another day.
¶ 13 To support its argument, the state cites State ex rel. Romley v. Superior Court, 184 Ariz. 409, 909 P.2d 476 (App.1995). In that ease, the defendanVreal party in interest, Cunningham, struck Munjas’ car while driving drunk; Cunningham was charged with driving under the influence. Id. at 410, 909 P.2d at 477. The question was whether Munjas was a “victim” within the meaning of A.R.S. § 13-4433(A) even though he was not a named victim of any charged offense. Id. The court held that Munjas was a victim for purposes of the statute and had the right to refuse a defense interview. Id. at 411, 909 P.2d at 478.
¶ 14 The state argues in the instant case that Romley stands for the proposition that the definition of “victim” is not limited to named victims of a specified count and that this court should apply a broad definition to the term “victim” and hold that while some witnesses may not be victims as to particular charges about which defendant wishes an interview, they should nonetheless be afforded “victim” status if they were victims of other crimes by the same defendant on other occasions. Accordingly, the state believes pretrial defense interviews should be precluded with such witnesses on any subject.
¶ 15 We view as unsound the state’s reading of the statute. When construing statutory language, we customarily follow the principle that if the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous, we look no further. State v. Williams, 175 Ariz. 98, 100, 854 P.2d 131, 133 (1993). The more sensible reading is that the legislature inserted the “same occasion” clause with intent to modify the phrase “on any matter.” The clause cannot logically be read as extending victim protection to those who witness criminal behavior but who are not victimized by it. We think the provision constitutes a clear statement that multiple victims of a criminal offense committed in a single incident, i.e., “on the same occasion,” are entitled to protected victim status under the Amendment. But the corollary is equally clear. A victim of a criminal offense committed on one occasion does not gain expanded victim protection simply by witnessing a separate offense committed by the same defendant on a different occasion.
¶ 16 Interpreting statutory language requires that we give meaning to each word, phrase, clause, and sentence within a statute so that no part will be superfluous, void, contradictory, or insignificant. State v. Tarango, 185 Ariz. 208, 212, 914 P.2d 1300, 1304 (1996). The state’s interpretation would render the “same occasion” clause superfluous and would cause us to violate the established rule of construction, expressio unius est ex-clusio alterius —the expression of one or more items of a class indicates an intent to exclude omitted items of the same class. State v. Roscoe, 185 Ariz. 68, 71, 912 P.2d 1297, 1300 (1996); see also Pima County v. Heinfeld, 134 Ariz. 133, 134, 654 P.2d 281, 282 (1982). It is thus significant that the legislature addressed situations in which potential witnesses were victimized on the same occasion, yet failed to mention situations in which potential witnesses may have been victimized on separate occasions. Because the latter class of incidents was not expressed, it follows that the legislature did not intend its inclusion within the protected category.
¶ 17 We note also that State ex rel. Romley is inapposite. In that case, Munjas was afforded “victim” status because the court found that “[although Cunningham only damaged Munjas’ car rather than Munjas personally, the crime of DUI was nonetheless committed against him.” 184 Ariz. at 411, 909 P.2d at 478 (emphasis added). There was but one incident, i.e., one offense on a single occasion about which Munjas could have been interviewed, and the court found that the crime committed during that incident was effectively committed against him. The situation in the instant ease is quite different. Here, we have multiple counts and multiple victims on three separate occasions, and the issue is simply whether witnesses should be given victim protection as to all counts, even though not identified as victims in all counts.
¶ 18 We think the logical interpretation of section 13 — 4433(A) is that a person who witnesses a crime against others and is also victimized by the same defendant on the same occasion gains protected “victim” status and may not be compelled to grant a pretrial defense interview as to the offense in question. But the victim of crime # 1 who is a witness but not a victim of crime # 2, committed by the same defendant on another occasion, may be compelled to grant an interview regarding crime # 2. Stated differently, those who are not victims but merely witnesses of particular criminal behavior, though perhaps victims of other behavior by the same defendant on separate occasions, may be interviewed as to the former but not the latter.
¶ 19 Where the interview consists only of behavior witnessed, the potential for trauma is attenuated, the interviewee is not considered “the victim” as to that offense, and the need for protection is much diminished.
¶ 20 The Victims’ Bill of Rights, Ariz. Const, art. 2, § 2.1, was adopted and its statutory implementation enacted (A.R.S. § 13-4433(A)) to provide crime victims with “basic rights of respect, protection, participation and healing of their ordeals.” Í991 Ariz. Sess. Laws ch. 229, § 2. However, nothing in the Victims’ Bill of Rights or section 13-4433 supports the argument that victims have a blanket right to be shielded from all contact with defendants or their attorneys until the time of trial. See, e.g., State ex rel. Dean v. City Court, 173 Ariz. 515, 516-17, 844 P.2d 1165, 1166-67 (App.1992) (holding that alleged victim may be compelled to testify at pretrial hearing). We believe that today’s interpretation of section 13 — 4433(A) strikes a proper balance between the victim’s right to be free from retraumatization during the pretrial process and preserving the defendant’s ability to discover and present evidence in his or her defense.
¶21 Applying our interpretation of section 13-4433(A) to the facts of this case, we conclude that the trial judge may order (1) a defense interview of Alejandro pursuant to Count V as to conduct Alejandro may have witnessed against Jonathan on a date between June 1 and July 28, 1996, and (2) a defense interview of Jonathan pursuant to Count II as to conduct Jonathan may have witnessed against Alejandro on September 15, 1996. Neither interview should touch upon matters relating to the victimization of either witness on other occasions.
¶ 22 Further, defendant is not entitled to interview Shelley regarding conduct Shelley may have witnessed against Alejandro on August 4, 1996, nor is defendant entitled to interview Alejandro regarding Shelley’s ability to perceive his (Alejandro’s) victimization on the same occasion. On that “occasion,” both Alejandro and Shelley are identified as victims of the same conduct.
¶23 As a concluding reminder, we note that any person accorded “victim” status under article 2, section 2.1 of the constitution may nevertheless waive the protections by voluntarily consenting to a pretrial interview at the request of the defendant or his attorney.
Disposition
¶ 24 We hold that the trial court, pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-4433(A), may order depositions of persons who witness but are not victims of criminal conduct, even though such persons may have been victims of other offenses committed by the same defendant on other occasions. We dismiss as improvidently granted the separate question whether the trial court abused its discretion by refusing to remand the indictment to the grand jury for redetermination of the issue of probable cause. The case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
ZLAKET, C.J., FELDMAN and MARTONE, JJ., and JAMES MOELLER, J. (retired).
. The court also granted review of a separate question — whether the trial court abused its discretion or acted arbitrarily or capriciously by refusing to remand the indictment to the grand jury for redetermination of the issue of probable cause. We have reviewed the entire record and have determined to deny review of that issue as having been improvidently granted.
. The implementing power given the legislature in the Victims’ Rights Amendment did not transfer to the legislature the power to enact all procedural and evidentiary rules in criminal cases. Rather, the legislative power extends only so far as necessary to protect rights created by the Amendment itself, and not beyond. Slayton v. Shumway, 166 Ariz. 87, 92, 800 P.2d 590, 595 (1990).
|
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OPINION
ZLAKET, Chief Justice.
¶ 1 Defendant James Outlaw is the pastor of the Church of Jesus, a non-profit religious organization located in Phoenix. His son Andrew is the associate pastor. Plaintiffs Rose Mary Martinez-Barnes, Naomi Martinez Outlaw, and Isaac Martinez are siblings, all members of the church. Each separately attended counseling sessions with the Rev. James Outlaw between 1986 and 1992. This lawsuit stems from the pastor’s disclosure of confidential information revealed to him during those encounters. Because the detailed facts and complicated relationships between the parties are not critical to our decision, we only briefly summarize them here. A more extensive description may be found in the court of appeals’ opinion. See Barnes v. Outlaw, 188 Ariz. 401, 937 P.2d 323 (App.1996).
¶ 2 Naomi and Andrew Outlaw married in early 1992, but separated shortly thereafter. In December of 1992, Naomi went to Andrew’s trailer and found him with a woman. This incident created considerable tension between the Outlaws and Naomi’s family. Following several confrontations, the Rev. James Outlaw allegedly threatened to disclose information about Naomi and her sister, Rose, that he had learned in the private counseling sessions. Thereafter, he told Rose that Naomi “is screwed up because she was molested by her father.” Naomi had not previously confided in Rose about any molestation incidents. Finally, the reverend allegedly told church members that there were incest problems in the Martinez family, and during a religious service he announced to the congregation that the family was “dysfunctional.”
¶ 3 Rose, Naomi, and Isaac brought claims for counseling malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, invasion of privacy, “false light” invasion of privacy, and defamation. Rose’s husband, James Barnes, filed a loss of consortium claim. A jury returned a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs on all claims. The court of appeals affirmed the judgments in favor of Rose, Naomi, and Isaac, but vacated James’ loss of consortium award. We granted review of his cross-petition to determine whether one spouse can recover for loss of consortium absent physical injury to the other.
DISCUSSION
¶ 4 Historically, loss of consortium claims were premised on a property right in the services of another. See W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 125, at 931 (5th ed.1984). Because wives and children were considered servants at common law, a husband or father could recover for the loss of their services, while a wife or child had no similar remedy. See Paul K. Charlton, Comment, Frank v. Superior Court: Purging the Law of Outdated Theories for Loss of Consortium Recovery, 29 Ariz. L.Rev. 541, 544 (1987). Over time, the focus of such an action shifted to the intangible values of a relationship; such as companionship and affection. Id. at 543.
¶ 5 Arizona law mirrors this change. In 1954, this court espoused the common law rule and refused to recognize a wife’s cause of action for the loss of consortium of her husband. See Jeune v. Del E. Webb Constr. Co., 77 Ariz. 226, 227-28, 269 P.2d 723, 723-24 (1954). Almost twenty years later, however, we overruled that part of Jeune, stating “[w]hen we find that the common law or ‘judge-made law’ is unjust or out of step with the times, we have no reluctance to change it.” City of Glendale v. Bradshaw, 108 Ariz. 582, 584, 503 P.2d 803, 805 (1972) (quoting Lueck v. Superior Court, 105 Ariz. 583, 585, 469 P.2d 68, 70 (1970)). In 1985, our court of appeals allowed parents to recover for the loss of consortium of their minor children, see Reben v. Ely, 146 Ariz. 309, 312, 705 P.2d 1360, 1363 (App.1985), and the following year we expanded Reben to include adult children. See Frank v. Superior Court, 150 Ariz. 228, 234, 722 P.2d 955, 961 (1986). Finally, we recognized a child’s claim for the loss of consortium of a parent in Villareal v. Arizona Dep’t of Transp., 160 Ariz. 474, 477, 774 P.2d 213, 216 (1989).
¶ 6 Defendants argue, however, that Arizona does not recognize a loss of consortium claim when the underlying injury is strictly emotional. The court of appeals agreed, basing its decision on the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 693 (1977):
One who by reason of his tortious conduct is hable to one spouse for illness or other bodily harm is subject to liability to the other spouse for the resulting loss of the society and services of the first spouse----
(Emphasis added). Plaintiffs respond that the Restatement does not limit consortium claims to situations where the spouse is physically injured, urging us to interpret the phrase “illness or other bodily harm” as including emotional well-being. We are not bound by the Restatement, however, so it is not necessary for us to decide whether this language should be construed in such a manner. Moreover, although we generally follow the Restatement absent statutes or case law to the contrary, we will not do so blindly. See Cannon v. Dunn, 145 Ariz. 115, 116, 700 P.2d 502, 503 (App.1985); Villareal, 160 Ariz. at 479, 774 P.2d at 218 (recognizing child’s consortium claim despite Restatement rule that does not).
¶7 Other jurisdictions are divided on this issue. See, e.g., Molien v. Kaiser Found. Hosp., 27 Cal.3d 916, 167 Cal.Rptr. 831, 616 P.2d 813, 822-23 (1980) (allowing loss of consortium claim without underlying physical injury); Hoke v. Paul, 65 Haw. 478, 653 P.2d 1155, 1160-61 (1982) (same); Roche v. Egan, 433 A.2d 757, 765 (Me.1981) (same). But see Slovensky v. Birmingham News Co., 358 So.2d 474, 477 (Ala.Civ.App.1978) (requiring physical injury to support consortium claim); Browning-Ferris Indus., Inc. v. Lieck, 881 S.W.2d 288, 294 (Tex.1994) (same). In the absence of a clear majority rule, we believe the better course is to allow such a claim, even without physical injury, relying on the fact-finder to determine the legitimacy, nature, and extent of any alleged damages. We said as much in dicta almost a decade ago. In Villareal, we used the words “mental or physical impairment” to describe the type of injury that supports a child’s claim for parental loss of consortium. 160 Ariz. at 480, 774 P.2d at 219 (emphasis added). Because that opinion did not directly address the issue, however, we do so now.
¶ 8 Defendants argue that loss of consortium damages in the absence of physical injury are inherently speculative and easily feigned. Physical injury, they say, is “the foundation of a loss of consortium claim because it validates the contention that a relationship has been impaired.” The potential for fraud, however, exists to some extent in all eases, not only those involving emotional injury claims. See Leslie Benton Sandor & Carol Berry, Recovery for Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress Attendant to Eco nomic Loss: A Reassessment, 37 Ariz. L.Rev. 1247, 1254 (1995). Furthermore, because loss of consortium is a derivative claim, see Villareal, 160 Ariz. at 481, 774 P.2d at 220, all elements of the underlying cause must be proven before the claim can exist. This requirement in itself serves as some protection against feigned or fabricated assertions. In any event, the risk of fraud does not justify absolute barriers to recovery. Id. Fact-finders, usually jurors, can and should draw on their own experiences to distinguish between legitimate and fictitious claims, and are frequently called upon to do so. Id. at 1255. We agree with the California Supreme Court when it states:
Whether the degree of harm suffered by the plaintiff’s spouse is sufficiently severe to give rise to a cause of action for loss of consortium is a matter of proof. When the injury is emotional rather than physical, the plaintiff may have a more difficult task in proving negligence, causation, and the requisite degree of harm; but these are questions for the jury, as in all litigation for loss of consortium.
Molien, 167 Cal.Rptr. 831, 616 P.2d at 823.
¶ 9 Arizona courts long ago abandoned a skeptical attitude toward emotional injuries and have increasingly been willing to compensate those having validity. See, e.g., Reed v. Real Detective Publ’g Co., 63 Ariz. 294, 306, 162 P.2d 133, 139 (1945) (“[T]he mind of an individual, his feelings and mental processes, are as much a part of his person as his observable physical members. An injury, therefore, which affects the sensibilities is equally an injury to the person as an injury to the body would be.”); Skousen v. Nidy, 90 Ariz. 215, 219, 367 P.2d 248, 250 (1961) (“It is the general rule that in actions for personal injuries due to an intentional tort, physical injury need not be sustained. Mental suffering ... is usually considered an injury for which damages may be given.”). We see no reason to create a different rule in the loss of consortium context. Our view comports with medical science’s ever-increasing understanding of the mind and its relationship to human well-being.
¶ 10 Consortium includes “love, affection, protection, support, services, companionship, care, society, and in the marital relationship, sexual relations.” Frank, 150 Ariz. at 229 n. 1, 722 P.2d at 956 n. 1. The purpose of a consortium claim is to compensate for the loss of these elements, see Reben, 146 Ariz. at 311, 705 P.2d at 1362, which certainly can result from psychological injury as well as physical harm. Molien, 167 Cal.Rptr. 831, 616 P.2d at 822. Clearly, a marriage may be damaged by emotional trauma. Since loss of consortium is no longer exclusively based on a deprivation of services theory, we see no reason to require physical injury to one spouse before the other may bring a claim.
¶ 11 We do not mean to suggest that in every tort action there exists a corresponding loss of consortium claim. There must first be some basis to infer that affection or companionship was actually lost. See Keeton et al., supra, at 933. Whether the marital relationship has been harmed enough to warrant damages in any given case is a matter for the jury to decide.
¶ 12 We affirm the judgment of the trial court, and vacate that part of the court of appeals’ decision reversing the loss of consortium judgment.
JONES, V.C.J., FELDMAN and MARTONE, JJ., and JAMES MOELLER, Justice (Retired), concur.
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OPINION
FELDMAN, Justice.
¶ 1 Lisa Victoria Garza appealed her convictions and sentences for three counts of armed robbery and one count of aggravated assault. In sentencing Garza, the trial judge stated he was “entering a special order allowing [Garza] to petition the Board of Executive Clemency for a commutation of sentence,” as permitted by A.R.S. § 13-603(K), based on his belief the sentences were clearly excessive. However, he failed to enter the special order. In an opinion, the court of appeals directed the judge to enter the order required by § 13-603(K). State v. Garza, 190 Ariz. 487, 949 P.2d 980 (1997).
¶ 2 In a separate memorandum decision, which is the subject of this review, the court of appeals held that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in ordering that the sentences on two of the .counts be served consecutively to those imposed on the other two counts. State v. Garza, No. CA-CR 96-0689 (Ariz.Ct.App. July 15, 1997). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const. art. VI, § 5(3).
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 3 A jury found Garza guilty of four dangerous felonies for her role in three armed robberies of different Subway sandwich shops on September 30, October 1, and October 7,1995:
Count I: Armed robbery (class 2 felony) (September 30)
Count II: Aggravated assault (class 3 felony) (September 30)
Count III: Armed robbery (class 2 felony) (October 1)
Count IV: Armed robbery (class 2 felony) (October 7)
¶ 4 As Garza had no prior felony history, her lawyer requested that she be sentenced for all four counts pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-604(1), which applies only to first-time dangerous offenders. The state agreed that Garza should be sentenced as a first-time dangerous offender for Counts I and II, the September 30 armed robbery and aggravated assault. But for Counts III and IV, the October 1 and October 7 armed robberies, the state filed a sentencing allegation under § 13-702.02. Among other things, this section increases the presumptive sentences imposed when multiple offenses committed on separate occasions are consolidated for trial. The judge asked the prosecutor to consider dismissing the § 13-702.02 allegation, but the prosecutor refused. Thus-, Garza would receive a minimum 10.5 years on Count III as a second dangerous felony and 15.75 years on Count IV as a third dangerous felony. A.R.S. § 13-702.02(B)(1) and (2). Because the 15.75-year term was the minimum that could be imposed for a single count, when the state formally requested a total 15.75-year sentence, it must have assumed that the sentences for all four counts would run concurrently. The prosecutor never requested consecutive sentences.
¶ 5 At sentencing, the judge used the first-time offender guidelines and sentenced Garza on Counts I and II to presumptive terms of 10.5 years for the robbery and 7.5 years for the aggravated assault. Following the probation officer’s recommendation, the judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently. Because the prosecutor refused to withdraw the multiple offenses allegation, the judge correctly believed himself bound by the dictates of the multiple offense statute and sentenced Garza to the minimum 10.5 years for Count III and 15.75 years for Count IV. See A.R.S. § 13-702.02(B)(1) and (2). The judge ruled that the sentences on Counts III and IV be concurrent to each other but consecutive to the sentences on Counts I and II “based on the statutory presumption and because you scared a lot of people. And I am not going to demean these people by lumping all of these sentences together.” Reporter’s Transcript (R.T.), Aug. 30, 1996, at 8 (emphasis added). The imposition of consecutive sentences — the sentences on Counts III and IV to be consecutive to those for Counts I and II — resulted in a total 26.25-year sentence.
¶ 6 Describing this result, the judge said that in his view section “13-702.02 is extremely harsh under this set of circumstances.” R.T., at 9. Thus, he entered a special order allowing Garza to seek relief from the board of executive clemency because he found the sentence “clearly excessive.” R.T., at 10; see A.R.S. § 13-603(K) (since redesignated § 13-603(L)).
¶ 7 At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge expressed his discomfort with the final result:
[Because] I am of the belief that in this situation the allegation of § 13-702.02 should be dropped [due to mitigating circumstances] ____because of the presumption that the sentences have to run consecutively, and because I cannot demean the victims by not giving consecutive sentences, all of [these] factors together indicate to me that this sentence is clearly excessive. But I am bound by the law to do it in the fashion that I am doing it.
R.T., at 10 (emphasis added).
¶ 8 The court of appeals agreed that the trial judge was required to sentence on Counts III and IV under the stricter, multiple-offense standards. “Because A.R.S. section 13-702.02(A) provides that ... defendants [convicted of multiple offenses] ‘shall be sentenced,’ pursuant to section 13-702, the [trial] court could not sentence defendant under a less harsh statute.” Garza, mem. dec. at 3. Noting that the judge chose the minimum sentence available under each applicable statute, the court concluded that the judge did not abuse his discretion in deciding the length of the sentences imposed. Id. at 4. Finally, relying on State v. Fillmore, 187 Ariz. 174, 927 P.2d 1303 (App.1996), the court of appeals stated that § 13-708 “provides a presumption that sentences will run consecutively.” Mem. dec. at 5. Because the judge “recognized the correct presumption in favor of eonsecútive sentences,” he did not fail to exercise his discretion. Id. It is with this last point that we take issue. We consider the following questions:
1. Does A.R.S. § 13-708 create a presumption in favor of imposing consecutive sentences?
2. Did the trial judge, assuming himself bound at least in part by a presumption of consecutive sentences, abuse or fail to exercise his discretion?
DISCUSSION
A. The presumption
¶ 9 The present version of A.R.S. § 13-708 reads:
Except as otherwise provided by statute, if multiple sentences of imprisonment are imposed on a person at the same time, ... the sentence or sentences imposed by the court shall run consecutively unless the court expressly directs otherwise, in which ease the court shall set forth on the record the reason for its sentence.
¶ 10 The trial judge relied on this statute to impose consecutive sentences on Counts III and IV. Like the court of appeals, the judge evidently interpreted the statutory language as creating a presumption that a defendant convicted of multiple charges should serve consecutive sentences. One of the reasons the judge gave for imposing consecutive sentences was the presumption that the sentences must be consecutive. This statute, however, does not use the word “presumption” and creates no such presumption. Fillmore, 187 Ariz. at 184, 927 P.2d at 1313.
¶ 11 In Fillmore, the trial judge sentenced the defendant, who was convicted of running a chop shop, to consecutive sentences totaling over 289 years for 39 counts of theft and similar offenses. Id. at 177, 927 P.2d at 1306. In vacating the sentences, the court of appeals traced the history of § 13-708. Id. The court’s opinion explained that the 1985 amendment to § 13-708 modified the earlier version by substituting “consecutively” for “concurrently.” Id. In an earlier case, State v. Van Alcorn, the issue was whether the pre-1985 language that used “concurrently” created a presumption for concurrent sentences. 136 Ariz. 215, 219, 665 P.2d 97, 101 (App.1983). In Van Alcorn, the court of appeals .held that the statute did not create a presumption for sentencing but provided only a default designation applicable when the trial judge failed to specify whether the sentences imposed were concurrent or consecutive. Id. In Fillmore, the court mirrored the reasoning of Van Alcorn in holding:
Just as the pre-amendment version of § 13-708 did not diminish the trial court’s discretion to impose consecutive sentences, neither does the 1985 amendment diminish the trial court’s discretion to impose concurrent sentences. Under both versions a trial court must choose, among concurrent and consecutive sentences, whichever mix best fits a defendant’s crimes.
Fillmore, 187 Ariz. at 184, 927 P.2d at 1313 (emphasis added). Under both versions of § 13-708 the statute applies only when the judge fails to designate whether sentences are consecutive or concurrent. Thus the court of appeals in the present case incorrectly relied on Fillmore in holding that § 13-708 creates a presumption for consecutive sentences. Mem. dec. at 5. Fillmore stands for precisely the opposite proposition.
¶ 12 The court of appeals also cited State v. Smith, 169 Ariz. 243, 818 P.2d 228 (App.1991), for its presumption holding. Mem. dec. at 5. Without mentioning Van Alcorn, Smith’s discussion of § 13-708 is limited to a single sentence stating that a “trial judge is not required to articulate reasons for imposing a consecutive sentence, though he may do so, since there is a presumption that consecutive sentences will be imposed.” Smith, 169 Ariz. at 247, 818 P.2d at 232. The only support offered for this assertion is an indirect citation of § 13-708 itself. Id. Smith’s statement that § 13-708 creates a presumption that consecutive sentences will be imposed has no precedential support and no analysis. Fillmore, on the other hand, is a well-reasoned opinion based on a full discussion of court precedents. We believe Fillmore was correct in holding that § 13-708 does “ ‘not constrict to any degree the trial court’s discretion to impose [concurrent] sentences for the defendant’s crimes.’” 187 Ariz. at 184, 927 P.2d at 1313. In sum, we approve Fillmore and hold that § 13-708 does not create a statutory presumption de signed to bind judicial discretion. It merely requires the judge to set forth reasons for imposing concurrent rather than consecutive sentences and creates a default designation of consecutive sentences when the judge fails to indicate whether the sentences are to run concurrently or consecutively.
B. Propriety of judge’s sentence
¶ 13 The remaining question is whether the trial judge abused or failed to exercise discretion by not decreasing a sentence he felt was extremely harsh and clearly excessive. The judge had mixed motivations for imposing the sentence he did. He gave three reasons: 1) the increased sentences required for repetitive offenders by § 13-702.02, which he found excessive, 2) his interest in not demeaning the victims, and 3) his belief that § 13-708 carried a presumption of consecutive sentences. R.T., at 10.
¶ 14 We agree with the court of appeals that the judge was bound to sentence Garza under § 13-702.02 for Counts III and IV. See mem. dec. at 3-4. We further agree that it was well within the judge’s discretion to consider the impact of the crimes on the victims when imposing consecutive sentences. See id. at 5. However, because § 13-708 creates no presumption of consecutive sentences, the judge wrongly felt himself confined by a non-existent presumption.
¶ 15 The court of appeals notes that “had the court, as defendant suggests, been unaware of its power to deviate from the presumptive consecutive sentence, it would have ordered consecutive sentences for [both] Counts III and IV.” Mem. dec at 5. Because the judge imposed both consecutive and concurrent sentences, the court determined that the judge was aware of his discretion to choose and thus must not have felt bound by § 13-708. Id. at 6. “Instead we can only conclude that [the trial judge] was referring to the mandatory provisions of A.R.S. section 13-702.02.” Id. at 6. We do not agree that this is the only conclusion that can be reached. Had the judge been dissatisfied only by the restrictions of § 13-702.02, he had alternate discretionary measures to lessen the total result. It is important to note that application of the increased sentences for repetitive offenders required by § 13-702.02 added only 5.5 years to one of Garza’s sentences. In light of the 26.25-year total sentence imposed, we are not persuaded that the additional five-plus years required by § 13-702.02 was the only reason the judge thought the sentence excessively harsh and clearly excessive. Although parts of the record may be open to a variety of interpretations, one point is clear: the judge felt bound to impose a sentence he did not wish to impose. The judge’s final comment is most illustrative: “all of [these] factors together indicate to me that this sentence is excessive. But I am bound by the law to do it in the fashion that I am doing it.” Thus, we disagree with the court of appeals that the judge only felt himself bound by the mandatory provisions of § 13-702.02.
¶ 16 A court’s refusal or failure to exercise its discretion may be treated as an abuse of discretion. Fillmore, 187 Ariz. at 184, 927 P.2d at 1313 (citing United States v. Wardlaw, 576 F.2d 932, 938 (1st Cir.1978); Woosley v. United States, 478 F.2d 139, 144 (8th Cir.1973)); State v. Chapple, 135 Ariz. 281, 296-97, 660 P.2d 1208, 1223-24 (1983). Examining the sentencing proceeding, we conclude that one of two things occurred: Either the judge knew he had discretion and failed to exercise it, thus imposing a sentence he thought harsh and excessive and referring the case to the board of executive clemency for review, or he did not realize the extent of the discretion available to him. Ultimately, it does not matter which actually occurred because in either instance the judge failed to properly exercise his discretion.
¶ 17 Even when the sentence imposed is within the trial judge’s authority, if the record is unclear whether the judge knew he had discretion to act otherwise, the case should be remanded for resentencing. See State v. Thurlow, 148 Ariz. 16, 20, 712 P.2d 929, 933 (1986). Contrary to the judge’s statement when sentencing Garza, the statute in question does not diminish a judge’s discretion to choose between concurrent and consecutive sentences. While the judge in this case did not exceed his authority when he imposed concurrent and consecutive sentences, he evidently believed § 13-708 created a presumption constricting his discretion. He listed this incorrect conclusion as a reason he felt bound to impose consecutive sentences. R.T., at 10. But the correct rule is:
The legislature by statute, the prosecutor by charge, and the jury by conviction set the sentencing boundaries for the judge. But within those boundaries, “the ultimate responsibility for fitting the punishment to the circumstances of the particular crime and individual defendant still rests with the judiciary.”
Fillmore, 187 Ariz. at 185, 927 P.2d at 1313 (quoting Thurlow, 148 Ariz. at 19, 712 P.2d at 932). “In the sentencing context, if the judge relies on inappropriate factors and it is unclear whether the judge would have imposed the same sentence absent the inappropriate factors, the case must be remanded for resentencing.” State v. Ojeda, 159 Ariz. 560, 561, 769 P.2d 1006, 1007 (1989) (quoting Thurlow, 148 Ariz. at 20, 712 P.2d at 933).
CONCLUSION
¶ 18 Ultimately, the trial judge could have made what he thought was a clearly excessive and extremely harsh sentence less so. When a judge has discretion and fails to recognize his obligation to use that discretion to avoid imposing a sentence he believes to be excessive, we must conclude he abused or failed to exercise that discretion. Fillmore, 187 Ariz. at 184, 927 P.2d at 1313. We therefore vacate the court of appeals’ decision, vacate the sentences, and remand to the trial court for resentencing consistent with this opinion. Ojeda, 159 Ariz. at 561, 769 P.2d at 1007. At that proceeding, the judge will be free to exercise the discretion given him or her to impose a proper sentence — one that is not excessive or unduly harsh and that fits the crime and the criminal. We express no opinion on what that sentence should be.
ZLAKET, C. J., JONES, V.C.J., and MARTONE and MeGREGOR, JJ., concur.
. A.R.S. § 13-603(K), which was redesignated § 13-603(L) (eff.1997), provides:
If at the time of sentencing the court is of the opinion that a sentence that the law requires ■the court to impose is clearly excessive, the court may enter a special order allowing the person sentenced to petition the board of executive clemency for a commutation of sentence within ninety days after the person is committed to the custody of the state department of corrections. If the court enters a special order regarding commutation, the court shall set forth in writing its specific reasons for concluding that the sentence is clearly excessive. The court shall allow both the state and the victim to submit a written statement on the matter. The court’s order, and reasons for its order, and the statements of the state and the victim shall be sent to the board of executive clemency.
. Had the judge followed this suggestion, Garza would have been sentenced under § 13-604(1) to 10.5 years for each armed robbery count, and to 7.5 years for the aggravated assault. The sentences could have run concurrently.
. Although not mentioned at the sentencing hearing, § 13-604(M) expressly provides that convictions "for two or more offenses committed on the same occasion shall be counted as only one conviction for the purposes of this section.”
. A.R.S. § 13-702.02(A) states:
A person who is convicted of two or more felony offenses that were not committed on the same occasion but that either are consolidated for trial purposes or are not historical prior felony convictions as defined in § 13-604, subsection U, paragraph 1 shall be sentenced, for the second or subsequent offense, pursuant to this section.
(Emphasis added.) Subsection (B)(1) sets forth the minimum and maximum terms for a second dangerous felony (Count III, 10.5-year minimum for class 2); subsection (B)(2) sets forth the minimum and maximum terms for a dangerous felony subsequent to the second dangerous felony (Count IV, 15.75-year minimum for class 2).
. This finding is not entirely correct. The record shows that the judge found mitigating factors of “severe addiction to heroin, being under the influence of ... illegal substances at the time of these crimes, and the fact that she was offered a less harsh plea bargain.” R.T., at 10. Under § 13-604(1), the judge imposed the presumptive sentences for Coqnts I and II. He could instead have looked to the mitigating circumstances he found and used his discretion to impose the minimum sentence allowed. A.R.S. §§ 13-604(1); 13-702(B) and (D)(5). This would have resulted in a 5-year sentence for the aggravated assault and a 7-year sentence for the armed robbery.
. Once given by statute, a presumption creates a conclusion that must be rebutted or overcome by evidence meeting some particular burden of proof. Cf. Morris K. Udall et al„ Arizona Practice: Law of Evidence § 143(2), at 322 (2d ed.1982). So even though the judge recognized he was not bound by a steadfast rule, his discretion was clearly guided by his belief that a presumption existed.
. As we explained in Chapple:
The term "abuse of discretion” is unfortunate. In ordinary language, "abuse” implies some form of corrupt practice, deceit or impropriety. ... However, in the legal context, the word "abuse” in the phrase "abuse of discretion” has been given a broader meaning. In the few cases that have attempted an analysis, the ordinary meaning of the word has been considered inappropriate and the phrase as a whole has been interpreted to apply where the reasons given by the court for its action are clearly untenable, legally incorrect, or amount to a denial of justice. Similarly, a discretionary act which reaches an end or purpose not justified by, and clearly against, reason and evidence "is an abuse.”
Id. at 297 n. 18, 660 P.2d at 1224 n. 18 (citations omitted).
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OPINION
PELANDER, Presiding Judge.
¶ 1 Plaintiff/appellant Patricia R. Hale appeals from the trial court’s judgment, entered after an evidentiary order to show cause hearing, dismissing her complaint for special action relief against defendant/appellee Amphitheater School District No. 10. Hale, whose probationary teacher’s contract was not renewed after her third year of employment with the District, contends the trial court erred in concluding the District complied with the notice of nonrenewal requirements in A.R.S. § 15-536, rejecting her claim for preferential reappointment under A.R.S. § 15-544(C), and assessing attorney’s fees against her under A.R.S. § 12-341.01. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
¶2 The trial court entered formal findings of fact and conclusions of law, which were incorporated by reference in its judgment. We view the facts, which are essentially undisputed and not clearly erroneous, in the light most favorable to sustaining the judgment. Federoff v. Pioneer Title & Trust Co., 166 Ariz. 383, 803 P.2d 104 (1990).
¶3 The District employed Hale under three successive one-year teaching contracts, beginning in September 1993. Each contract contained language that “'[a] short-term teacher shall not have an automatic right to contract for the following year,’ and the parties hereby agree that TEACHER is not entitled to have his/her contract renewed.” Hale was first hired to fill a vacancy created by a teacher who had resigned after the 1993-94 school year had begun and was rehired for the next two school years to fill a temporary vacancy created when another teacher took a leave of absence. Because that teacher' was returning to her regular teaching duties for the 1996-97 school year, the District no longer required Hale’s services.
¶ 4 In the spring of 1994,1995, and 1996, the District’s Director of Human Resources, James Fogltance, notified Hale by letter that her short-term position would terminate at the end of the respective school year. In 1994 and 1995, the District rehired Hale for the next school year. In 1996, however, it did not offer Hale a contract for the 1996-97 school year, and this suit followed.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶ 5 Although ■ “[t]he trial court’s findings of fact are binding on this court unless they are clearly erroneous or unsupported by any credible evidence,” Imperial Litho/Graphics v. M.J. Enterprises, 152 Ariz. 68, 72, 730 P.2d 245, 249 (App.1986), this court is not bound by the trial court’s conclusions of law, and we may draw our own legal conclusions from the facts the trial court found. Ponderosa Plaza v. Siplast, 181 Ariz. 128, 888 P.2d 1315 (App.1993). ‘We review de novo issues of statutory interpretation because they are issues of law.” Wallace v. Casa Grande Union High Sch. Dist., 184 Ariz. 419, 424, 909 P.2d 486, 491 (App.1995). We will affirm the trial court’s judgment “if the result was legally correct for any reason.” General Elec. Capital Corp. v. Osterkamp, 172 Ariz. 191, 193, 836 P.2d 404, 406 (App.1992).
DISCUSSION
I. Notice Requirements
¶ 6 Section 15-536 of the Teachers’ Tenure Act (the Act), A.R.S. §§ 15-501 through 15-551, provides in pertinent part:
A. Subject to the provisions of §§ 15-539, 15-540, 15-541, 15-544 and 15-549, the governing board shall, between March 15 and May 15, offer a teaching contract for the next ensuing school year to each certificated teacher who has not been employed by the school district for more than the major portion of three consecutive school years and who is under a contract of employment with the school district for the current school year, unless, on or before April 15, the governing board, a member of the board acting on behalf of the board or the superintendent of the school district gives notice to the teacher of the board’s intention not to offer a teaching contract, unless such teacher has been dismissed pursuant to §§ 15-538, 15-539, 15-541 or 15-544....
B. Notice of the board’s intention not to reemploy the teacher shall be by delivering it personally to the teacher or by sending it by registered or certified mail bearing a postmark of on or before April 15, directed to the teacher at his place of residence as recorded in the school district records. The notice shall incorporate a statement of reasons for not reemploying the teacher____
¶ 7 Our supreme court has recognized that the Act’s purpose is “‘to give protection to the teaching profession from arbitrary dismissals,’ and to this end it ‘should be given a liberal interpretation.’” Wheeler v. Yuma Sch. Dist. No. One, 156 Ariz. 102, 109, 750 P.2d 860, 867 (1988), quoting Board of Education v. Williams, 1 Ariz.App. 389, 393, 403 P.2d 324, 328 (1965). In addition, the Act’s notice provisions “ ‘create a personal right which must be strictly followed.’ ” Wheeler, 156 Ariz. at 110, 750 P.2d at 868, quoting School Dist. No. 6 v. Barber, 85 Ariz. 95, 96, 332 P.2d 496, 497 (1958).
¶8 The trial court concluded, and the parties do not dispute, that Hale was a probationary teacher whose rights to a contract for the 1996-97 school year are governed by § 15-536. Hale concedes the District was entitled to not renew her contract for that school year. She contends, however, that the District failed to “strictly follow” § 15-536 because “[n]either the person sending the nonrenewal notice (Fogltance as the Director of Human Resources and not a governing board member or the Superintendent) nor the manner of delivery (placing in school mailbox and not delivering personally or by registered or certified mail) complie[d] with the notice provisions” of the statute.
¶ 9 We reject Hale’s contentions for several reasons. First, at a public meeting in June 1995, the District’s governing board approved Hale’s short-term contract for only the 1995-96 school year, differentiating it from a career teacher’s contract. As the trial court specifically found, the governing board intended at that time that Hale’s contract would not be renewed and that she would not be offered a teaching contract for the following year. Those determinations by the board manifested its “intention not to offer a teaching contract” to Hale for the 1996-97 school year, § 15 — 536(A), and constituted a “collective decision of a majority of the board.” Peck v. Board of Ed., 126 Ariz. 113, 115, 612 P.2d 1076, 1078 (App.1980).
¶ 10 Second, the board’s intent is consistent with Hale’s understanding. Hale testified, and the trial court found, that when she signed the 1995-96 contract, she specifically understood she was not entitled to have the contract renewed, was employed during that year for the specific purpose of temporarily replacing a tenured teacher during her leave of absence, and was serving a limited function for a set period of time.
¶ 11 Third, Fogltance’s letter of March 8, 1996, to Hale was merely a confirmatory reminder, stating that “the short-term position that [she] held with the district during the 1995-96 school year will end on May 17, 1996,” in accordance with her contract and District regulations. Moreover, the record indicates, and the trial court found, that the District superintendent had specifically delegated to Fogltance the responsibility of notifying probationary teachers like Hale that their short-term contracts would not be re-' newed, when that decision had been made by the governing board. In our view, neither the law nor common sense precluded the superintendent from delegating to Fogltance the ministerial task of providing nonrenewal reminder notices to short-term teachers like Hale. Cf. Peck. Under the circumstances, the District’s notice of nonrenewal did not violate § 15-536(A).
¶ 12 Fourth, the method of delivery of the notice of nonrenewal complied with § 15-536(B). As noted above, the 1995-96 contract that Hale signed specified a one-year term and manifested the board’s intention not to reemploy her after that school year ended. It is undisputed that the District personally delivered that contract to Hale. It also is uncontroverted that Hale personally received Fogltanee’s March 8, 1996 reminder notice the following day, well before the April 15 statutory deadline under § 15-536. The trial.court found, and the record establishes, that either the principal of the school where Hale taught or the principal’s secretary personally delivered the notice to Hale or personally discussed it with her immediately after she received the notice in her personal mailbox at the school. We find no violation of § 15 — 536(B).
¶ 13 Hale contends her 1995-96 contract itself cannot constitute notice of nonrenewal for purposes of § 15-536, because the statute “contemplates a notice distinct from the teaching contract” and requires “the decision to nonrenew and the notice of that decision” to occur during the current school year for the next ensuing year. She apparently argues that § 15-536 requires any notice of nonrenewal to be given between March 15 and April 15 of the same year in which the next school year will start. The statutory language, however, does not support that argument. Section 15-536(A) and (B) require notice of nonrenewal to be given “on or before April 15” and do not preclude it from being given in a teaching contract itself executed before the school year begins.
¶ 14 Nor does any clear policy prohibit such timing or mechanism of notice of nonrenewal. Contrary to Hale’s arguments, allowing school districts to decide and manifest their intent, at the “front end,” not to renew a probationary teacher’s short-term contract after it has expired does not undermine or circumvent the Act’s purposes. Rather, advising probationary teachers in the contract itself, at or before the beginning of the school year, that the contractual relationship is short-term, for a specific purpose and duration, and not automatically renewable arguably furthers the Act’s objectives by giving such teachers advance notice of their status so they can explore future teaching options or make other employment plans. We hold that the method and substance of notice of nonrenewal in this case did not violate the letter or spirit of § 15-536.
II. Reappointment Rights
¶ 15 Hale next contends she is entitled to preferential reappointment under § 15-544(C), which states:
A certificated teacher dismissed for reasons of economy or to improve the efficient conduct and administration of the schools of the school district shall have a preferred right of reappointment in the order of original employment by the governing board in the event of an increase in the number of certificated teachers or the reestablishment of services within a period of three years.
We review the trial court’s contrary conclusion de novo because it involves statutory interpretation issues and mixed questions of fact and law. Wallace.
¶ 16 Relying on Hampton v. Glendale Union High School District, 172 Ariz. 431, 837 P.2d 1166 (App.1992), and citing the District’s notations on her employment record of “RIF” and “Lay-Off’ as reasons for her termination, Hale claims a preferred right of reappointment under § 15-544(C). Hampton is inapposite, however, because the school district’s nonrenewal of the probationary teacher’s contract in that case specifically was “due to a reduction of certificated staff necessitated by a reduction of enrollment and/or elimination of course offerings,” and the district’s notice had acknowledged the teacher’s preferential reappointment rights under § 15-544. Id. at 432, 837 P.2d at 1167. Under those distinguishable facts, the court in Hampton held that “the school district must comply with the statute by notifying the dismissed teacher of an open position, even if the teacher has obtained a teaching position in another district.” Id. That holding has no bearing on this case.
¶ 17 In addition, the coded designations on Hale’s employment record do not conclusively establish that she was “dismissed for reasons of economy or to improve the efficient conduct and administration of the schools.” § 15-544(C). On the contrary, the trial court specifically found that the District did not dismiss Hale and that its nonrenewal of her contract was not for reasons specified in that statute. Rather, the court found, and the record establishes, that the District did not offer Hale a teaching contract for the 1996-97 school year because the purpose for which she had been hired had been fulfilled when the teacher whom Hale had temporarily replaced returned to her regular teaching position with the District.
¶ 18 Our primary goal in interpreting statutes is “to ascertain and give effect to the intent of the legislature,” focusing first on the statutory language and, if necessary, considering “the context of the statute and its historical background, subject matter, effects, consequences, and purpose.” Hampton, 172 Ariz. at 434, 837 P.2d at 1169. “Statutory provisions are to be read in the context of related provisions and of the overall statutory scheme. The goal is to achieve consistency among the related statutes.” Goulder v. Arizona Dep’t of Transp., 177 Ariz. 414, 416, 868 P.2d 997, 999 (App.1993), aff'd, 179 Ariz. 181, 877 P.2d 280 (1994).
¶ 19 Reading §§ 15-536 and 15-544 together, it is clear that not all nonrenewals under § 15-536 constitute dismissals for purposes of § 15-544(0). Cf. Board of Trustees v. Superior Court, 25 Ariz.App. 47, 49, 540 P.2d 1266, 1268 (1975) (“Failure to re-employ a probationary teacher is not a ‘dismissal.’ ”). Moreover, dismissals under § 15-544 are expressly excepted from the notice requirements of § 15-536. § 15-536(A). The District’s compliance with § 15-536, as discussed above, indicates it did not intend Hale’s termination to be a dismissal within the meaning of § 15-544(C). The governing board decided in June 1995 to authorize and extend a short-term contract to Hale only for the 1995-96 school year. Its decision not to offer her a contract for the next year, under the circumstances of this case, does not constitute a dismissal for economic or efficiency reasons, and the trial court did not err in reaching that conclusion.
III. Attorney’s Fees
¶20 Hale challenges the trial court’s award of $4,500 in attorney’s fees to the District (less than half the amount it sought), contending the court failed to properly consider the factors outlined in Associated Indemnity Corp. v. Warner, 143 Ariz. 567, 694 P.2d 1181 (1985). “An award of attorneys’ fees and costs under § 12-341.01 is left to the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion.” Rogus v. Lords, 166 Ariz. 600, 603, 804 P.2d 133, 136 (App.1991). We will not disturb the trial court’s discretionary award of fees if there is any reasonable basis for it. Warner. We find no abuse of discretion here. In our discretion, however, we deny the District’s request for attorney’s fees on appeal.
DISPOSITION
¶21 The trial court’s judgment is affirmed.
DRUKE, C.J., and HOWARD, J., concur.
. The first two contracts were entitled "Short-Time Teacher’s Contract,” and the final contract for the 1995-96 school year was entitled “Short-Term Teacher’s Contract.”
. We find no merit in Hale’s argument that “use of 'short-term’ contracts absolutely undermines [the Act’s] purpose by allowing the District to hire a teacher under three separate, consecutive 'short-term’ contracts, to issue that teacher a fourth 'short-term' contract, and then to deny that teacher tenure.” If a teacher has been employed by a school district for more than the major portion of three consecutive school years and is under a contract of employment with the District for the current school year, he or she becomes a "continuing” or tenured teacher with different rights and remedies. See, e.g., A.R.S. §§ 15-538.01, 15-539, 15-542(C), 15-544(A).
. In view of our holding, we do not address the District’s cross-issue on appeal as to whether estoppel bars Hale’s claims in this case.
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OPINION
ZLAKET, Chief Justice.
¶ 1 This matter comes to the court on the unanimous recommendation of a State Bar hearing committee and our own Disciplinary Commission that respondent Robert A. Hirschfeld be disbarred. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. R.S.Ct. 53(e).
¶2 The State Bar charged respondent with twenty-four counts of unethical conduct involving twenty-two different clients. Although he was given notice and an opportunity to be heard, respondent did not participate in the presentation of evidence to the hearing committee, nor did he appear before the Disciplinary Commission. He did, however, file a notice of appeal and several briefs with this court, challenging our authority over him and contesting the validity of certain charges. He also moved to strike portions of the State Bar’s answering brief. We reject respondent’s jurisdictional arguments, deny his motion to strike, and find that the charges of unethical conduct are well supported by the evidence and legally sound. Considering the extensive aggravation presented and the lack of any significant mitigation, we agree that disbarment is appropriate.
JURISDICTION
¶ 3 Respondent contends that he is no longer subject to the court’s disciplinary authority because he “voluntarily disassociated” himself from the State Bar during the pendency of these proceedings. Although our rules once permitted resignation in lieu of disbarment, they currently require a lawyer to be in good standing in order to resign. Ariz. R.S.Ct. 31(c)(10). Respondent has not cited, nor do we find, legal authority that would deprive this court of jurisdiction to impose sanctions on him or any other person admitted to practice law in this state.
¶ 4 In an analogous context, we have held that it is proper to discipline a lawyer who becomes a judge for conduct occurring prior to his taking office. See In re Riley, 142 Ariz. 604, 607, 691 P.2d 695, 698 (1984). “[T]he better and more workable practice is that jurisdiction in disciplinary actions should be based upon the position the individual held at the time of the alleged misconduct.” Id. Thus, regardless of respondent’s claimed renunciation of his bar membership, he cannot escape the consequences of his unethical activities.
BACKGROUND
¶ 5 The current disciplinary action is the culmination of a lengthy history. In May of 1994, the State Bar moved for respondent’s interim suspension pursuant to Ariz. R.S.Ct. 52(c). A superior court judge had earlier imposed a sizeable monetary sanction on him for disclosure violations in a domestic relations matter, the details of which can be found in several published opinions. See Taliaferro v. Taliaferro, 184 Ariz. 613, 911 P.2d 619 (App.1995), vacated by 186 Ariz. 221, 921 P.2d 21 (1996); Taliaferro v. Taliaferro, 188 Ariz. 333, 335, 935 P.2d 911, 913 (App.1996). The superior court had also issued an arrest warrant for respondent when he failed to appear at various Order to Show Cause hearings intended to determine why the sanctioned amount had not been paid. To avoid service of the warrant, respondent allegedly fled the jurisdiction. Before absconding, he apparently attempted to find substitute counsel for his pending matters, but was not completely successful. Consequently, several clients were left unrepresented during his absence. Some of them filed complaints that are at issue in this proceeding.
¶ 6 Following oral argument in 1994, this court denied the suspension motion because the record at that time was insufficient to support the desired relief. We did, however, place respondent on probation under the supervision of a practice monitor until the State Bar could proceed to a “final determination of the various charges against [him].” In re Hirschfeld, SB-94-0049-D (Ariz. May 25, 1994) (order).
¶7 Thereafter, the superior court held respondent in contempt for abusing and harassing the opposing party in another domestic relations matter. See Hirschfeld v. Superior Court, 184 Ariz. 208, 908 P.2d 22 (App.1995) . This action followed an evidentiary hearing that prompted the judge to remark, “I find that [respondent’s] testimony justifying those actions to be disingenuous at best, incredible, possibly perjurious.” Id. at 211, 908 P.2d at 25. The State Bar filed a second motion for interim suspension. During the same time period, respondent’s practice monitor resigned and the Bar began intensively investigating the complaints that have resulted in this appeal.
¶8 After again hearing oral argument and considering the matter further, we determined that respondent’s continued practice of law would result in substantial harm, loss, or damage to the public, the legal profession, and the administration of justice. Thus, we entered an order of interim suspension under Ariz.R.S.Ct. 52(c). In re Hirschfeld, SB-95-0033-D (Ariz. June 7,1995).
FACTS
¶ 9 The twenty-four counts against respondent present a variety of transgressions. The largest category is made up of clients who were left unrepresented at hearings, trials, and other matters when respondent fled the jurisdiction in 1994 to avoid his sanction. The next group includes those clients who entered into what respondent calls “non-refundable retainer” agreements.
¶ 10 Respondent’s misconduct regarding the first group is unquestionable. He clearly abandoned clients without notice in order to serve his own interests, leaving them to fend for themselves until he returned. This behavior violated Ethical Rules 1.3 and 1.4.
¶ 11 Eight of the counts involved so-called “non-refundable retainers.” Respondent typically represented husbands in dissolution and custody proceedings. His custom was to obtain a significant retainer at the inception of the representation, with a written fee agreement that stated: “The initial retainer is earned upon receipt and is nonrefundable.” He repeatedly relied on this clause to keep the full amount received, no matter how long he represented the client or how much work he performed.
¶ 12 One of the most egregious incidents involved a client who paid him $8000 for representation in a dissolution action. A few days later, the client and his wife reconciled. The reasonable value of respondent’s professional services at that point was $2000. Nevertheless, he refused to return the unearned portion of the $8000, citing the fee agreement.
¶ 13 In addition to the non-refundable language, respondent’s fee agreements provided: “If there is any disagreement concerning the terms of this agreement or attorneys’ fees, I agree to binding arbitration with the Fee Arbitration Committee of the State Bar of Arizona.” In a number of instances, clients sought relief from the Fee Arbitration Committee. Respondent appeared at some but not all of the arbitration proceedings. He lost every fee dispute. Although the awards required him to return a portion of the retainers, he did not comply.
¶ 14 Other allegations against respondent run the gamut of unethical conduct. In one matter, for example, he filed an ex parte request for emergency custody supported by two affidavits prepared by him and signed by the client. The affidavits contained material misrepresentations that respondent would have discovered had he exercised reasonable diligence. The trial court imposed Rule 11 sanctions against him. In another matter, respondent and his client were held in contempt and ordered to pay $9350 in sanctions for violating the terms of the preliminary injunction that is issued in every dissolution action. See Little v. Superior Court, 180 Ariz. 328, 331, 884 P.2d 214, 217 (App.1994). In yet another, he advised a client to sign a financial disclosure form attesting that no third party was holding funds for him or on his behalf. The statement was plainly false because respondent was in possession of certain savings bonds that the client had given him. In still another case, he declared in open court that the opposing attorney, who represented his client’s estranged wife, had taken the case only after she had “hiked up her skirt” for him. The comment was clearly inappropriate and made solely to abuse and harass the wife and her lawyer. The trial judge imposed sanctions on respondent after determining that no truthful basis for the allegations existed.
DISCUSSION
¶ 15 Both the hearing committee and the Disciplinary Commission found respondent’s refusal to refund the unearned portions of the retainers to be a violation of Ethical Rule 1.5. We agree. The rule’s requirement is plain and simple: “A lawyer’s fee shall be reasonable.” Ethical Rule 1.5(a) lists eight factors to be considered in making such a determination. A detailed analysis of those factors is not needed here because the uncontested evidence establishes the unreasonableness of respondent’s fees. In each instance, either the client discharged him because of dissatisfaction with his performance, or the matter concluded before he provided sufficient legal services to earn the entire retainer according to his agreed-upon hourly rates.
¶ 16 Respondent makes no attempt to justify his fees. Instead, he takes the approach that they are private contractual matters between himself and his clients, and not the concern of anyone else. He suggests that this court has no power to interfere. He is wrong. Many years ago, we made it clear that a fee agreement between lawyer and client is more than a mere business arrangement.
The profession has both an obligation of public service and duties to clients which transcend ordinary business relationships and prohibit the lawyer from taking advantage of the client. Thus, in fixing and collecting fees the profession must remember that it is “a branch of the administration of justice and not a mere money getting trade.” We hold, therefore, that if at the conclusion of a lawyer’s services it appears that a fee, which seemed reasonable when agreed upon, has become excessive, the attorney may not stand upon the contract; he must reduce the fee.
In re Swartz, 141 Ariz. 266, 273, 686 P.2d 1236, 1243 (1984)(citation omitted). The foregoing is particularly true in the emotionally volatile area of domestic relations. Respondent’s clients usually engaged him at extremely difficult periods in their lives. They frequently had been served with petitions for dissolution and injunctions prohibiting them from entering their own homes. In some cases, they faced imminent hearings to determine the custody of their children. Under the circumstances, they were vulnerable to overreaching fee agreements and respondent took advantage of that vulnerability.
¶ 17 We do not hold that non-refundable retainers are per se violations of Ethical Rule 1.5. A retainer, in its classic sense, is a fee paid to secure a lawyer’s availability, and it may be appropriate in certain circumstances. Similarly, a flat fee charged for specific legal services can be proper. Regardless of how the fee is characterized, however, each situation must be carefully examined on its own facts for reasonableness. Under Swartz, lawyers are obligated to review the services they have rendered to determine whether the fees ul timately collected are reasonable. 141 Ariz. at 273, 686 P.2d at 1243. In this case, the fees respondent pocketed were clearly unreasonable. Additionally, his promise to arbitrate fee disputes implied that the amounts paid were subject to independent review, and placed upon respondent an obligation to participate in the arbitration process in good faith, which, of course, he did not do.
SANCTION
¶ 18 Both the hearing committee and the Disciplinary Commission found substantial aggravating factors and no significant mitigation. American Bar Association, Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions §§ 9.22, 9.32 (1986); see also In re Rivkind, 164 Ariz. 154, 157, 791 P.2d 1037, 1040 (1990) (observing that the ABA standards are a “suitable guideline in imposing discipline”). We agree. Respondent has prior disciplinary offenses. His actions here reflect dishonest and selfish motives. Standards, supra, at § 9.22. He has demonstrated a clear pattern of willful misconduct. Id. Those he has professed to serve with zeal, his clients, are those he has harmed the most. He continues to exhibit not only indifference but outright defiance to making restitution. Id.
¶ 19 In his submissions to this court, respondent claims to be the victim of an organized vendetta by judges, opponents, bar officials, and anyone else who has disagreed with him because of his promotion of the “Fathers’ Rights Movement.” We wish to be clear about why he is being disbarred. It is because he has lied to judges, cheated and abandoned clients, and acted in despicable ways toward his opponents. Respondent has manifested an unabashed willingness to violate court rules, ethical precepts, and even common decency in pursuit of his perceived goals.
¶ 20 Disbarred.
JONES, V.C.J., and FELDMAN, MARTONE and MOELLER(Retired), JJ., concur.
. The Disciplinary Commission issued its report five days before a rule change that made our review of these matters discretionary. Under the previous rule, applicable here, respondent is entitled to an appeal as a matter of right.
|
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OPINION
KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.
¶ 1 This is an appeal from a decision of the Arizona Department of Economic Security granting an employee’s claim for unemployment benefits. The issue is whether the Appeals Board erred by finding that the employee, Wilma Young, was discharged by her employer, California Portland Cement, within the meaning of the unemployment compensation laws. If the employee was discharged, as opposed to having quit her employment, she is entitled to benefits.
¶2 The employee had worked for the employer for a number of years as a human resources manager. In 1996 she brought an employment discrimination claim against her employer. The parties sought to settle the claim and, as part of a proposal to do so, the employer required the employee to resign from her employment. The employee rejected the proposal until the language was changed to voluntary retirement, as opposed to resignation, so that she would be eligible for the employer’s retiree medical program.
¶ 3 The employee, who had continued to work while her discrimination claim was pending, testified that she had not planned on retiring and did not want to do so. She retired only because the settlement agreement required it. The Appeals Board accepted this testimony as fact.
¶ 4 An employee generally bears the burden of proving eligibility for unemployment benefits. See Arizona Dep’t of Economic Sec. v. Magma Copper Co., 125 Ariz. 389, 390, 609 P.2d 1089, 1090 (App.1980). However, “[w]hen a[n] [employee] states that he did not leave voluntarily, and the employer maintains he did, the burden of proof shifts to the employer to establish that there has been a quit.” Ariz. Admin. Code (“A.A.C.”) R6-3-50190(B)(2)(e).
¶ 5 The Department of Economic Security has adopted rules and regulations to use in determining whether an employee was discharged or voluntarily quit. The relevant regulation provides:
A. General
1. A worker’s separation from employment is either a quit or a discharge.
2. The [employee] quits when he acts to end the employment and intends this result.
3. The separation is a discharge when it results from the employer’s intent and action. This includes layoff for lack of work, and requests by the employer for worker’s resignation.
4. In borderline cases the determination of whether a separation is a quit or discharge will be made on the basis of who was the moving party.
a. The [employee] is the moving party when he could have continued to work under conditions of employment not amounting to new work, if the worker is offered continued employment on or before the termination date. This is true even though a date of separation has been stated or agreed to. See R6-3-50315.
b. In any other situation the employer is the moving party, and the separation is a discharge.
c. Generally, demands or expressions of criticism and efforts to clarify the position of the other party do not constitute notice of intent to quit or to discharge.
A.A.C. R6-3-50135 (Supp.96-1). The Appeals Board relied on this regulation and found, among other things:
A separation is a discharge when it results from an employer’s intent and action, including those situations where an employer requests an employee’s resignation. That is precisely what happened in the present instance. The [Employee] had no independent desire to resign or retire from her employment but did desire to settle the ongoing litigation she had with the Employer. As a condition of that settlement, the Employer required the [Employee] to retire from work. This factual circumstance establishes that the separation was a discharge from work.
The Appeals Board also found:
Counsel [for the Employer] also contends that the [Employee] acknowledged that she was not required to settle her lawsuit with the Employer, so in that sense, her separation from employment was “voluntary”. This argument might have some validity if the Employer was forced to include the condition that the [Employee] resign or retire from her employment as part of the settlement agreement. But just as the [Employee] was not forced, to settle with the Employer, the Employer was not forced to require that the [Employee] leave her employment as a condition of that settlement. Given the totality of circumstances presented by this case, it is evident that it was the Employer that was insistent upon this condition, and, therefore, the separation arose from the Employer’s intent and actions.
¶ 6 The Appeals Board was right. Although the employee voluntarily entered into the agreement, her primary purpose in doing so was to settle her discrimination claim. It was the employer who made her retirement a condition for settling the discrimination claim. But for that condition, the employee would have continued to work. As to the termination of employment, the employer was the moving party within the meaning of the administrative regulations.
¶ 7 There is an analogous case, Employment Sec. Comm’n v. Magma Copper Co., 90 Ariz. 104, 366 P.2d 84 (1961), that supports our conclusion. In Magma, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between the employee’s union and his employer, the employee was forced to retire on a pension after reaching a certain age. After the forced retirement, the employee applied for unemployment benefits. Although the commission granted unemployment benefits, the award of benefits was reversed on appeal to the superior court. The supreme court then reinstated the commission’s award of benefits. After discussing several out-of-state cases, the supreme court said:
[W]e think the better view is expressed in the ... cases which focus upon the volition and intent of the individual workman at the time Kis employment is terminated. Construing a collective bargaining agreement’s retirement provisions so as to deny benefits to one required to retire thereunder but willing and able to work violates at least the spirit if not the language of A.R.S. § 23-784, ....
Id. at 110, 366 P.2d at 88. Thus, despite the employee’s direct or indirect acquiescence in the collective bargaining agreement, the supreme court found that the employee was forced to leave work and his retirement was involuntary so that he was entitled to receive unemployment benefits in addition to his pension from Magma.
¶ 8 In the case before us, the employer cites a recently adopted regulation that the Appeals Board did not rely on. R6-350135(C) provides:
C. Leaving in Anticipation of Discharge. If a worker, based on information other than the employer’s authorized notification of discharge, believes that the employer intends to discharge the worker, the worker shall take steps, prior to leaving, to find out if the worker is, in fact, to be discharged. If the worker fails to do so and was not to be discharged, the worker leaves work voluntarily without good cause in connection with the work.
The application of this principle, the employer argues, puts the burden on the employee to determine whether she will be discharged if she does not accept the agreement. It is a fact that in this case the employee knew she could continue working if she did not accept the settlement agreement. The more pertinent observation is that the regulation may put the burden on the employee to inquire as to whether the provision calling for termination is an absolute condition of the agreement. If it is not, and the employee acquiesces in it, the termination would arguably be a quit and not a discharge. In any event, neither the legal argument as we cast that argument, nor the facts that might bear on it, were developed below.
¶ 9 In conclusion, it is important for employers and employees to understand that if the employer, as a condition of the settlement of disputes with employees, insists upon a termination of employment for reasons that do not otherwise disqualify the employee for benefits, the termination will be a discharge and not a quit for purposes of unemployment benefits.
¶ 10 The Appeals Board’s decision upon review is affirmed.
SULT, P.J., concurs.
. This statute provides:
No agreement by an individual to waive, release or commute his rights to benefits or any other rights under this chapter shall be valid, except an agreement to satisfy child support obligations which is being enforced by the department pursuant to a plan under the Child Support Enforcement Act, as amended, which has been approved by the secretary of health and human services under part D of title IV of the social security act, as amended, or an agreement between the individual and the department specifying an amount to be withheld as repayment towards an uncollected overissuance of food stamp coupons.
(emphasis added).
. See A.A.C. R6-3-5105 relating to disqualification for benefits when discharge is for employee’s misconduct.
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OPINION
McGREGOR, Justice.
¶ 1 The plaintiffs appeal the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants on grounds that the statute of limitations bars this action. Because the trial court erred in its application of the law, we reverse and remand for the trial court to determine whether an issue of material fact exists as to whether defendant Frankie induced plaintiffs to delay filing their action, and whether their delay was reasonable.
I.
¶2 Each of the three plaintiffs in this action alleges she became sexually involved with defendant Bruce Frankie while she was still a minor. Frankie was, at all relevant times, a teacher and athletic coach at Washington High School (the school), and coached each of the plaintiffs. The school operates within the defendant Glendale Union High School District (the district).
¶ 3 Plaintiff Kathleen Andersen attended the school from 1972 through 1976. Frankie began a sexual relationship with her when she was a 17-year-old senior. The relationship continued until she was 19 years of age.
¶4 Plaintiff Mary Ella Nolde attended the school from 1981 through 1985. During her freshman year, when Nolde was 14 years old, Frankie initiated a sexual relationship with her. Frankie discontinued the relationship with Nolde during the early part of her senior year, in 1984.
¶ 5 Frankie began a sexual relationship with plaintiff Mya Johnson in 1983, when Johnson was 14 years old. This relationship continued through Johnson’s graduation from the school in 1987 and thereafter for four more years.
¶ 6 Each of the plaintiffs came from a broken family and initially considered Frankie a father-figure. Frankie devoted personal attention to the girls and made them feel special and loved. Before they became sexually involved with Frankie, each of them developed a strong emotional attachment to him. Even after the sexual relationship began, each desired to please Frankie and to maintain her emotional relationship with him.
¶ 7 During his sexual abuse of Nolde and Johnson, Frankie instructed them never to disclose the sexual nature of his relationships with them. He warned them that he would lose his job and family if anyone were to learn of the relationships. Although none of the plaintiffs personally experienced physical abuse at the hands of Frankie, they all perceived him as intimidating and as prone to using violence against anyone who crossed him. They all asserted that Frankie made them feel special and loved and that they saw themselves as being at fault for allowing a sexual relationship to occur. In addition, the plaintiffs believed that Frankie emotionally and psychologically dominated them during and after their relationships with him.
¶ 8 During the years following their sexual relationships with Frankie, the plaintiffs experienced various effects of the abuse, including depression, dysfunctional personal relationships, and physical illness. In July 1993, Nolde and Johnson, ages 25 and 24 respectively, filed a complaint against Frankie and the district. The complaint alleged claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, outrage, invasion of privacy, assault, battery, and breach of fiduciary duty. Andersen joined the action as a plaintiff in February 1994, at age 36.
¶ 9 The defendants moved for summary judgment on grounds that the statute of limitations bars the action. In response, the plaintiffs asserted three arguments. First, they argued that their causes of action did not accrue until they knew or should have known of the causal connection between their injuries and Frankie’s conduct. They contended that an issue of material fact exists as to when the causes of action accrued based on this “delayed discovery.” Second, they argued that expert testimony established that they suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which prevented them from bringing a timely action. Third, they argued that because of Frankie’s conduct toward them, equity precluded the defendants from asserting the statute of limitations defense.
¶ 10 After holding that Arizona law does not provide any basis for equitable tolling of the statute of limitations and that the plaintiffs were not under any disability that would toll the statute, the trial court granted the defendants’ motions. The court of appeals affirmed and the plaintiffs filed a petition for review to this court. We granted review and have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Constitution, article VI, section 5.
II.
¶ 11 Under most circumstances, we would affirm the trial court’s judgment because the limitations statute would bar plaintiffs’ action as a matter of law. See Garza v. Fernandez, 74 Ariz. 312, 316, 248 P.2d 869, 871 (1952) (court will affirm summary judgment if no material issue of fact exists and moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law). The statute of limitations period for a personal injury action is two years, commencing on the date the action accrues. A.R.S. § 12-542.1 (1992). Because a cause of action that arises during a plaintiffs minority does not accrue until the plaintiff reaches eighteen years of age, A.R.S. § 12-502.A. (1992), the plaintiffs had two years from the date they reached majority to bring their respective causes of action. As plaintiffs admit, they did not file their action within the two-year time period.
¶ 12 The statute of limitations serves an important purpose. The statute protects defendants and the courts from litigation of stale claims in which “plaintiffs have slept on their rights and evidence may have been lost or witnesses’ memories faded.” Brooks v. Southern Pac. Co., 105 Ariz. 442, 444, 466 P.2d 736, 738 (1970). The policy underlying the limitations statute “is sound and necessary'for the orderly administration of justice.” Id.
¶ 13 However, a defendant may not use the statute of limitations as a shield for inequity. See Hosogai v. Kadota, 145 Ariz. 227, 231, 700 P.2d 1327, 1331 (1985); Waugh v. Lennard, 69 Ariz. 214, 221, 211 P.2d 806, 810 (1949). Hence, notwithstanding the important policy served by the limitations statute, Arizona courts have recognized equitable exceptions to the application of the statute when necessary to prevent injustice. Hosogai, 145 Ariz. at 231, 700 P.2d at 1331.
¶ 14 One such exception applies when a defendant induces a plaintiff to forbear filing suit. In Certainteed Corporation v. United Pacific Insurance Company, 158 Ariz. 273, 762 P.2d 560 (App.1988), for in stance, the court estopped a defendant insurer from raising the limitations defense because the insurer had induced its claimant to delay filing suit. The insurer repeatedly delayed in responding to a legitimate insurance claim filed by the claimant, and represented that the claimant need not initiate litigation for the insurer to settle the claim. 158 Ariz. at 278, 762 P.2d at 565.
¶ 15 The Certainteed court held that “[a]n estoppel with respect to a contractual limitation period will exist if an insurer by its conduct induces its insured to forego litigation, by leading him to reason and believe a settlement or adjustment of his claim will be effected without the necessity of bringing suit.” Id. at 277, 762 P.2d at 564. Similarly, in Roer v. Buckeye Irrigation Company, 167 Ariz. 545, 547, 809 P.2d 970, 972 (App.1990), the court held that estoppel applies if a defendant engaged in conduct that induced a plaintiff to forego litigation by leading the plaintiff to believe his claim would be settled without the necessity of litigation. Cf. Hall v. Romero, 141 Ariz. 120, 126, 685 P.2d 757, 763 (App.1984) (declining to apply the estoppel doctrine to bar the limitations defense because the defendant did not engage in conduct to induce the plaintiffs to forbear filing suit).
¶ 16 We agree, as decisions such as those summarized above recognize, that equitable considerations may estop a defendant from claiming the protection provided by a limitations statute. To benefit from estoppel by inducement, however, a plaintiff must establish four factors. First, the plaintiff must identify specific promises, threats or inducements by the defendant that prevented the plaintiff from filing suit. See Floyd v. Donahue, 186 Ariz. 409, 413, 923 P.2d 875, 879 (App.1996) (stating' that estoppel does not apply in the absence of evidence of “concealment, a specific threat or demonstrable duress”). Vague statements or ambiguous behavior by the defendant will not suffice.
¶ 17 Second, estoppel by inducement will preclude a defendant from raising the limitations defense only if the defendant’s promises, threats or representations actually induced the plaintiff to forbear filing suit. See Roer, 167 Ariz. at 547, 809 P.2d at 972 (“In order to create an estoppel the conduct of the defendant must be so misleading as to cause the plaintiffs failure to file suit.”) (emphasis added). Thus, when determining whether to' apply the estoppel doctrine, a court must inquire into the plaintiff’s subjective reasons for failing to file a timely suit.
¶ 18 Third, the doctrine applies only if the defendant’s conduct reasonably caused the plaintiff to forbear filing a timely action. See id. at 547-48, 809 P.2d at 972-73 (holding that estoppel was not applicable because the defendants’ non-committal acts toward plaintiff would not have induced a reasonable person to believe the defendants would remedy plaintiffs damages without the necessity of litigation, and thus to delay filing suit). This inquiry focuses on the plaintiffs objective basis for failing to file suit within the limitations period. When considering the reasonableness of the plaintiffs failure to timely file, a court must determine whether the defendant’s conduct resulted in duress so severe as to deprive a reasonable person of the freedom of will to file the action. See Jones v. Jones, 242 N.J.Super. 195, 576 A.2d 316, 323 (App.Div.1990) (stating that the duress exerted by a defendant “must have risen to such a level that a person of reasonable firmness in the plaintiffs situation would have been unable to resist”).
¶ 19 Fourth, the plaintiff must file suit within a reasonable time after termination of the conduct warranting estoppel. See Nelson v. Nelson, 137 Ariz. 213, 216, 669 P.2d 990, 993 (App.1983) (“[Ajssuming the appellant justifiably delayed the initiation of an action to assert her rights in reliance on the fiduciary relationship between the parties or because of mistake, misrepresentation or fraud, she nevertheless had a reasonable time to sue after the promises or representations ceased to justify delay.”); Brewer v. Food Giant Supermarkets, Inc., 121 Ariz. 216, 217, 589 P.2d 459, 460 (App.1978) (“If estoppel applies, the party has a reasonable time to sue after the promises or representations have ceased to justify delay.”); see also Murphy v. Merzbacher, 346 Md. 525, 697 A.2d 861, 866 (1997)(stating that estoppel by duress applies only if a plaintiff brings action “within a reasonable time after the conclusion of the events giving rise to the estoppel”); John R. v. Oakland Unified Sch. Dish, 48 Cal.3d 438, 256 Cal.Rptr. 766, 769 P.2d 948, 952 (1989) (remanding for determination of whether the defendant in a .sexual abuse action threatened the plaintiff, when the effect of any such threats ceased, and whether the plaintiff “acted within a reasonable time after the coercive effect of the threats had ended”). Implicit in this requirement is the notion that the estoppel by inducement doctrine does not permit the indefinite and unlimited extension of the limitations period. The requirement also allows a defendant to limit the period during which estoppel might otherwise apply by taking affirmative steps to terminate whatever behavior or conduct arguably operated to induce a plaintiff not to sue.
¶ 20 Thus, in determining whether a defendant is estopped from asserting the limitations defense based on inducement to forbear filing suit, a trial court must determine: (1) whether the defendant engaged in affirmative conduct intended to cause the plaintiffs forbearance; (2) whether the defendant’s conduct actually caused the plaintiffs failure to file a timely action; (3) whether the defendant’s conduct reasonably could be expected to induce forbearance; and (4) whether the plaintiff brought the action within a reasonable time after termination of the objectionable conduct. Ordinarily, each of these inquiries will involve questions of fact, and therefore will be resolved by the factfinder. In some cases, however, a court appropriately may conclude as a matter of law that no reasonable jury could find for the plaintiff on one or more of these inquiries. See Orme Sch. v. Reeves, 166 Ariz. 301, 309, 802 P.2d 1000, 1008 (1990) (stating that summary judgment is appropriate if facts submitted in support of a claim or defense “have so little probative value, given the quantum of evidence required, that reasonable people could not agree with the conclusion advanced by the proponent of the claim or defense”).
¶ 21 From the record before us, we cannot ascertain whether the trial judge considered the plaintiffs’ argument that the doctrine of estoppel by inducement should apply to prevent defendants from urging the statute of limitations. It appears, however, that the judge did not measure the plaintiffs’ allegations against the standard defined above. For that reason, we remand this action to permit the trial judge to determine whether Frankie’s affirmative conduct actually and reasonably induced the plaintiffs to delay filing suit, and whether their delay was reasonable. The trial court may find that summary judgment is appropriate as to one or more of the plaintiffs. If not, the trier of fact must resolve these factual issues.
III.
¶ 22 The plaintiffs next argue that an issue of fact exists as to whether each of the plaintiffs was of unsound mind for purposes of A.R.S. § 12-502.A, and thus, whether that disability tolled the statute of limitations. A person of unsound mind is one who “is unable to manage his affairs or to understand his legal rights or liabilities.” Allen v. Powell’s Int’l, Inc., 21 Ariz.App. 269, 270, 518 P.2d 588, 589 (1974). We recently affirmed this two-pronged definition of unsound mind in Doe v. Roe, 191 Ariz. 313, 955 P.2d 951 (1998), and Florez v. Sargeant, 185 Ariz. 521, 917 P.2d 250 (1996).
A.
1123 To justify tolling a limitations statute because a person lacks ability to manage his daily affairs, we require “hard evidence that a person is simply incapable of carrying on the day-to-day affairs of human existence.” Florez v. Sargeant, 185 Ariz. 521, 526, 917 P.2d 250, 255 (1996). Such evidence provides “empirical facts easily verifiable and more difficult to fabricate than a narrow claim of inability to bring the action.” Id. This court’s decisions in Doe and Florez illustrate the showing needed to toll the statute on this basis.
¶ 24 One of the plaintiffs in Florez submitted expert affidavits stating that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, sexual identity problems, and other problems; the other plaintiffs expert affidavit stated that she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. Id. at 523-24, 917 P.2d at 252-53. The expert affidavits opined that because of these psychological problems, the plaintiffs were of unsound mind for purposes of section 12-502.A. Id. at 527, 917 P.2d at 256. Notwithstanding these conclusory assertions, we held that the defendants were entitled to summary judgment. The undisputed evidence demonstrated that the plaintiffs were able to maintain employment, to handle financial affairs, to manage their daily affairs, and to take care of themselves. Id. at 526, 917 P.2d at 255. “[Sjimply attaching the post-traumatic stress disorder label to a person’s symptoms is insufficient to satisfy the Allen definition of unsound mind.” Id. at 525, 917 P.2d at 254.
¶ 25 By contrast, the plaintiff in Doe presented evidence that, as a result of her mental problems, she was unable to manage her daily affairs:
The record contains evidence from which one could conclude that for a considerable period of time Plaintiff was unable to function in day-to-day affairs. She experienced suicidal ideation, was in denial of the abuse she suffered, and required psychological and psychiatric therapy and treatment as well as institutionalization for her mental condition; because she was unable to function at work, she had to quit her job and was unable to seek other employment. Because of her denial and inability to articulate or discuss the abusive acts, a jury could find that Plaintiff, unlike the Florez plaintiffs, was disabled and thus unable to seek or address the issues with legal counsel for approximately two years. Also, unlike the Florez plaintiffs, Plaintiff was not ready to talk about it; nor was she ready to deal with it. Unlike the affidavit in Florez, the affidavits in this case present facts, not mere conclusory opinions of post-traumatic stress disorder or unsound mind.
191 Ariz. at 327, 955 P.2d at 965.
¶26 The plaintiffs in the instant case, like those in Florez, failed to present evidence sufficient to create an issue of material fact as to whether they were unable to manage their daily affairs for purposes of meeting Allen’s unsound mind definition. As a matter of law, the plaintiffs did not meet the daily affairs prong of Allen.
B.
¶27 The plaintiffs likewise did not present evidence sufficient to raise an issue of fact as to whether they failed to bring suit within the limitations period because they were unable to understand their legal rights and liabilities. In Doe, we considered the interaction between the limitations statute and the delayed discovery of a cause of action attributable to alleged repressed memory of severe sexual abuse. 191 Ariz. at 315, 955 P.2d at 953. We concluded that the plaintiffs evidence, which indicated that she had repressed memories of her sexual abuse and had denied that such abuse had taken place, provided a basis for concluding that she was unable to understand and assert her legal rights at the time her cause of action accrued. Id. at 329, 955 P.2d at 967.
¶ 28 The plaintiffs here made no comparable showing. None of the plaintiffs allege that they ever were in denial that the sexual abuse occurred. Neither do they claim that they repressed memories of the abuse. To the contrary, the plaintiffs admit that they were aware at all times that Frankie had abused them sexually. The personal and expert affidavits submitted by plaintiffs, stating that they were unable to understand their legal rights arising out of their sexual relationships with Frankie, provide mere conclusory statements that are not sufficient to withstand a motion for summary judgment. See Pace v. Sagebrush Sales Co., 114 Ariz. 271, 275, 560 P.2d 789, 793 (1977); Rule 56(e), Ariz. R. Civ. P.
¶ 29 Because the plaintiffs failed to raise an issue of material fact as to either prong of the Allen definition of unsound mind, A.R.S. § 12-502.A does not apply to toll the statute of limitations.
IV.
¶30 The plaintiffs also argue that their causes of action did not accrue until they discovered the causal connection between their psychological injuries and Frankie’s sexual abuse of them, and that an issue of fact exists as to whether the plaintiffs filed this action within two years of their discovering the cause of their injuries.
¶ 31 Under Arizona’s discovery rule, a cause of action based on sexual abuse accrues when the plaintiff becomes aware of the “what” and the “who” elements of the claim, see Doe, 191 Ariz. at 323, 955 P.2d at 961, i.e., the conduct constituting the sexual abuse and the identity of the abuser. If a plaintiff possesses at least “a minimum requisite of knowledge sufficient to identify that a wrong occurred and caused injury,” then the cause of action accrues. Id.
¶ 32 These plaintiffs admittedly have been aware at all times that they were sexually abused and that Frankie was the abuser. The plaintiffs knew, or should have known, by the time they reached majority, that Frankie’s sexual conduct toward them as minors caused personal injury, even if they did not know the extent of such injuries. There-, fore, the discovery rule did not delay accrual of their causes of action, even if they were not aware of the existence or extent of resulting psychological injury.
V.
¶ 33 For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the opinion of the Court of Appeals, reverse the trial court’s judgment in favor of the defendants, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
ZLAKET, C.J., JONES, V.C.J., and FELDMAN and MARTONE, JJ., concur.
. Because this appeal arises from summary judgment in favor of the defendants, we consider the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. See Maxwell v. Fidelity Fin. Servs., Inc., 184 Ariz. 82, 85, 907 P.2d 51, 54 (1995).
. The question whether, if . defendant Frankie’s conduct estops him from asserting the statute of limitations, the district is likewise estopped, is not before us. We therefore express no opinion on that question.
. A.R.S. § 12-502.A provides:
If a person entitled to bring an action ... is at the time the cause of action accrues ... of unsound mind, the period of such disability shall not be deemed a portion of the period limited for commencement of the action. Such person shall have the same time after removal of the disability which is allowed to others.
. See, e.g., Doe v. Dorsey, 683 So.2d 614, 616 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1996); Doe v. Archdiocese of Wash., 114 Md.App. 169, 689 A.2d 634, 641 (1997); Blackowiak v. Kemp, 546 N.W.2d 1, 3 (Minn.1996); Bassile v. Covenant House, 152 Misc.2d 88, 575 N.Y.S.2d 233, 235-36 (N.Y.Sup.Ct.1991), aff'd, 191 A.D.2d 188, 594 N.Y.S.2d 192 (1993); Ault v. Jasko, 70 Ohio St.3d 114, 637 N.E.2d 870, 873 (1994); Cooksey v. Portland Pub. Sch. Dist. No. 1, 143 Or.App. 527, 923 P.2d 1328, 1332 (1996); E.J.M. v. Archdiocese of Philadelphia, 424 Pa.Super. 449, 622 A.2d 1388, 1394 (1993); Doe v. R.D., 308 S.C. 139, 417 S.E.2d 541, 542 (1992); Doe v. Coffee County Bd. of Educ., 852 S.W.2d 899, 904 (Tenn.Ct.App.1992); Pritzlaffv. Archdiocese of Milwaukee, 194 Wis.2d 302, 533 N.W.2d 780, 786 (1995).
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GRANT, Judge.
¶ 1 In this appeal we consider whether the trial court should have set aside an arbitration award, and whether the trial court erred in denying Defendant National General Insurance Company’s (“NGIC’s”) motion for sanctions. We affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 2 Jeri Fisher filed this action on behalf of her minor daughter, Jessica Fisher (“Plaintiff’), seeking damages for Plaintiffs emotional distress. Plaintiffs step-grandfather, Henry Juncker, was killed in an automobile accident when a ear driven by Jeremy Trowbridge crossed the center line and collided head-on with Juncker’s car. Trow-bridge was uninsured.
¶ 3 Plaintiff was a passenger in a car driven by her grandmother, Beverly Juncker, which was following Henry Juncker’s vehicle at an indeterminate distance. Plaintiff did not see the actual collision; she and her grandmother came upon the scene shortly thereafter. As a result of seeing her step-grandfather’s body lying on the highway, Plaintiff experienced severe emotional problems which manifested themselves in significant physical symptoms as well as behavioral problems.
¶4 Plaintiff made a claim upon NGIC, under the uninsured motorist coverage of the Junckers’ policy, for her emotional distress. NGIC denied the claim. Plaintiff sued Trow-bridge, asserting that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident, and his negligence caused Henry Juncker’s death. Plaintiff gave notice of the suit to NGIC, which elected not to participate. Plaintiff obtained a default judgment for $25,000. After NGIC refused to pay the claim, Plaintiff filed this action alleging that NGIC’s refusal to pay constituted a breach of the insurance contract. NGIC moved to dismiss, or alternatively stay, the court proceedings and compel arbitration under a provision in the policy. Plaintiff did not oppose, conceding that the matter was subject to arbitration. Finding a valid agreement to arbitrate under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 12-1501, the court stayed further proceedings pending completion of arbitration pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-1502(D).
¶ 5 NGIC next filed a motion to dismiss the arbitration, arguing that Plaintiff was not in the “zone of danger,” a prerequisite for recovering damages for emotional distress upon witnessing injuries to a loved one. Plaintiff responded with two arguments: (1) NGIC was bound' by the judgment she had previously obtained against Trowbridge; and (2) Plaintiff was in the zone of danger. The three-member arbitration panel unanimously granted NGIC’s motion and dismissed the arbitration. In a decision dated February 27,1997, the panel held that Plaintiff was not within the zone of danger and rejected Plaintiffs claim that NGIC was bound by the Trowbridge default judgment.
¶ 6 On April 16, 1997, purporting to act under Rule 7 of the Uniform Rules of Procedure for Arbitration (“Unif. R.P. Arb.”), Plaintiff filed an Appeal from Arbitration and Motion to Set Trial along with a list of witnesses and exhibits. NGIC filed its own list of witnesses and exhibits and an Uncontested Motion for Trial Continuance. On June 26, 1997, NGIC filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in which it argued that there was no reason to overturn the arbitrators’ award and that the award should be confirmed. Plaintiff responded, objecting to confirmation of the arbitration award on the grounds that NGIC had not previously filed any motion pursuant to the arbitration act to confirm the award.
¶ 7 The trial court granted NGIC’s Motion for Summary Judgment, albeit for different reasons than those raised by NGIC. It ruled that NGIC’s request to confirm the arbitration award was untimely:
The court holds that the arbitrators’ decision cannot now be confirmed by the court pursuant to A.R.S. Sec. 12-1511 because of the lapse of time, well over 90 days. Although the statutes on arbitration are unclear on the time in which an appli-' cation for confirmation of the arbitrators’ award must be filed, the court determines that that time is not MORE than 90 days after service of the decision upon the parties.
The trial court nonetheless ruled that it could affirm the decision. Rejecting Plaintiffs claim that the Uniform Rules of Procedure for Arbitration applied, the trial court concluded:
Nevertheless, the court finds that no purpose would be served to further delay the proceedings in the instant case because the plaintiff has shown no basis for the court to rule any differently than the arbitrators’ decision. In other words, if the “appeal” of the arbitrators’ decision were properly raised pursuant to A.R.S. Sec. 12-1511, the court would confirm that decision.
The trial court rejected NGIC’s request for “sanction based attorney’s fees” pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-341.01(0) and 12-349 “because of the failure of the defendant to properly seek confirmation of the arbitrators’ decision.” Plaintiff filed a timely notice of appeal, and NGIC a timely notice of cross-appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-2101(B) and 12-2101.01(A)(3).
ISSUES
I. Is Trowbridge, the tort-feasor, legally liable for damages because Plaintiff was in the “zone of danger?”
II. Having declined to confirm the arbitrators’ award, does the trial court’s decision on the issues submitted to the arbitrators make that decision appealable?
III. Did the trial court err in ruling on attorneys’ fees? Are attorneys’ fees awardable on appeal?
DISCUSSION
I. Is Trowbridge legally liable because Plaintiff was in the “zone of danger?”
¶8 Plaintiff asserts that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of NGIC, contending that Plaintiff was in the zone of danger and that NGIC may not collaterally attack the default judgment she obtained against Trowbridge. We need not reach the merits of these arguments because we conclude that the trial court correctly confirmed the arbitration award.
II. Confirmation of Arbitration Award
¶ 9 The Uniform Arbitration Act provides for the trial court to confirm an arbitration award:
A party seeking confirmation of an award shall file and serve an application therefor in the same manner in which complaints are filed and served in civil actions. Upon the expiration of twenty days from service of the application, which shall be made upon the party against whom the award has been made, the court shall enter judgment upon the award unless opposition is made in accordance with § 12-1512.
A.R.S. § 12-1511. The trial court declined to confirm the award, concluding that NGIC failed to timely apply for confirmation. Its conclusion that there is a deadline of ninety days by which to request confirmation is erroneous.
¶ 10 Conspicuously absent from A.R.S. section 12-1511, or any other provision of the Uniform Arbitration Act, is any deadline for filing an application to confirm the award. The act does have other deadlines: A.R.S. section 12-1509 (twenty-day deadline for application to arbitrator to modify award); A.R.S. section 12-1511 (twenty-day deadline to respond to application to confirm); A.R.S. section 12-1513 (ninety-day deadline to apply to court to modify or correct award). Because the act has deadlines for certain actions, but sets no deadline to file an application to confirm the award, we conclude that there is no such deadline. See Security Sav. and Loan Ass’n v. Milton, 171 Ariz. 75, 77, 828 P.2d 1216, 1218 (App.1991) (expressio unius est exclusio alterius). The trial court therefore erred in creating and imposing its own ninety-day deadline; and NGIC’s request to confirm the award was timely.
¶ 11 The question thus becomes whether any grounds were shown why the award should not be confirmed. Under the Uniform Arbitration Act, agreements to arbitrate are “valid, enforceable and irrevocable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.” A.R.S. § 12-1501. An arbitrator’s decision generally is final and conclusive; the act provides very limited grounds for the trial court to deny confirmation of an arbitration award:
Upon filing of a pleading in opposition to an award, and upon an adequate showing in support thereof, the court shall decline to confirm an award and enter judgment thereon where:
1. The award was procured by corruption, fraud or other undue means;
2. There was evident partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral or corruption in any of the arbitrators or misconduct prejudicing the rights of any party;
3. The arbitrators exceeded their powers;
4. The arbitrators refused to postpone the hearing upon sufficient cause being shown therefor or refused to hear evidence material to the controversy or otherwise so conducted the hearing, contrary to the provisions of § 12-1505, as to prejudice substantially the rights of a party; or
5. There was no arbitration agreement and the issue was not adversely determined in proceedings under § 12-1502 and the adverse party did not participate in the arbitration hearing without raising the objection; but the fact that the relief was such that it could not or would not be granted by a court of law or equity is not ground for vacating or refusing to confirm the award.
A.R.S. § 12-1512(A). See also Park Imperial, Inc. v. E.L. Farmer Constr. Co., 9 Ariz.App. 511, 513, 454 P.2d 181, 183 (1969) (award is final and binding on parties unless shown that arbitrators were guilty of fraud, misconduct, or so gross a mistake as would imply bad faith or failure to exercise honest judgment).
¶ 12 The party challenging the arbitration award has the burden of proving the existence of grounds to vacate the award. Wages v. Smith Barney Harris Upham & Co., 188 Ariz. 525, 530, 937 P.2d 715, 720 (App.1997). Plaintiff has failed to meet this burden. Not only has she failed to demonstrate any of the statutory factors, she fails to even argue them. Indeed, Plaintiff never mentions or cites A.R.S. section 12-1512 in her briefs. On this record, the trial court had no choice but to confirm the award. Summary judgment was appropriately granted.
III. Sanction Based Attorneys’ Fees
¶ 13 NGIC argues that the trial court should have awarded attorneys’ fees under A.R.S. sections 12-341.01(C) and 12- 349. To award sanctions under these statutes the court must determine that the party’s claim: (1) constitutes harassment; (2) is groundless; and (3) is not made in good faith. All three elements must be shown and the trial court must make appropriate findings of fact and conclusions of law. State v. Richey, 160 Ariz. 564, 565, 774 P.2d 1354, 1355 (1989); Gilbert v. Board of Med. Exam’rs, 155 Ariz. 169, 180, 745 P.2d 617, 628 (App.1987). See also A.R.S. § 12-349(F). Under A.R.S. section 12-341.01(0), the court must find these elements by clear and convincing evidence, Richey, 160 Ariz. at 565, 774 P.2d at 1355; under A.R.S. section 12-349, the standard is preponderance of the evidence. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. v. Department of Corrections, 188 Ariz. 237, 244, 934 P.2d 801, 808 (App.1997). An award of attorneys’ fees under A.R.S. section 12-341.01(0 is reviewed for an abuse of discretion; in reviewing an award under A.R.S. section 12-349, the appellate court reviews the trial court’s findings of fact under a clearly erroneous standard while the application of the statute is reviewed de novo. Id. at 243-44, 934 P.2d at 807-08.
, ¶ 14 Because the trial court erroneously concluded that NGIC’s request to confirm the arbitration award was untimely, it refused to consider NGIC’s request for attorneys’ fees. As such, we have no ruling to review. We nevertheless decline to remand the cause for the trial court to consider the request. As noted above, to award fees under either statute, all three elements must be shown. In arguing for an award, NGIC asserts only that Plaintiffs claim is groundless and that counsel for NGIC attempted to persuade Plaintiffs counsel of this fact before the latter filed the appeal. Because NGIC has failed to assert that Plaintiffs claim was not filed in good faith and constituted harassment, NGIC has not stated a valid claim for attorneys’ fees under either statute. We therefore affirm the trial court’s decision not to award fees. People ex rel. Babbitt v. Green Acres Trust, 127 Ariz. 160, 167, 618 P.2d 1086, 1093 (App.1980) (if appropriate, court of appeals will affirm trial court’s ruling, even if trial court’s reasoning was erroneous). For the same reason, we decline to award NGIC attorneys’ fees on appeal.
¶ 15 The judgment is affirmed.
SULT and EHRLICH, JJ., concur.
. The trial court was correct: The Uniform Rules of Procedure for Arbitration apply to mandatory arbitration under A.R.S. section 12-133, not to contractual arbitration under the Uniform Arbitration Act. See Rule 1, Unif. R.P. Arb.
. Plaintiffs opening brief is deficient in a number of respects: (1) its statement of facts contains no citations to the record; (2) it fails to set forth the basis of this court’s jurisdiction; and (3) it fails to set forth the standard of review for the issues raised. See Ariz. R. Civ.App. P. 13(a)(3), (4), and (6). Given that the facts are uncontested and the case is uncomplicated, these infractions have relatively little impact. However, counsel is reminded that violations of the rules can lead to sanctions. See, e.g., Ashton-Blair v. Merrill, 187 Ariz. 315, 316, 928 P.2d 1244, 1245 (App.1996); Bird v. State ex rel. Corbin, 170 Ariz. 20, 24, 821 P.2d 287, 291 (App.1991).
. NGIC does not seek contract-based attorneys’ fees because the policy precludes it from doing so.
. As the prevailing party on appeal, NGIC is of course entitled to costs under Rule 21, Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure.
|
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EHRLICH, Judge.
¶ 1 Julie Elizabeth Ebert (“defendant”) appeals her conviction and sentence in Maricopa County Superior Court for possession of methamphetamine. She asserts that, although she did not object below, the presence of a non-Maricopa County resident on her jury venire, against whom she exercised a peremptory challenge, deprived her of the right to exercise her full complement of peremptory challenges, mandating reversal. We hold that the objection was waived and that there was no fundamental error. A prospective juror’s lack of statutory residency does not constitute bias or prejudice, and to exercise a peremptory challenge against such a venire member is not a detriment comparable to the exercise of a peremptory challenge against a veniremember who should have been excused by the trial court for cause.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 2 The defendant was charged with possession of methamphetamine, a class four felony, and the case proceeded to trial in Maricopa County Superior Court. In the course of jury selection, veniremember G. disclosed that he was not a resident of Maricopa County but lived and worked in Pinal County. Neither counsel objected to G.’s non-resident status, and the trial court took no action sua sponte to excuse G., although it expressed surprise at his presence on the venire.
¶ 3 G. also informed the parties that he worked with law enforcement as a corrections officer. The defendant ultimately exercised a peremptory challenge to strike him.
¶ 4 The jury found the defendant guilty. The trial court suspended sentence and placed the defendant on probation for two years. It also ordered the defendant to complete 360 hours of community service and to pay a fine of $1000.
DISCUSSION
¶ 5 Every juror must be a resident of the jurisdiction in which he is summoned to serve. Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 21-201. G. expressly advised the parties and the trial court that he was not a resident of Maricopa County, the jurisdiction in which he had been called for jury duty. It was error, therefore, for the trial court not to excuse G.
¶ 6 Similarly, the defendant took no action to remove G. from the venire because of the statutory violation. Having failed to object, she argues now that, because the trial court had an independent obligation to remove G., its failure constitutes reversible error. We disagree.
1. Waiver
¶ 7 The failure to object to a trial error generally constitutes waiver, absent fundamental error. State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 572, 858 P.2d 1152, 1175 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994). A lapse regarding the statutory qualification of a juror is subject to a claim of waiver. United States v. Gale, 109 U.S. 65, 67, 3 S.Ct. 1, 27 L.Ed. 857 (1883)(finding waiver of basis for grand juror disqualification on reason of statute disqualifying from service anyone who voluntarily took part in “the rebellion;” waiver applied “in cases where the objection does not go to the subversion of all the proceedings taken in impaneling and swearing the grand jury, but relates only to the qualification or disqualification of certain persons sworn upon the jury or excluded therefrom, or to mere irregularities in constituting the panel”); Application of Williams, 85 Ariz. 109, 333 P.2d 280 (1959) (finding waiver when no timely objection made to fact that too few potential jurors drawn, sworn and examined such that nei-. ther party could exercise the requisite number of peremptory challenges); Vincent v. Smith, 13 Ariz. 346, 347, 114 P. 557, 557 (1911)(“The rule is that where opportunity has been had to examine a juror as to his qualifications, and the juror has not concealed his disqualification by misleading or false answers, the subsequent discovery of the disqualification does not warrant the court in setting aside the verdict. Failure to interrogate and challenge the juror waives the disqualification.”); State v. Marcham, 160 Ariz. 52, 55, 770 P.2d 356, 359 (App.1988)(finding waiver of statutory basis for objection when defendant knew but failed to lodge objection to deaf juror who utilized interpreter during trial); see Kohl v. Lehlback, 160 U.S. 293, 302, 16 S.Ct. 304, 40 L.Ed. 432 (1895) (disqualification of juror as “alien,” i.e., not United States citizen, “cause of challenge propter defectum, on account of personal objection, and, if voluntarily, or through negligence, or want of knowledge, such objection fails to be insisted on, the conclusion that the judgment is thereby invalidated is wholy inadmissible.”); State v. Bravo, 131 Ariz. 168, 170-71, 639 P.2d 358, 360-61 (App.1981) (finding waiver of issue of juror bias because not timely raised when answers panelist gave during voir dire showed he could not be fair and impartial).
¶ 8 The trial court easily could have corrected the error had the defendant timely objected, which is the rationale behind the principle of waiver. E.g., State v. Walton, 159 Ariz. 571, 580-81, 769 P.2d 1017, 1026-27 (1989). And the nature of G.’s disqualification from service was not a question of “the subversion of all of the proceedings” but related “to mere irregularities in constituting the panel,” Gale, 109 U.S. at 67, 3 S.Ct. 1, a topic suitable for the application of the waiver doctrine. Id.; Vincent, 13 Ariz. at 347, 114 P. at 557; Marchara, 160 Ariz. at 55, 770 P.2d at 359; Bravo, 131 Ariz. at 170-71, 639 P.2d at 360-61. Thus we conclude that, absent fundamental error, the failure to object to the non-resident status of a panelist waives the issue on appeal.
2. Fundamental Error
¶ 9 We find no fundamental error. Fundamental error goes to the very foundation of the case and takes from the defendant a right essential to her defense. Bible, 175 Ariz. at 572, 858 P.2d at 1175. It is error of such magnitude that the defendant cannot possibly have received a fair trial. Id. Such is not this case. Indeed, the defendant does not maintain that G.’s residence outside Maricopa County was a circumstance of such bias as to jeopardize the impartiality of the proceedings. Rather, she asserts that reversal is required because, having been forced to “waste” a peremptory challenge on a panelist who should not have been present on the venire, she had fewer peremptory strikes than had the prosecution. As such, the defendant contends, she was deprived of a “substantial right” and the due process of law.
¶ 10 First, the defendant’s own failure to object, which she attributes either to “ignorance, or a lapse in memory,” caused G.’s disclosed non-resident status to pass unchallenged. We are unwilling to reward such inaction or to allow counsel to hold an error to himself until conviction and review. See Jacob v. Miner, 67 Ariz. 109, 113, 191 P.2d 734, 736-37 (1948)(“Another factor enters into our ruling; i.e. the defendants by their affidavits establish that they knew of the [juror misconduct] now complained of before the trial of the case was concluded yet failed to report the same to the court. Evidently, they chose to gamble upon any effect the (juror misconduct] might have on a verdict, and after it was adverse for the first time in their motion for a new trial they apprised the court of the juror’s misconduct in their effort to overturn the jury’s verdict. Such laxness should not be rewarded.”); see also Northern Arizona Supply v. Stinson, 73 Ariz. 109, 114, 238 P.2d 937, 940 (1952)(citing with approval Jacob, 67 Ariz. at 113, 191 P.2d at 736-37); State v. Islas, 132 Ariz. 590, 592, 647 P.2d 1188, 1190 (App.1982)(“[A] party who ... contributes to an error cannot complain of it.”); State v. Mead, 120 Ariz. 108, 111, 584 P.2d 572, 575 (App.1978)(“[A party will not] be permitted to take advantage of an error which was a natural consequence of his own actions.”).
¶ 11 Second and more to the point, regardless of the reason for G.’s continued presence on the venire, there was no fundamental error. In Kohl, 160 U.S. at 302, 16 S.Ct. 304, the United States Supreme Court, citing Gale, 109 U.S at 72, 3 S.Ct. 1, concluded in response to an argument involving a statutory-based disqualification of a juror that “[t]he defect is not fundamental as affecting the substantial rights of the accused, and the verdict is not void for want of power to render it.” Arizona cases similarly do not identify fundamental error under comparable circumstances. E.g., Marcham, 160 Ariz. at 55, 770 P.2d at 359 (“The trial court’s failure to sua sponte disqualify a deaf juror assisted by a translator, when there was no evidence to suggest that the juror was unable to understand the proceedings, did not constitute fundamental error.”); Bravo, 131 Ariz. at 169-71, 639 P.2d at 359-61 (finding no error when defendant failed to object to two veniremembers whose responses during voir dire indicated they could not be fair and impartial’, then used two peremptory challenges to remove them). We conclude that it was not fundamental error for the court to fail to act sua sponte to remove G. from the venire. Thus, the defendant was not penalized in the number of peremptory challenges afforded her.
CONCLUSION
¶ 12 The defendant’s conviction and sentence are affirmed.
FIDEL, P.J., and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
. We use the panelist’s initial to protect his privacy.
. The statute provides: "Every juror, grand and trial, shall be at least eighteen years of age and meet the following qualifications:
1. Be a citizen of the United States.
2. Be a resident of the jurisdiction in which he is summoned to serve.
3. Never have been convicted of a felony, unless the juror's civil rights have been restored.
4. Is not currently adjudicated mentally incompetent or insane.”
. In so holding, we join at least ten other states whose courts have found waiver under similar circumstances. General Motors Corp. v. Hopper, 681 So.2d 1373, 1373-74 (Ala.1996); Kingsbury v. United States, 520 A.2d 686, 689 (D.C.1987); Vaughn v. State, 173 Ga.App. 716, 327 S.E.2d 747, 749-50 (1985); Sturrock v. State, 229 Ind. 161, 96 N.E.2d 226, 227 (1951); State v. Wainwright, 190 Kan. 619, 376 P.2d 829, 831 (1962); State v. Powers, 613 S.W.2d 955, 957 (Mo.App.1981); McCall v. State, 97 Nev. 514, 634 P.2d 1210, 1211 (1981); People ex rel. Ostwald v. Craver, 272 A.D. 181, 70 N.Y.S.2d 513, 514-15 (N.Y.App.Div.1947); Gaona v. State, 733 S.W.2d 611, 617-18 (Tex.App.1987); State v. Wyss, 124 Wis.2d 681, 370 N.W.2d 745, 762-63 (1985).
. The defendant’s reliance on State v. Huerta, 175 Ariz. 262, 855 P.2d 776 (1993), is unpersuasive. In that case, the defendant lodged a meritorious challenge for cause, which was erroneously denied. The supreme court reversed because the defendant was forced to use a peremptory challenge to correct the trial court's error. There was no reason to consider whether the trial court should have removed the juror on its own motion, nor whether its failure to do so would constitute fundamental error.
|
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OPINION
PATTERSON, Judge.
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System Administration (“AHCCCS”) denied a claim filed by Carondelet Health Services (“Carondelet”) for services provided to the AHCCCS eligible patients involved in this appeal. AHCCCS denied the claim because it concluded that the patients did not meet the statutory or regulatory requirements for “emergency” services. The superior court reversed the administrative decision. For the following reasons, we affirm the superior court.
I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This is a consolidated case which involves the medical treatment of two patients by St. Mary’s Hospital. Both patients upon arrival in St. Mary’s emergency room were evaluated, admitted, and treated on an inpatient basis. Neither patient was initially eligible for AHCCCS because their income exceeded the eligibility limitations set by AHCCCS. See Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 36-2905(B). Each became eligible for AHCCCS through a “spend down” process in which incurred medical bills are subtracted from the patient’s income until it meets the qualification limitations. See A.R.S. § 36-2901(4)(c); A.R.S. § 36-2905(E)(l).
After a patient is eligible for AHCCCS, he or she is enrolled with an AHCCCS prime contractor, which manages the patient’s care in exchange for a “per member per month” capitated fee. See generally A.R.S. § 36-2904 (Supp.1995). There is a three-day period between the time a patient is determined eligible and is enrolled in a plan. The legislature has determined that during this “fee- for-service window” the AHCCCS administration itself is responsible for the management and payment of the patient’s “emergency services” pursuant to A.R.S. section 36-2908(E)(Supp.l995), which provides:
Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, for persons certified as eligible pursuant to § 36-2901, paragraph 4, subdivision (a), (c) or (j) or pursuant to § 36-2905.03, subsection C, only emergency medical services as defined by the director by rule which are delivered to persons who have been determined eligible but who have not yet enrolled in the system shall be reimbursed. (Emphasis added.)
The Director of AHCCCS (“the director”) defined the term “emergency medical services” as:
[sjervices provided after the sudden onset of a medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in:
a. Placing the patient’s health in serious jeopardy;
b. Serious impairment to bodily functions; or
c. Serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.
Arizona Administrative Code (“A.A.C.”) R922-101(45)
The specific facts pertaining to the treatment of each patient are as follows: On December 10, 1989 at 3:05 a.m., I.G. arrived in the emergency room at St. Mary’s Hospital with an abdominal abscess “the size of a grapefruit,” and diabetes that was “out of control.” The attending physician admitted I.G. for immediate treatment. Because her diabetes was unstable, the hospital first treated and stabilized that condition before proceeding with a surgical drain of the abscess.
I.G. was eligible for AHCCCS benefits for emergency coverage only from December 16 through December 19, 1989. AHCCCS denied St. Mary’s claim because it determined that the services provided were non-emergent in nature. The hospital filed a grievance, and the director issued a decision concluding that the services were non-emergent. The director felt that I.G.’s medical condition was not the result of a “sudden onset” because she had symptoms for three to four weeks before her arrival at the emergency room.
On March 1, 1989, J.F., complaining of numbness throughout his extremities, was examined by Dr. Greenberg, who recommended that he seek hospital treatment. J.F., however, did not seek treatment until March 5,1989, when he arrived at St. Mary’s complaining of “severe numbness throughout his body.” The hospital contacted Dr. Greenberg who diagnosed J.F. with a possible lesion somewhere in his central nervous system, either along his spinal cord or in his brain, and admitted him. On March 6, 1989, J.F. underwent an MRI scan, which confirmed the presence of a lesion along his spinal cord. J.F. underwent. surgery on March 9 and was released on March 12.
J.F. was eligible for AHCCCS for emergency coverage only from March 5 through March 8, 1989. Initially, AHCCCS issued payment for March 5, 7, and 8, but denied payment for March 6. The hospital filed a grievance contesting the denial of payment. AHCCCS then conducted a review of all of the payments, denied the hospital’s grievance and demanded a recoupment of its earlier payment. The director denied St. Mary’s claim because he concluded that J.F.’s condition was not the result of a “sudden onset,” and because the medical care could have been given on an out-patient basis.
St. Mary’s appealed both decisions. The superior court determined that the director had abused his discretion because the evidence in both cases indicated that the patients’ conditions were the result of a “sudden onset” of illnesses. AHCCCS timely appealed to this court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101.
II. DISCUSSION
AHCCCS first argues that the superior court applied an incorrect standard of review in reversing the administrative decision. Specifically, it contends that the superior court did not address the evidence or the factual findings of the director but instead substituted its judgment.
A. Standard of Review
On appeal, the superior court and the court of appeals determine whether substantial evidence supports the administrative decision. Havasu Heights Ranch and Dev. Corp. v. Desert Valley Wood Products, Inc., 167 Ariz. 383, 387, 807 P.2d 1119, 1123 (App. 1990). The reviewing court, however, conducts a de novo review of the administrative agency’s application and interpretation of the law. Eshelman v. Blubaum, 114 Ariz. 376, 378, 560 P.2d 1283, 1285 (App.1977). The reviewing court therefore may substitute its judgment for the agency’s conclusions regarding the legal effects of its factual findings. Gardiner v. Arizona Dept, of Economic Security, 127 Ariz. 603, 606, 623 P.2d 33, 36 (App.1980).
B. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Here, AHCCCS asserts that the superior court was required to determine whether the director properly interpreted the term “emergency medical services,” and whether there was substantial evidence to support the director’s decision that neither of the patients required such services.
AHCCCS contends that the superior court committed reversible error by failing to give proper deference to the director’s interpretation of his own rule. It submits that absent a clearly expressed legislative intention to the contrary, the language of a statute must ordinarily be regarded as conclusive, citing Moorhead v. U.S., 774 F.2d 936, 940 (9th Cir.1985), and that A.R.S. section 36-2908(E) clearly authorizes the AHCCCS director to develop his own definition of emergency medical services, which the director did by enacting A.A.C. R9-22-101(45). According to AHCCCS, based on the clear language of the statute and the AHCCCS regulation, the decision of the director was supported by substantial evidence.
St. Mary’s responds that the director exceeded his authority under A.R.S. section 36-2909(H) in determining that the services provided by St. Mary’s were inappropriate under the “sudden onset” rule. It submits that the director has created a sudden onset requirement that illegally restricts the legislature’s extension of hospital coverage for medical emergencies, citing Duncan v. A R. Krull Co., 57 Ariz. 472, 476, 114 P.2d 888, 890 (1941).
Although the superior court concluded that the patients did suffer from a “sudden onset,” St. Mary’s asks this court to exercise its discretion and decide the appeal on the validity of the director’s “sudden onset” rule, pursuant to Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure 13(b) (Supp.1995).
AHCCCS responds that this would lessen its rights or enlarge St. Mary’s rights because the superior court did not decide the issue on the validity of the regulation. It contends that the issue is not properly before this court unless St. Mary’s has cross-appealed pursuant to Rule 13(b)(3), which provides:
The brief of the appellee may, without need for a cross-appeal, include in the statement of issues presented for review and in the argument any issue properly presented in the superior court. The appellate court may affirm the judgment based on any such grounds. The appellate court may direct that the judgment be modified to enlarge the rights of the appellee or to lessen the rights of the appellant only if the appellee has cross-appealed seeking such relief.
The State Bar Committee Note to Rule 13(b)(3) recognizes that this rule now allows Arizona appellate courts to affirm on a ground that may enlarge an appellee’s rights on appeal. It states that “essentially, no issues which could lead to the same practical result as that embodied in the judgment will be foreclosed by lack of a cross-appeal.” Comment to Ariz. R. CivApp. P. 13(b)(3). We therefore address St. Mary’s argument because an affirmance on that basis would not alter the judgment.
1. I.G. Required Emergency Medical Services
The hearing officer determined that because I.G.’s abscess had been present for at least ten days, the medical condition was not the result of a “sudden onset;” and that I.G. therefore did not require emergency medical services. The director adopted the findings of the hearing officer and determined that they were supported by substantial evidence. The superior court, upon review, reversed and determined that:
the AHCCCS administrative action was the result of abuse of discretion. The facts as presented, including the time of day of admission, support the conclusion that the admission of the patient was for an emergency and met the sudden onset requirement.
St. Mary’s submits that because the administrative decision rests almost exclusively on the fact that I.G. had the abscess for ten days prior to the in-patient admission, the AHCCCS administration has created a sudden onset requirement which improperly restricts the legislature’s intended scope of coverage for medical emergencies. We agree.
It is well settled that the regulations promulgated by an administrative agency must be consistent with the parameters of the statutory grant of authority. E.g., Ference v. Kirschner, 176 Ariz. 530, 532, 862 P.2d 903, 905 (App.1993) (citations omitted); Boyce v. City of Scottsdale, 157 Ariz. 265, 267, 756 P.2d 934, 936 (App.1988). The legislature has defined emergency medical care as “immediate medical care ... in order to preserve the person’s health, life or limb.” A.R.S. § 41-1831(7). Similarly, the Arizona Supreme Court, in defining emergency care, has noted that although there are various definitions “the need for immediate attention seems to be the common thread.” Thompson v. Sun City Community Hospital, 141 Ariz. 597, 603, 688 P.2d 605, 611 (1984).
While the legislature has given AHCCCS the authority to define coverage of “emergency” medical services, it appears that the director is using the sudden onset requirement to draw a distinction between two classes of patients in need of emergency care: (1) trauma victims or those whose illnesses have had a very rapid onset; and (2) those who have suffered symptoms for a period of time before their conditions became critical. The effect of the “sudden onset” rule is to eliminate emergency medical coverage for an entire group of patients who would otherwise be covered. The director lacks statutory authority to do so. The regulation ignores the reality that degenerative diseases, at some point, become “emergent.”
In the case of I.G., AHCCCS argues that the record clearly established that the hospital admission was neither unforeseen nor sudden because I.G. had been experiencing symptoms for ten days. Thus, AHCCCS maintains that the director was not authorized to reimburse St. Mary’s because the services were non-emergent and not the result of a “sudden onset” of symptoms.
The fact that I.G. waited before going to the hospital does not address the urgency of her treatment upon arrival. The undisputed evidence established that the abscess was the size of a grapefruit and was well beyond the stage where conservative treatment could have been initiated. At the time of admission, I.G. required immediate attention because if the abscess had been left unattended, it could have ruptured and placed her health in serious jeopardy. The diabetic imbalance made immediate surgical treatment of the abscess impossible due to the risk of diabetic coma. Thus, the attending physician determined that I.G. would have to be admitted to the hospital, her diabetes brought under control, and the abscess treated presurgically before the surgical procedure could take place.
Because the record demonstrates that I.G. required emergency medical services, which AHCCCS did not contest with medical testimony, the superior court was correct in concluding that the director’s decision was not supported by substantial evidence.
2. J.F. Required Emergency Medical Services
The hearing officer concluded that there was no dispute that J.F’s “condition was emergent and required admission.” He rejected the argument that because J.F. was not confined to a bed; and that because the diagnostic tests could have been performed on an out-patient basis, J.F. did not require “in-patient” emergency medical care. The hearing officer determined that J.F. was at risk for a lesion rupture and possible paralysis and that these risks were significantly increased with mobility.
The director, upon review, rejected the hearing officer’s recommendations. He determined that the medical care given to J.F. was non-emergent because it could have been given on an out-patient basis. He additionally concluded that J.F.’s condition was not the result of a “sudden onset” because J.F. had experienced symptoms for three to four weeks prior to hospitalization. The superior court determined that the record supported the decision of the hearing officer and that the decision of the director was contrary to the evidence.
At the administrative hearing, Beth Simon, a quality assurance utilization management specialist at St. Mary’s, testified that J.F. was admitted because he was “presenting a neurological deficit that’s gotten worse,” and that Dr. Greenberg had ordered an MRI to rule out the possibility of a tumor. She stated that J.F.’s health was in serious jeopardy because “he was at risk of having a lesion rupture press harder on the spinal cord and creating a lot of neurological difficulty.”
Dr. Greenberg immediately ordered several tests to help define J.F.’s medical problem. An MRI, which was done on March 6, indicated a large predominately left-sided posterior disc herniation at the level of C-6 and 7. When Dr. Greenberg received that result, he determined that J.F. needed surgery. He then ordered two pre-operative tests: a myelogram and a CT-Scan. Simon testified that the myelogram showed a “complete block,” and that J.F. therefore was not getting any nerve conduction from where the blockage began.
The hearing officer then inquired about the potential risks associated with a blocked disc. Simon responded that they include muscle atrophy, probable incontinence and possible paraplegia. The hearing officer further inquired whether any of these risks could minimized through surgery, and Simon stated “possibly.” She added that “[t]o send him home at that point with a disc herniation, you have the possibility of rupture, and I think the doctor would be highly at risk for doing that with that information____” She further testified that a blocked disc located high on the cervical spine, puts a patient at an increased risk.
AHCCCS does not dispute that the emergency room charges were appropriate or that J.F. needed to be evaluated by a doctor. Rather, AHCCCS contends that J.F. did not need to be admitted and treated as an inpatient. Essentially, AHCCCS submits that it was an emergency situation until the hospital diagnosed J.F.’s condition and ruled out a tumor.
That diagnosis, however, was dependent on the MRI results, which indicated that J.F. required surgery. Dr. Greenberg accordingly scheduled surgery and ordered further pre-surgieal tests to more closely pinpoint the surgical area. St. Mary’s has presented medical testimony which establishes a logical sequence of events that occurred within a relatively short period of time. AHCCCS, in response, does not refute the medical evidence presented by St. Mary’s. In concluding that the admission was necessary, the hearing officer noted Beth Simon’s testimony that if J.F. had been discharged, the attendant increased mobility escalated the possibility of rupture and paralysis. Again, AHCCCS offered no evidence to refute this testimony.
Given the short time between the necessary admission and the surgery, together with the risks attendant to the lesion, the trial court properly determined that the director abused his discretion in finding that J.F. did not require emergency care.
III. CONCLUSION
Because the uncontroverted evidence at the administrative hearing indicates that I.G. and J.F. required immediate medical care, and because we find that the director’s “sud den onset” rule is invalid, the decision of the trial court is affirmed.
GARBARINO and KLEINSCHMIDT, JJ., concur.
. Formerly A.A.C. R9-22-101(38).
. Initials are used to protect the confidentiality of these patients.
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OPINION
THOMPSON, Judge.
Appellant Julia M. Hatcher (wife) seeks review of a dissolution decree awarding jointly-held real property to Appellee Marvin L. Hatcher (husband). Wife contends that the trial court erred in finding that the proceeds from a disability insurance settlement awarded to husband, and the family residence and an apartment complex purchased with the insurance proceeds and held in joint tenancy, were husband’s separate property. We agree that the insurance proceeds were, in part, community property, and reverse.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The parties were married in Arizona on December 6, 1980. They had four children during the marriage. Husband worked for Ralston Purina Company, and voluntarily agreed to participate in an insurance program offered by his employer in April 1982. The “Voluntary Personal Accident Plan” (VPA) provided for benefits to the employee’s family or to the employee in the event of accidental death, dismemberment or disability. Husband initially designated his wife and son as beneficiaries of the insurance policy, subsequently amending the policy to include coverage for his three after-born children. Premiums for the VPA program were automatically deducted from husband’s paycheck.
In November 1984, husband suffered the loss of his right hand and the partial loss of his right arm in a work-related accident. Husband missed work for three months because of his injuries. During this time, husband received a small worker’s compensation award which went toward household expenses. Under the VPA policy, he received a lump sum settlement of $120,000 and monthly structured payments for a period of fifty-four months.
A portion of the VPA proceeds was placed in a joint account which the husband and wife maintained at a local credit union, and later used- as a down payment on the purchase of the family residence in Flagstaff, Arizona. The parties subsequently used payments from the monthly structured disability settlement to pay the remaining balance owed on the house. Title to the residence was taken by husband and wife as joint tenants with right of survivorship.
The parties also used some of the insurance settlement proceeds to construct an apartment complex on a parcel of land owned by husband prior to marriage. Two different lenders provided construction and permanent financing for the apartments. Both husband and wife signed the promissory note and held title to the property as joint tenants with right of survivorship. The rental income produced by the apartments fully satisfied each month’s mortgage payments owed on the property.
Wife filed for divorce in February 1991. At trial, the court found that the insurance settlement proceeds were husband’s separate property. The court held that, although the residence and apartment complex were held in joint tenancy, husband had “shown by clear and convincing evidence that it was not his intent to make a gift of the real property to the community.” The court therefore ordered that the real property was the separate property of husband. Wife appeals from these determinations.
DISCUSSION
On appeal, wife argues that the VPA insurance proceeds constituted community property because the premiums were paid with community funds and because the settlement monies were received during the course of the parties’ marriage. Alternatively, wife contends that even if the insurance proceeds were in fact husband’s separate property, he failed to rebut the presumption created by the joint tenancy deeds for the residence and apartment complex that husband intended to make a gift of these properties to her.
We view all the evidence and reasonable conclusions therefrom in the light most favorable to supporting the trial court’s decision regarding the nature of the property as either community or separate. Sommerfield v. Sommerfield, 121 Ariz. 575, 577, 592 P.2d 771, 773 (1979). In Arizona, the presumption is that all property acquired by either spouse during marriage is community property, except that which is acquired by gift, devise or descent. Id.; Ariz.Rev.Stat Ann. (A.R.S.) § 25-211.
We first consider the character of husband’s VPA insurance benefits. Husband relies on Jurek v. Jurek, 124 Ariz. 596, 606 P.2d 812 (1980), for his assertion that the disability benefits received for his personal injuries were separate property. In Jurek, our supreme court held that a recovery for personal injuries is comprised of various component parts which may be either community or separate in nature. Id. at 597-98, 606 P.2d at 813-14. Compensation for any expenses incurred by the community for medical treatment and any loss of wages resulting from the personal injury are deemed community property. Id. at 598, 606 P.2d at 814. Any portion of the recovery intended to provide compensation for injury to a spouse’s personal well-being is considered that spouse’s separate property. Id. Husband contends that the VPA proceeds were wholly intended to compensate him for his personal injuries and, therefore, were his separate property under Jurek.
Two Arizona cases subsequent to the Jurek decision are cited by husband to support his position. In In re Marriage of Kosko, 125 Ariz. 517, 611 P.2d 104 (App.1980), we held that disability benefits are the separate property of the disabled spouse after dissolution. In characterizing the nature of disability benefits, we noted:
Whether paid for by the employer or the employee, the amount expended [for disability insurance] is to protect against a risk of disability which may, but usually does not, occur. The amount paid to protect against this risk does not accumulate in a fund, nor does it build into an equity having an ascertainable value. Although the entitlement to this benefit may be attributed to employment and thus have a community origin, the money so expended does not produce a community asset subject to division at dissolution. What it produces is coverage for the individual spouse against the risk of disability and loss of future earning ability____ While disability income protection may arise during marriage, it is for the protection of community earnings during the existence of the marriage and for the protection of separate earnings of the disabled spouse in the event of dissolution.
125 Ariz. at 518-19, 611 P.2d at 105-06. Thus, consistent with Jurek, this court concluded that disability benefits are the separate property of the disabled spouse after dissolution. Id. Division Two of this court adopted the same view of disability benefits in McNeel v. McNeel, 169 Ariz. 213, 818 P.2d 198 (App.1991).
Neither of these cases is dispositive here. While Kosko and McNeel establish that any portion of disability proceeds which represent compensation for post-dissolution earnings of the injured spouse is the separate property of that spouse, neither case clearly addresses the proper characterization of disability benefits received during marriage. Whether a non-disabled spouse may claim a community interest in disability benefits received by an injured spouse during marriage has not been directly decided, in Arizona.
We conclude that the proceeds from a disability insurance policy for an accident occurring during marriage may be subject to division at dissolution. Contrary to wife’s assertion, the determination that a disability insurance policy was acquired with community funds does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the disability benefits are community property. Lachney v. Lachney, 529 So.2d 59, 64 (La.Ct.App.1988). Rather, like personal injury recoveries, disability benefits have various component parts. See Villasenor v. Villasenor, 134 Ariz. 476, 657 P.2d 889 (App.1982) (disability retirement benefits divided into community and separate property). The primary intent of a disability policy is to insure against the risk of loss of the insured’s future earning capacity. In re Marriage of Leland, 69 Wash.App. 57, 847 P.2d 518, 526 (1993). Indeed, by purchasing disability insurance, a married couple protects against the possibility of economic loss caused by injury to either spouse’s earning ability. See Kosko, 125 Ariz. at 518, 611 P.2d at 105 (disability insurance provides coverage “against the risk of disability and loss of future earning ability”). While the marital community exists, a disabled spouse’s reduced earning capacity results in a loss to the community. Luna v. Luna, 125 Ariz. 120, 125, 608 P.2d 57, 62 (App.1979); In re Marriage of Jones, 13 Cal.3d 457, 119 Cal. Rptr. 108, 111, 531 P.2d 420, 423 (1975). At dissolution, however, the loss to the community ceases and any reduced earning capacity becomes the separate loss of the disabled spouse. 119 Cal.Rptr. at 111-12, 531 P.2d at 423-24.
Here, the loss of husband’s arm and hand resulted in both a loss of earnings and a permanent impairment to his future earning ability. Workers’ compensation insurance provided compensation, at least in part, for any lost earnings. The disability policy protected the community against the risk of loss or reduction of the insured’s future earning capacity. Because husband received a lump sum disability policy settlement for a disability that extended through the remainder of marriage and beyond, at least part of the insurance proceeds compensated the community for husband’s reduced earning capacity during marriage. We conclude that the portion of the disability proceeds which represented compensation for husband’s loss of earning ability during marriage was community property. Queen v. Queen, 308 Md. 574, 521 A.2d 320, 327 (1987); cf. In re Marriage of Cupp, 152 Ariz. 161, 163, 730 P.2d 870, 872 (App.1986) (portion of lump, sum workers’ compensation award for lost wages during marriage is a community asset). The remainder of the lump sum payment, although paid during marriage, was in lieu of future (post-dissolution) lost earning capacity due to husband’s personal injuries. This portion is husband’s separate property.
By treating the portion of disability benefits received during marriage as community property, we extend by analogy the distinction between personal injury recoveries and disability insurance proceeds articulated in Kosko. In a personal injury action, recovery may be had for any diminution in earning ability as distinct from loss of earnings. Mandelbaum v. Knutson, 11 Ariz.App. 148, 149, 462 P.2d 841, 842 (1969). Just as recovery for loss of earning capacity must be proven by such factors as plaintiffs age, health, life expectancy, habits, occupation, experience, and training in personal injury cases, the trial court in dissolution proceedings should similarly consider this type of evidence in equitably dividing disability proceeds received during marriage. Id. at 149-50, 462 P.2d at 842-43. The trial court in this case erred in determining that all of the disability proceeds constituted the husband’s separate property. A portion of the proceeds was community property because it represented compensation for husband’s lost earning ability while married.
The trial court’s award of the real properties to husband as his separate property was based on the erroneous determination that the insurance proceeds were exclusively the property of husband. Indeed, in order to award the real properties to husband as his separate property, the court had to find that the insurance proceeds with which the residence and the apartment complex were purchased belonged solely to husband. Blaine v. Blaine, 63 Ariz. 100, 108-09, 159 P.2d 786, 790 (1945) (where claim is made that property purchased during marriage is the separate property of one of the spouses, fund with which property was acquired must be clearly shown to have been separate property of such spouse). Because the trial court erred in this finding, the award to husband cannot stand, and we must remand this case to the trial court for additional fact-finding and disposition. Because the funds used to purchase the real properties were part community funds and part husband’s separate property, the trial court must revisit wife’s claim that, in placing title in joint tenancy with wife, husband made a gift of his separate property to her. See, e.g., Cely v. DeConcini, McDonald, Brammer, Yetwin & Lacy, P.C., 166 Ariz. 500, 506, 803 P.2d 911, 917 (App.1990) (where further fact-finding is required after reversal on appeal, reviewing court will remand to trial court for resolution of unresolved issues).
Where separate funds of one spouse have been used to purchase real property and title has been taken in joint tenancy, a presumption arises that a gift to the noncontributing spouse was intended. Battiste v. Battiste, 135 Ariz. 470, 472, 662 P.2d 145, 147 (App.1983). The spouse seeking to overcome that presumption has the burden of establishing the separate character of the property by clear and convincing evidence. Cupp, 152 Ariz. at 164, 730 P.2d at 873. The presumption of gift cannot be overcome simply by husband’s after-the-fact testimony that the property was placed in joint tenancy for some other reason than as an intended gift. Valladee v. Valladee, 149 Ariz. 304, 307, 718 P.2d 206, 209 (App.1986). If, after considering the evidence in light of these principles, the trial court sustains the presumption of gift, the community and joint property must be equitably divided between the parties; if wife’s claim of gift is again rejected, the trial court must assign each spouse’s separate property and then equitably divide community and joint property. A.R.S. § 25-318(A).
CONCLUSION
We find that the portion of the VPA disability proceeds which represented compensation for husband’s loss of earning ability during marriage should have been classified as community property. The part of the disability benefits representing post-dissolution diminution in earning capacity was his separate property. The trial court must determine whether husband’s use of some of these disability proceeds classified as separate property to purchase the residence and apartment complex in joint tenancy with right of survivorship constituted a gift to his wife. We reverse the trial court’s classification of the VPA disability proceeds and the residence and apartment complex as husband’s separate property, and remand with an order directing additional fact-finding and disposition, including an equitable division of the properties between the parties, in accordance with this opinion and pursuant to A.R.S. § 25-318(A).
GERBER, P.J., and VOSS, J., concur.
. Other community property states consider disability benefits to be community properly. See, e.g., Guy v. Guy, 98 Idaho 205, 560 P.2d 876 (1977) (group term disability policy); Hughes v. Hughes, 96 N.M. 719, 634 P.2d 1271 (1981) (civil service disability policy); Busby v. Busby, 457 S.W.2d 551 (Tex.1970) (disability retirement benefits).
. It is clear from the record that husband’s injuries resulted in an impairment to his earning capacity. At trial, he testified that "because of the loss of my arm, I can’t just go out and get a job anyplace else anymore. I couldn’t go out anyplace else and get a job. I'm not trained or educated in any other way to go out and make a living.”
. Workers' compensation is awarded to an injured employee in lieu of lost wages and is based on lost earning capacity during the period of disability. Bugh v. Bugh, 125 Ariz. 190, 192, 608 P.2d 329, 331 (App.1980). In this case, husband received a workers’ compensation award for only three months. Accordingly, the disability policy payments, which extended over a period of fifty-four months, did not provide significant, if any, overlapping compensation for husband’s diminution in earning ability. Further, the disability proceeds were intended, in part, to provide compensation for any loss of husband’s power to earn in the future, whereas the three-month workers’ compensation award clearly did not contemplate any future economic harm.
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OPINION
KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.
The plaintiffs, a group of private investors to whom we will refer as “the Lenders,” appeal an order granting summary judgment against them in favor of National Bank of Arizona. The issue is whether a bank has a duty to disclose information about its customer’s account to persons — in this case to the Lenders — with whom the customer does business. We hold that the Bank does not have such a duty, and we affirm the order granting the motion for summary judgment against the investors.
We consider the facts in the light most favorable to the parties opposing summary judgment. Indian Village Shopping Ctr. Inv. Co. v. Kroger Co., 175 Ariz. 122, 854 P.2d 155 (App.1993). In 1993, Buddy Wood, a principal of Lucido-Wood Development Company, Inc., sought financing from National Bank of Arizona for a real estate project known as Castle Rock Condominium Development. Sandy Murphy, a loan officer at National Bank, informed Wood that the Bank would not finance the project but referred him to several mortgage lenders that might be interested in doing so, one of which was Gilbert & Sullivan Mortgage Company, Inc.
Wood contacted Gilbert & Sullivan, which is owned and operated by Scott Claypool. After meeting with Wood, Claypool contacted Murphy at National Bank to thank her for the referral and to inquire about LucidoWood’s credit history. Murphy told Claypool that National Bank had done a little checking on one connection and that it had “cheeked out.” Gilbert & Sullivan then assembled the Lenders to provide financing for the Castle Rock project. Claypool had periodic contact with Murphy regarding Gilbert & Sullivan’s financing and on one occasion sought her opinion about Lucido-Wood’s construction budget.
Eventually, the Lenders loaned $311,740 to Lucido-Wood. This loan closed in August 1993. A second loan of $210,060 was sched uled to close in October 1993, but never did. Escrow services for both loans were handled by Charter Title Agency, Inc. Claypool directed Charter Title to deposit the proceeds from these two loans at National Bank, apparently as a token of appreciation for the referral.
Charter Title maintained numerous accounts at National Bank, including its main escrow account. It was Charter Title’s procedure to hold customers’ money in its main account until it was time to disburse the funds.
As early as April 1993, National Bank suspected Charter Title of kiting checks. Check kiting is “[t]he wrongful practice of taking advantage of ... the time that elapses between the deposit of a check in one bank and its collection at another ... [A check kiter] uses funds which are not his by drawing checks against deposits which have not yet cleared through the banks____” He writes a check against a bank account which has insufficient funds to cover it, hoping that before it is presented the necessary funds will have been deposited. See Black’s Law Dictionary 871 (6th ed. 1990).
From January to October 1993, Charter Title had twenty-one overdrafts in one account at National Bank totalling more than $7.3 million. The Bank did nothing to stop the kiting, but in October 1993, the Arizona State Banking Department froze all of Charter Title’s assets, including its accounts at National Bank. As a result, most of the proceeds from the Lenders’ first two loans were unavailable to Lucido-Wood. The Lenders provided a third loan to LucidoWood in the amount of $174,323.18 so that the real estate project could continue. After the third loan was extended, Lucido-Wood filed for bankruptcy and defaulted on the loans, claiming that the receivership undermined the project.
The receiver eventually released to the Lenders the principal of their loans. The Lenders claim their losses include lost interest, collateral litigation expenses, attorney’s fees, foreclosure fees on the Castle Rock project and lost opportunity costs. The Lenders sued to recover total losses of over $440,000. The Bank successfully moved for summary judgment.
The trial court concluded that National Bank owed no duty to disclose irregularities detected in a fiduciary account to third-party beneficiaries. Summary judgment is appropriate if the court correctly decided that National Bank owed no duty to disclose, as negligence actions may be maintained only if there is a breach of a duty recognized by law. Markowitz v. Arizona Parks Bd., 146 Ariz. 352, 354, 706 P.2d 364, 366 (1985). The question of duty is properly determined by the court as a matter of law. Id.
Generally, banks have a duty to their “customers not to disclose the customers’ financial conditions to third parties.” R.A. Peck, Inc. v. Liberty Fed. Sav. Bank, 108 N.M. 84, 766 P.2d 928, 933 (App.1988). A bank has no duty to third parties to disclose information about a customer’s account. See Eubanks v. F.D.I.C., 977 F.2d 166, 170 n. 3 (5th Cir.1992) (“banks ordinarily owe no duty, fiduciary or otherwise, to third person”); Cumis Ins. Soc., Inc. v. Windsor Bank & Trust Co., 736 F.Supp. 1226 (D.Conn.1990) (bank did not owe duty to another bank to disclose a check kiting scheme the first bank had discovered); E.F. Hutton Mortg. Corp. v. Equitable Bank, N.A, 678 F.Supp. 567 (D.Md.1988) (bank had no duty to inform third party of its suspicions of fraud by its customer, as there was no contractual or fiduciary relationship requiring disclosure); Guidry v. Bank of LaPlace, 661 So.2d 1052, 1059 (La.App.1995) (bank was “clearly under no duty to disclose information about its customer to a non-customer”); Glass v. Berkshire Development, 612 So.2d 749 (La.App.1992) (“a bank owes no duty to a third person with whom” the bank’s depositor “does business”); Citizens State Bank, Enderlin v. Schlagel, 478 N.W.2d 364 (N.D.1991) (“Ordinarily, a bank has no affirmative duty to disclose a customer’s financial condition.”); First Natl Bank and Trust Co. v. Brakken, 468 N.W.2d 633, 637 (N.D.1991) (“a bank generally has no affirmative duty to disclose a customer’s financial condition to anyone”).
Despite this general principle, the Lenders argue that National Bank owed them a duty to take affirmative measures to avoid any loss to them caused by Charter Title’s check kiting. The Lenders analogize the Bank’s duty to that of a tavern owner who serves liquor to an intoxicated patron. See Ontiveros v. Borak, 136 Ariz. 500, 667 P.2d 200 (1983). They argue that just as a tavern owner owes a duty to third parties whom the patron may injure while driving drunk, the Bank owes a duty to third parties who may foreseeably be harmed by a depositor’s check kiting. In making this argument, the Lenders correctly state that the appropriate focus is always on the relationship between the parties, and the obligations arising out of that relationship. See Ontiveros, 136 Ariz. at 508, 667 P.2d at 208; Maurer v. Cerkvenik-Anderson Travel, Inc., 181 Ariz. 294, 890 P.2d 69 (1994).
The Lenders do not restrict their argument to the Ontiveros analogy. They also cite cases that discuss the duty of banks to disclose the status of a customer’s account. They rely most heavily on Peck. 108 N.M. 84, 766 P.2d 928. In Peck, the court determined that a bank had a duty to disclose information about its customer to a third party. After examining a number of other cases, the court articulated a test to determine when such a duty arises. It held that three relationships between a third party and a bank will give rise to the duty: “ 1. Where there is a previous definite fiduciary relation between the parties[;] 2. Where it appears one or each of the parties to the contract expressly reposes a trust and confidence in the other[;] 3. WTiere the contract or transaction is intrinsically fiduciary and calls for perfect good faith.’ ” Id. at 89, 766 P.2d at 933 (quoting Macon County Livestock Mkt., Inc. v. Kentucky State Bank, Inc., 724 S.W.2d 343, 349 (Tenn.App.1986)). The court in Peck then explained that the presence of one of these relationships was only a threshold to the existence of a duty. The court stated that due to the competing interest of customer confidentiality, special circumstances must be shown in order for the duty to arise. The court discussed four circumstances:
[1.] One who speaks must say enough to prevent his words from misleading the other party.
[2.] One who has special knowledge of material facts to which the other party does not have access may have a duty to disclose these facts to the other party.
[3.] One who stands in a confidential or fiduciary relation to the other party to a transaction must disclose material facts. ... [4. One who has] actual knowledge that its customer is committing fraud [must disclose financial information].
Id. at 90, 766 P.2d at 934.
The facts in Peck were as follows. The third party who brought the claim had agreed to build a ski lodge and restaurant for the bank’s customer. Id. at 87, 766 P.2d at 931. The bank’s president assured the third party that a loan for the project had been funded. Id. After the bank’s customer failed to make two payments to the third party, the bank specifically instructed the third party to make all pay requests directly to the bank, assuring the third party that all pay requests would be honored, even though the bank knew the loan funds were exhausted. Id. The court reasoned that “although the Bank may not have had an initial duty to disclose the status of Customer’s account, once it affirmatively involved itself, vis-a-visThird Party, in the capacity other than as a money Lender, it had a duty to disclose____” Id. at 91, 766 P.2d at 935. In Peck, the plaintiff established that he had reposed trust and confidence in the bank. See id. This was the special relationship which was the threshold requirement for recovery. The court also found in that case that a special circumstance — special knowledge that the loan funds had been depleted — existed so that the requisites for the existence of a duty had been met.
In our case, the Lenders argue that:
This case fits squarely within [Peck’s] principles, as any one of the three relationships is enough to establish a legal duty here. For example, in directing that their funds be deposited with National Bank, the lenders reposed trust and confidence in National Bank to take reasonable steps to assure that its customer would not use a National Bank account to facilitate fiduciary fraud. Regardless of whether National Bank knew the lenders’ names, it knew it held money in a “trust” account controlled by a check-kiter.
The Lenders also apparently seek to show the existence of a special relationship between the Lenders and the Bank, based on representations that Murphy made concerning Lucido-Wood’s construction budget and credit history. We disagree that a special relationship arose. These representations had nothing to do with Charter Title, the Bank’s customer. The record shows that the Bank’s loan officer, Murphy, had sporadic contact with Claypool, the owner of Gilbert & Sullivan. Claypool periodically updated Murphy about the loans to Lueido-Wood; he also informed Murphy that Charter Title had been selected as the escrow company and that the loan proceeds were deposited at National Bank. National Bank may have been selected as the depository as a token of appreciation, but the record does not support the inference that the Lenders intended to expressly repose trust in the Bank by directing Charter Title to deposit the funds with them. The Bank had no financial dealings with the Lenders. Nor did the Bank make any representations to the Lenders about Charter Title.
The Lenders cite other cases in support of their argument that the bank owed them a duty of disclosure. In State Bank v. Stoeckmann, 417 N.W.2d 113, 116 (Minn.App.1987), the court approved a jury instruction which stated that special circumstances exist when a “bank knows or has reason to know that the customer is placing his or her trust and confidence in the bank, and is relying on the bank so to counsel and inform them.” The court reasoned that the instruction was proper because the bank had dealt directly with the plaintiff and had failed to “discuss and explain the very documents which determined the rights and liabilities between the parties____” Id. at 118. National Bank did not deal directly with the Lenders. Nothing in the record supports the conclusion that the Lenders placed trust or confidence in the bank when they selected Charter Title as the escrow agent for the loan transaction.
In another case the Lenders cite, Hooper v. Barnett Bank, 474 So.2d 1253, 1255 (Fla. App.1985), aff'd, 498 So.2d 923 (1986), the record demonstrated that the bank had direct contact with the plaintiff, and had in fact assured the plaintiff that its customer’s investments “were sound and had passed IRS scrutiny.” Nowhere in the record before us do we find that the Bank made representations to the Lenders concerning Charter Title’s financial condition.
In Richfield Bank & Trust Co. v. Sjogren, 309 Minn. 362, 244 N.W.2d 648, 649 (1976), on which the Lenders also rely, the bank approved a loan to the Sjogrens, secured by an interest in real estate and fifty air purification units. National Pollution Eliminators, Inc., which was selling the purification units to the Sjogrens, was also a customer of Rich-field Bank. Id. 244 N.W.2d at 649-50. Thompson, a loan officer at Richfield, dealt with both National Pollution and the Sjogrens. Id. The court held that special circumstances required disclosure because the bank had actual knowledge of the fraudulent activities of National Pollution. Id. at 652. Evidence showed that Thompson, the bank’s loan officer, was listed as a credit reference for National Pollution, had personally loaned money to National Pollution, received “fringe” benefits from them, and actively participated in the affairs and decisions of National Pollution. Id. at 650. Here, National Bank did not engage in transactions with the Lenders.
The key distinguishing factor in all of the cases on which the Lenders rely is that the banks were directly involved with the third parties in the transactions that were the subject of litigation. This involvement satisfied the necessary relationship giving rise to the duty of disclosure. In the case before us, while the Bank may have been marginally involved with the Lenders’ decision to finance Lucido-Wood, the Bank was not involved in the selection of Charter Title as an escrow company. It was the choice of Charter Title which set the stage for the loss.
Clearly, when a bank’s customer is an escrow agent, the bank knows there are third-party beneficiaries of the escrow agent’s fiduciary account. We have considered whether a bank’s knowledge that its customer is a fiduciary creates a duty to disclose irregularities to a beneficiary. We have not found any case that specifically deals with this question, although one case suggests that no duty arises simply by virtue of the fact that the customer is a fiduciary. In Dodd v. Citizens Bank, 222 Cal.App.3d 1624, 272 Cal.Rptr. 623 (1990), the plaintiff, Dodd, had contracted with Pacific Payroll Systems, Inc., to handle the payroll for his business. Pacific Payroll maintained a fiduciary account for this purpose at Citizens Bank, which was funded by Dodd. Id. at 1626, 272 Cal.Rptr. 623. After Pacific Payroll fraudulently diverted Dodd’s funds, Dodd sued Citizens Bank, attempting to cast himself in the role of a customer of the bank, and claiming that the bank owed him a duty to send him monthly statements regarding items issued in his company’s name from Pacific’s payroll trust account. Id. The court decided that the bank did not owe Dodd a duty because he did not qualify as a customer. Id. at 1628, 272 Cal.Rptr. 623.
The Lenders in this case, unlike Dodd, do not claim that they were customers of National Bank. Dodd is nonetheless instructive; it implicitly stands for the proposition that absent a customer or other special relationship, a bank does not owe a duty of disclosure, even when its customer is a fiduciary.
We express no opinion as to whether the Bank owed a duty to any regulatory agency to report the irregularities that it observed. Although the Lenders mention that possibility, they do not brief this issue or rely on it as a ground for recovery in this case. We recognize that check kiting often has a very damaging effect on innocent persons, and a bank’s failure to put an end to the practice contributes to such damage. On the other hand, requiring a bank to monitor all of its fiduciary customer’s accounts and notify beneficiaries who might be harmed by an overdraft would be a heavy burden. So, too, a bank cannot know the details of its customers’ transactions. What appears suspicious may in fact be proper. In the absence of any statute or ease law that creates the duty for which the Lenders argue, we are reluctant to do so.
The Lenders also argue that the order granting summary judgment should be reversed because the trial court denied a request for additional discovery pursuant to Rule 56(f), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. The Lenders sought to depose two National Bank employees and stated that the depositions would help them ascertain the extent of National Bank’s knowledge of Charter Title’s check kiting. We need not decide if the request for additional discovery was properly denied. Since the Bank had no relationship with the Lenders that created a duty to disclose information about Charter Title, additional discovery could not alter the outcome.
Nor do we address the Lenders’ arguments regarding the trial court’s discussion of causation of damages and supposed erroneous findings of fact. Again, given our conclusion that the Bank had no duty of disclosure, causation is irrelevant. The erroneous findings argument is moot because we have examined the entire record in the light most favorable to the Lenders.
Finally, we need not address the Lenders’ contention that the trial court improperly looked to the Bank’s standard of conduct, rather than at the parties’ relationship, when determining the question of duty. See Coburn v. City of Tucson, 143 Ariz. 50, 51-52, 691 P.2d 1078, 1079-80 (1984). Because we have held that National Bank did not owe the Lenders a duty, it is unnecessary to determine whether the trial court’s precise analysis was proper.
We affirm the order granting the motion for summary judgment.
EHRLICH, P.J., and PATTERSON, J, concur.
|
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OPINION
FIDEL, Presiding Judge.
This personal injury suit arises from an accidental injury in a company softball game. Plaintiff Terrilyn Estes was catching for one team; Defendant Ronald Tripson was running the bases for the other; as Tripson ran toward home plate, Estes awaited a throw to tag him out. Crossing the plate, Tripson stepped on Estes’s outstretched leg, fracturing her tibia and fibula. Tripson did not slide or deliberately collide with Estes. Nor did he recklessly or intentionally step on her leg. Estes claims, however, that Tripson had the time and opportunity to avoid her leg and was negligent because he failed to do so.
The trial court awarded summary judgment to Tripson, finding that, even if Tripson was negligent, simple negligence is not actionable among participants in recreational sports. We affirm summary judgment for a different reason.
Some authorities have held, as the trial court held, that only reckless or intentional torts are actionable among participants in sports. This approach, however, is constitutionally problematic in Arizona, as it is grounded, explicitly or implicitly, in a judicial application of assumption of risk as a dispositive negligence defense. See Mazzeo v. City of Sebastian, 550 So.2d 1113, 1116 (Fla.1989) (a voluntary participant in sports assumes certain risks inherent to that sport and relieves a co-participant of liability for injurious contact within those risks); Novak v. Lamar Ins. Co., 488 So.2d 739, 740 (La.Ct.App.1986) (“A participant in a game or sport assumes all of the risks incidental to that particular activity which are obvious and foreseeable.”); Marchetti v. Kalish, 53 Ohio St.3d 95, 559 N.E.2d 699, 703-04 (1990) (participants in sports activities assume the ordinary risks of such activities including the negligence of co-participants).
To judicially apply assumption of risk as a dispositive defense in Arizona would violate article 18, section 5 of the Arizona Constitution, which provides:
The defense of contributory negligence or of assumption of risk shall, in all cases whatsoever, be a question of fact and shall, at all times, be left to the jury.
Under article 18, section 5, the jury is “sole arbiter of the existence or non-existence” of contributory negligence and assumption of risk, and alone decides whether to apply those doctrines or not as it sees fit. Heimke v. Munoz, 106 Ariz. 26, 28, 470 P.2d 107, 109 (1970); see Brannigan v. Raybuck, 136 Ariz. 513, 518, 667 P.2d 213, 218 (1983). It is constitutionally forbidden for Arizona courts to enter summary judgment for a defendant on the ground of assumption of risk. Brannigan, 136 Ariz. at 518, 667 P.2d at 218.
Some courts have attempted, after adopting comparative negligence, to retain assumption of risk as a complete sports injury defense by recasting it as a no-duty rule. See Knight v. Jewett, 3 Cal.4th 296, 11 Cal. Rptr.2d 2, 834 P.2d 696, 706 (1992) (assumption of risk frames the duty of care owed by a participant in a sporting event); Turcotte v. Fell, 68 N.Y.2d 432, 510 N.Y.S.2d 49, 502 N.E.2d 964, 968 (1986) (assumption of risk is a measure of a fellow participant’s duty of care).
Such a reformulation, however, would not escape the constitutional constraints of article 18, section 5. In Schwab v. Matley, 164 Ariz. 421, 793 P.2d 1088 (1990), our supreme court struck down a statute that attempted to relieve tavernkeepers of dram shop liability to persons who knowingly remain in the danger zone of an intoxicated tavern patron. The statute violated article 18, section 5 in attempting to establish contributory negligence or assumption of risk as a complete defense as a matter of law. Id. at 424, 793 P.2d at 1091. Further, the court held that it would not reheve this constitutional impediment to construe the statute as one that “deals with the question of duty and simply declares that the tavernkeeper has no duty toward one who knowingly accompanies the patron.” Id. A no-duty rule of that kind, according to the court, was merely a “shorthand” application of contributory negligence or assumption of risk. Id. The court explained:
Assumption of the risk as a defense ... always “rest[ed] upon the idea that the defendant [was] relieved of any duty toward the plaintiff.” [W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts § 65, at 451 (5th ed.1984).] The very basis of the doctrine was that the plaintiff had expressly or impliedly consented to the defendant’s negligent conduct, “the legal result [being] that the defendant is simply relieved of the duty which would otherwise exist.” Id. at § 68, at 481.
Id.; see also Restatement (Second) of Torts § 496A, cmt. c (1965) (when a plaintiff is held to have assumed the risk by “entering] voluntarily into some relation with the defendant which he knows to involve the risk, ... the legal result is that the defendant is relieved of his duty to the plaintiff.”) According to Schwab, whether assumption of risk is asserted as a defense or recast as a no-duty rule, it remains subject to article 18, section 5. See Schwab, 164 Ariz. at 424, 793 P.2d at 1091.
This does not mean, however, that we are constitutionally obliged to send this case forward to a jury. We may assume for the purpose of disposition that Tripson owed Estes the common duty “to act reasonably in the light of foreseeable and unreasonable risks.” Rogers v. Retrum, 170 Ariz. 399, 400, 825 P.2d 20, 21 (App.1991). The question follows whether there is evidence from which a jury could reasonably conclude that Trip-son violated such a duty. As we stated in Rogers:
Not every foreseeable risk is an unreasonable risk. It does not suffice to establish liability to prove (a) that defendant owed plaintiff a duty of reasonable care; (b) that an act or omission of defendant was a contributing cause of injury to plaintiff; and (c) that the risk of injury should have been foreseeable to defendant. The question whether the risk was unreasonable remains.
170 Ariz. at 402, 825 P.2d at 23.
Whether a risk is unreasonable depends substantially on the context. In a recent softball injury ease, the Supreme Court of New Jersey examined the context of the risks that participants face in recreational sports:
In many recreational sports, softball included, some amount of physical contact is expected. Physical contact is an inherent or integral part of the game in many sports. The degree of physical contact allowed varies from sport to sport and even from one group of players to another. In addition, the physicality of sports is accompanied by a high level of emotional intensity [, which also varies] from sport to sport and from game to game.
Crawn v. Campo, 136 N.J. 494, 643 A.2d 600, 605 (1994) (citations omitted).
According to affidavits from the home plate umpire and an outfielder who observed the collision, Tripson ran the bases in an “ordinary and typical” manner. Estes does not claim otherwise. Nor does Estes assert that Tripson intentionally or recklessly stepped on her leg; nor does she contest the assertion by observers that Tripson attempted to avoid her leg. Estes asserts only that Tripson could have avoided her leg and that his failure to do so was negligent. We disagree.
Although we ordinarily leave questions of negligence or unreasonable risk to juries to decide, the courts retain authority to set “outer limits.” Rogers, 170 Ariz. at 402, 825 P.2d at 23 (citation omitted). It is appropriate to do so here. There is no evidence that Tripson did anything as a base-runner to increase or exacerbate the inherent risks that Estes faced as a catcher in a softball game. As a baserunner intent on scoring, Tripson simply did not act negligently — did not breach a duty of reasonable care under the circumstances — in failing to perceive or make minute adjustments in his course that might have avoided contact with a catcher attempting to tag him out. To hold otherwise would unreasonably chill participation in recreational sports.
The summary judgment granted by the trial court is affirmed.
SULT, J., concurs.
. The legislature has placed the identical language in our comparative negligence statute, Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. § 12-2505(A) (Supp.1996).
. We agree, of course, with our concurring colleague that there is no constitutional constraint upon an Arizona court’s general power to determine in a negligence action whether one party owed a duty to another. Schwab makes it plain, however, that a court may not escape the proscription of article 18, section 5 against declaring assumption of risk as a matter of law by reformulating assumption of risk as a no-duty rule.
|
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OPINION
DRUKE, Chief Judge.
Appellant brings this appeal from an adverse malpractice judgment. Appellee cross-appeals, arguing that we must dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. We agree with appellee and dismiss the appeal.
Judgment in excess of $3 million was entered against appellant on May 15, 1995. Under Rule 59(d), Ariz.R.Civ.P., 16 A.R.S., a motion for new trial must be filed within 15 days of the entry of judgment. On May 23, appellant moved for an extension of this time limit, citing scheduling conflicts and the unavailability of transcripts. Appellee opposed the motion, arguing that Rule 6(b), Ariz. R.Civ.P., expressly prohibits an extension. Following a hearing, the trial judge granted the motion. He found that appellant had shown “good cause” for an extension and concluded that he had discretion to grant it. Appellant filed a motion for new trial on July 31, which the trial court denied on November 27. Appellant filed a notice of appeal on December 22.
Rule 9(a), Ariz.R.Civ.App.P., 17B A.R.S., requires a notice of appeal to be filed within 30 days of the entry of judgment. Rule 9(b) extends the time for filing an appeal if a timely Rule 59 motion is filed. In that event, the time for filing the notice of appeal is computed from the entry of the order denying the Rule 59 motion. Here, the notice of appeal was filed within 30 days of the denial of the Rule 59 motion, but more than 200 days after the entry of judgment. To determine whether we have jurisdiction then, we must decide if the notice of appeal was timely. That decision depends on whether the trial judge had authority to grant appellant additional time in which to file the Rule 59 motion. We conclude that he did not.
It is settled that “time limits for filing a motion for new trial are to be strictly applied.” Butler Products Co. Inc. v. Roush, 145 Ariz. 32, 33, 699 P.2d 906, 907 (App.1984). “Rule 6(b) ... provides that the time for filing the various ‘time-extending’ motions cannot be enlarged.” Id. Accord Welch v. McClure, 123 Ariz. 161, 598 P.2d 980 (1979); Edwards v. Young, 107 Ariz. 283, 486 P.2d 181 (1971).
In Butler Products, Division One of this court dismissed the appeal on grounds similar to those found here. In that case, judgment was entered against the defendants on November 1, 1983. Eight days later, the defendants filed a Rule 59 motion without a supporting memorandum of points and authorities. The motion “merely requested that a new trial be granted or that additional findings of fact be made and it requested leave to file a later memorandum.” Id. at 33, 699 P.2d at 907. The defendants filed a memorandum on November 22, 1983, and thereafter the trial court denied the motion for new trial. The defendants filed their notice of appeal on December 28.
Concluding that the defendants’ motion for leave to file a later memorandum “was in substance a mere request for an extension of time to file the post-judgment motion,” Division One ruled that “since the substance of the motion was not filed within 15 days after the judgment, it was untimely and the notice of appeal which was filed thereafter and which was not filed within 30 days from the judgment, was untimely.” Id.
Appellant argues that this case is distinguishable from Butler Products because it appears from that opinion that the trial court did not expressly grant the defendants’ request for leave to file the substance of their motion more than 15 days after judgment. We find this argument unpersuasive, however, because by accepting and ruling on the untimely motion, the trial court implicitly granted the extension.
Appellant next contends that the trial court had discretion to treat his Rule 59 motion as one for relief from judgment under Rule 60(c), Ariz.R.Civ.P. “The crucial factor to be considered on this issue is whether the [nominal Rule 59] motion sets forth grounds for relief recognized by rule 60(c). If the motion does not set forth a basis recognized by the rule for setting aside a judgment, relief must be denied.” Welch, 123 Ariz. at 165, 598 P.2d at .984. Though he raises this issue, appellant does not explain how the grounds set forth in his Rule 59 motion satisfy those of Rule 60(c), and our own analysis shows that it does not.
Appellant requested a new trial on eight grounds. Seven claimed legal error by the trial court. Because “[a] rule 60(c) motion is not a device for weighing evidence or reviewing legal errors,” id., we do not ad dress them. The eighth ground accused appellee of “repeated use of unfair surprise” pursuant to Rule 59(a)(8). The basis of this accusation was appellee’s alleged failure to disclose a document and some of the opinions offered by appellee’s witnesses at trial. We are unpersuaded, however, that such “surprise” satisfies the surprise requirement of Rule 60(c)(1). Although we have found no Arizona or federal law construing this requirement, the New Mexico Supreme Court held in Battersby v. Bell Aircraft Corp., 65 N.M. 114, 332 P.2d 1028, 1030 (1958), that a showing of “exceptional circumstances” was required to obtain relief from “a judgment entered through surprise____” We find this standard helpful and conclude appellant has not satisfied it. We note further that appellant argues that the surprise caused by appellee’s failure to disclose constitutes prejudice when “taken together with the other instances of misconduct.” Presumably, the other misconduct was the trial court’s errors, which we have held are unreviewable. On this record, we conclude that the issues appellant raised in his Rule 59 motion could not have been considered under Rule 60(c).
Finally, appellant argues the “unique circumstances” doctrine should apply. This doctrine, which is recognized by some federal courts, “is a limited exception that allows an appellate court to exercise jurisdiction over an appeal that was not timely filed.” United States v. Vaccaro, 51 F.3d 189, 191 (9th Cir.1995). We need not address this argument, however, because our supreme court expressly rejected the doctrine a quarter century ago in Edwards v. Young, 107 Ariz. 283, 486 P.2d 181 (1971).
We conclude, therefore, that the trial court erred by granting appellant’s motion to extend the time in which to move for a new trial. The time to appeal was not extended by the granting of the motion, and the appeal is thus untimely. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed.
ESPINOSA, P.J., and HATHAWAY, J., concur.
. It also does not appear from the record that the trial court treated the motion as one for relief under Rule 60(c).
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OPINION
SULT, Judge.
The Board of Tax Appeals sustained a final assessment of Town of Maraña (“Maraña”) transaction privilege taxes on Centric-Jones Company’s (“Centric”) contracting income for the period October 1, 1986, through September 30,1990. Centric brought this action in the Arizona Tax Court for de novo review of the Board’s decision. The tax court granted summary judgment for Maraña. Centric now appeals, raising these issues:
1. Whether Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 9-240(B)(18) authorizes an Arizona town government to impose a transaction privilege tax;
2. Whether the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution invalidates the Maraña tax;
3. Whether the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution invalidates the Maraña tax;
4. Assuming the validity of the tax, whether Centric’s business activities in Maraña constituted exempt “casual activity” within Marana’s taxing ordinance; and
5. Assuming the validity of the tax, whether Centric was entitled to a substantially reduced assessment pursuant to exemptions provided by Marana’s former taxing ordinance.
We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-210KB) (1994).
FACTS
Maraña is an Arizona town incorporated pursuant to A.R.S. section 9-101, et seq. Before August 31, 1987, a transaction privilege tax pursuant to Maraña Ordinance No. 79.03 was in effect. Effective August 31, 1987, Maraña adopted new transaction privilege tax provisions in Maraña Ordinance No. 87-10. Both ordinances required transaction privilege permits or licenses as a condition of engaging within the town in any business subject to the transaction privilege tax. Both imposed a 2% transaction privilege tax on a tax base of 65% of the gross income from the business of acting as a prime contractor within the town limits. Both taxes were the usual type of transaction privilege tax, namely one which is measured and paid at defined intervals on the volume of business already completed by the taxpayer.
Centric is a Colorado partnership that was formed to engage in the construction business throughout the Rocky Mountain region. In December 1986, it entered into a contract with the United States Bureau of Reclamation to build the Twin Peaks and Sandario Pumping Plants and Switch Yards for the Central Arizona Project (“CAP”). The site for the Twin Peaks Pumping Station was within the town limits of Maraña, ten to eleven miles from the town center. While Centric was constructing the Twin Peaks Pumping Station, neither it nor its representatives were aware that the site was inside the town limits.
Centric’s principal place of business is in Denver, Colorado. All acquisition, requisition and accounting tasks in connection with the Twin Peaks project were accomplished in Colorado. Centric had a trailer on the project site for supervision and management and received its project mail in the Town of Rillito. Other than the Twin Peaks project, it did no business in Maraña, had no office in the town, and did not hold itself out as being engaged in the construction business in Marana.
Centric employed about sixty-five people on the CAP contract. Ten to twelve of them came from Colorado and the remainder were hired locally. In addition, Centric’s subcontractors hired about fifty employees to work on the project.
In the tax court, Maraña filed an affidavit from its town manager, Hurvie E. Davis. Davis averred that Maraña had performed numerous municipal services for Centric’s benefit, including traffic control, road maintenance, police surveillance and investigation, and police emergency responses. Attached to Davis’s affidavit were two letters from Centric to the town, thanking the town for its cooperation in Centric’s closing of Twin Peaks Road for excavation in mid-1988.
Centric countered with an affidavit from its project supervisor, Wilburt Hinton. Hinton confirmed Centric’s lack of knowledge of the location of the project within town limits and averred that Centric representatives had not seen town personnel perform daily traffic control or frequent, routine road maintenance. Hinton denied that Centric had ever called the Maraña Police Department and stated that the only call Centric made for law enforcement assistance during the project was to the Pima County Sheriffs Department. He also stated that Centric’s emergency procedures had called for it to seek emergency fire or medical services from the Picture Rocks Fire Department. Hinton lastly stated that Centric’s 1988 correspondence with Maraña, to which town manager Hurvie Davis referred, arose out of a cooperative effort to reroute Maraña school buses during the closure of Twin Peaks Road.
During the project, Centric purchased tangible personal property at a total cost of $5.437 million and used it in performing the CAP contract. This property included pipes and valves of four inches in diameter or larger valued at $1.787 million. Centric’s total compensation under the CAP contract was $13.161 million. Although Centric purchased and used tangible personal property in performing the CAP contract, it does not engage in any retail business.
The 1986 CAP contract was Centric’s first construction project in Arizona. In late 1988 or early 1989, Centric began to enter into contracts for other construction work in Mesa, Tucson, Phoenix, and Scottsdale. In March 1987, Centric obtained an Arizona transaction privilege tax license in the prime contracting classification. It filed Arizona sales, use, and severance tax returns, and paid prime contracting taxes to the state from March 1987 through September 1990.
Maraña audited Centric for the period October 1, 1986, through September 30, 1990. The town assessed unpaid transaction privilege taxes against Centric totalling $190,-769.67, including interest through November 30, 1990. By agreement between Centric and Maraña, Centric paid $100,000 of this total in return for Marana’s waiver of penalties and a stipulation that no additional tax need be paid until the dispute was litigated to conclusion.
ANALYSIS
Arizona Towns’ Authority to Impose Transaction Privilege Tax
An Arizona town has only those powers that the Arizona Constitution and statutes confer on it expressly or by necessary implication. City of Scottsdale v. Superior Court, 103 Ariz. 204, 439 P.2d 290 (1968); Maricopa County v. Maricopa County Mun. Water Conservation Dist. No. 1, 171 Ariz. 325, 830 P.2d 846 (App.1991). Both Centric and Marana identify A.R.S. section 9-240(B)(18) as the only statute that expressly authorizes Arizona towns to impose a tax relating to the privilege of engaging in business within their boundaries. This statute provides in pertinent part:
The common council shall ... have power within the limits of the town:
(18) To fix the amount of license taxes to be paid by any person, firm, corporation or association for carrying on any business, game or amusement, calling, profession or occupation, and prescribe the method of collection or payment of the same, for a stated period in advance, and fix penalties for failure to comply by fine or imprisonment, or both.
Centric contends that if section 9-240(B)(18) is properly construed in favor of town taxpayers, it does not confer on an Arizona town the power to enact a transaction privilege tax of the type imposed by Maraña. Centric concedes, citing McCarthy v. City of Tucson, 26 Ariz. 311, 225 P. 329 (1924), that ja “license tax” as used in this statute is not a regulatory tax under the police power but an excise tax for revenue purposes. Centric further concedes that a transaction privilege tax is also an excise tax for revenue purposes. Centric argues, however, that while “license tax” as used in the statute should be construed as a revenue tax, the balance of the statutory language shows that the term does not contemplate a “transaction privilege” type of revenue tax. Specifically, Centric asserts that a transaction privilege tax generally is a “backward looking” tax; that is, one which, at defined intervals, is measured and paid after the volume of business done in the immediate past is ascertained. According to Centric, section 9-240(B)(18) clearly precludes such a tax since the statutory language permits only a “forward looking” tax; that is, one which is both ascertained and paid “in advance” of any business being conducted. Therefore, Centric concludes, Marana’s transaction privilege tax exceeds its statutory power.
We undertake our analysis guided, as always, by the principle that the goal of statutory interpretation is to determine and give effect to the legislative intent behind the statute. Calvert v. Farmers Ins. Co. of Arizona, 144 Ariz. 291, 294, 697 P.2d 684, 687 (1985). We look first at the words of the statute itself, and if their meaning is clear, we accord the statute that plain meaning. Mail Boxes v. Industrial Comm’n of Arizona, 181 Ariz. 119, 121, 888 P.2d 777, 779 (1995). If, however, an ambiguity exists such that the legislative intent cannot be ascertained from the statute, we resort to the rules of statutory construction. Id.
For ease of reference, we will restate the text of section 9-240(B)(18), broken into its logical grammatical units:
The common council shall ... have power within the limits of the town:
(18) To fix the amount of license taxes to be paid by any person, firm, corporation or association for carrying on any business, game or amusement, calling, profession or occupation,
and prescribe the method of collection or payment of the same, for a stated period in advance, and fix penalties for failure to comply by fine or imprisonment, or both.
One could read this statute to support Centric’s position. If we assume that the drafters intended the appositive prepositional phrase “for a stated period in advance” to modify both the initial clause “To fix the amount of license taxes to be paid by any person ... for carrying on any business” as well as the second clause “[to] prescribe the method of collection or payment of the same,” then the initial clause would be equivalent to: “To fix for a stated period in advance the amount of license taxes to be paid by any person ... for carrying on any business” Under this construction, the statute would authorize the imposition of a license tax only of the type which must be ascertained and paid in advance.
This reading, however, is not the only one that may logically be derived from the statute. The drafters’ liberal use of commas in the statute suggests that they intended to follow the presumptive rule that an adjectival or adverbial phrase modifies only the clause that immediately precedes it. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. O’Toole, 182 Ariz. 284, 288 n. 6, 896 P.2d 254, 258 n. 6 (1995). As thus interpreted, the prepositional phrase, “for a stated period in advanee,” would apply only to the second clause of the statute, rendering the clause equivalent to: “[to] prescribe the method of collection or payment of the same for a stated period in advance.” Under this reading, a town would have the authority to fix the amount of taxes to be paid by setting forth in advance the method to be used to collect or pay taxes and stating in advance the period to which the tax will apply, with no limitation on what that period can be. With this interpretation, the statute would authorize imposition of a transaction privilege tax of the usual type, i.e., one measured by applying, at the conclusion of a stated period, the previously established tax rate to the volume of business conducted within the town during the concluded period.
Neither reading, however, stands out as the plain meaning of this rather poorly drafted statute. We therefore conclude that the statute is ambiguous. Consequently, we must now resort to the rules of construction to determine just what the legislature intended to authorize.
Centric’s first argument is straightforward. It asserts that if we find an ambiguity in the statute, we are required as a matter of law to find that the statute does not grant the taxing power at issue. This argument is based on language from the supreme court case of City of Phoenix v. Arizona Sash, Door & Glass Co., 80 Ariz. 100, 293 P.2d 438, modified on other grounds, 80 Ariz. 239, 295 P.2d 854 (1956). In commenting on municipal taxation, the Arizona Sash court stated:
[T]he power of taxation under the constitution inheres in the sovereignty of the state and may be exercised only by the legislature except where expressly delegated to political subdivisions of the state or to municipal corporations. The authority of municipalities to levy a tax must be made clearly to appear and doubts, if any, as to the power sought to be exercised must be resolved against the municipality; the power to tax is a separate, independent power and exists in municipal corporations only to the extent to which it is clearly conferred by the charter or state statutes and its existence cannot be inferred or deduced from other powers conferred.
Id. at 102-03,293 P.2d at 440-41.
From this language, Centric posits that, in the case of a statutory grant of taxing authority, the power to tax in the particular area in question must be crystal clear from the statutory language itself. If the statute is ambiguous on this point, no recourse to principles of statutory construction is permitted in order to resolve the ambiguity. Rather, the maxim that all ambiguities must be resolved in favor of the taxpayer must be applied, with the result that no power to tax may be found.
Centric cites no direct authority for this unusual proposition. Arizona Sash itself does not so hold, as it was not a case which resorted to tools of construction to resolve an ambiguity. Rather, in inquiring whether a City of Phoenix taxing ordinance was authorized by the city charter and, in turn, whether the city charter conflicted with the state constitution, the Arizona Sash court found that under the clear language of both the constitution and the charter, the taxing ordinance was authorized. 80 Ariz. at 102-05, 293 P.2d at 439-42.
Centric also does not explain why, after Arizona Sash, both this court and our supreme court have routinely continued to apply various principles of statutory construction when considering issues of taxing power. See, e.g., State Tax Comm’n v. Wallapai Brick and Clay, 85 Ariz. 23, 30, 330 P.2d 988, 995 (1958) (acknowledging maxim but employing construction tool of reading entire system of statutes to find disputed tax applied to taxpayer activity); Bassett v. City of Tucson, 137 Ariz. 199, 201-02, 669 P.2d 976, 978-79 (App.1983) (applying principles of statutory construction to find taxpayer subject to municipal taxing ordinance).
We also note the full statement of the maxim: “[Djoubtful tax statutes should be given a strict construction against the taxing power, giving due regard to the expression of the legislative intent.” State Tax Comm’n v. Miami Copper Co., 74 Ariz. 234, 243, 246 P.2d 871, 877 (1952) (emphasis added); accord State ex rel. Dep’t of Revenue v. Magma Copper, 138 Ariz. 322, 326, 674 P.2d 876, 880 (App.1983). We do not read this as absolving us of our duty to find legislative intent through statutory construction whenever, on an initial reading, the subject statute yields an ambiguity. Yet that is what Centric’s interpretation of Arizona Sash would require.
We see the function of the maxim as follows. If, when the court concludes its process of construction, an ambiguity nevertheless remains, the maxim does generally dictate a result in favor of the taxpayer. See Ebasco Services, Inc. v. Arizona State Tax Comm’n, 105 Ariz. 94, 459 P.2d 719 (1969). But see Department of Revenue v. Southern Union Gas Co., 119 Ariz. 512, 514, 582 P.2d 158, 160 (1978) (acknowledging but refusing to apply maxim by finding that the undesirable consequence of applying it was the controlling factor in determining legislative intent). Centric’s approach, however, would sidestep the process of construction entirely and apply the maxim prematurely. We do not read Arizona Sash as countenancing such a process and we therefore reject Centric’s approach.
We turn, then, to the task of determining what type of taxing power the legislature intended Arizona towns to have. In this process, we may consider the statute’s historical background, its effects and con sequences, and its spirit and purpose. Hayes v. Continental Ins. Co., 178 Ariz. 264, 268, 872 P.2d 668, 672 (1994). We begin with the history of the predecessors to section 9-240(B)(18). Arizona Code Annotated section 16-207(18) (1949), in which the language of current section 9-240(B)(18) first appeared, was enacted in 1949. This 1949 statute supplanted sections 16-207(18) through (22) of the 1939 Arizona Code which, in their time, had supplanted sections 373(18) through (22) of the Arizona Revised Code of 1928.
The 1928 and 1939 versions had authorized Arizona towns to “license, tax and regulate” in excess of sixty enumerated business activities. Under these pre-1949 statutes, the authority of towns to “license, tax and regulate” included the authority to impose transaction privilege taxes calculated on past business volume. See City of Glendale v. Betty, 45 Ariz. 327, 43 P.2d 206 (1935) (sustaining quarterly license tax on enumerated businesses in increasing amounts according to specified ranges of quarterly sales volume). Significantly, despite the replacement of the former language by the current language in 1949, no question has ever been raised about the continuation of Arizona towns’ pre-1949 authority to levy transaction privilege taxes of the type under consideration here. Moreover, as far as the reported cases and later enactments reveal, neither the legislative, executive nor judicial branch of state government has ever taken the position that the 1949 enactment invalidated any city or town’s pre-1949 transaction privilege taxing ordinance, or that the continuation of any such taxing ordinance beyond the effective date of the 1949 enactment exceeded Arizona towns’ legislative authority under that enactment or its successor, section 9-240(B)(18). See e.g., City of Prescott v. Town of Chino Valley, 163 Ariz. 608, 790 P.2d 263 (App.1989), vacated in part on other grounds, 166 Ariz. 480, 803 P.2d 891 (1990) (where Town of Chino Valley’s authority to impose transaction privilege tax on Prescott’s gross income from groundwater pumping activities within town limits was under attack, no question was raised concerning Town’s legal power to impose transaction privilege tax measured by volume of business).
This historical backdrop illustrates that towns in Arizona have exercised the power to impose a transaction privilege tax since before statehood to the present time. In Bohannon v. Corporation Comm’n, 82 Ariz. 299, 313 P.2d 379 (1957), our supreme court, in construing a constitutional provision and its companion statute being challenged for the first time in forty-five years, stated:
Uniform acquiescence of meaning, if it is not manifestly erroneous, will not be disturbed, at least in eases of doubt, for injustices are likely to result after a long period of time during which many rights will necessarily have been acquired.
Id. at 303, 313 P.2d at 382. Accord In re Pima County Juvenile Action No. J-78632, 147 Ariz. 584, 587, 712 P.2d 431, 434 (1986).
The Bohannon principle is particularly applicable in this case. We have no doubt that many towns other than Maraña impose and collect a transaction privilege tax, have done so for many years, and that the revenues therefrom constitute an important aspect of each town’s operation. Until now, this power has not been questioned but has been acquiesced in. We cannot say that reading section 9-240(B)(18) to authorize this power is manifestly erroneous. Bohannon, 82 Ariz. at 303, 313 P.2d at 381-82 We therefore conclude that this history of acquiescence since 1949 supports the finding that the legislature did not intend by the 1949 enactment to eliminate the power of towns to impose a transaction privilege tax.
Another principle of construction relevant here is the requirement that we look to other statutes that relate to the same subject matter. As our supreme court has instructed:
If reasonably practical, a statute should be explained in conjunction with other statutes to the end that they may be harmonious and consistent. If the statutes relate to the same subject or have the same general purpose — that is, statutes which are in pari materia — they should be read in connection with, or should be construed together with other related statutes, as though they constituted one law. As they must be construed as one system governed by one spirit and policy, the legislative intent therefor must be ascertained not alone from the literal meaning of the wording of the statutes but also from the view of the whole system of related statutes. This rule of construction applies even where the statutes were enacted at differ ent times, and contain no reference one to the other____
State v. Sweet, 143 Ariz. 266, 270-71, 693 P.2d 921, 925-26 (1985) (quoting State ex rel. Larson v. Farley, 106 Ariz. 119, 122, 471 P.2d 731, 734 (1970)).
Other enactments do reflect the legislature’s clear understanding that, since 1949, towns have had and continue to have full authority to impose transaction privilege taxes. For example, in 1980, the legislature added A.R.S. section 42-1382 (1980), subsection C of which provided:
An incorporated city or town may impose a transaction privilege, sales or other similar tax on sales of food. If a city or town exempts sales of food from its tax or imposes a different transaction privilege rate on the gross proceeds of sales or gross income from sales of food and non-food items, it shall____
(Emphasis added). This statute obviously assumes a pre-existing town transaction privilege tax, and grants permission to a town to either tax food or to exempt it. The assumption in this statute certainly illustrates that the legislature understood when it adopted section 42-1382 that Arizona towns already had the general authority to impose a transaction privilege tax.
Probably most indicative of a consistent legislative understanding are A.R.S. sections 42-1451 et seq. These sections generally authorize the Arizona Department of Revenue to contract with “cities, towns and recreation districts of this state which levy transaction privilege taxes” to collect such local taxes at the same time and in the same manner as it collects state transaction privilege taxes, and to remit those local taxes to the local entities. A.R.S. § 42-1451(B). This statutory collection structure obviously envisions that the local “transaction privilege tax” that the Department will be collecting, like the state transaction privilege tax, will be of the “backward” kind; that is, the kind that is imposed in arrears based on business volume. See A.R.S. §§ 42-1301 et seq.
To find, as Centric would have us do, that Arizona towns have no authority to impose a transaction privilege tax, would vitiate significant elements of the statutes discussed above. But we construe related statutes in order to harmonize them and give them full effect, not to render them meaningless. See U.S. Xpress, Inc. v. Arizona Tax Court, 179 Ariz. 363, 366, 879 P.2d 371, 374 (App.1994). Only by concluding that the legislature intended, in section 9-240(B)(18), to authorize towns to impose a transaction privilege tax, can we give full effect to the provisions of section 42-1382 and sections 42-1451 et seq. Moreover, this is the only conclusion that comports with the background of section 9-240(B)(18) and the historical acquiescence in the power of towns to so tax.
Centric offers no significant countervailing considerations regarding the legislature’s intent. Our construction of the statute leaves no ambiguity about the legislative intent; namely, that the legislature fully intended that, subsequent to 1949, Arizona towns would continue to have the power to impose a transaction privilege tax of the type that is measured and paid on the volume of business conducted over a defined interval in the immediate past. The tax court did not err in so finding.
Validity of Assessment Under Due Process Clause
Centric contends that the Maraña tax violated the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. Centric first argues that there did not exist a “minimum connection” between Maraña and the transaction it sought to tax. Centric secondly argues that Marana’s imposition of the tax on 100% of Centric’s contract receipts resulted in a tax out of all appropriate proportion to the amount of receipts generated in Maraña versus the receipts generated in its home state of Colorado.
Both of Centric’s arguments derive from Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, 112 S.Ct. 1904, 119 L.Ed.2d 91 (1992), where the U.S. Supreme Court summarized due process limits on state taxation of interstate businesses:
The Due Process Clause “requires some definite link, some minimum connection, between a state and the person, property or transaction it seeks to tax,” Miller Brothers Co. v. Maryland, 347 U.S. 340, 344-345 [74 S.Ct. 535, 539, 98 L.Ed. 744] (1954), and that the “income attributed to the State for tax purposes must be rationally related to ‘values connected with the taxing State.’ ” Moorman Mfg. Co. v. Bair, 437 U.S. 267, 273 [98 S.Ct. 2340, 2344, 57 L.Ed.2d 197] (1978).
504 U.S. at 306, 112 S.Ct. at 1909-10. Accord Trinova Corp. v. Michigan Dep’t of Treasury, 498 U.S. 358, 111 S.Ct. 818, 112 L.Ed.2d 884 (1991). With respect to the “connection” prong of this test, Quill makes it clear that a minimum connection between the taxing authority and the putative taxpayer exists whenever the taxpayer purposefully directs its activities toward the taxing jurisdiction, whether by establishing a physical presence there or otherwise, such that the taxpayer has fair warning that its activities may subject it to the taxing jurisdiction’s authority. 504 U.S. at 306-08, 112 S.Ct. at 1909-11. Here Centric purposefully bid on, obtained, and performed a substantial contract over a period of more than three years within the town limits of Maraña. Under these circumstances Centric surely had fair warning that it would be subject to the taxing authority of the local governmental unit in which the project was located.
Centric nevertheless argues that it had to be aware in advance that its construction project was within the town limits before Maraña could tax it. Centric cites no authority for this proposition and we do not find the argument persuasive. It seems little to ask of a taxpayer that it inquire into readily available sources of information at town, county or state offices in order to determine in what taxing jurisdiction it is proposing to do business. There is no allegation by Centric, nor any evidence, that Maraña officials did or said anything that could remotely be construed as concealing from Centric that the Twin Peaks project was within town limits. We therefore conclude that imposition of a requirement that a putative taxpayer know in advance that it is within a particular taxing jurisdiction is not necessary to satisfy the “fair warning” concept that underlies the due process clause.
In- arguing the second prong of the Quill test, Centric cites Hans Rees’ Sons v. North Carolina, 283 U.S. 123, 51 S.Ct. 385, 75 L.Ed. 879 (1931), for the proposition that a state taxing scheme runs afoul of the Quill requirement of a “rational relationship” if it unreasonably and arbitrarily attributes to the taxing jurisdiction a percentage of income “out of all appropriate proportion to the business transacted by the appellant in that state.” Hans Rees’ Sons, 283 U.S. at 135, 51 S.Ct. at 389. Based on the affidavit of Wilburt Hinton, Centric asserts that 15.2% of its gross receipts from the Twin Peaks project were attributable to business activities it engaged in outside Maraña, including overhead and profit, Denver office management labor, job costs associated with the Denver office, and taxes. Centric urges that Marana’s inclusion of 100% of Centric’s gross receipts in calculating the tax base was therefore out of all appropriate proportion to the business conducted in the town.
Post -Hans Rees’ Sons analysis by the Supreme Court demonstrates that Centric is mistaken. In Moorman Manufacturing Co. v. Bair, 437 U.S. 267, 98 S.Ct. 2340, 57 L.Ed.2d 197 (1978), cited with approval in Quill, an Illinois company manufactured animal feed in Illinois and sold about 20% of it in Iowa through Iowa-based salesmen. Iowa’s income tax was levied on both domestic and foreign corporations, and was calculated on the portion of a taxpayer’s net income that was “reasonably attributable” to its business within Iowa. Id. at 269, 98 S.Ct. at 2342.
For income that did not have an easily identifiable geographical source, Iowa used a formula that calculated Iowa-based income in accordance with the proportion that a taxpayer’s Iowa sales bore to its total sales. Id. at 270, 98 S.Ct. at 2342-43. The taxpayer contended that this practice resulted in taxation of corporate income actually earned in Illinois rather than in Iowa, and therefore violated its right to due process. Id. at 272, 98 S.Ct. at 2343 — 44. The Court rejected this contention, stating:
[Ejven were we to assume that the Illinois activities made some contribution to the profitability of the Iowa sales, appellant’s claim that the Constitution invalidates an apportionment formula whenever it may result in taxation of some income that did not have its source in the taxing State is incorrect.
In individual cases, it is true, the Court has found that the application of a single-factor formula to a particular taxpayer violated due process. See Hans Rees’ Sons, Inc. v. North Carolina, 283 U.S. 123 [51 S.Ct. 385]; Norfolk & Western R. Co. v. State Tax Comm’n, 390 U.S. 317 [88 S.Ct. 995, 19 L.Ed.2d 1201 (1968)]. In Hans Rees’, for example, the Court concluded that proof that the formula produced a tax on 83% of the taxpayer’s income when only 17% of that income actually had its source in the State would suffice to invalidate the assessment under the Due Process Clause. But in neither Hans Rees’ nor Norfolk & Western did the Court depart from the basic principles that the States have wide latitude in the selection of apportionment formulas and that a formula-produced assessment will only be disturbed when the taxpayer has proved by “clear and cogent evidence” that the income attributed to the State is in fact “out of all appropriate proportion to the business transacted ... in that State,” 283 U.S. at 135 [51 S.Ct. at 389], or has “led to a grossly distorted result,” 390 U.S. at 326 [88 S.Ct. at 1002],
Id. at 272-74, 98 S.Ct. at 2343-45.
In this case, the tax base is a percentage of all of Centric’s gross income derived from engaging within the town limits in the business of contracting — which by definition consists of “constructing], altering], repairing]” a “structure, project, development or improvement.” Maraña Town Code Ch. 14, § 1-100. We seriously question whether many of the off-site costs Centric would allocate as 15.2% of its “contracting” activity in Maraña are properly includible as part of that activity. But even assuming the propriety of the allocation, taxing that small portion cannot reasonably be termed “out of all appropriate proportion” to the business Centric transacted in Maraña, nor does it lead to “a grossly distorted result.” We therefore conclude that application of Marana’s transaction privilege tax on Centric’s entire gross receipts from the Twin Peaks project did not violate its right to due process.
Validity of Assessment Under Commerce Clause
Centric next contends that Marana’s transaction privilege tax violated the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. In analyzing such claims, the U.S. Supreme Court follows a four-part test it first set forth in Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady, 430 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 1076, 51 L.Ed.2d 326 (1977). In Quill, the Court summarized the test this way:
Under Complete Auto’s four-part test, we will sustain a tax against a Commerce Clause challenge so long as the “tax [1] is applied to an activity with a substantial nexus with the taxing State, [2] is fairly apportioned, [3] does not discriminate against interstate commerce, and [4] is fairly related to the services provided by the State.” (citation omitted)
504 U.S. at 311, 112 S.Ct. at 1912. Accord Goldberg v. Sweet, 488 U.S. 252, 257-60, 109 S.Ct. 582, 586-88, 102 L.Ed.2d 607 (1989).
We initially acknowledge that the nexus sufficient to satisfy the Commerce Clause must be more substantial than that required to satisfy the “minimum connection” aspect of the Due Process Clause. See Quill, 504 U.S. at 313 n. 7, 112 S.Ct. at 1914 n. 7. In support of the contention that its activities lacked “substantial nexus” with the town, Centric again relies on the Hinton affidavit. Centric, however, does not favor us with any explanation why Hinton’s affidavit establishes the absence of the required nexus.
When we analyze the U.S. Supreme Court’s treatment of this nexus requirement, it becomes apparent that Centric’s activities satisfy this requirement. In D.H. Holmes Co. v. McNamara, 486 U.S. 24, 108 S.Ct. 1619, 100 L.Ed.2d 21 (1988), the taxpayer was a retailer who maintained several stores in Louisiana with annual sales of over $100 million. In addition, it also maintained a separate catalog business which sent catalogs to potential customers in Louisiana. Louisiana imposed a use tax on the distribution of the catalogs in that state. The taxpayer claimed this tax violated the Commerce Clause since the taxpayer had no control over the distribution of the catalog, which was accomplished by out-of-state printers. The Court relied on the taxpayer’s “significant economic presence in Louisiana, its many connections with the State, and the direct benefits it receives from Louisiana in conducting its business” in finding “nexus aplenty” between the state and the activity which was being taxed. Id. at 24-33, 108 S.Ct. at 1619-25.
The same factors are present here. Centric had a significant physical presence in Maraña and remained there for over three years in completing this contract. It had access to all the town services that any other taxpayer enjoyed, including police and fire protection, road maintenance, traffic control, and the like. These benefits also extended to its sixty-five employees and the fifty employees of its subcontractors. Finally, it generated in excess of $13 million dollars in gross income from its contracting activity in Maraña. These factors compel the conclusion that a sufficient nexus existed between Centric’s activity and Marana’s tax thereon. See National Geographic Soc’y v. California Bd. of Equalization, 430 U.S. 551, 556, 97 S.Ct. 1386, 1390, 51 L.Ed.2d 631 (1977) (the taxpayer’s maintenance of two offices in California, devoted solely to solicitation of magazine subscriptions, together with other minimal activities, established sufficient nexus to justify imposition of a use tax on the taxpayer’s mail order business). See also Goldberg v. Sweet, 488 U.S. 252, 260, 109 S.Ct. 582, 588, 102 L.Ed.2d 607, (1989) (excise tax on telecommunications receipts) and Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana, 453 U.S. 609, 617, 101 S.Ct. 2946, 2953, 69 L.Ed.2d 884 (1981) (severance tax on coal mining).
In connection with the fair apportionment prong of the Complete Auto test, Centric argues that Marana’s tax is not fairly apportioned between Centric’s activities in Maraña and those in Colorado. We note that the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently viewed state gross receipts taxes as properly apportioned to the taxing jurisdiction alone. In Moorman Manufacturing Co. v. Bair, the Court stated:
[I]t would be an exercise in formalism to declare appellant’s income tax assessment [based on single-factor apportionment formula] unconstitutional based on speculative concerns with multiple taxation. For it is evident that appellant would have had no basis for complaint if, instead of an income tax, Iowa had imposed a more burdensome gross-receipts tax on the gross receipts from sales to Iowa customers. In Standard Pressed Steel Co. v. Washington Revenue Dep’t, 419 U.S. 560 [95 S.Ct. 706, 42 L.Ed.2d 719 (1975)], the Court sustained a tax on the entire gross receipts from sales made by the taxpayer into Washington State. Because receipts from sales made to States other than Washington were not included in Standard Pressed Steel’s taxable gross receipts, the Court concluded that the tax was “ ‘apportioned exactly to the activities taxed.’ ”
437 U.S. at 280, 98 S.Ct. at 2348. Similarly, in Tyler Pipe Industries, Inc. v. Washington State Dep’t of Revenue, 483 U.S. 232, 107 S.Ct. 2810, 97 L.Ed.2d 199 (1987), which concerned the validity of a business and occupations tax on in-state wholesaling, the Court stated:
Washington taxes the full value of receipts from in-state wholesaling or manufacturing; thus, an out-of-state manufacturer selling in Washington is subject to an unapportioned wholesale tax even though the value of the wholesale transaction is partly attributable to manufacturing activity carried on in another State that plainly has jurisdiction to tax that activity____ Thus, the activity of wholesaling — whether by an in-state or an out-of-state manufacturer — must be viewed as a separate activity conducted wholly within Washington that no other State has jurisdiction to tax.
483 U.S. at 251,107 S.Ct. at 2822.
As Moorman and Tyler Pipe make clear, it is entirely proper for Maraña to impose its tax on the gross receipts of Centric’s contract performed in Maraña. This contract activity “must be viewed as a separate activity conducted wholly within [Maraña] that no other State has jurisdiction to tax.” Tyler Pipe, 483 U.S. at 251, 107 S.Ct. at 2822. Accordingly, Marana’s tax satisfies the apportionment prong of Complete Auto.
Regarding the discrimination prong of the Complete Auto test, Centric asserts in its opening brief that the tax “discriminates against Centric’s interstate commerce activities,” but offers no distinct analysis in support of that assertion. Suffice it to say that the tax applies equally to all who engage in taxable business activities within the town limits, regardless of where them central offices may be located. The tax does not burden such activities more heavily when they cross state lines than when they occur entirely within the town limits. See Fulton Corp. v. Faulkner, — U.S.— , 116 S.Ct. 848, 133 L.Ed.2d 796 (1996). In short, the tax does not discriminate against interstate commerce.
Finally, Centric contends that the tax runs afoul of the “fair relationship” prong of Complete Auto. Centric again relies on the Hinton affidavit in support of this claim. The affidavit opines that “Maraña did not furnish any public benefits to Centric-Jones for which it can fairly ask return, except for possibly the roads____” This opinion is founded on these factors:
Centric officials did not know that the Twin Peaks project site was in Maraña until shortly before it was completed. Centric did not use any of the public or private facilities in Maraña proper, which were about ten miles away from the project site.
During the project, Centric personnel saw no evidence that Maraña was providing any public benefits at or near the project site.
When the site was burglarized in August 1987, Centric called the Pima County Sheriffs Office.
By Hinton’s estimate, no more than 10% percent of the Town’s general fund budgeted items related to road maintenance.
Centric thus interprets the “fairly related” prong of the Complete Auto test as equivalent to a “quid pro quo” requirement. The U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in Goldberg v. Sweet, however, makes it clear that this approach is mistaken:
Finally, we reach the fourth prong of the Complete Auto test, namely, whether the Illinois tax is fairly related to the presence and activities of the taxpayer within the State. See D.H. Holmes, 486 U.S. at 32-34 [108 S.Ct. at 1624-25]. The purpose of this test is to ensure that a State’s tax burden is not placed upon persons who do not benefit from services provided by the State.
Appellants would severely limit this test by focusing solely on those services which Illinois provides to telecommunications equipment located within the State. We cannot accept this view. The tax which may be imposed on a particular interstate transaction need not be limited to the cost of the services incurred by the State on account of that particular activity. On the contrary, “interstate commerce may be required to contribute to the cost of provid ing all governmental services, including those services from which it arguably receives no direct ‘benefit.’ ” The fourth prong of the Complete Auto test thus focuses on the wide range of benefits provided to the taxpayer, not just the precise activity connected to the interstate activity at issue. Indeed, last Term, in D.H. Holmes, supra, at 32 [108 S.Ct. at 1624], we noted that a taxpayer’s receipt of police and fire protection, the use of public roads and mass transit, and the other advantages of civilized society satisfied the requirement that the tax be fairly related to benefits provided by the State to the taxpayer.
488 U.S. at 266-67, 109 S.Ct. at 592 (some citations omitted).
In this case, Centric benefitted from its presence in Maraña by performing and profiting from a thirteen million dollar construction contract. In the course of this performance, Centric also benefitted from Marana’s road maintenance services, or at least from its assumption of the obligation to provide such services. Although Centric did not take advantage of other town services, whether due to lack of need or to ignorance of its right to do so, Marana’s general governmental protection was nevertheless available to Centric and its work force while they remained within town limits. We therefore conclude that Marana’s tax did not lack the required “fair relationship” to the services provided by the town.
Centric’s Business Activities as Exempt “Casual Activity”
Centric contends that even if Marana’s transaction privilege tax is valid, the contract proceeds from its work on the Twin Peaks Pumping Station were not subject to the tax because its performance of the contract in Maraña constituted “casual activity.” Marana’s tax for prime contractors applies to those who engage in the taxable business activity of construction within the town limits. Maraña Town Code, Ch. 14, § l-415(a). “Business” is defined as including “all activities or acts, personal or corporate, engaged in and caused to be engaged in with the object of gain, benefit, or advantage, either direct or indirect, but not casual activities or sales.” Maraña Town Code, Ch. 14, § 1-100. The definition of “casual activity or sale” provides in pertinent part:
“Casual activity or sale” means a transaction of an isolated nature made by a person who neither represents himself to be nor is engaged in a business subject to a tax imposed by this Chapter.... This definition shall include sales of used capital assets, provided that the volume and frequency of such sales do not indicate that the seller regularly engages in selling such property.
Id,
Centric first refers us to section 1-415 of Marana’s taxing ordinance. This section assesses the tax against prime contractors “upon every construction contractor engaging or continuing in the business activity of construction contracting within the Town.” (Emphasis added.) Relying on this emphasized language, Centric argues that whether its contract was “casual” must be determined only from its business activities within the town and cannot include its activities elsewhere within Arizona. Centric then argues that it was in Maraña only temporarily, for the single purpose of performing an isolated construction contract. Moreover, it did not hold itself out to the public as being engaged in the contracting business in Maraña. Therefore, Centric concludes, its activities in Maraña qualify as “casual” under section 1-100.
Maraña responds that the exemption for “casual activity” is designed to exclude from the tax a transaction which is isolated in the sense that it is not within the taxpayer’s regular course of business. If the transaction is of the nature in which the taxpayer regularly engages, it is not exempted even if it is the only transaction entered into within the taxing jurisdiction. Since Centric was a partnership formed expressly for the purpose of contracting, and admittedly was in the business of contracting within Arizona, as evidenced by its activities in Mesa, Tucson, Phoenix and Scottsdale, its contract in Maraña means it was engaged in a taxable business in Maraña as well.
Centric relies on the case of Arizona Department of Revenue v. Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Co., 113 Ariz. 467, 556 P.2d 1129 (1976) for the proposition that only its activities in Maraña, and not elsewhere, determine whether it engaged in a business subject to the Maraña tax. In that case, our supreme court inquired whether certain sale and lease transactions entered into by Mountain Bell concerning telephone equipment were subject to the state transaction privilege tax. In those days of regulated monopolies, Mountain Bell normally retained ownership of all equipment installed in homes or businesses and rarely sold such equipment to customers. At one point, however, it did sell and lease the components of an installed system to the U.S. Army and the state sought to collect an excise tax. The supreme court held the transaction was not subject to the tax because the sale and lease were “unanticipated and isolated” and therefore qualified for the “casual activity or sale[s]” exemption. Id. at 467-69, 556 P.2d at 1129-31.
Centric urges that since the Mountain States court made no mention that it was considering Mountain Bell’s activities in other states, as well as in Arizona, in determining that the subject sale and lease were casual, the ease therefore stands for the proposition that only activities within the specific taxing jurisdiction are relevant in determining whether the business was casual. We disagree that this principle can be inferred from Mountain States. First, when an issue was not even mentioned in a case and does not appear to have been necessary to its result, we are reluctant to deduce a holding on that issue from the case. Second, the consequences of such a deduction would permit an entity like Centric to perform single, multi-million dollar contracts in every municipality in Arizona, yet escape taxation in those locales simply because, when measured only by its activity in that locale, its contracting was of an “isolated nature.” We do not think that Mountain States should be interpreted to require such a result.
We conclude that Marana’s position is correct. Under section 1-415, if the taxpayer is by nature a contractor, and performs a construction contract within the town limits, it is engaged in a taxable business activity within the meaning of section 1-100 and is not exempted as a casual activity simply because it is a single contract. Centric meets these criteria and is not entitled to the casual activity exemption.
Exemptions in Town’s Former Taxing Ordinance
Centric next argues that it is entitled to a recalculation of its tax liability. It first notes that under Marana’s former ordinance, there were certain exemptions available which would apply to a portion of its contract. It then argues that it is entitled to these exemptions for the full contract, notwithstanding the deletion of these exemptions with the passage of the current ordinance, because of the particular accounting method it used. Maraña disputes Centric’s analysis and argues to the contrary, but since we resolve the question based on our construction of the exemption section, we need not address this preliminary issue.
The exemptions to which Centric refers were contained in former section 79.03-4:
The following shall not be subject to taxation under this article:
G. Sales of tangible personal property made directly to the United States Government, its departments or agencies, by the manufacturer, modifier, assembler or repairer. A deduction of fifty percent shall be permitted where such sales are made by persons other than those specified in the previous sentence.
S. Sales of pipes or valves four inches in diameter or larger to be used for transporting oil, natural gas, artificial gas, water or coal slurry.
Centric states that of its $13.161 million in CAP contract proceeds, $5.437 million related to the sale of tangible personal property to a U.S. Government agency and $1,787 million related to sales of pipes or valves of four inches or more in diameter to be used for transporting water. It argues that it was entirely exempt from taxation on the water pipe sales pursuant to subsection (S) and exempt from taxation on 50% of government sales pursuant to subsection (G).
Centric’s argument depends on its theory that it actually “sold” to the CAP the tangible personal property used to perform its contractual obligations. It argues that it did so because former section 79.03-l(W) defined “sale” as “any transfer of title or possession ... by any means whatsoever.” Centric argues that under Arizona law, a contract to sell property equitably transfers such property and, as such, is a type of “any transfer ... in any manner or by any means.”
Centric’s argument collapses on analysis. A construction contract is not “a contract to sell property.” It is a contract to “construct, alter, [or] repair” a “structure, project, development or improvement.” Former § 79.03-1(E). In interpreting a similar exemption provision in the Excise Tax Act of 1935 as applied to a contractor, our supreme court stated:
The exemption statute, [Ariz.Code. Ann. section] 73-1308, in so far as pertinent states: “The taxes herein levied shall not be construed to apply to ... any sales made to the United States Government, its departments or agencies____”
The statute exempting sales to the United States from taxation is then applicable to this plaintiff, if, and only if he actually made a sale of tangible personal property to the government. That question now becomes the crux of the matter in so far as plaintiffs right to a recovery is concerned.
When a contractor fabricates his materials for the contractee, and the completed structure is erected on the owner’s land, it is as much real property as the land itself. The constituent elements of tangible personal property have been destroyed by their incorporation into the completed structure. And such a contractor, therefore, is not making a sale of tangible personalty to his contractee.
Duhame v. State Tax Comm’n, 65 Ariz. 268, 278-79, 179 P.2d 252, 262-63 (1947). Accord Brink Elec. Const. Co. v. Arizona Dep’t of Revenue, 184 Ariz. 354, 909 P.2d 421 (App. 1995) (interpreting analogous provisions of A.R.S. §§ 42-1310.01 and 42-1310.16).
The Duhame analysis applies here. The exemptions claimed by Centric were not for items of tangible property or pipes and valves which were sold separately from the CAP contract. Rather, they were items incorporated into the completed pumping station and thus became part and parcel of that real estate when delivered to the government. Under Duhame, Centric is entitled to neither of the claimed exemptions.
CONCLUSION
We find that Marana’s imposition of a transaction privilege tax on Centric’s gross receipts from the CAP contract is valid. The judgment of the tax court is therefore affirmed.
FIDEL, P.J., and LANKFORD, J., concur.
. Substantially these same provisions had been in effect in Arizona since 1901. See Civil Code of 1901, Title 11, Ch. 9, § 545(1), paras. 17-22; Civil Code of 1913, Title 7, § 1831, paras. 17-22.
. This understanding has been carried forward in the current version of A.R.S. section 42-1382 (Supp.1995). Subsection D provides:
An incorporated city or town shall not impose a transaction privilege, sales or other similar tax on sales of food or other items purchased with United States department of agriculture food coupons issued under the food stamp act of 1977 (P.L. 95-113; 91 Stat. 958) or food instruments issued under § 17 of the child nutrition act (P.L. 95-627; 92 Stat. 3603; and P.L. 99-661, § 4302) but may impose such a tax on other sales of food.
. Our pre-Quill decision in City of Phoenix v. West Publishing Co., 148 Ariz. 31, 712 P.2d 944 (App. 1985), is distinguishable on its facts. There, an out-of-state company had no office or inventory in Phoenix, and only a single sales representative in the city. Id. at 32, 712 P.2d at 945. The representative solicited book orders and forwarded them to the taxpayer's home office for action. Id. On these facts, we found that the city lacked the required minimum connection with the company to permit a tax on the sales solicited in Phoenix by the company representative. Id. at 36, 712 P.2d at 949. In contrast. Centric maintained a physical presence in Maraña for over three years, during which it largely, if not entirely, performed the contract for which the town sought to tax it.
. The parties agree that the definition of “casual activity or sale” contained in the current ordinance is dispositive of this issue as to taxes imposed under both the former ordinance and the current ordinance.
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OPINION
PELANDER, Presiding Judge.
The primary issue in this case is whether a seller whose contract is covered by and fails to comply with Arizona’s Home Solicitations and Referral Sales Act (the Act), A.R.S. §§ 44-5001 to 44-5008, may, under proper circumstances, recover equitable, restitutionary damages from the consumer/buyer based on unjust enrichment principles. Ruling in the affirmative, the trial court entered judgment for the seller and awarded it damages and attorney’s fees. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
We view the evidence and reasonable inferences therefrom in the light most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s judgment. Inch v. McPherson, 176 Ariz. 132, 136, 859 P.2d 755, 759 (App.1992). Pursuant to a written contract, defendants/appellants agreed to purchase and plaintiff/appellee G & B Design Builders (G & B), an Arizona licensed contractor, agreed to install vinyl siding on defendants’ home for $5,475. Although the contract provided that defendants could cancel the transaction within three business days, they never attempted to do so. G & B installed the siding approximately one week after the contract was executed. When defendants refused to pay, G.& B sued them for breach of contract and later added claims for quantum meruit and unjust enrichment.
After a bench trial, on appeal from arbitration, the trial court entered findings of fact and dismissed G & B’s contract claim, concluding that the parties’ transaction constituted a “home solicitation sale” within the meaning of § 44-5001(1) and that the parties’ contract was “ineffective” because it lacked language required by § 44-5004(B). The court also ruled, however, that G & B was entitled to recover the reasonable value of the improvements (siding and installation) in the amount of $5,475 based on unjust enrichment. The court entered judgment for G & B in that amount and awarded $7,800 of the $11,160 G & B had requested in attorney’s fees plus taxable costs. This appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
Defendants do not question any of the trial court’s findings of fact but rather challenge several legal rulings, most notably G & B’s entitlement to equitable relief. Therefore, we accept the trial court’s factual findings but are not bound by its conclusions of law. Ponderosa Plaza v. Siplast, 181 Ariz. 128, 135, 888 P.2d 1315, 1322 (App.1993); Imperial Litho/Graphics v. M.J. Enter., 152 Ariz. 68, 72, 730 P.2d 245, 249 (App.1986).
Defendants contend G & B should have been precluded from recovering any unjust enrichment damages because its violation of § 44-5004 rendered the contract invalid and constituted a class 3 misdemeanor under § 44-5008. According to defendants, the trial court’s judgment “effectively eviscerated the statutory mandate” of the Act and thwarted its underlying public policy.
The Act was originally passed in 1970 and has been amended several times since then. Section 44-5004(B) provides in part that “[n]o agreement of the buyer in a home solicitation sale shall be effective unless it is dated, signed by the buyer and contains a conspicuous notice” to the buyer containing language set forth in that subsection, including a provision that the buyer “may cancel this agreement any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction.” Similarly, § 44-5004(C) provides in part that “[n]o agreement of the buyer in a home solicitation sale shall be effective” unless a completed notice of cancellation form, the language of which is set forth in that subsection, is attached to the contract or receipt. As our supreme court has stated, “[t]he agreement of sale is not valid [under § 44-5004] unless it contains a conspicuous notice of various matters, including the buyer’s right to cancel.” State v. Direct Sellers Ass’n, 108 Ariz. 165, 166, 494 P.2d 361, 362 (1972) (holding that the Act, in general, is constitutional).
The question here is whether the Act may be construed as allowing a seller to obtain equitable relief notwithstanding a violation of its provisions. Statutory interpretation is a question of law which we review de novo. Parker v. Vanell, 170 Ariz. 350, 351, 824 P.2d 746, 747 (1992). “If a statute’s language is clear and unambiguous, we apply it without resorting to other methods of statutory interpretation.” Hayes v. Continental Ins. Co., 178 Ariz. 264, 268, 872 P.2d 668, 672 (1994). However, “if there is uncertainty about the meaning or interpretation of a statute’s terms,” “we try to determine and give effect to the legislature’s intent” by considering “the statute’s context; its language, subject matter, and historical background; its effects and consequences; and its spirit and purpose.” Id. at 268, 872 P.2d at 672.
The words of the Act do not specifically preclude equitable relief if a seller violates any provision of the Act, nor do the legislature’s declarations of the Act’s purpose support such a blanket prohibition. When the Arizona legislature originally passed the Act in 1970, it declared its purpose was “to regulate, not prohibit, home solicitations sales by, [inter alia ], [gjranting the buyer a statutory period during which time the contract may be canceled.” 1970 Ariz.Sess.Laws, ch. 114, § 1. Similarly, in amending the Act in 1973 the legislature declared its purpose was “to make void any attempt to waive buyer cancellation rights in home solicitation sales.” 1973 Ariz.Sess.Laws, ch. 49, § 1. Those express legislative purposes underlying the Act would not be furthered or achieved by automatically depriving the seller of equitable recourse and relief for material and labor it has furnished to a buyer under the circumstances of this case.
G & B’s contract was dated, signed by and furnished to defendants. In language almost identical to that required by § 44-5004(B), the contract provided immediately above defendants’ signatures that they “may cancel this transaction at any time prior to midnight of the third business day after the date of this transaction.” It is undisputed that defendants were aware of that provision and never sought to cancel the transaction. A-though the contract did not fully comply with the requirements of § 44-5004, it fulfilled the basic legislative purpose of “[gjranting the buyer a [three business day] period during which time the contract may be canceled.” 1970 Ariz.Sess.Laws, ch. 114, § 1. See Direct Sellers Ass’n, 108 A'iz. at 168, 494 P.2d at 364 (noting that the Act primarily grants a buyer the right to cancel within the statutory time period). There was no evidence that defendants would have acted differently had the contract fully complied with § 44-5004; nor was there evidence that defendants were harmed by the noncomplying contract. A for the 1973 legislative declaration of the Act’s purpose, there was no evidence or contention that G & B attempted to induce defendants to waive their cancellation rights. 1973 Aiz.Sess.Laws, ch. 49, § 1.
One commentator has suggested that Arizona’s Act may have been modeled on Connecticut’s Home Solicitation Sales Act, Conn. Gen.Stat.Ann. §§ 42-134a to 42-143 (West 1996), because of their similarities. John G. Balentine, Arizona’s Home Solicitation and Referral Sales Act: An Evaluation and Suggestions for Reform, 12 Ariz.L.Rev. 803, 806 (1970). If so, we generally would consider the Connecticut courts’ construction of their Act, at least prior to adoption of the Arizona Act in 1970, as persuasive but not binding authority. See England v. Ally Ong Hing, 105 Ariz. 65, 68, 459 P.2d 498, 501 (1969); Schuldes v. Nat’l Sur. Corp., 27 Ariz.App. 611, 613, 557 P.2d 543, 545 (1976).
In a 4-3 decision, the Connecticut supreme court held that a contractor whose agreement admittedly failed to comply with and was unenforceable under that state’s Home Improvement Contractors Act, Conn. Gen.Stat.Ann. § 20-429, could not recover in quasi-contract by demonstrating unjust enrichment of the homeowner for whom the contractor had performed work. Barrett Builders v. Miller, 215 Conn. 316, 576 A.2d 455 (1990). The dissent rejected “an interpretation [of the Act] so fraught with the danger of exploitation by the unscrupulous,” id. at 335, 576 A.2d at 464, and noted that neither the statutory language nor its policy mandated that conclusion, which effectively “resulted] in forfeitures enriching the homeowners regardless of the merits of the disputes or the value of the work performed.” Id. at 333, 576 A.2d at 463. That would be the result here. As noted, defendants knew of and never exercised their right to cancel the contract within three business days of the transaction. G & B commenced and completed its work only after that time frame had elapsed. The trial court found that “[defendants never complained to [G & B] about the siding or the installation until after the complaint was filed.” On appeal, defendants do not challenge the quality of G & B’s work, its timeliness, or the reasonable value of its material and labor.
Defendants admittedly received the benefit of G & B’s services at a price customarily charged for such jobs, yet paid nothing and incurred no debt for those services. Moreover, the trial court specifically found that G & B made no fraudulent misrepresentations, a finding not challenged on appeal, and there was no evidence that G & B intentionally or knowingly violated the Act. Under the circumstances, assuming arguendo the Act applied and precluded G & B from recovering on its contract, it was “entitled to recovery on quantum meruit for the reasonable value of the improvements [defendants have] received.” Beley v. Ventura County Mun. Court, 100 Cal.App.3d 5, 8,160 Cal.Rptr. 508, 509 (1979).
In sum, we are persuaded by and therefore adopt the position of the dissent in Barrett Builders. That position is consistent with other authorities, including the Restatement (Second) of Contracts, § 197 (1981) (“Except as stated in §§ 198 and 199, a party has no claim in restitution for performance that he has rendered under or in return for a promise that is unenforceable on grounds of public policy unless denial of restitution would cause disproportionate forfeiture.”) (emphasis supplied). See also id., Comment b; Rosamilia Landscaping, Inc. v. Deluca, 154 Misc.2d 630, 585 N.Y.S.2d 999 (Sup.1992); cf. Reynolds v. D & N Bank, 792 F.Supp. 1035, 1039 (E.D.Mich.1992). It also comports with restitution principles recognized and applied in analogous Arizona cases. See, e.g., Evans v. Mason, 82 Ariz. 40, 45, 308 P.2d 245, 248 (1957) (Where an oral contract is within the statute of frauds and no action can be maintained thereon for that reason, “one who has rendered services pursuant thereto is not remediless for he can sue on a quantum meruit, a promise to pay the reasonable value thereof being implied.”); Ruck Corp. v. Woudenberg, 125 Ariz. 519, 522, 611 P.2d 106, 109 (App.1980) (“If a person performs work, renders services, or expends money under an agreement which is unenforceable, but not illegal, he may recover in quantum meruit for the value of the services and expenses reasonably incurred in good faith.”).
We also agree with the reasoning of the California court of appeals in Beley, a case upon which the trial court relied, that “there was nothing illegal or immoral about the contract itself or the nature of the services and materials to be furnished under it.” 100 Cal.App.3d at 8, 160 Cal.Rptr. at 509. Unlike the “heir finder” agreement at issue in Landi v. Arkules, 172 Ariz. 126, 835 P.2d 458 (App.1992), G & B’s contract for the sale and installation of vinyl siding did not involve performance of any “unlawful aet[s],” id. at 135, -835 P.2d at 467, and was neither “void as against public policy” nor inherently “illegal.” Id. at 136, 835 P.2d at 468.
We summarily dispose of the remaining issues raised on appeal. The trial court did not err in granting G & B’s current counsel a few days to comply belatedly with the formal requirements of Rule XII(c)(l), Uniform Rules of Practice of the Superior Court, 17B A.R.S., which he then did, rather than dismissing G & B’s appeal from arbitration based on a timely-filed but deficient notice of appeal. Other than allowing the case to be tried and resolved on its merits instead of dismissing it on technical, procedural grounds, the trial court’s ruling did not surprise or prejudice defendants.
Finally, the trial court did not abuse its discretion or otherwise err in awarding attorney’s fees to G & B. Notwithstanding the dismissal of G & B’s contract claim, this essentially was a “contested action arising out of a contract, express or implied.” A.R.S. § 12-341.01(A); ASH, Inc. v. Mesa Unified Sch. Dist., 138 Ariz. 190, 192-93, 673 P.2d 934, 936-37 (App.1983). Moreover, a party prevailing on a quantum meruit claim, which G & B sought to add long before trial, may recover attorney’s fees under § 12-341.01. Murdock-Bryant Constr., Inc. v. Pearson, 146 Ariz. 57, 68-69, 703 P.2d 1206, 1217-18 (App.1984), modified in part on other grounds, 146 Ariz. 48, 703 P.2d 1197 (1985); cf. Ruck Corp., 125 Ariz. at 522, 611 P.2d at 109.
Affirmed. G & B is awarded its reasonable attorney’s fees and costs on appeal upon compliance with Ariz.R.CivApp.P. 21(c), 17B A.R.S.
HATHAWAY and FLÓREZ, JJ., concur.
. Connecticut’s Home Improvement Contractors Act incorporates by reference the requirements of its Home Solicitation Sales Act.Conn.Gen.Stat. Ann. § 20-429(a)(6), (e).
. In its cross-appeal, G & B contends inter alia this transaction was not a "home solicitation sale” within the meaning of § 44-5001(1) because defendants made no installment payments, incurred no debt payable in installments, and never actually obtained a loan even though G & B assisted defendants' financing efforts. Thus, G & B challenges the trial court's dismissal of the contract claim and its conclusion that the Act covered this transaction. In light of our decision, we do not address those issues.
|
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OPINION
EHRLICH, Judge.
Southeast Arizona Medical Center (“SAMC”) appeals from the superior court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (“AHCCCS”) Administration (“Administration”) on SAMC’s claim against the Administration for nonpayment of disproportionate-share payments and the court’s dismissal of its negligence claim. For the reasons which follow, we reverse the partial summary judgment and the determination regarding the issue of negligence, and remand this matter for further proceedings,
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The United States Congress established the Medicaid program in 1965 as an effort to furnish necessary medical services to disadvantaged persons. The State of Arizona participates in the Medicaid program through AHCCCS, the state agency designed to provide health-care services to the state’s eligible population. Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 36-2901 et seq. The AHCCCS program exists as a Medicaid demonstration project authorized by certain waivers from the federal government and monitored by the Health Care Finance Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HCFA”). 42 U.S.C. § 1315.
In 1987, Congress began to provide disproportionate-share payments to hospitals serving a disproportionate share of low-income patients. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, P.L. 100-203, sec. 4112,101 Stat. 1330. By appropriating additional Medicaid funding to make disproportionate-share payments to qualifying hospitals, Congress intended to ameliorate the losses being suffered by hospitals treating an unusually high number of disadvantaged persons. 42 U.S.C. § 1396r-4. In 1991, Arizona began to participate in the disproportionate-share program. Laws 1991, 4th Sp.Sess., Ch. 3, § 1(B) (Dec. 17, 1991) (“Enactment of a disproportionate share program which has received federal approval shall be used as a means for improving reimbursement levels to hospitals.”). The legislature assigned to the AHCCCS Administration the task of determining which hospitals qualified as ones entitled to share in the additional funds. A.R.S. § 36-2903.01(R) (“Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, on federal approval the administration may make disproportionate share payments to hospitals beginning October 1, 1991 in accordance with federal law and subject to legislative appropriation.”). However, the legislature also made clear that, by participating in the disproportionate-share-payment program, it was not obligating itself to appropriate state money. Laws 1991, 4th Sp.Sess., Ch. 3, § 1(C) (“If at any time federal monies used to make disproportionate share payments are denied or become unavailable for any reason, the state shall not be obligated to make any future appropriations from the state general fund for the purpose of making disproportionate share payments.”).
AHCCCS customarily enrolls eligible persons in one of the private health plans or health-care-service organizations with which it contracts to provide care, such as Mercy Care Plan (“MCP”) or Arizona Physicians IPA (“APIPA”), the plans involved in this case. The plans are responsible for either supplying the health-care services or for subcontracting with health-care providers such as SAMC to provide the necessary care. A.R.S. § 36-2904. Subcontractors like SAMC remit claims and charges for plan-enrolled AHCCCS members to the plans for payment, not to AHCCCS. Ariz.Admin.Code (“A.A.C.”) R9-22-705. The plans then seek payment from AHCCCS. However, the disproportionate-share program, because it provides funds directly to hospitals apart from service payments, operates somewhat differently.
The 1991 law provided that:
Disproportionate share payments made pursuant to this act for fiscal year 1991— 1992 shall be computed based on information received by the [Administration] as of November 27,1991.
1991 Sess.Laws, 4th Sp. Sess., Ch. 3, § 4. The requisite “information” was to be derived from “encounter data,” which essentially consists of reports detailing the nature of and charges for health-care services provided to AHCCCS members.
AHCCCS, as the single state agency administering the plan, is charged by the HCFA with collecting encounter data as one of the HCFA’s conditions of waiver for Arizona to proceed with its demonstration project. 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(5); 42 C.F.R. §§ 431.107(b), 431.10(e); see 1990 State of Arizona — Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System — Request for Proposal (“Proposal Request ”) (Hearing Ex. 17). By federal regulation, the state plan must provide for an agreement between AHCCCS and “each provider or organization furnishing services under the plan in which the provider or organization agrees to: (1) Keep any records necessary to disclose the extent of services the provider furnishes to recipients;....” 42 C.F.R. § 431.107(b). See A.A.C. R9-22-507, R9-22-522.G. Among the purposes of encounter reporting is to gather facts to enable the HCFA and AHCCCS to evaluate the nature of given care, which would include the nature and number of services provided by hospitals for which AHCCCS payment is not sufficient and, thus, disproportionate-share funding is a necessary augmentation.
AHCCCS has significant control over how the encounter data is collected and detailed requirements pertaining to how the data is submitted. Indeed, so exact and numerous are the details that Section I(C)(2)(j)(10) of the Proposal Request specifies that there shall be on the staff of the contractor at least one “encounter processor to ensure the timely and accurate submission of encounter data reports.” The providers submit the data to the plans, which, in turn, forward the data to the Administration, whereupon Article IV of the standard contract stipulates that the data “shall be deemed to be owned by AHCCCS.” Sanctions may be assessed against any party in the chain for the failure to promptly and correctly transmit the data. In this case, it was not disputed and the Administration found that all of the encounter data submitted by SAMC was given to APIPA and MCP in a timely manner.
Under federal and Arizona law there are four accepted formulas for calculating a hospital’s disproportionate-share eligibility and payment but only one of them, the federal “low-ineome-utilization” calculation, see 42 U.S.C. § 1396r-4(b), is involved here. Under that formula, a hospital is eligible for a disproportionate-share payment if its “low-income-utilization rate” exceeds 25 percent.
On December 18,1991, SAMC wrote to the Administration expressing concern that SAMC apparently had not qualified for disproportionate-share payments. The Administration responded that, based on the data which the Administration had received as of November 27, 1991, SAMC was not qualified and, further, that, because the legislative cutoff date had passed, the Administration could not consider any alternative data offered by SAMC. SAMC then initiated a grievance before the Administration, challenging its “refusal to designate the hospital as a disproportionate share hospital.”
In its “List of Witnesses and Exhibits” filed prior to the grievance hearing, SAMC gave the following “Summary of Issues”:
Grievant asserts that it was entitled to participate in the Medicaid disproportionate share program for fiscal year 4/1/89-3/30/90 based upon its qualification in the low income utilization group. The agency improperly excluded grievant from the list of participating hospitals based upon a mistaken assessment of the Title XIX[ ] and non-Title XIX revenues paid to the hospital during that fiscal year. In determining the hospital’s eligibility, the agency relied upon charge and revenue figures which its representative has acknowledged were patently inaccurate. Based upon accurate figures for the time period in question, grievant was entitled to participate in the disproportionate share program. The agency’s failure deprived the hospital of funds to which it was entitled pursuant to both federal and state statutes. The agency acted negligently in failing to recognize the hospital’s eligibility for the program and the hospital is entitled to recover based upon the agency’s negligence and the entitlement created by state and federal statutes.
Two witnesses were called at the November 10, 1992, hearing. The first to testify was Joan Agostinelli, the health-planning consultant who had designed the disproportionate-share program for AHCCCS. She said that, in early October 1991, she had requested a printout of SAMC’s inpatient charges for AHCCCS members. The printout indicated that SAMC had no such charges, a fact Agostinelli knew to be incorrect. She then searched other data bases, including SAMC’s Medicaid Cost Reports, to “roughly” determine if SAMC might qualify for a disproportionate-share payment. She concluded, however, that it probably would not qualify. Agostinelli also testified that, prior to the hearing, she requested another report of the SAMC data, this time seeking all data received as of November 27, 1991, the legislative cut-off date. Athough this second printout yielded a much higher number of AHCCCS-member charges, the resulting low-income-utilization calculation resulted in a 19.49 percent low-income-utilization rate, more than five percent below the 25 percent qualifying limit.
The other witness was Carlton Ray McJenkins, SAMC’s Assistant Administrator. He testified that SAMC’s low-income-utilization rate was 26.26 percent.
Following the hearing, SAMC submitted a memorandum in which it argued that APIPA and MCP were the agents of the Administration with regard to the collection of the encounter data and that, as such, their receipt of the data from SAMC should constitute receipt by the Administration. SAMC also reiterated its argument that the plans and/or the Administration had been negligent in handling the encounter data. In its reply, the Administration objected to both arguments as untimely and unsupported but requested that, in the event that the hearing officer accepted either argument, the hearing be reopened to permit the Administration a chance to present contrary evidence. The hearing officer granted the request to reopen, noting:
This Hearing Officer views the issue of agency to be relevant outside of the negligence context. However, since this issue was never clearly set forth until after the hearing, AHCCCS should be afforded an opportunity to pre-sent evidence on this issue; hence, the hearing will be reopened.
However, no testimony or evidence will be allowed as to the negligence issue. A review of the record in this matter shows the issue was adequately set forth by Grievant before the hearing, and at the hearing. AHCCCS had ample opportunity to present whatever evidence was necessary to rebut Grievant’s negligence argument. Requesting that the hearing be reopened in this matter if I find Grievant made a prima, facie case is improper. This determination not to reopen the hearing on the negligence issue does not reflect any determination as to the merits of Grievant’s negligence argument, however. [Emphasis original.]
After the reopened hearing, held on February 26, 1993, and the submission of post-hearing memoranda, the hearing officer issued his decision recommending that SAMC be awarded its disproportionate-share payment. The hearing officer commented that SAMC was “factually entitled to disproportionate share payment for the relevant period, but for the question of whether this data was received by AHCCCS by November 27, 1991.” He noted further that “[i]t is undisputed that all claims and data establishing the total charges incurred by MCP and API-PA patients ... were timely submitted to MCP or APIPA.” Finally, he addressed the arguments presented by SAMC “as to why AHCCCS should be found to have timely received the relevant encounter data.” As to the first claim, that “AHCCCS actually received the data,” the hearing officer held that, because SAMC presented “no evidence establishing that the plans did timely submit the encounter data to AHCCCS” and only offered testimony that AHCCCS “often loses claims,” SAMC had “failed to meet its burden of proof in this regard.”
SAMC’s second argument was that APIPA and MCP were the “agents of AHCCCS, at least for the purposes of submitting encounter data, and therefore the receipt by MCP and APIPA of the data [should be] deemed receipt of the data by AHCCCS.” Rejecting the Administration’s counterargument that, by the terms of the contract between AHCCCS and the plans, the plans are independent contractors, the hearing officer determined that, based on “principles of implied agency, or agency by estoppel ... MCP and APIPA were the agents of AHCCCS for purposes of receiving encounter data.” (Emphasis original.)
As for SAMC’s final argument, that of AHCCCS’s alleged negligence, the hearing officer held:
Finally, although negligence on the part of AHCCCS was alleged, it need [not] be discussed in light of the above rationale. However, it should be noted that despite AHCCCS’ assertions that negligence was not raised by [SAMC] until after the hearing in this matter, this is incorrect. [SAMC’s] List of Witnesses and Exhibits has a Summary of Issues section that clearly states AHCCCS acted negligently. This constitutes sufficient notice, and, therefore, despite AHCCCS’ arguments to the contrary, reopening the hearing as to the negligence allegation was not warranted.
On appeal, the Administration Director reversed the hearing officer’s determination that the plans were agents of the Administration. While concurring in the hearing officer’s factual findings regarding SAMC’s entitlement to the disproportionate-share payment and its timely submission of the encounter data to the plans, the Director ruled SAMC’s agency argument to be without support. Rather, he concluded, referring to the contracts between the Administration and the plans, the plans were independent contractors and, thus, receipt of the encounter data by the plans could not be imputed to AHCCCS. The Director adopted the findings of fact and conclusions of law “not inconsistent with this Decision” and the decision was affirmed upon SAMC’s petition for rehearing.
One month later, SAMC filed the underlying complaint in the superior court. The complaint contained one count under the Administrative Review Act, A.R.S. section 12-901 et seq., and one count of negligence. SAMC moved for partial summary judgment on the administrative review claim but it specifically did “not address its other negligence and due process claims because an award of partial summary judgment in favor of the hospital would moot those other claims.” Supporting its administrative-review claim, SAMC reurged its agency argument, as well as its contention that AHCCCS actually or constructively received the encounter data.
The Administration answered, rearguing its prior claim that the plans were independent contractors, not agents. As to SAMC’s actual-receipt and constructive-receipt claims, the Administration said that the hearing officer had properly rejected the former for lack of evidence and it discounted the latter as predicated on a mistaken agency relationship.
The superior court affirmed the Director’s decision, finding that it was “not arbitrary, capricious or an abuse of discretion.” It upheld the Director’s independent contractor determination based on Owen v. Creedon, 170 Ariz. 511, 512, 826 P.2d 808, 809 (App.1992), wherein this court explained, first, that deference is due an agency’s factual findings, unless unsupported by “substantial evidence” and, second, that, “[e]ven if two inconsistent factual conclusions could be supported by the record, there is substantial evidence to support an administrative decision that chooses either conclusion.” The superior court further held that the evidence presented at the hearing did “not rise to the level of constructive receipt,” and that the hearing officer and the Director correctly held that SAMC failed to meet its burden of proof with respect to the actual receipt of the encounter data.
SAMC objected to the superior court’s essential dismissal of its complaint and its .failure to address the negligence claim. The court agreed that “the parties had an opportunity to fully argue only the claim of judicial review of the administrative decision” and, therefore, ordered SAMC and the Administration to submit briefs on the following issue:
Whether [SAMC] can maintain an independent negligence claim against the administrative agency, in a complaint for judicial review of the administrative decision, when both claims arise out of similar operative facts.
The court also amended its prior minute entry nunc pro tunc to reflect the entry of partial summary judgment in favor of the Administration on the administrative review claim.
Subsequently the superior court ruled:
The Court of Appeals held that private claims by hospital providers which were “inextricably intertwined” with claims of nonpayment under the AHCCCS statutory scheme, must be brought to the agency for exhaustion of administrative remedies. St. Mary’s Hosp. and Health Center v. State, 150 Ariz. 8, 10[sic], 721 P.2d 666, 669 (App. 1986). The Court of Appeals further held that a provider could assert any legal grounds to support their [sic] claim for payment before the administrative agency, and that those grounds would be reserved for action during judicial review. Id.
THE COURT FINDS that [SAMC’s] negligence claim against [the Administration] is based on similar operative facts as its claim for payment that was heard through [the Administration’s] administrative grievance process and considered by this Court through judicial review. Therefore,
IT IS ORDERED affirming the Court’s June 17, 1994, minute entry and denying [SAMC’s] appeal on all counts.
Upon denial of SAMC’s motion for reconsideration, the superior court entered judgment against SAMC. This appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
A. Administrative-Review Claim
Whether substantial evidence supports an agency decision is a question of law. Havasu Heights Ranch and Development Corp. v. Desert Valley Wood Products, 167 Ariz. 383, 387, 807 P.2d 1119, 1128 (App. 1990). On appeal from an administrative determination, the appellate court is free to draw its own conclusions concerning such issues. Id.; Eshelman v. Blubaum, 114 Ariz. 376, 378, 560 P.2d 1283, 1285 (App. 1977). Specifically, when, as is true in this ease, material facts are not disputed, the existence of an agency relationship is a question of law, Sparks v. Republic Nat’l Life Ins. Co., 132 Ariz. 529, 542, 647 P.2d 1127, 1140 (1982), decided de novo. Eshelman, 114 Ariz. at 378, 560 P.2d at 1285.
We disagree with the conclusion reached by the Administration regarding the plans’ status as independent contractors. While the encounter data submitted by plans to the Administration is used for a host of purposes other than determining disproportionate-share-program eligibility, the disproportionate-share-payment program is unique and, for this purpose at least, the plans are agents of the Administration.
In its most elemental terms, an agent is “one who acts on behalf of another.” In the Matter of the Marital Trust under the John W. Murphey and Helen G. Murphey Trust, 169 Ariz. 443, 444, 819 P.2d 1029, 1030 (App.1991). An independent contractor is one “who contracts with another to do something for [the other] but who is not controlled by the other nor subject to the other’s right to control with respect to [the] physical conduct in the performance of the undertaking. He may or may not be an agent.” RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF AGENCY § 2(3) (1958). See RESTATEMENT (SECOND) OF AGENCY § 14N (1958) (independent contractor status and agency relationship not mutually exclusive). While the AHCCCS standard contract provides that the contractor is independent, the language of a contract is not controlling in determining the existence of an agency relationship; rather, we look to “the totality of the facts and circumstances of each case.” Santiago v. Phoenix Newspapers, 164 Ariz. 505, 508, 794 P.2d 138, 141 (1990) (quoting Anton v. Industrial Comm’n, 141 Ariz. 566, 568, 688 P.2d 192, 194 (App.1984)).
The disproportionate-share program is one of federal control. The state is a participant in a national policy which results in additional funding for the direct benefit of and payment to qualifying hospitals because those hospitals treat a greater percentage of disadvantaged persons than do other facilities, and it is considered beneficial to assist and encourage those hospitals with supplemental money. Thus, the disproportionate-share program is completely unlike an AHCCCS payment to a plan for services rendered to an AHCCCS member by a subcontracting provider, such as a hospital. Separately, the HCFA has delegated its responsibility of identifying hospitals qualifying as recipients of disproportionate-share payments to AHCCCS. AHCCCS, in turn, utilizes encounter data, which already must be collected for a number of purposes having to do with the evaluation of AHCCCS apart from the administration of the plans, as a factor in computing the low-income-utilization formula. In this regard, then, the plans, which are obliged to gather encounter data for other uses, serve only as transmittal agents of the data between a hospital seeking qualification as a disproportionate-share hospital and the Administration. It is worth quoting in this context from J.K. v. Dillenberg, 836 F.Supp. 694, 699 (D.Ariz.1993): “It is patently unreasonable to presume that Congress would permit a state to disclaim federal responsibilities by contracting away its obligations to a private entity.”
B. Negligence Claim
Although the superior court was correct in finding that SAMC’s “negligence claim against [the Administration] is based on similar operative facts as its claim for payment,” it incorrectly concluded that the claim “was heard through [the Administration’s] administrative grievance process and considered by this Court through judicial review.” The fact is that the negligence claim never was fully litigated. There was little, if any, discovery on this issue and, in fact, the hearing officer specifically determined that he need not reach the negligence claim because he had decided that SAMC’s implied-agency argument was meritorious. In reviewing the recommended decision, the Director reversed only the hearing officer’s “agency” determination and otherwise affirmed the hearing officer’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Thus, although the claim of negligence was presented to the Administration, it was never argued or ruled on by the agency.
Nor did the superior court consider the negligence claim. The court requested brief ing on “[w]hether [SAMC] can maintain an independent negligence claim against the administrative agency, in a complaint for judicial review of the administrative decision, when both claims arise out of similar operative facts.” Its own words, not to mention the contents of the briefs submitted by the parties on this question, indicate that the court was not considering the merits of the negligence claim; it simply was deciding if it could hear the claim in the first place. The court’s subsequent ruling, predicated on its interpretation of the opinion in St. Mary’s, was in error.
While SAMC’s negligence claim was “inextricably intertwined” with its administrative-review claim, the fact remains that SAMC properly presented to, but did not receive a ruling from, the Administration on its negligence claim. The court in St. Mary’s was quite clear:
The providers can assert any legal grounds they feel appropriate to support payment of their claims by the state through the administrative process and reserve those grounds for action by the court when judicial review is taken from a final decision of the director.
150 Ariz. at 10, 721 P.2d at 668 (emphasis added).
The hearing officer confirmed that the negligence claim had been presented to the Administration. Having done so, SAMC properly “reserved” that claim “for action by” the superior court. This did not occur and SAMC is entitled to litigate its negligence claim before the superior court.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we reverse the superior court’s grant of partial summary judgment regarding the administrative-review claim, reverse as to the court’s determination on the negligence claim, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
CONTRERAS, P.J., and THOMPSON, J., concur.
. The low-income-utilization formula is as follows:
A + B + C E _ + _____ I) ! C F
A = Medicaid (Tide XIX) Inpatient Revenues Paid
B = State Subsidies Paid
C = Local Government Subsidies Paid
D = Total Net Revenues of Hospital for Inpatient Services
E = Total Charity Care Charges
F = Total Gross Inpatient Revenues
. "Title XIX” refers to that title of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396a (1980). See A.R.S. § 36-2901(4)(b).
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OPINION
KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.
The State appeals the dismissal with prejudice of two counts of aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor (DUI). See Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) § 13^1032(1). The dismissal was based on the trial court’s finding that the Defendant’s right to a speedy trial had been violated. The issue on appeal is whether the trial court erroneously applied the provisions of Rule 8.2(a), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, to the facts of this case and, if so, whether the dismissal with prejudice was otherwise justified on due process grounds. Because we conclude that Rule 8 does not apply in this case, and because the Defendant has failed to establish that the State caused the delay to gain a tactical advantage and has failed to demonstrate the requisite prejudice required for dismissal for a due process violation, we reverse and remand this matter to the trial court for further proceedings.
On April 20, 1994, the Defendant was arrested and cited for DUI. He was detained at the Glendale jail for approximately one hour and was then released on his own recognizance, with directions to appear for a preliminary hearing at the Glendale Justice Court. He testified that he appeared on the scheduled date and was told by court personnel that “there had been no charges filed against me and to go on my way.” Then, in December 1995, the county attorney swore out a complaint in the Glendale Justice Court, and in January 1996, the Defendant was served with a summons and made his initial appearance.
On February 14, 1996, the Defendant signed a waiver of preliminary hearing, was held to answer before the superior court, and was released on his own recognizance. An information was filed on February 22, 1996. The Defendant was arraigned on February 27, entered a plea of not guilty, and was assigned a trial date of May 16,1996.
On May 2, 1996, the Defendant moved to dismiss the information on the basis that the speedy trial requirements of Rule 8.2(a), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, had been violated by the delay between his initial arrest on the date of the offense and the subsequent prosecution. The Defendant relied primarily on this court’s decision in Humble v. Superior Court, 179 Ariz. 409, 880 P.2d 629 (App.1993).
The State responded, arguing that the Defendant’s Rule 8 speedy trial rights had not been violated, nor had any other constitutional right to a speedy trial. After a hearing, the trial court granted the Defendant’s motion, without explanation, and dismissed the charges with prejudice. The State timely appealed from this order.
We review an order granting a motion to dismiss criminal charges for an abuse of discretion or for the application of an incorrect legal interpretation. State v. Sandoval, 175 Ariz. 343, 347, 857 P.2d 395, 399 (App.1993); see also Quigley v. City Court of the City of Tucson, 132 Ariz. 35, 36-37, 643 P.2d 738, 739-40 (App.1982).
On appeal, the State contends that the trial court erred in dismissing the case. It argues that the time limits of Rule 8 and the reasoning of Humble do not apply to the delay between the Defendant’s initial arrest and indictment. Rather, the State says, the trial court should have applied the more stringent due process standard which requires a showing that preindictment delay was intended by the State to gain a tactical advantage and that such delay caused “actual and substantial prejudice.” See State v. Broughton, 156 Ariz. 394, 752 P.2d 483 (1988). The State contends that the trial court erroneously dismissed the charges with prejudice because the Defendant did not meet this burden.
RULE 8 DOES NOT APPLY TO PREINDICTMENT DELAY
Rule 8.2(a) provides:
Every person against whom an indictment, information or complaint is filed shall be tried by the court having jurisdiction of the offense within 150 days of the arrest or service of summons under Rule S.l except for those excluded periods set forth in Rule 8.4 below.
(Emphasis added.)
The Defendant’s primary argument for dismissal is that this rule was violated by the passage of time between his initial “arrest” for DUI on the date of the offense in April 1994, and his scheduled trial date in mid-1996. Because the State had not established due diligence in serving him with notice of the charges, he argues, this lengthy delay in prosecution was presumptively prejudicial, entitling him to dismissal of the charges with prejudice. See Humble v. Superior Court, 179 Ariz. 409, 880 P.2d 629 (App.1993).
The State contends, however, that Rule 8.2(a) was not violated in this case because the arrest date referred to in the rule does not occur until a defendant is arrested pursuant to a warrant issued under Rule 3.1, which does not occur until a defendant is charged by complaint, indictment, or information. Thus, the State argues, Rule 8.2(a) was not triggered by the Defendant’s initial arrest on the date of the offense, and the reasoning of Humble does not apply to the preindictment delay in this case. Therefore, the State says, the applicable speedy trial limitation was “within 120 days from the date of the [Defendant’s] initial appearance before a magistrate on the complaint, indictment or information, or within 90 days from the date of [his] arraignment before the trial court, whichever is the greater.” Ariz. R.Crim. P. 8.2(e).
The State’s interpretation of Rule 8.2(a) is correct. Our supreme court has rejected the argument that Rule 8.2(a) measures the period from the date of the initial arrest prior to the filing of a complaint, indictment or information. See State v. Hall, 129 Ariz. 589, 592, 633 P.2d 398, 401 (1981) (speedy trial rights upon “arrest” within meaning of Rule 8.2(a) attach “only upon indictment”). Our courts have consistently held that speedy trial rights do not attach under either our constitution or under the procedural rules enacted to implement the constitutional provisions until a prosecution is commenced or a defendant is held to answer. See State v. Torres, 116 Ariz. 377, 378, 569 P.2d 807, 808 (1977); State v. Burrell, 102 Ariz. 136, 137, 426' P.2d 633, 634 (1967); State v. Maldonado, 92 Ariz. 70, 373 P.2d 583 (1962), cert. denied, 371 U.S. 928, 83 S.Ct. 299, 9 L.Ed.2d 236 (1962).
Additionally, in the specific area of DUI prosecutions, the former strict application of Rule 8.2(a) to require a trial within 150 days of initial “arrest” whether or not the charges were “scratched” and then refiled, was abrogated retroactively by our supreme court. State v. Mendoza, 170 Ariz. 184, 823 P.2d 51 (1992) (overruling Hinson v. Coulter, 150 Ariz. 306, 723 P.2d 655 (1986)). Thus, if charges against a criminal defendant are initially dismissed and later refiled by the state, the 150-day limit of Rule 8.2(a) “begins anew.” Id. at 187, 823 P.2d at 54. Rule 8 is not a “statute of limitations” within which the state must bring an action against a defendant, but merely a limitation on when a trial must be held after that action is brought. Id. at 193, 823 P.2d at 60. The state may statutorily commence an action for prosecution of class 4 felonies, such as the charges in this case, within seven years from their commission. A.R.S. § 13-107(B). An action is “commenced,” within the meaning of the statute of limitations, “when an indictment, information or complaint is filed.” A.R.S. § 13-107(C).
Rule 8.2(a) therefore does not limit the state’s ability to try a criminal defendant to a period within 150 days of his initial detention on the date of the offense, regardless of when the charges are filed against him. To the extent the trial court applied the provisions of Rule 8.2(a) to find a speedy trial violation that warranted a dismissal with prejudice, such was an abuse of discretion.
THE DEFENDANT DID NOT SHOW THAT HIS DUE PROCESS RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED BY THE PREIN-DICTMENT DELAY
The State further argues that, assuming that Rule 8 does not apply to the case, dismissal with prejudice was not warranted for any preindictment delay because such delay did not violate the Defendant’s due process rights under the Arizona or United States Constitutions. See U.S. Const., amends. V, VI; Ariz. Const, art. 2 § 24. Separate and apart from any speedy trial rights, “the Due Process Clause has a limited role to play in protecting against oppressive delay.” United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 789, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2048, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977) (citing United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 92 S.Ct. 455, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971)). Under Marion, actual prejudice is necessary to establish a due process violation, and intentional delay by the prosecution to gain a tactical advantage would require dismissal of the charges. 404 U.S. at 324, 92 S.Ct. at 465. In Lovasco, the Supreme Court distinguished intentional tactical delay from investigative delay, and held that investigative delay does not violate due process, even if a defendant’s “defense might have been somewhat prejudiced by the lapse of time.” 431 U.S. at 795-96, 97 S.Ct. at 2051-52.
Arizona courts have interpreted Marion and Lovasco to require that a defendant show intentional delay by the prosecution to obtain a tactical advantage, and actual and substantial prejudice as a result of the delay. State v. Lacy, 187 Ariz. 340, 346, 929 P.2d 1288, 1294 (1996) (“Moreover, even in cases where an accused experiences some prejudice from a lapse of time, prosecutions following investigative delays do not necessarily offend due process.”); State v. Williams, 183 Ariz. 368, 379, 904 P.2d 437, 448 (1995); State v. Broughton, 156 Ariz. 394, 397-98, 752 P.2d 483, 486-87 (1988); State v. Hall, 129 Ariz. 589, 592-93, 633 P.2d 398, 401-02 (1981).
The Defendant has failed to make the necessary showing that would warrant dismissal. First, he has wholly failed to allege or demonstrate that the State intentionally delayed to gain a tactical advantage. Further, while the Defendant may have shown some prejudice, he has not shown actual and substantial prejudice. There is not much Arizona case law on just what a defendant must show to establish actual and substantial prejudice. In State v. Torres, 116 Ariz. 377, 379, 569 P.2d 807 (1977), our supreme court said that the unavailability of a witness, without more, is not enough to establish prejudice. In State v. Dunlap, 187 Ariz. 441, 930 P.2d 518 (1996), we elaborated on that to require a showing that the witness would have testified, that the witness would have been credible to a jury and that the testimony would have affected the trial’s outcome. To show actual and substantial prejudice under federal case law, the defendant’s ability to meaningfully defend himself must actually be impaired. United States v. Cederquist, 641 F.2d 1347, 1351 (9th Cir.1981). To establish actual impairment, a defendant must show that a defense witness became unavailable during the delay, that such witness would have testified on the defendant’s behalf, the substance of the testimony, and that such testimony is not available through substitute sources. United States v. Bartlett,-794 F.2d 1285,1289-90 (8th Cir.1986); Cederquist, 641 F.2d at 1351 (ability to meaningfully defend not actually impaired because defendant’s briefs reveal that substitutes for lost evidence exist). The detail provided by the defendant must be sufficient for a court to .determine whether the missing witness is material to the defense. Bartlett, 794 F.2d at 1290.
The Defendant’s claim is that he had only one beer about 12:50 or 12:55 a.m. while he was restocking the bar. This was about a half hour before he was arrested at 1:27 a.m. His allegation of prejudice resulting from the preindictment delay was that five defense witnesses were no longer available, four having died and one having moved from the state to an unknown address. Defense counsel asserted that these witnesses, who were at the bar with him, would have been able to testify that the Defendant was sober within minutes before his arrest. At a hearing on the issue, the Defendant testified that he last saw one of the missing witnesses at 12:30 or 12:40 a.m. A second such witness had left the bar at midnight. The Defendant provided no detailed information regarding the departure times of the three remaining witnesses, testifying only that they were at the bar that night and left before he began drinking. Thus, the testimony would have been of marginal relevance. To add to that, the Defendant’s testimony at the hearing on the motion to dismiss demonstrates that another person, the bar manager, was present a few minutes before the Defendant left the bar. Thus, the Defendant failed to show that the missing testimony was not available from a substitute source. The Defendant has not shown actual and substantial prejudice.
In summary, we conclude that the 150-day time limit of Rule 8.2(a) did not apply to the preindictment delay in this case. Additionally, the Defendant failed to show that the State caused the delay to gain a tactical advantage, and, finally, the Defendant’s attempt to establish actual and substantial prejudice is weak. We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the information with prejudice. The order for dismissal is reversed, and this matter is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings.
WEISBERG, P.J., and VOSS, J., concur.
. We are simultaneously filing an opinion in State v. Medina, 1 CA-CR 96-0439, in which we discuss the same issues raised here as they relate to somewhat different facts.
. A criminal prosecution must begin with an indictment or an information. Ariz. Const, art. 2, § 30. See also State v. Meeker, 143 Ariz. 256, 693 P.2d 911 (1984). An information must be preceded by the filing of a complaint and a finding of probable cause. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 2.1 (misdemeanors), 2.2 (felonies), 5.4 (determination of probable cause) and 13.1(b) (information).
. By the State’s calculations, the Defendant’s "last day" for trial pursuant to the time limits of Rule 8 was May 30, 1996, as calculated as the greater of 120 days from Defendant's initial appearance or 90 days from his arraignment in superior court. See Rule 8.2(c). That time limit had not expired when the Defendant filed his motion to dismiss.
. Rule 3.1 provides for issuance of an arrest warrant or summons "[u]pon presentment of an indictment, or on a finding of reasonable cause made pursuant to Rule 2.4....” Ariz. R.Crim. P. 3.1(a). Rule 2.4 requires a magistrate to determine, upon the filing of a complaint, whether reasonable cause exists to believe an offense has been committed and the defendant committed it, and, if so, to proceed under the provisions of Rule 3.1.
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OPINION
VOSS, Judge.
Edward Palenkas (“defendant”) appeals from his convictions, after a jury trial, of one count of reckless manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of a fatal injury accident. The only issue we address in this opinion is whether the prosecutor’s use of defendant’s invocation of his constitutional right to refuse a warrantless search and the fact that he contacted his attorney, as evidence of guilt, deprived him of due process and requires a new trial. Because we find that the prosecutor’s conduct, not invited by defendant, resulted in prejudicial, fundamental unfairness that violated defendant’s right to due process, we reverse and remand for new trial.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury’s verdicts. See State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993).
A. The Hit-and-Run
The charges against defendant arise from a fatal hit-and-run accident in Scottsdale on the evening of April 12, 1994. At approximately 7:40 p.m., the victim, an 11 year-old-boy, and his father were walking along the roadside of Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, facing oncoming traffic. The road had no sidewalk in this area. While walking along the roadside, the victim and his father approached some dirt mounds created by the recent digging of a trench for gas pipelines. The trench extended across the road, where it was covered by metal plates. The metal plates ended at the shoulder of the road, however, leaving the trench exposed. Thus, to cross the trench, pedestrians had to walk around the piles of dirt into the roadway. The victim and his father walked around the mounds in the direction of the street and then returned to the shoulder of the road. As the two continued walking, the father noticed an approaching car “weaving” and “driving very close on the inside of the road.” The car left the road and briefly traveled along the dirt shoulder. The victim’s father testified at trial that the car “erratically changed its direction” as it passed him and that it then struck the victim. The force of the impact threw the victim’s body approximately 65 to 70 feet back onto one of the mounds of dirt. The victim’s father observed the ear, which was followed by another car, continue to a nearby intersection. The car stopped at the intersection and then drove on. The victim died at the scene.
B. The Investigation
Relying on the father’s description of the vehicle as “a dark-colored, full-size vehicle, possibly four-door, with tinted windows,” the Scottsdale Police Department initially issued an attempt to locate a vehicle matching that description and having damage to the right front portion of the car. However, paint chips removed from the victim’s body and clothing, and amber lens fragments collected from the accident scene, soon led the police to believe that the vehicle that struck the victim was in fact a 1984 or newer cream-colored Rolls Royce or Bentley. After obtaining a list of registered owners of cars matching this description from the Department of Motor Vehicles, the police began contacting owners at their homes to request permission to view their vehicles.
In pursuing this investigation, Scottsdale police detectives Tom Vanmeter and Don Bellendier contacted defendant at his home on the evening of April 13, slightly more than 24 hours after the incident occurred. Defendant owned a 1986 magnolia-colored Rolls Royce Silver Spur. The detectives informed defendant that they were investigating a collision involving the death of an 11 year-old-boy and asked to see his Rolls Royce. Defendant responded, “I don’t think that I can do that.” At trial, defendant explained that he had refused consent because he was waiting for a return phone call from his lawyer about how to proceed.
The detectives subsequently obtained a warrant to search defendant’s residence, and the warrant was executed the next day. The right front portion of defendant’s car revealed damage consistent with striking the victim.
C. Defendant’s Version of the Events
The evidence introduced at trial revealed that, on the evening of the accident, defendant dined with his close friend, Robert Davis, at the Reata Pass Steakhouse in Scottsdale, a restaurant that the two men frequented. Defendant and Davis arrived at the restaurant in separate cars. Defendant testified that he consumed two mixed drinks while at the restaurant, and that he consumed no other alcohol that evening. Testimony from employees at the restaurant, however, indicated that defendant’s speech was slurred and slower than usual, that his face was flushed, and that his coordination was somewhat impaired. The evidence also revealed that defendant slipped or stumbled on a ramp when leaving the restaurant, and out of concern that defendant might have been “buzzed,” the restaurant’s bartender, who knew defendant well, twice asked whether defendant wanted to give him his keys so that he could drive him home. Defendant indicated that he was fine, but then told Davis to follow him home.
While driving home from the restaurant, defendant struck and killed the victim. Although defendant observed the obvious damage to his car when he arrived home that evening, he testified that he believed the damage was caused by striking some construction equipment or by hitting an object possibly thrown through the air after being struck by a “dark vehicle” traveling in front of defendant’s Rolls Royce. Defendant telephoned Bob Davis later that night, informed him about the damage to his vehicle, and asked whether Davis had seen him hit a barricade. Davis indicated that he had not seen defendant’s car hit anything.
Defendant telephoned Davis again the next morning to tell him that he had seen a news report on television about the hit-and-run accident on Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard. Davis testified that defendant commented, ‘We came through there approximately the same time, and ... it could have been me that hit the boy.”
D. Procedural History
A Maricopa County Grand Jury indicted defendant on April 21, 1994, charging him with one count of manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. At trial, defendant did not contest the state’s evidence linking his vehicle to the hit-and-run. Rather, his defense was that the victim’s death was a tragic accident which he could neither have foreseen nor avoided.
The jury convicted defendant on both counts of the indictment. The trial court sentenced defendant to presumptive terms of ten and one-half years for the manslaughter conviction and one and one-half years for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, to run concurrently. Defendant timely appealed.
DISCUSSION
1. DEFENDANT’S INVOCATION OF HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS INTRODUCED AS EVIDENCE OF GUILT AT TRIAL
A. Defendant’s Motion in Limine
Several months before trial, defendant filed a motion in limine requesting that the court preclude the state from “introducing evidence through any means that comments on or infers the defendant’s consultation with counsel, and his refusal to grant consent to a search and seizure of evidence at his residence.” The state did not object to the motion in limine, and informed the court, “Obviously, we’ve conceded those issues.” The court then granted defendant’s motion, ruling as follows:
It’s ordered granting the motion in limine regarding comments on invocation of rights, right to counsel, and the similar motion to suppress evidence____
B. Testimony in Violation of the Motion in Limine
At trial, the state called Thomas Vanmeter and Don Bellendier, the Scottsdale Police Department detectives who contacted defendant at his residence the night after the incident. The prosecutor first questioned Detective Vanmeter:
Q: [D]id you ask the Defendant if you could look at his car?
A: Detective Bellendier did.
Q: And what was the Defendant’s response to that?
A: I don’t have it. I have not read Detective Bellendier’s report. But it was basically, “No. ”
(Emphasis added.) The prosecutor then questioned Detective Bellendier on the same issue:
Q: Did you tell the Defendant that you wanted to look at his car at some point?
A: While we were standing out front, we stated that we would like to look at it. Then, when we walked inside, we again stated that.
Q: And did you then follow the Defendant somewhere after that?
A: He had asked us to come into the house.
Q: Did he tell you, prior to you following him into the den, that he was going to allow you to look at the ear?
A: No.
Q: And when you went into the den, you indicated that — you asked the Defendant again if you could look at his ear. Is that right?
A: Yes.
Q: And what did he say to you at that time?
A: He stated that he didn’t think he could do that.
Q: Did you ask the Defendant, immediately after that, any questions?
A: Yes.
Q: What did you ask him?
[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Objection. May we approach, Your Honor?
(Emphasis added.) At that point, an off-the-record bench conference ensued, after which the prosecutor did not return to this line of questioning.
Defendant later provided the following testimony on direct examination concerning his contact with his attorney:
Q: Did you ever call the police to check and find out about the dark ear?
A: No, I did not.
Q: Did you think about that?
A: I thought of it, yes.
Q: What did you do?
A: Well, later in the afternoon I called Steve.
Q: Who is Steve?
A: My attorney and friend.
Q: What kind of attorney?
A: Family attorney. Steve Jackson. •
Q: Why would you call Steve?
A: Well, to ask him if I was supposed to handle this a certain way. I thought maybe I’d be a witness to the accident.
Q: So, in your mind you were thinking maybe you should do something?
A: Maybe I should do something, yes.
Q: Now, is Steve the kind of person that you sort of use as a lawyer and advis- or?
A: Lawyer and advisor, yes, friend.
Defense counsel then questioned defendant about his conversation with Scottsdale police detectives at his home:
Q: Did you let them into the house?
A: Yes, I let them in.
Q: WTiat did they ask you [if] they could do?
A: They asked if I owned a Rolls.
Q: And did you answer them?
A: I answered them that I did.
Q: And what did they want to do?
A: They wanted to see it.
Q: And what did you tell them?
A: I told them to wait a minute — that I haven’t heard back from Steve yet— until I call him.
(Emphasis added.)
In response to defendant’s testimony concerning his attempt to contact his attorney, the prosecutor sought to introduce handwritten notes, previously held inadmissible by the court, which had been seized from defendant’s residence and suggested that defendant contacted an attorney the day after the incident because he was concerned about his own involvement in the victim’s death, rather than because of questions about his obligations as a possible witness to the accident. The trial court denied the prosecutor’s request to introduce the evidence, but concluded that whether defendant “consulted with counsel, and when and with whom, has become relevant because the defense has made it so.” The court indicated, however, that it would continue to entertain this objection on “a question by question basis.”
On cross-examination, the prosecutor further questioned defendant regarding his contact with an attorney:
Q: [Y]ou didn’t call the police and report what you knew about the dark ear, did you?
A: I did not.
Q: As a matter of fact, you called your attorney; is that right?
A: That was later in the afternoon.
Q: And you got — strike that. You actually at some point in time, got information with respect to another attorney that you could get advice from; isn’t that right, sir?
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Objection. May we approach, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Sure. Come up.
(Whereupon, a discussion at the bench took place.)
THE COURT: Sorry for the delay. I think we’ve got it worked out.
Q: And did you talk with your lawyer that day, sir?
A: Excuse me?
Q: Did you talk with your lawyer that day?
A: Yes, I did.
Q: And that was Mr. Jackson?
A: Yes.
Q: And after you spoke with your lawyer, you still didn’t go to the police and report this information about this dark car; is that right?
A: No, I didn’t.
Q: Did you speak with any other lawyers that day, sir?
A: Not until much later, until after the police came.
Q: Prior to the time the police arrived, did you speak with any other lawyers . besides Mr. Jackson?
A: No, I did not.
The prosecutor then questioned defendant regarding his response to the police detectives’ request to see his Rolls Royce:
Q: And after they asked you if they could look at your car, you said, “No, I don’t think I can let you do that,” is that correct, sir?
A: I told them I wanted to call my attorney first. He was supposed to get back with me, and he never did.
Q: Sir, wasn’t the - evidence that you heard at trial from the police officers that they asked you if they could look at your Rolls-Royce, not once but twice, and you said to them, “No, I don’t think I can let you do that.” Isn’t that right, sir?
A: I might have told them I can’t let them look at it until I talk to my attorney.
Q: So you, basically — at that point in time, you basically refused to let the police look at your car, correct?
A: Until I talked to my lawyer.
(Emphasis added.) Defense counsel again objected and a bench conference ensued, after which the trial court sustained defense counsel’s objection “on the basis that [the question has] been asked and answered.” Later that day, defense counsel made a record indicating that he had moved for a mistrial during the bench conference because the prosecutor’s questioning of defendant had an “impact upon [defendant’s] assertion of his Constitutional Rights.” The trial court again denied defendant’s motion for mistrial.
C. Prosecutorial Comments
During closing argument, the prosecutor returned to the issues of defendant’s contact with an attorney and his refusal to consent to a search:
[The detectives] asked to look at the defendant’s Rolls-Royce. He didn’t ask them why. He simply turned around, he walked into the house, they followed him in there, followed him into his study. They ask him again when they got into the study, “I’d like to look at your car. ” And the defendant, at that point, said to them, “I don’t think I can do that.” ******
[Defendant] [d]idn’t call the police then and report [that he had seen a dark car at the scene], he called his lawyer. And you know why, because he knew he was the one who hit that boy. He knew he was involved in the death of [the victim]. He knew that there wasn’t any dark car. He was concerned, at that point, about one thing, protecting himself. He was concerned about not being arrested by the police. And that’s why he called his lawyer. And that’s why he didn’t call the police at that time. ******
And when the police asked to look at his car, instead of saying, “Well, of course,' Officer, of course you can look at my car. I don’t have anything to hide,” what did he say? He said, “I don’t think I can let you do that. ” ******
Now, why is it that someone, a reasonable person, would behave the way the defendant behaved that evening. You know, ... this is the defense, the defense raised this. Someone who has a defense would put [it], it is a good person who simply had a bad thing happen to them.... A reasonable person, a responsible person, a good person wouldn’t do that, a person who had nothing to hide wouldn’t do those things.
And that’s the big problem with the defense in this case. The defendant’s later actions are simply inconsistent with the defense. The defendant did not act reasonably. And that’s because he had something to hide____
Now, the defense — I think that their theme was that [bad] things happen to [good] people. And, again, all of that is inconsistent, inconsistent with the facts you’ve heard in this case. Because a good person would have acted differently from the way the defendant behaved____ ******
Good people help the police in pursuing an investigation of this type. They don’t frustrate the police by requiring them to get a search warrant to find evidence of a crime. Good people take responsibility for their actions.
(Emphasis added.)
II. THE DUE PROCESS VIOLATION
On appeal, defendant argues that the prosecutor’s use of defendant’s invocation of his constitutional right to refuse to consent to a warrantless search and the fact that he contacted his attorney as evidence of his guilt deprived him of due process and requires a new trial. The state responds (1) that defendant waived any arguments regarding his refusal to allow the police to search his car; (2) that any error was invited because defendant testified on direct examination about his refusal to consent to a search and his attempts to contact his attorney; (3) that no constitutional error occurred because defendant’s right to counsel did not attach until the state initiated formal criminal proceedings; and (4) that any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt, in any event. We address each of these contentions in turn.
A. Waiver
We first reject the state’s argument that defendant waived his objection to evi dence that he refused to consent to the warrantless search by not objecting when the first officer testified. Defendant had already moved for, and been granted, an order precluding admission of this testimony. A motion in limine preserves for appeal any objection therein. See State v. Burton, 144 Ariz. 248, 250, 697 P.2d 331, 333 (1985); State v. Lujan, 136 Ariz. 326, 328, 666 P.2d 71, 73 (1983). Furthermore, defendant made several objections throughout the trial to admission of this evidence. He also moved for mistrial on this basis. Additionally, the issue was raised in defendant’s motion for a new trial. Under these circumstances, we find no waiver on this record.
B. Invited Error
The state also argues that the testimony defense counsel elicited from defendant on direct examination about his contact with his attorney “invited” the error he now alleges as a result of the state’s cross-examination on this subject. In overruling defendant’s objection to this evidence, the trial court concluded that the subject that defendant “consulted with counsel, and when and with whom, has become relevant because the defense has made it so.”
We have previously held that the doctrine of invited error applies to a prosecutor’s comments on a defendant’s invocation of the fifth amendment right to remain silent as well as a defendant’s invocation of his fourth amendment protections. State v. Wilson, 185 Ariz. 254, 258, 914 P.2d 1346, 1350 (App.1995); see also State v. Crumley, 128 Ariz. 302, 305, 625 P.2d 891, 894 (1981). We conclude that it is appropriate for us to review the invited error exception to the admission of otherwise inadmissible evidence in this case.
Invited error occurs when “evidence adduced or comments made by one party make otherwise irrelevant evidence relevant or require some response or rebuttal.” Wilson, 185 Ariz. at 258, 914 P.2d at 1350, citing State v. Woods, 141 Ariz. 446, 455, 687 P.2d 1201, 1210 (1984). The state argues that its elicitation of defendant’s testimony about his contact with his attorney was justified by defendant’s own testimony about that subject during his direct examination. However, the state fails to recognize that defense counsel’s purpose in eliciting that testimony on direct examination was to explain defendant’s refusal to consent to a search of his car, which the prosecution had elicited from the two police officers in its case-in-chief, in violation of the in limine order precluding such testimony. Under similar circumstances, involving testimony about a defendant’s assertion of his right to remain silent, we have concluded that invited error did not occur:
This is a novel proposition — that the State, having deliberately created constitutional error during its case-in-chief, someliow renders that error harmless by cross-examining the defendant on the same subject. Although we can see from the record that the prosecutor’s cross-examination of Appellant was in response to questions his counsel asked the backup officer regarding the meaning of the Miranda warnings, the fact that Appellant’s counsel asked some questions about this subject does not excuse the previous deliberate error by the prosecution. We do not agree that the State can create deliberate constitutional error, then save the conviction by arguing that the error became harmless when Appellant’s counsel asked a few questions to try to minimize the damage.
State v. Keeley, 178 Ariz. 233, 236, 871 P.2d 1169, 1172 (App.1994) (emphasis added). Likewise, in this case, defendant’s testimony on direct examination did not “invite” error; it merely responded to it. His testimony about his attempts to contact his attorney was necessary to explain the state’s prior evidence elicited, in violation of the in limine orders, of his refusal to consent to a search. Under these circumstances, we conclude that no invited error occurred that would justify the prosecution’s conduct in this case.
C. Constitutional Error
As a preliminary matter, we address the state’s contention that defendant had no sixth amendment right to counsel to assert during the preliminary police investigations. We agree. See United States v. Gouveia, 467 U.S. 180, 189, 104 S.Ct. 2292, 2298, 81 L.Ed.2d 146 (1984) (sixth amendment right to counsel does not attach until the government initiates adversarial judicial criminal proceedings). However, defendant is not alleging a violation of his sixth amendment right to counsel in this ease, nor is he alleging that his fourth amendment rights were violated by an unlawful search or seizure. Defendant’s argument is that his rights to due process under the fifth and fourteenth amendments were violated by the witness testimony and prosecutorial comments concerning his contact with his attorney and his assertion of his fourth amendment rights in refusing to consent to a warrantless search.
The United States Supreme Court has found that due process is violated when a defendant’s assertion of his right to remain silent is introduced at trial as evidence of his guilt, because the exercise of a constitutional right is “insolubly ambiguous.” Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 617, 96 S.Ct. 2240, 2244, 49 L.Ed.2d 91 (1976). Although the Supreme Court has not addressed whether due process is violated by admission of evidence of either a defendant’s invocation of his fourth amendment right to refuse to a warrantless search or his decision to meet with counsel before his arrest, many other jurisdictions have addressed those issues, and have found a due process violation occurs under circumstances similar to those in this case. E.g., United States v. Thame, 846 F.2d 200, 206 (3d Cir.) (error for the prosecutor to argue that defendant’s refusal to consent to search of his bag constituted evidence of his guilt), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 928, 109 S.Ct. 314, 102 L.Ed.2d 333 (1988); United States v. Prescott, 581 F.2d 1343, 1351 (9th Cir.1978) (“passive refusal to consent to a warrantless search is privileged conduct which cannot be considered as evidence of wrongdoing”); United States v. Taxe, 540 F.2d 961 (9th Cir.1976) (prosecutor’s comments on defendants’ refusal to consent to a search of their trucks was “misconduct” but harmless under circumstances); United States v. Rapanos, 895 F.Supp. 165, 168 (E.D.Mich.1995) (error to insinuate that defendant’s refusal to consent to warrantless entry onto his land was evidence of concealment of a crime); Padgett v. State, 590 P.2d 432, 434 (Alaska 1979) (right to refuse to consent to warrantless search of car “would be effectively destroyed if, when exercised, it could be used as evidence of guilt”); Sizemore v. Fletcher, 921 F.2d 667, 671 (6th Cir.1990) (prosecutor “may not imply that an accused’s decision to meet with counsel, even shortly after the incident giving rise to a criminal indictment, implies guilt”); United States v. McDonald, 620 F.2d 559, 563-64 (5th Cir.1980) (constitutional error “to attempt to prove a defendant’s guilt by pointing ominously to the fact that he has sought the assistance of counsel”); United States v. Yeager, 476 F.2d 613, 616 (3d Cir. 1973) (prosecutor’s comment that defendant called his attorney the morning after the incident constitutional error).
One of the most analogous situations to the circumstances of this ease was recently before the federal district court in United States v. Rapanos, 895 F.Supp. 165 (E.D.Mich.1995). In that case, the defendant was charged with knowing discharge of pollutants into federal wetlands. On cross-examination at trial, the prosecutor asked the defendant about his refusal to allow warrant-less entry onto his land by state environmental officers:
Q: ... [A]gain, you had not let the DNR on the property?
A: [My attorney] told them just point blank, you will not be allowed on the property.
Q: And you agreed with that?
A: He said you cannot go on the property without a search warrant, I think.
Q: Since you were certain in your own mind that there were no wetlands there, why not let the DNR on the property ?
A: It’s not my decision.
Q: Were you practicing concealment again?
A: They could get a search warrant, ... and they could go out there the next day if they wanted to____ They know the procedure ____
Q: So you were practicing concealment, or not?
Q: So you weren’t willing to say, don’t worry, I have nothing to hide, let them on?
A: I don’t think that ever came up.
Q: All right. And as a client, you have the ability to do that; right? To say to your attorney, look, go ahead, let them on?
A: I learned a long time ago, that if you don’t take your attorney’s advice, you shouldn’t have him....
Q: So the bottom line is, though, you knew that you could talk to him about that and try to convince him to do that and you chose not to?
A: It didn’t happen.
Id. at 167. In reversing this case for a new trial after finding “plain error,” the Rapanos court noted the following “troublesome” factors: first, the prosecutor’s questions were not only elicited during defendant’s own testimony, but insinuated an argument that defendant’s refusal to consent to a warrantless entry onto his property constituted concealment of incriminating evidence. The fact that defendant was asked why he hadn’t convinced his attorney to waive his fourth amendment rights was analogous to the reversible error in Doyle v. Ohio, where the prosecutor asked the defendant to explain his silence at the time of his arrest. Id. at 168. The court also found that the jury may have been overly influenced by this inference of guilt in Rapanos’ case because the evidence of defendant’s guilt was not overwhelming and “a reasonable jury could have rendered either verdict____ In such a situation, an unchecked prejudicial comment may have indeed tipped the scales in favor of conviction.” Id. at 169. Thus, the error required reversal and a new trial. Id. at 170.
Additionally, this court has previously addressed the issue in dictum. Wilson, 185 Ariz. at 258, 914 P.2d at 1350. We now address the question directly on the merits.
We can see no valid distinction between the privilege against self-incrimination and the right to be free from warrantless searches, when invoked, that would justify a different rule about inadmissibility as evidence of guilt. In Prescott, the ninth circuit found the assertion of these rights indistinguishable:
Because the right to refuse entry when the officer does not have a warrant is equally available to the innocent and the guilty, just as is the right to remain silent, the refusal is as “ambiguous” as the silence was held to be in United States v. Hale [422 U.S. 171, 176-77, 95 S.Ct. 2133, 2136- 37, 45 L.Ed.2d 99 (1975) ].... Yet use by the prosecutor of the refusal of entry, like use of the silence by the prosecutor, can have but one objective: to induce the jury to infer guilt. In the case of silence, the prosecutor can argue that if the defendant had nothing to hide, he would not keep silent. In the case of the refusal of entry, the prosecutor can argue that, if the defendant were not trying to hide something or someone ..., she would have let the officer in. In either case, whether the argument is made or not, the desired inference may be well drawn by the jury. This is why the evidence is inadmissible in the ease of silence.... It is also why the evidence is inadmissible in the ease of a refusal to let the officer search.
581 F.2d at 1351-52 (citations omitted). In either situation, we believe that a defendant’s invocation of constitutional rights is probative of nothing except the defendant’s awareness of his or her constitutional rights.
Similarly, any inference that a suspect’s pre-arrest decision to contact an attorney is evidence of guilt is also unwarranted:
... A prosecutor may not imply that an accused’s decision to meet with counsel, even shortly after the incident giving rise to a criminal indictment, implies guilt. Neither may she suggest to the jury that a defendant hires an attorney in order to generate an alibi, “take[] care of everything” or “get [his] story straight.” Such statements strike at the core of the right to counsel, and must not be permitted.
Sizemore v. Fletcher, 921 F.2d at 671; see also Yeager, 476 F.2d at 616-17 (prosecutor’s comment about defendant’s consultation with counsel one day after incident “would appear to be directed to, and may have had the effect of, raising in the juror’s minds the inference that [defendant] was, or at least believed himself to be, guilty”).
We conclude that the prosecution’s references to defendant’s invocation of his fourth amendment rights to refuse to consent to a warrantless entry and to his contact with an attorney prior to his arrest violated defendant’s due process rights to a fair trial. The state’s purpose in eliciting this evidence clearly was “to induce the jury to infer guilt” from defendant’s actions. Prescott, 581 F.2d at 1352. This purpose is plainly apparent from the egregious comments in the state’s closing arguments. Regarding defendant’s refusal to consent to the search, the state impermissibly argued:
Good people help the police in pursuing an investigation of this type. They don’t frustrate the police by requiring them to get a search warrant to find evidence of a crime.
Regarding defendant’s contact with his attorney, the state impermissibly argued:
[Defendant] called his lawyer. And you know why, because he knew he was the one who hit that boy. He knew he was involved in the death of [the victim]. He knew that there wasn’t any dark ear. He was concerned, at that point, about one thing, protecting himself. He was concerned about not being arrested by the police. And that’s why he called his lawyer.
We conclude that these comments were highly improper in at least two respects. First, they directly violated the in limine order. Second, they violated defendant’s due process rights to a fair trial by creating an inference that defendant’s invocation of constitutional rights was evidence of his guilt.
D. Harmless Error
Having found a constitutional due process violation, we next turn to the question whether the error was of sufficient prejudice to require a new trial. Error is “harm less” when it can be said beyond a reasonable doubt that it did not contribute to or affect the verdict. State v. Krone, 182 Ariz. 319, 321, 897 P.2d 621, 623 (1995).
Some courts have held that, when the prosecution’s reference to a defendant’s invocation of his constitutional rights does not “strike at the jugular” of defendant’s version of the events, the error is harmless. See Stone v. Estelle, 556 F.2d 1242, 1245 (5th Cir.1977) (“the relevant distinction to be made ... is between a case involving an attack on a defendant’s exculpatory story and an attack on his behavior subsequent to the alleged crime for which he is being tried”), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1019, 98 S.Ct. 742, 54 L.Ed.2d 767 (1978). In Stone, for example, the court found harmless the prosecutor’s comment on defendant’s request to contact an attorney because it did not address the core of his defense, that the victim had been accidently, not deliberately, shot. Id. at 1245-46.
The central issue at trial in this case was defendant’s state of mind at the time of the offenses. Defendant did not contest that his car hit the victim. However, as to the manslaughter charge, he contended he did not act “recklessly” in driving the car. See A.R.S. § 13-1103(A)(1). As to the charge of leaving the scene of a fatal injury accident, he contended he did not have the requisite “knowing” mental state that an accident had occurred. See A.R.S. § 28-661. On appeal, the state argues that, even if error, the prosecutorial comments at trial were harmless because they were not relevant to any “essential element” of these offenses, but rather were evidence only of defendant’s state of mind after the offenses had already occurred. However, the context in which defendant’s invocation of his fourth amendment rights and conversations with his attorney were argued in closing arguments indicates the state’s intent to use this evidence to rebut defendant’s defense that he did not drive recklessly and that he did not know he was involved in an accident the night of the incident. Therefore, we do not apply the Stone reasoning in this case to find the error harmless.
Another approach to the question of harmless error under similar circumstances is to examine a number of factors to determine whether defendant was prejudiced. First, was defendant forced to defend his invocation of constitutional rights through his own testimony? If the error occurred solely in closing comments, which the jury is advised are not evidence, the prejudice might be less. See Rapanos, 895 F.Supp. at 168. Second, were the comments “moderate in tone and import,” and lacking significance when considered with the overall evidence? See People v. Redmond, 29 Cal.3d 904, 176 Cal.Rptr. 780, 783, 633 P.2d 976, 979 (1981). Third, to what degree did the remarks complained of “have a tendency to mislead the jury and to prejudice the accused?” Sizemore v. Fletcher, 921 F.2d at 671. Fourth, were the comments “deliberately or accidently placed before the jury?” Id.; see also Keeley, 178 Ariz. at 236, 871 P.2d at 1172 (to find a deliberate error harmless “would just encourage similar constitutional error in the future”); State v. Sorrell, 132 Ariz. 328, 330, 645 P.2d 1242, 1244 (1982) (appellate courts are reluctant to find error harmless “when it appears that the error was deliberate and willful”). Fifth, what was the strength of the proof introduced to establish defendant’s guilt; was it otherwise overwhelming or was it disputed circumstantial evidence that made defendant’s credibility a factor? See Yeager, 476 F.2d at 616-17.
Applying these factors to this ease, we cannot conclude the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. First, this case did not involve just a single innocuous reference by a witness to defendant’s assertion of constitutional rights; rather, the subject was elicited many times through three witnesses, including defendant’s own testimony. Second, the inference of guilt from this evidence was strongly argued in the prosecutor’s closing comments, despite" numerous prior defense objections to this evidence, and despite a pretrial in limine order, and could hardly be considered “moderate in tone and import.” Third, the argument that defendant was guilty because he did not consent to a war rantless search or because he consulted an attorney certainly could mislead the jury and prejudice defendant’s defense. Fourth, we can find no “accidental” placing of these facts before the jury under the facts of this case. This was a deliberate attempt by the prosecution to establish guilt at the time of the offense from defendant’s constitutionally-permissible conduct after the incident. Fifth, we do not find the evidence otherwise so overwhelming in this case that we could say beyond a reasonable doubt that the error did not affect the verdict. Defendant’s credibility about his state of mind on the night of the accident was a central issue to his defense. A great deal of the evidence in this case was circumstantial and conflicting. There was disputed testimony regarding the lighting, visibility, road conditions, and state of the construction site at which the incident occurred. The extent of defendant’s alcohol consumption and impairment was disputed. Our review of the evidence cannot compel us to reach the conclusion that the constitutional error that occurred in this case was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we must reverse the convictions and remand this matter for a new trial.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that the prosecutor’s use of this evidence violated defendant’s due process rights to a fair trial, and the error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The convictions and sentences are therefore reversed and this matter is remanded for a new trial.
SULT, P. J., and EHRLICH, J., concur.
. By separate unpublished decision filed this date, we address the remaining issues raised by defendant on appeal, because they are likely to arise again upon retrial. Those issues are not relevant to our analysis in this opinion. See Fenn v. Fenn, 174 Ariz. 84, 85, 847 P.2d 129, 130 (App.1993).
. The Arizona Supreme Court has held that, in the criminal context, a motion in limine "is nothing more than a motion to suppress specifically authorized by Rule 16, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure.” State v. Rodriguez, 126 Ariz. 28, 30, 612 P.2d 484, 486 (1980).
. The state argues on appeal that its "concession" was limited to preclusion of references to defendant’s contact with his attorney. Although that is the only issue conceded in the state’s written response to defendant’s motion in limine, the state did not otherwise object to the preclusion of references to defendant’s refusal to consent to a warrantless search of his car, and the prosecutor clearly conceded "those issues” in open court when asked if she had any objection to the motion. We therefore reject the state’s position that the court's in limine ruling was limited to evidence of defendant’s contact with his attorney.
. Our courts have previously disapproved the practice of holding unrecorded bench conferences on trial motions. See State v. Fletcher, 149 Ariz. 187, 189, 717 P.2d 866, 868 (1986). In this case, however, we cannot fault defense counsel for the lack of a contemporaneous record because the trial court precluded speaking objections, and indicated that, "because the courtrooms are so small, and we're so close to the jury, unfortunately we can’t make a simultaneous record, what’s stated at the bench conference. So what I do is make a ruling there, tell you guys about it, if anyone wants to make a record on it later, we go back and do that.”
. After the trial court denied his motion for a mistrial, defense counsel made a further comment to clarify his objection on the record:
[DEFENSE COUNSEL:] Judge, just so the record is clear, the kind of questions and the point in time we’re talking about were not having to do with an afternoon phone call that was being testified to. It had to do with the time the police arrived and were questioning my client and his assertion of his rights. That’s the time I was talking about.
THE COURT: I’m not sure that was the time that [the prosecutor] was talking about. [DEFENSE COUNSEL:] It did not appear to be. We approached the bench at that time. That’s when you cautioned her. We "then went into this new topic about what happened when the police arrived, and that’s when I came up to the bench and moved for a mistrial.
(Emphasis added.) The court did not reconsider its denial of defendant’s motion for a mistrial.
. The conviction in Wilson was otherwise reversed on the basis of an improper jury instruction. Nevertheless, we addressed the remaining issues so they would not arise at retrial, and stated:
Just as it is generally impermissible for a prosecutor to comment on a defendant’s invocation of his Fifth Amendment right to silence, State v. Still, 119 Ariz. 549, 551, 582 P.2d 639, 641 (1978), so it is generally impermissible to use a defendant’s invocation of his Fourth Amendment protections against him, United States v. Prescott, 581 F.2d 1343, 1351 (9th Cir.1978).
Wilson, 185 Ariz. at 258, 914 P.2d at 1350.
. We overturn convictions for prejudicial error, not to punish prosecutors for improper comments. United States v. Mazzone, 782 F.2d 757, 763 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 838, 107 S.Ct. 141, 93 L.Ed.2d 84 (1986). As noted by the Mazzone court, "It is better to punish the prosecutor directly; there is no lack of direct sanctions for lawyer’s misconduct, of which improper advocacy is a well-recognized species.” Id., citing United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 9-10, 105 S.Ct. 1038, 1043-44, 84 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985).
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OPINION
GERBER, Judge.
Petitioner State of Arizona sought special action relief from the respondent judges’ dismissals of two DUI-related counts against real party in interest Shelly Plummer (Ms. Plummer). In a previous order, we accepted jurisdiction and granted relief. This opinion explains that order.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On December 14, 1995, Phoenix Police Officer Tranter (Tranter) observed a pickup strike a median as it attempted a left-hand turn into an intersection. Two persons were in the cab. Tranter saw a man, later identified as Mr. Plummer, in the driver’s seat. No one else was in the area. Tranter asked Mr. Plummer to step out of the vehicle. He exhibited signs of intoxication. He told Tranter that his wife had been driving but that he had switched places with her after she struck the median.
Tranter and another officer then spoke with Ms. Plummer, who also exhibited signs of intoxication. She also stated that “[Mr. Plummer] wasn’t driving. I was.” Tranter performed a series of roadside sobriety tests on Ms. Plummer which she performed poorly. A horizontal gaze nystagmus test indicated that she had a blood alcohol concentration of .10 or higher. A breath test confirmed this reading. She was charged with one count of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and one count of having an alcohol concentration of .10 or higher within two hours of driving.
Ms. Plummer moved the Phoenix Municipal Court to dismiss the charges because, in her view, the state was unable to satisfy the corpus delicti doctrine because the state had not presented independent evidence of a crime apart from her statements to police. The trial court excluded those statements as inadmissable hearsay and granted the motion to dismiss. The state then appealed to the Maricopa County Superior Court which affirmed the trial court’s ruling. The state then brought this special action. We accept jurisdiction because the state has no adequate remedy by appeal and because the trial court’s ruling causes the state irreparable harm.
ISSUE PRESENTED
The issue presented involves the meaning of corpus delicti, specifically whether the state must show evidence of a crime beyond the statements of the accused.
ANALYSIS
The state contends that whether Ms. Plummer herself committed the crime charged is not a necessary element of corpus delicti See State v. Weis, 92 Ariz. 254, 260, 375 P.2d 735, 739 (1962), cert. denied, 389 U.S. 899, 88 S.Ct. 226, 19 L.Ed.2d 221 (1967). It argues that it need only present enough facts to support a reasonable inference that the crime charged was actually committed by some person. State v. Hernandez, 83 Ariz. 279, 282, 320 P.2d 467, 469 (1958). It admits that this evidence must be independent of Ms. Plummer’s own statements. It alleges that the evidence may also be circumstantial. State v. Rivera, 103 Ariz. 458, 460, 445 P.2d 434, 436 (1968), cert. denied, 395 U.S. 929, 89 S.Ct. 1790, 23 L.Ed.2d 248 (1969).
Ms. Plummer responds that the only evidence of the crime charged was her confession, which in her view is inadmissible absent corroborating evidence. See State v. Melendez, 135 Ariz. 390, 393, 661 P.2d 654, 657 (App.1982). She alleges that the state’s evidence must show that the defendant committed the crime charged. She contends that none of the state’s evidence placed her behind the wheel of the truck when it struck the median.
The corpus delicti doctrine developed in English jurisprudence because of concerns about the sufficiency of a defendant’s confession to support an inference that a crime had occurred. State v. Daugherty, 173 Ariz. 548, 551, 845 P.2d 474, 477 (App.1992). The corpus problem arose in cases where a putative victim turned up alive after a defendant had been convicted and executed for the murder. Note, Proof of the Corpus Delicti Aliunde the Defendant’s Confession, 103 U.Pa.L.Rev. 638, 638 (1955). For this reason, courts began to require independent evidence of the crime by the presence of the body or corpus of the victim. Id. at 639. English courts also applied the doctrine to the crime of bigamy. Id. at 641.
The United States adopted the English corpus rule piecemeal into its jurisprudence and applied it in a variety of cases beyond murder. Id. at 640-41. The rationale for the doctrine was the realization that a defendant’s confession might be untrustworthy due to mental instability or improper police procedures. Daugherty, 173 Ariz. at 551, 845 P.2d at 477; Corpus Delicti, supra, at 642-49. For these reasons, many states interpreted the English rule to require that the state produce independent evidence of a crime beyond the defendant’s own statement. Corpus Delicti, supra, at 641.
This case is one of first impression in Arizona because it addresses the corpus delicti doctrine in the context of DUI cases. Other jurisdictions have commented on this subject. In State v. Knoefler, 563 P.2d 175, 176 (Utah 1977), the Utah Supreme Court held that the state had provided sufficient independent evidence of the crime of. DUI when the driver and another passenger at an accident scene appeared intoxicated, there was an “abundance of beer” in the vicinity of the wreck and the driver admitted to consuming alcohol. The California Court of Appeals reached the same result in People v. Ellena, 67 Cal.App. 683, 228 P. 389, 391 (1924), where all three passengers in the front seat of a wrecked vehicle showed signs of intoxication.
Arizona requires proof of the corpus delicti independent of the defendant’s confession. Weis, '92 Ariz. at 260, 375 P.2d at 739. However, this case presents no corpus delicti problems. The corpus or “body” of the DUI crime does in fact exist. Apart from the suspect’s statements there is evidence of drunk driving, improper control of a vehicle, and evidence that either Mr. or Ms. Plummer was driving. The only persons in the cab of the pickup were Mr. and Ms. Plummer. Tranter and another officer testified that both showed signs of intoxication. Mr. Plummer told the officers that his wife had been drinking and was driving at the time of the collision. These facts alone constitute the corpus and also create at least a reasonable inference that some intoxicated person, possibly Ms. Plummer, was driving the truck when it struck the median. Hernandez, 83 Ariz. at 282, 320 P.2d at 469.
Because the state provided independent evidence that a crime had occurred, Ms. Plummer’s statements were admissible as non-hearsay statements against her penal interest. These statements should not have been suppressed as hearsay. See Ariz. R.Evid. 804(b)(3) (Supp.1995).
CONCLUSION
For the reasons given above, we grant the state relief. The orders of both the Phoenix Municipal Court and the Maricopa County Superior Court dismissing the charges against Ms. Plummer are vacated. The Phoenix City Court is ordered to reinstate the charges and admit Ms. Plummer’s statements.
EHRLICH, P.J., and PATTERSON, J., concur.
. Ms. Plummer incorrectly relies on Daugherty for the proposition that the state must satisfy corpus delicti by proof that she herself committed the crime charged. However, the facts in Daugherty are inapposite. There the defendant was convicted of pandering or encouraging a person to lead a life of prostitution. Daugherty, 173 Ariz. at 551, 845 P.2d at 477. The defendant’s own statements constituted the crime. The Daugherty court held that "in cases such as this, ... the state need not produce evidence of the crime independent of the proven statements.” Id. at 552, 845 P.2d at 478. In this case, however, Ms. Plummer's own conduct constituted the crime.
The Daugherty court suggests in dicta that the state must satisfy corpus delicti by proof that the defendant committed the crime charged, citing Melendez and State v. Jackson, 1992 WL 37466 (App. March 3, 1992). Id. at 550-51, 845 P.2d at 476-77. Both authorities are suspect. In the misquoted Melendez case, 135 Ariz. at 393, 661 P.2d at 657, Division Two of this court held that the state must "show proof of a certain result for which someone is criminally responsible.” (Emphasis added.) As to Jackson, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered that it not be published. Further, Jackson misquotes State v. Gillies, 135 Ariz. 500, 506, 662 P.2d 1007, 1013 (1983), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1059, 105 S.Ct. 1775, 84 L.Ed.2d 834 (1985), which held that "the state must establish ... that a certain result has been produced and that someone is criminally responsible for that result." (Emphasis supplied.) Thus, contrary to Ms. Plummer, Daugherty does not suggest a departure from corpus delicti doctrine except within the narrow confines of its facts.
|
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OPINION
PATTERSON, Presiding Judge.
Presiding Judge Cecil B. Patterson, Jr. and Judges Rudolph J. Gerber and Jefferson L. Lankford, having considered this appeal, affirm the trial court’s decision.
Javier Sproule (“Defendant”) was convicted of first degree murder. He appeals the trial court’s imposition of a life sentence without possibility of release. Because the trial court did not abuse its discretion, we affirm Defendant’s sentence.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Defendant was charged with first degree murder, a class 1 felony, and burglary in the first degree, a class 2 felony. The state gave written notice of its intent to seek the death penalty. The state also amended the charges to allege the dangerous nature of the offenses.
A jury trial commenced and the Defendant was convicted as charged. The trial court then held a sentencing hearing to determine whether the death penalty should be imposed. At that hearing, the court heard and considered evidence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances through testimony presented by both the state and Defendant.
The state presented three statutory aggravating circumstances in support of its sentencing request of death: that Defendant committed the murder in a cruel, heinous or depraved manner; that he committed the murder for pecuniary gain; and that he had a prior conviction for a serious offense. See Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) § 13-703(F).
The trial court found that the state had proved the existence of one statutory aggravating circumstance, i.e., Defendant’s prior conviction of a serious offense. The court also found that Defendant had proved the existence of two mitigating circumstances, i.e., his age and home life in a dysfunctional family. The trial court concluded that the statutory and nonstatutory mitigating circumstances collectively were sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. The court sentenced Defendant to a term of natural life for the first degree murder conviction and a consecutive twenty-one year term for the first degree burglary conviction. It is from this sentencing order that Defendant appeals.
DISCUSSION
Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion because it failed to consider a sentence of life with the possibility of release after twenty-five years. See A.R.S. § 13-703(A). Defendant urges this court to vacate his sentence and remand with instructions to weigh the two sentencing alternatives, make appropriate findings on the record, and resentence Defendant.
The relevant sentencing statute is our guide. A defendant found guilty of first degree murder must suffer the death penalty or life imprisonment. A.R.S. § 13-703(A). To determine if the death penalty is warranted, the court must hold a separate sentencing hearing. A.R.S. § 13-703(B). At that hearing, the court is required to consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances but only for the purpose of determining whether the death penalty shall be imposed. A.R.S. § 13~703(B), (E), (F) and (G). If the court finds that those circumstances do not warrant the death penalty, the court must impose a life sentence. A.R.S. § 13-703(A). The trial court, in its discretion, may then choose between a term of natural life imprisonment or life with the possibility of release after a specified number of years. Id.
The trial court’s discretion in this area of sentencing forms the basis of Defendant’s challenge. As Defendant correctly points out, abuse of discretion is demonstrated by a court’s “arbitrariness, capriciousness, or failure to conduct an adequate investigation into the facts relevant to sentencing.” State v. Blanton, 173 Ariz. 517, 519, 844 P.2d 1167, 1169 (App.1993). If there is no abuse of discretion, a sentence within statutory limits will not be disturbed on appeal. State v. Stotts, 144 Ariz. 72, 87, 695 P.2d 1110, 1125 (1985).
Here, the trial court held an extensive hearing regarding the sentencing options. The trial court issued a detailed minute entry specifically listing all of its findings regarding the evidence presented at the hearing. The court properly weighed the aggravating and mitigating factors presented and determined that the death penalty was not warranted. The court was then required to impose a life sentence, but had the discretion to impose either natural life imprisonment or life imprisonment with the possibility of release after 25 years. A.R.S. § 13-703(A). The court here sentenced Defendant to a term of natural life imprisonment without specifically stating its reasons for doing so.
The trial court in this case carefully followed the requirements of A.R.S. section 13-703 and decided against imposing the death penalty. It elected instead to impose the natural life term, which was within the statutory limits and the complete discretion of the trial court. We therefore find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Defendant to a term of life imprisonment for his natural life. Accordingly, Defendant’s sentence is affirmed.
. This is precisely the point the state missed in preparing its answering brief. Defendant does not challenge the propriety or constitutionality of the statute. Rather, Defendant claims the sen-fencing court abused its discretion by not expressly considering the option of a parole-eligible life term.
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OPINION
MOELLER, Justice.
In his first trial, David Scott Detrich (“defendant”) was convicted of first degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual abuse. This court affirmed the sexual abuse finding, reversed the murder and kidnapping convictions, and remanded for a new trial on the latter two charges. State v. Detrich, 178 Ariz. 380, 385, 873 P.2d 1302, 1307 (1994). On remand, a second jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder and kidnapping. The trial court sentenced defendant to twenty-one years for kidnapping and to death for first degree murder. Appeal to this court is automatic. Ariz. R.Crim. P. 26.15 and 31.2(b). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. VI, § 5(3) and Ariz.Rev. Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 13-4031. We affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Defendant and Alan Charlton worked together at the Ocotillo Motors wrecking yard in Benson, Arizona. On November 4, 1989, a Saturday afternoon, defendant and Charlton left work and headed to a local bar. Charlton estimated that he and defendant each consumed between twelve and twenty-four cans of beer. Two hours after they started drinking, the men drove to Tucson.
Upon arriving in Tucson, defendant and Charlton visited several more bars and consumed more beer. At some point during the evening, defendant suggested that they “pick up” somebody. When the two men saw the victim, Elizabeth Souter, walking along the Palo Verde bridge, they stopped the car and Souter climbed in. Defendant asked her to help them obtain some cocaine. She agreed and directed the two men to a “roadhouse” where defendant and Souter purchased the cocaine.
The two men and Souter then drove to Souter’s home, where defendant attempted to “cook a spoon,” which entailed dissolving the cocaine in a spoon so that it could be injected. Defendant soon became angry because the syringe would not pick up the cocaine. Defendant began “screaming and hollering that the needle wasn’t any good, or the cocaine wasn’t any good.” Defendant told Souter that she was going to pay for the bad drugs by having sex with him — “He told her they could go in the room or do it right there, or they would do it his way, and she did not want to do it his way.” Three witnesses, Charlton, Tami Winsett, and Caprice Souter (the victim’s daughter), confirmed that defendant was holding a knife against Souter’s throat. Additionally, defendant threatened, ‘You must not believe me, I will kill you.”
Defendant then told Souter, “Come on bitch, we are going for a ride.” Souter, Charlton, and defendant climbed into Charlton’s car. Charlton drove, defendant sat in the middle, and Souter sat up against the passenger door. Defendant ordered Charlton to drive out of town. Charlton testified that, while stopped at a red light, he looked at defendant and saw that defendant was “humping” Souter and asking her how she liked it. Moments later, Charlton again looked and saw that Souter’s throat was slit. Charlton indicated that defendant then hit her and asked her who “she got the shit off of.” Souter was unable to answer clearly; she just gurgled something. Defendant then hit her with his elbow and asked again who she got the drugs from. She gurgled again in answer. Defendant then asked, “Did you say Mike?” Souter gurgled a third and final time, and Charlton heard no more sounds from her. Although Charlton claims he never saw defendant actually stab Souter, Charlton was himself poked in the arm with the knife three or four times. The pathologist established that Souter was stabbed forty times.
At this point, defendant asked Charlton, “It’s dead but it’s warm. Do you want a shot at it?” Charlton declined. They drove to a remote area approximately fifteen minutes (seven to nine miles) from Souter’s home. Charlton pulled the car over at defendant’s request, and defendant dragged Souter’s body into the desert.
After dumping the body, Charlton and defendant drove to their friend William Carbonell’s house in Tucson. Carbonell testified that the two men showed up at his house at 4:00 a.m. The defendant was covered with blood, but Charlton had blood only on his right side. Approximately an hour later, defendant confessed to Carbonell that he had killed a girl by slitting her throat. Defendant explained that he grabbed the girl at her house and forced her into Charlton’s car at knife point, where defendant killed her. Defendant further explained that he killed Souter because the drugs she had purchased were bad.
After several days, Carbonell called in an anonymous tip to the police, who were able to trace the call to Carbonell. After questioning Carbonell, the police went to Ocotillo Motors and arrested Charlton, who confessed his involvement in the crime. Defendant was arrested in New Mexico several days later in possession of a folding knife. Charlton identified the knife as his; however, he explained that it often fell out of his pants. Charlton confirmed that defendant possessed the knife the night of the murder. Charlton also noticed that defendant had the knife the morning after the murder and that it was covered with blood.
At his first trial, defendant was charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault. The jury found defendant guilty of first degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual abuse, a lesser included offense of sexual assault. On appeal, we reversed defendant’s convictions in part and remanded the case. We held that the trial court erred in failing to instruct on unlawful imprisonment, a lesser included offense of kidnapping, because the jurors rationally could have found that defendant lacked the requisite intent for the kidnapping charge, but was guilty of unlawful imprisonment. Because the jury could have based its first degree murder finding on a felony murder determination with kidnapping as the predicate felony, the murder conviction, as well as the kidnapping conviction, was reversed. The sexual abuse conviction was affirmed.
Defendant was retried and convicted of the murder and kidnapping charges. Defendant was sentenced to death for the murder and to twenty-one years in prison for the kidnapping.
ISSUES PRESENTED
I. Trial Issues
A. Whether the doctrine of collateral estoppel should have barred introduction of witness Charlton’s testimony at defendant’s second trial.
B. Whether a statement in the prosecution’s closing argument constituted a violation of defendant’s double jeopardy rights.
C. Whether the trial court erred by not inquiring during jury voir dire about the jurors’ racial attitudes, prejudices, and biases.
D. Whether the trial court erred by not submitting defendant’s questionnaire to the jury.
E. Whether the trial court erred by dismissing three jurors for cause when they stated that their opposition to the death penalty would affect their deliberation.
F. Whether the state improperly exercised its peremptory strikes to remove jurors with beliefs against the death penalty.
G. Whether the trial court erred by not striking for cause two jurors who had some ties to law enforcement.
II. Sentencing Issues
A. Whether the murder was committed in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner.
B. Whether the disparity in sentences between the defendant and the co-defendant was a mitigating factor.
C. Whether the trial court failed to properly balance the aggravating and mitigating factors.
DISCUSSION
I. TRIAL ISSUES
A. Collateral Estoppel
Because defendant was implicitly acquitted of sexual assault in his first trial, defendant claims that the doctrine of collateral estoppel bars the introduction of any evidence of sexual intercourse in the second trial. See United States v. DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. 117, 136, 101 S.Ct. 426, 437, 66 L.Ed.2d 328 (1980). The state contends, however, that the evidence is admissible for the purpose of proving an element of kidnapping by showing intent to commit a sexual offense.
Collateral estoppel in criminal cases is an “integral part of the protection against double jeopardy guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.” Harris v. Washington, 404 U.S. 55, 56, 92 S.Ct. 183, 184, 30 L.Ed.2d 212 (1971) (citing Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970)). Collateral estoppel bars the state from relitigating a fact question previously determined in defendant’s favor. State v. Luzanilla, 176 Ariz. 397, 401, 861 P.2d 682, 686 (App.1993) (holding that a fact determination necessarily decided in a partial verdict is barred by collateral estoppel in the retrial of the remaining charges), affirmed in part, vacated in part, 179 Ariz. 391, 880 P.2d 611 (1994).
To invoke collateral estoppel on a specific issue, defendant has the burden of proving that the jury “acquitted him because it resolved in his favor the very issue that he seeks to foreclose from consideration in the second trial.” Luzanilla, 176 Ariz. at 402, 861 P.2d at 687 (quoting United States v. Mespoulede, 597 F.2d 329, 333 (2d Cir.1979)). To determine the applicability of the doctrine, we must review the prior trial’s record to determine whether the issue was “necessarily decided there.” Id. at 401, 861 P.2d at 686. The United States Supreme Court promulgated, in Ashe v. Swenson, the standard for reviewing the prior trial record:
Where a previous judgment of acquittal was based upon a general verdict, as is usually the case, this approach requires a court to “examine that record of a prior proceeding, taking into account the pleadings, evidence, charge, and other relevant matter, and conclude whether a rational jury could have grounded its verdict upon an issue other than that which the defendant seeks to foreclose from consideration.” The inquiry “must be set in a practical frame and viewed with an eye to all the circumstances of the proceedings.”
Ashe, 397 U.S. at 444, 90 S.Ct. at 1194 (citations omitted). We examine defendant’s first trial with this standard in mind.
In defendant’s first trial, the state offered Charlton’s testimony, recited above, concerning defendant’s actions and words in the car on the fatal night. Specifically, the state introduced evidence that Charlton saw defendant “humping” Ms. Souter in the front seat and that defendant asked Charlton if he would like “a shot at it.” The state also adduced evidence via the forensic pathologist that although there was no semen or sperm found within Ms. Souter’s body, that fact did not rule out forced sexual intercourse.
At the close of the first trial, the trial judge instructed the jury on sexual assault and on sexual abuse, a lesser included offense of sexual assault. Sexual assault was defined as follows:
A person commits sexual assault by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse or oral sexual contact with any person without consent of such person. A.R.S. § 13-1406(A).
“Sexual intercourse” means penetration into the penis, vulva or anus by any part of the body or by any object or manual masturbatory contact with the penis or vulva. A.R.S. § 13-1401(3) (amended 1993).
Sexual abuse was defined as follows:
A person commits sexual abuse by intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual contact with any person fifteen or more years of age without consent of that person. A.R.S. § 13-1404(A).
“Sexual contact” means any direct or indirect fondling or manipulating of any part of the genitals, anus or female breast. A.R.S. § 13-1401(2) (amended 1993).
The jury found defendant guilty of the lesser included offense of sexual abuse and thereby implicitly acquitted him of the greater offense of sexual assault. See DiFrancesco, 449 U.S. at 136, 101 S.Ct. at 437. In the second trial, therefore, no issue of sexual assault or sexual abuse remained. Nevertheless, the Charlton testimony was admissible because it was offered to prove an element of the kidnapping charge, namely, defendant’s intent to commit a sexual offense.
Defendant argues that the theory of collateral estoppel bars the introduction of this evidence at the second trial because the issue of whether defendant engaged in sexual intercourse has already been determined in his favor. We believe defendant misconstrues the issue. For collateral estoppel to apply, “the issue sought to be relitigated must be precisely the same as the issue in the previous litigation.” State v. Jimenez, 130 Ariz. 138, 140, 634 P.2d 950, 952 (1981). In the second trial, Charlton’s testimony was not offered to prove sexual intercourse, sexual assault, or sexual abuse. Rather, it was offered, together with defendant’s statements at Souter’s home and testimony about Souter’s half-nude body, to show defendant’s intent to commit a sexual offense, an element of the offense of kidnapping. At the second trial, whether defendant actually had sexual intercourse with or sexually abused Ms. Souter was irrelevant; however, the state could, and did, offer the evidence to show that defendant intended to commit a sexual offense on the victim.
Defendant contends that the implied acquittal of sexual assault means that the jury at the first trial necessarily decided that Charlton’s testimony regarding his observations of sexual activity in the car was not credible. We believe this analysis is incorrect. Other than Charlton’s testimony of what happened in the car, there is no other evidence of contact of a sexual nature. Thus, to find sexual abuse, the jury must have determined that Charlton saw defendant engage in some form of sexual contact, but that Charlton’s description of what he saw and heard fell short of describing completed sexual intercourse.
Defendant suggests, as an alternative explanation of the first jury’s finding, that the testimony of Tami Winsett and Caprice Souter describe conduct of defendant upon which the jury could have relied in finding sexual abuse. Our careful review of the record in the first trial, however, reveals that their testimony does not support this suggestion.
We conclude that defendant has failed in his burden of proving that the Charlton testimony was barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel. Luzanilla, 176 Ariz. at 402, 861 P.2d at 687.
B. Double Jeopardy
Defendant claims that a statement in the prosecutor’s closing rebuttal argument constituted, in effect, a second trial of defendant for sexual assault, in violation of his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right to be free from double 'jeopardy. He made no contemporaneous objection to the argument in the trial court. Defendant also failed to support his argument on appeal with any citations to authority. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 31.13(c)(1)(iv); State v. Carver, 160 Ariz. 167, 175, 771 P.2d 1382, 1390 (1989).
Even if the issue is properly here, however, it avails defendant nothing. The double jeopardy guarantee protects against, inter alia, a “second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal.” State v. Nunez, 167 Ariz. 272, 275, 806 P.2d 861, 864 (1991). In the present ease, the prosecution’s statement did not, in any way, rise to the level of a second prosecution on the sexual assault charge. The state did not accuse defendant of sexual assault; neither did it implore the jury to find him guilty of sexual assault. The prosecutor merely stated that what the defense was implying was an incorrect interpretation of the facts. Thus, defendant’s double jeopardy claim fails.
C. Questioning Jurors on Race Issues
Defendant argues on appeal that the trial court erred by failing to inquire during voir dire as to the jurors’ racial attitudes, prejudices, or biases. The state argues that defendant waived this issue by failing to object at the time of the alleged error and also by failing to sufficiently argue this claim on appeal. We agree with the state.
Defendant argues that his proposed jury voir dire questionnaire, which was not utilized, sufficiently voiced his objection to the court’s decision not to ask the jury questions about race. The purpose of a contemporaneous objection requirement is to allow for an immediate remedy for potentially improper or unconstitutional activities. Harris, 157 Ariz. at 36, 754 P.2d at 1140. This principle applies with full force to matters arising during the jury selection process. Id. Implicit in this rule is the need to bring to the attention of the trial judge the specific activity (or lack of activity) complained of so that the judge may effect an immediate remedy.
When the judge denied the motion to provide the jury with defendant’s written questionnaire, he indicated that he would incorporate some of the proposed questions into his selection procedures, and he would give the attorneys the opportunity to raise any other concerns or questions they might have during the questioning procedure. The judge completed his questioning without asking the jurors any questions about race issues. Defendant then passed the panel of jurors without ever objecting to the court’s failure to question the jurors about race. See State v. Walton, 159 Ariz. 571, 581, 769 P.2d 1017, 1027 (1989) (holding that defendant “cannot object to the [jury] panel once he has approved it”) (citations omitted), affd, 497 U.S. 639, 110 S.Ct. 3047, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990).
Only the last four questions in defendant’s three-page questionnaire addressed race. Because the race questions constituted such a de minimis portion of the questionnaire and because defendant failed to object contemporaneously to the absence of such questions, the questionnaire and the court’s concomitant denial did not bring to the court’s attention the defense’s objection sufficiently to allow the court an opportunity for immediate remedy. Furthermore, defendant failed to support his argument on appeal with any citations to authority. Mere assertions of error are insufficient to persuade us. The issue is waived.
D. Failure to Submit Questionnaire to Jurors
Defendant separately claims that the trial judge’s failure to use his questionnaire precluded defendant from determining the jurors’ prejudices and, consequently, de nied defendant the right to intelligently exercise his peremptory challenges and challenges for cause. We believe this issue is also waived for failure to make a specific contemporaneous objection, but it is, in any event, meritless.
Defendant has not shown that the judge’s failure to submit his questionnaire to the jury “resulted in a biased jury or rendered his trial fundamentally unfair.” See State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 608, 905 P.2d 974, 987 (1995), cert. denied, — U.S. — , 116 S.Ct. 1444, 134 L.Ed.2d 564 (1996). Defendant offers no evidence of bias or prejudice of the jurors, but merely argues that we cannot “be sure that racial animus did not tip the scales.” Defendant further contends that if race had been considered during voir dire, a juror with strong racial feelings could have raised his or her hand to indicate potential bias or prejudice. However, this speculation is insufficient to meet defendant’s burden of proving that he was not provided a fair and impartial jury. See id.; State v. Blackhoop, 162 Ariz. 121, 122, 781 P.2d 599, 600 (1989); State v. Arnett, 119 Ariz. 38, 50, 579 P.2d 542, 554 (1978).
Defendant cites to the recently amended Rule 18.5(d), Ariz. R.Crim. P. Although the rule refers to jury questionnaires, it does not, in any way, require the submission of such questionnaires. The extent of voir dire examination is left to the sound discretion of the trial court. State v. Murray, 162 Ariz. 211, 214, 782 P.2d 329, 332 (App.1989); Smith, 114 Ariz. at 418, 561 P.2d at 742. After reviewing the transcript of the jury voir dire examination and the proposed questionnaire, we find that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion by not submitting the questionnaire to the jury.
E. Death Qualification of the Jury
Defendant contends that the trial judge erred in excusing three jurors because of their views on capital punishment. Although defendant orally objected to death qualification prior to voir dire, the objection was general in scope and did not constitute an effective objection to individual jurors. In State v. Hyde, 186 Ariz. 252, 921 P.2d 655 (1996) we held that objections to death qualification and objections to dismissal of individual jurors for death penalty views presented two separate issues. 186 Ariz. at 278, 921 P.2d at 681. Hyde held that “[defendant's objections to death qualification in general cannot extend to his argument on appeal that the trial court erroneously and prejudicially dismissed certain jurors for cause.” Id. We further held that defendant’s failure to object specifically to each juror’s dismissal waived the claim, absent fundamental error. Id.
We therefore review the record to see whether fundamental error occurred. State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 155, 812 P.2d 626, 628 (1991). We have adopted the standard set forth in Wainwright v. Witt, 469 U.S. 412, 105 S.Ct. 844, 83 L.Ed.2d 841 (1985), that a juror may be dismissed if “the juror’s views would ‘prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.’” Id. at 424, 105 S.Ct. at 852 (quoting Adams v. Texas, 448 U.S. 38, 45, 100 S.Ct. 2521, 2526, 65 L.Ed.2d 581 (1980)); Bolton, 182 Ariz. at 301, 896 P.2d at 841; State v. LaGrand, 153 Ariz. 21, 33, 734 P.2d 563, 575 (1987); State v. Martinez-Villareal, 145 Ariz. 441, 449, 702 P.2d 670, 678 (1985).
We have construed the Wainwright standard such that “[disqualification when a juror states his inability to be impartial is not only permissible but imperative.” Hyde, 186 Ariz. at 277, 921 P.2d at 680 (quoting State v. Wiley, 144 Ariz. 525, 534, 698 P.2d 1244, 1253 (1985), overruled on other grounds by State v. Superior Court, 157 Ariz. 541, 544, 760 P.2d 541, 544 (1988)). The “bottom line is whether [a juror] can be fair and impartial, despite any feelings [he or she] might have about the death penalty.” Hyde, 186 Ariz. at 278, 921 P.2d at 681.
All three of the excused jurors expressly confirmed that their views on the death penalty would interfere with their deliberations in the guilt phase of this case. Having clearly indicated their inability to be impartial, they were properly excused for cause. We find no error in that regard, let alone fundamental error.
F. State’s Use of Peremptory Challenges
Defendant next argues that the state improperly exercised its peremptory strikes to remove jurors with beliefs against the death penalty, claiming that this violated defendant’s Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights to a fair and impartial jury. Defendant asks us to extend Batson to cover jurors excluded on the basis of their death penalty views. See Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). Batson held that a prosecutor may not challenge potential jurors solely on account of their race. Id. at 88, 106 S.Ct. at 1719. We have previously addressed this issue and decided not to extend Batson’s purview to encompass death penalty views. Bolton, 182 Ariz. at 302, 896 P.2d at 842. We again decline to do so.
G. Denial of Motions to Strike Jurors for Cause
Defendant claims that the trial judge erroneously declined to strike two jurors for cause. We will not set aside a trial court’s decision to deny a request to excuse a juror for cause absent a clear showing that the trial court abused its discretion. State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 574, 858 P.2d 1152, 1177 (1993); State v. Hill, 174 Ariz. 313, 319, 848 P.2d 1375, 1381 (1993). Defendant insists that the trial court’s failure to dismiss for cause jurors Carpenter and Sigrest forced defendant to use peremptory strikes to remove the two jurors. Defendant was concerned that Carpenter’s and Sigrest’s close relationships with law enforcement would affect their impartiality. Law enforcement ties, however, without some finding of partiality, are insufficient to disqualify jurors. State v. Pawley, 123 Ariz. 387, 389, 599 P.2d 840, 842 (App.1979).
Five times during the jury voir dire Mr. Carpenter unequivocally confirmed that he would be impartial. First, Mr. Carpenter voluntarily approached the judge, explained his ties to law enforcement, and explicitly confirmed that those ties would “have no bearing on [his]deeision.” Second, in response to a later question as to whether his law enforcement ties would affect him as a juror, Mr. Carpenter replied in the negative. Third, although Mr. Carpenter said “I could be impartial, but I got to believe that he may be guilty for something because the detective is here and he is in court,” the judge immediately again asked Mr. Carpenter if his law enforcement associations would affect his ability to be impartial. Again Mr. Carpenter said no. On the fourth occasion, the judge made the following statement:
In a criminal trial the burden of proof is on the state to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt before there could be a verdict of guilty on either of these counts. A Defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent. That presumption of innocence means that the Defense has no obligation to call witnesses to testify, they don’t have to introduce any physical evidence in the course of the trial. The Defendant has the right to testify or refuse to testify as he and [defense counsel] choose____ I need to know if anyone would be unable to follow those principles of law if you are chosen to be on this jury? Mr. Carpenter, do you think that would be a problem for you?
To which Mr. Carpenter responded, “no sir.” Fifth and last, the judge said:
I was talking earlier about evaluating law enforcement officers who testify in the course of the trial and needing to keep an open mind about what they say. I need to make sure that everyone can evaluate them impartially and not either automatically believe them or disbelieve them just because they are in law enforcement.
... are you okay with that?
Mr. Carpenter, how about you?
To which Mr. Carpenter responded affirmatively. The final question was posed to Ms. Sigrest as well, to which she responded similarly.
Because defendant has not provided us a reasonable ground to believe that Mr. Carpenter or Ms. Sigrest could not render a fair and impartial verdict, the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in retaining both as jurors. See Ariz. R.Crim. P. 18.4(b); State v. Lavers, 168 Ariz. 376, 390, 814 P.2d 333, 347 (1991).
II. SENTENCING ISSUES
Defendant claims that the death penalty was unconstitutionally applied because the state failed to prove any aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. In aggravation, the trial judge found that the murder was especially cruel, heinous and depraved. See A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6). In mitigation, the judge found the following statutory and non-statutory circumstances:
(1) Defendant’s capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirement of law was significantly impaired but not so impaired as to constitute a defense to prosecution.
(2) Defendant comes from an abusive background, including both physical and mental abuse.
(3) Defendant feels some remorse for the killing.
(4) Defendant does not have prior violent convictions.
(5) Defendant has had a longstanding history of alcohol and drug abuse.
Although defendant acknowledges that courts do not merely count the number of aggravating and mitigating factors, he nonetheless argues for leniency because the quantity of mitigating factors outweighs the number of aggravating factors. Defendant also claims that the mitigating factors should be given more weight. The trial judge, however, found that the mitigating circumstances were not “sufficiently substantial to outweigh the aggravating circumstances of having committed this offense in an especially cruel, heinous or depraved manner as proved by the state and to call for leniency.”
We must independently review the aggravating and mitigating circumstances to ensure that the trial court properly imposed the death penalty. State v. Fulminante, 161 Ariz. 237, 254, 778 P.2d 602, 619 (1988) (citations omitted), aff'd, 499 U.S. 279, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991).
A. Aggravating Factors
1. Especially Cruel
Defendant asserts that there was insufficient evidence to find that the murder was especially cruel pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6). To find cruelty, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim consciously suffered physical pain or mental distress. State v. Amay-Ruiz, 166 Ariz. 152, 177, 800 P.2d 1260, 1285 (1990); Jimenez, 165 Ariz. at 453, 799 P.2d at 794. In determining whether a murder was especially cruel, we must view the entire murder scenario, not just the final act that killed the victim. Lavers, 168 Ariz. at 393, 814 P.2d at 350. Having done so, we have determined that this murder was, without a doubt, especially cruel.
We find overwhelming evidence that the victim was conscious throughout much of the crime. Witnesses testified that the victim looked terrified as defendant dragged her to the car. The pathologist testified that the victim suffered numerous cutting wounds over her hands, which are consistent with defensive-type injuries one would sustain while trying to fend off an attacker. After her throat was slit, she attempted to answer defendant’s questions, but was able only to gurgle in response. The defense contends that her gurgling may have been merely reflexive breathing. However, her gurgling was heard only after questions were posed to her.
We find that the victim suffered physical pain. She suffered forty cutting and stab wounds about her face, hands, chest, neck, abdomen, and thigh. This includes a deep cutting wound that stretched across the victim’s neck from ear to ear, cutting through the voice box, the esophagus, and into the cerebral column. Furthermore, she suffered blunt force injuries, including bruises on her nose, jaw, and scalp, and scraping and tearing of the lining of her mouth. She must have suffered excruciating pain before she died.
We also find that the victim suffered mental distress. Mental distress includes uncertainty as to one’s ultimate fate. State v. Lopez, 175 Ariz. 407, 411, 857 P.2d 1261, 1265 (1993). Witnesses testified that defendant held a knife to the victim’s neck, told her that he was going to kill her, and dragged her to the car. During this time, the victim had “terror” and “fear” in her eyes. Anyone in the victim’s situation would have been uncertain as to his or her ultimate fate. Thus, this murder was especially cruel.
2. Heinous and Depraved
Because the elements of A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6) are stated in the disjunctive, our finding of cruelty is sufficient to satisfy the (F)(6) aggravating factor. Nonetheless, because defendant challenges each element and because the trial court found this to be the only aggravating factor, we address heinous and depraved as well. This court has defined “heinous” as “hatefully or shockingly evil” and “depraved” as “marked by debasement, corruption, perversion or deterioration.” State v. Knapp, 114 Ariz. 531, 543, 562 P.2d 704, 716 (1977). Heinousness and depravity focus upon the “defendant’s state of mind at the time of the offense, as reflected by his words and acts.” Fulminante, 161 Ariz. at 255, 778 P.2d at 620 (citing State v. Summerlin, 138 Ariz. 426, 436, 675 P.2d 686, 696 (1983)).
This court has set forth specific factors which, when found, may be used to justify a trial court’s finding that a murder was especially heinous or depraved. State v. Gretzler, 135 Ariz. 42, 51-52, 659 P.2d 1, 10-11 (1983). The factors are: (1) whether the killer relished the murder; (2) whether the killer inflicted gratuitous violence on the victim beyond that necessary to kill; (3) whether the killer needlessly mutilated the victim; (4) whether the crime was senseless; and (5) whether the victim was helpless. Id.; Lopez, 175 Ariz. at 412, 857 P.2d at 1266.
We find that the record supports the trial court’s finding of heinous and depraved conduct. Defendant’s statement to Charlton, “It’s dead, but it’s warm. Do you want a shot at it?” clearly shows that defendant relished the murder. The trial court found that this statement showed an abhorrent lack of regard for human life, and we agree. Furthermore, we find that defendant engaged in gratuitous violence beyond that necessary to cause death. See State v. Jones, 185 Ariz. 471, 488, 917 P.2d 200, 217 (1996). Of the forty cutting and stab wounds, only three were potentially fatal. The other thirty-seven sharp-force injuries and the countless bruises were unnecessary and excessive.
We also find that the victim was helpless. Defendant held a knife to the victim’s throat and forced her into the car. She was unarmed and partially clothed, with no means of escape. In the car, defendant was on top of her, abusing and stabbing her. The victim was unable to resist defendant’s attack.
Finally, the murder was senseless. A murder is senseless when it is unnecessary to achieve the killer’s goal. State v. Ross, 180 Ariz. 598, 605, 886 P.2d 1354, 1361 (1994). Defendant’s apparent goal was to be paid back for the money he wasted on the bad drugs. Killing the victim was unnecessary to accomplish this goal and in fact, ensured that he would neither be paid back, nor find out the identity of the drug dealer. In total, the record overwhelmingly supports a finding of heinous and depraved conduct.
B. Mitigating Factors
Defendant contends that the disparity between Charlton’s ten-and-one-half-year jail sentence for kidnapping and defendant’s death penalty sentence for murder constitutes a mitigating factor. However, when the disparity between co-defendants’ sentences results from an appropriate plea agreement with one of the defendants, the disparity is not considered a mitigating factor. State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 523, 898 P.2d 454, 472 (1995), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 116 S.Ct. 787, 133 L.Ed.2d 737 (1996). Mere disparity between two sentences is not significant, “but, rather, unexplained disparity.” State v. Schurz, 176 Ariz. 46, 57, 859 P.2d 156, 167 (1993). Moreover, if the murder is found to be especially cruel, heinous, or depraved, “even unexplained disparity has little significance.” Id. In the present case, Charlton received a lesser sentence in part because he entered into a plea agreement by which he pled guilty to kidnapping and was required to give truthful testimony against defendant. More significantly, Charlton was much less culpable than defendant as shown by the facts cited above. As a result, the disparity in sentencing is explainable and understandable. The trial judge properly disregarded the disparate sentences as a mitigating factor.
C. Balancing the Aggravating/Mitigating Factors
Defendant argues that the trial judge’s finding of only one aggravating factor and significant mitigating evidence raises a question as to whether this crime warrants the death penalty. See State v. Rockwell, 161 Ariz. 5, 16, 775 P.2d 1069, 1080 (1989). In the instant case, defendant’s mitigating evidence is less significant than it initially might seem. Although defendant expressed some remorse for the victim’s death, he claims that he was not responsible. Although the trial judge found that defendant’s alcoholic state significantly impaired him, the judge noted that defendant was cognizant of his surroundings and was capable of carrying on conversations with Charlton and the victim. Furthermore, the evidence supporting the aggravating factor was substantial and horrific. We have reviewed all of the trial court’s findings on mitigation and, when balanced against the circumstances constituting the sole aggravating factor, the mitigating evidence is insufficient to warrant leniency.
DISPOSITION
We have reviewed and considered all of defendant’s claims of error. In light of defendant’s death sentence, we have independently reviewed and reweighed the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Having done so, we concur with the trial court’s findings and affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences.
ZLAKET, C.J., JONES, V.C.J., and FELDMAN and MARTONE, JJ., concur.
. Co-defendant Charlton pled guilty to a single count of kidnapping and agreed to testify truthfully in exchange for a dismissal of the first degree murder charge. He was sentenced to ten and one-half years in prison.
. Before the first completed trial, there was a mistrial when a state witness testified that defendant had invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. To prevent confusion, the phrase "first trial” identifies the first completed trial, not the mistrial.
. A.R.S. § 13-1304(A) states, in relevant part:
A person commits kidnapping by knowingly restraining another person with the intent to:
3. Inflict death, physical injury or a sexual offense on the victim.
. Because Charlton's testimony was not precluded by principles of collateral estoppel or double jeopardy, defendant’s contention that the trial judge erroneously considered this evidence at sentencing is moot.
. The four questions on race were as follows:
1. What is your race?
2. Do you live in an integrated neighborhood?
3. Describe your relationship with any black friends, co-workers or acquaintances.
4. Do you believe blacks are more prone to commit crimes than white people? Explain.
. Rule 18.5(d) states in relevant part: "Nothing in this Rule shall preclude the use of written questionnaires to be completed by the prospective jurors, in addition to oral examination.”
. Defendant initially indicated that the trial judge improperly refused to strike four jurors for cause. However, two of the jurors were subsequently stricken by the state. As a result, defendant was unharmed by the court's failure to strike those two jurors for cause. Thus, we will address only the two not stricken by the state.
. Mr. Carpenter's relationship with law enforcement consisted of working in industrial security, doing ride alongs with the Tucson Police and the Sheriff's department every couple of months, and intending to test for the Sheriff's Department a month after the trial. Additionally, Mr. Carpenter's future father-in-law and five of his closest friends, including his best, man, worked for the Tucson Police Department or the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
Ms. Sigrest’s relationship with law enforcement consisted of having a grandson who was a deputy with the Pima County Sheriff's Department.
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OPINION
MARTONE, Justice.
We granted review to consider whether the dispute resolution provisions of the rules adopted by the State Board of Education prescribing school district procurement practices violate due process. We find that we need not reach that issue because the rules fail to comply with the enabling legislation.
I. Introduction
The Governing Board of the Peoria Unified School District No. 11, as owner, entered into an American Institute of Architects standard form of agreement with R.L. Augustine Construction Company, as contractor, to build an administration center in Glendale. A dispute arose over delays, and each party blamed the other. The Governing Board imposed liquidated damages on Augustine and denied its request for additional payment. Through counsel, the parties exchanged letters in an effort to settle the dispute, ultimately culminating in an agreement that those letters would satisfy the first tier of the contract claim mechanism under Arizona Administrative Code (A.A.C.) R7-2-1155-1159 of the Board of Education’s procurement rules (submission of claim to the district representative). The parties then went to stage two, under which Augustine appealed to the Governing Board under A.A.C. R7-2-1158. The Governing Board, again acting through the same counsel, advised Augustine that it would appoint a hearing officer under A.A.C. R7-2-1181. At the hearing, Augustine made a record of its claim that there was no difference between the district representative, the hearing officer, and the Governing Board. Augustine argued that it was inherently unfair to have one of the parties to the contract act as both litigant and judge. Nevertheless, the hearing proceeded, and the hearing officer submitted his recommendation to the Governing Board under A.A.C. R7-21181(F). The decision of the Governing Board under A.A.C. R7-2-1181(G) followed, for the most part, the recommendation of the hearing officer.
Augustine then filed an action in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County seeking judicial review of an administrative decision under A.R.S. § 12-905 of the Administrative Review Act, and also seeking a declaration that the Board of Education’s procurement rules were unconstitutional because one of the parties to the contract, the Governing Board, as owner, also acted as the final agency decision maker. On motion of the Governing Board, the superior court dismissed the complaint because Augustine failed to seek rehearing under A.A.C. R7-21182.
Augustine appealed to the court of appeals which held that the Board of Education’s procurement rules were unconstitutional and that the Administrative Review Act did not apply to school districts. It thus reversed. R.L. Augustine Constr. Co., Inc. v. Peoria Unified Sch. Dist. No. 11, 183 Ariz. 393, 904 P.2d 462 (App.1995). The court of appeals agreed with Augustine’s claim that the Board of Education’s rules were unconstitutional because they permitted a party to the contract to resolve its own contractual dispute. The court of appeals also rejected the Governing Board’s argument that any due process problems could be cured by judicial review in the superior court under the Administrative Review Act. It held that there was no right to review under the Act because the Governing Board, a political subdivision of the state, was expressly excluded under A.R.S. § 12-901(1) and § 12-902(A). Believing that an important issue of law had been decided with statewide implications, we granted the Governing Board’s petition for review. Rule 23(c)(4), Ariz.R.Civ.App.P.
II. The Board’s Rules for Administrative Review
Although we granted review on the constitutionality of the Board of Education’s procurement rules, amici Arizona General Contractors Association, et al., suggested that the court need not reach the constitutional question to decide the case. We will not reach a constitutional question if a case can be fairly decided on nonconstitutional grounds. Petolicchio v. Santa Cruz County Fair, 177 Ariz. 256, 259, 866 P.2d 1342, 1345 (1994); see Knoell v. Cerkvenik-Anderson Travel, Inc., 185 Ariz. 546, 548, 917 P.2d 689, 691 (1996); see also Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona,-U.S.-, -, 117 S.Ct. 1055, 1074, 137 L.Ed.2d 170 (1997); Ashwander v. TVA, 297 U.S. 288, 348, 56 S.Ct. 466, 483-84, 80 L.Ed. 688 (1936). We thus entered an order inviting the parties to file supplemental briefs on whether the Board’s procurement rules are consistent with the State Procurement Code.
A.R.S. § 15-213(A) provides in relevant part that “[t]he state board of education shall adopt rules prescribing procurement practices for all school districts in this state ... consistent with the procurement practices prescribed in title 41, chapter 23 [A.R.S. § 41-2501 et seq.l” A.R.S. § 41-2611(A) requires administrative review of all contract claims under the Procurement Code “before the purchasing agency and through an appeal heard before the director in accordance with chapter 6 of this title [A.R.S. § 41-1001 et seq.V’ Under A.R.S. § 41-2503(18), “‘Purchasing agency means any state governmental unit which is authorized by this chapter or its implementing regulations, or by way of delegation from the director, to enter into contracts.” Under A.R.S. § 41-2503(10), “ ‘Director’ means the director of the department of administration.” Under A.R.S. § 41-2611(B), the director may appoint a hearing officer to submit a recommendation but the ultimate decision is the director’s to make.
Thus, under the Procurement Code, there is a two-tiered administrative process. The first is with the unit of government that procures the goods or services. The second is with the director of the department of administration. The rules adopted by the director under A.R.S. § 41-2611(A) are consistent with this dual entity scheme. See A.A.C. R2-7-916-919.
In contrast, the rules adopted by the Board of Education, while structured as a two-tiered process in form, in substance provide a one-tier process in which the purchasing body constitutes both the first and second tier. Under A.A.C. R7-2-1155-1156, the Governing Board’s district representative is the first administrative decision maker. Under A.A.C. R7-2-1155, 1158, and 1181, second-tier administrative review is by a hearing officer appointed by the Governing Board or by the Governing Board itself, with final decision making in the Governing Board. Thus, unlike the Procurement Code in which the purchasing agency and the director are separate entities, under the rules adopted by the Board of Education, the purchasing agency is both the first-tier reviewer and the second-tier final decision maker. In effect, as Augustine has argued here, the interested party is the adjudicator of contract obligations. A scheme that would have been consistent with the Procurement Code might have first-tier review by a school district representative, or the Governing Board of the school district, and second-tier review and decision making by the Board of Education. The Board of Education, unlike the Governing Board of the school district, would not be a party to the contract under review.
We are thus of the view that the contract claim mechanisms set forth in A.A.C. R7-21155, 1158, and 1181 are not substantially consistent with the mechanisms under A.R.S. § 41-2611(A) and the rules adopted by the director of the department of administration under the statute. They are thus void under A.R.S. § 15-213 which defines the scope of the Board of Education’s authority to adopt rules. Canon Sch. Dist. v. W.E.S. Constr. Co., 177 Ariz. 526, 530, 869 P.2d 500, 504 (1994).
III. Judicial Review
The court of appeals held that there was no right to judicial review under the Administrative Review Act because the school district, as a political subdivision of the state, is excluded under A.R.S. § 12-901(1) and § 12-902(A). If true, this is another instance of an inconsistency between the Procurement Code and the Board’s procurement rules.
Under the Procurement Code, A.R.S. § 41-2614, any final decision of the director of the department of administration is subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Act, A.R.S. § 12-901 et seq. In contrast, the Board of Education’s procurement rules have no provision for judicial review. The Governing Board argues that A.A.C. R7-2-1159 provides for judicial review because it provides that hearings on appeals of contract claims shall be conducted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, A.R.S. § 41-1001 et seq. It further argues that proceedings conducted under the Administrative Procedure Act are subject to judicial review under the Administrative Review Act, A.R.S. § 12-902(A). While A.R.S. § 12-902(A) provides for judicial review of a final decision of an “administrative agency,” A.R.S. § 12-901(1) expressly excludes political subdivisions from the definition of “administrative agency.” It thus appears that the Board’s procurement rules do not provide for judicial review. This is not compatible with the consistency requirement of A.R.S. § 15-213(A).
Without a judicial review provision, the administrative mechanisms created by the Board of Education are without effect. At the conclusion of the administrative proceedings, an aggrieved party would have to bring a de novo action in the superior court on the contract, thus rendering useless the entire administrative proceeding. We do not believe the legislature would have required the Board of Education to adopt rules for the administrative review of contract disputes unless they had some meaning, i.e., were subject to judicial review and did not require a de novo contract action in every instance. See A.R.S. § 12-910. Had the Board adopted a rule for judicial review, the Administrative Review Act would have applied even though the school district is not an administrative agency within the meaning of A.R.S. § 12-901(1), because A.R.S. § 15-213(A) confers power on the Board to adopt rules consistent with the Procurement Code, which itself provides for judicial review pursuant to the Administrative Review Act. See A.R.S. § 41-2614. We note also that had the Board of Education adopted rules that provided that it, rather than the Governing Board, would be the final administrative decision maker, then the Board of Education, as an administrative agency, would come within the express scope of A.R.S. § 12-902(A).
IV. Conclusion
The rules of procurement adopted by the Board of Education are not consistent with the Procurement Code in at least two respects: (1) the purchasing agency is also the final agency decision maker, and (2) there is no judicial review. To this extent, the rules are violative of A.R.S. § 15-213(A). We therefore reverse the judgment of the superi- or court which dismissed Augustine’s complaint, vacate the opinion of the court of appeals, and remand to the superior court for a trial de novo on the respective claims of Augustine and the Governing Board.
ZLAKET, C.J., FELDMAN and MOELLER, JJ., and ROBERT D. MYERS, Judge, concur.
CORCORAN, J. (Retired) did not participate in the determination of this matter. ROBERT D. MYERS, Presiding Judge, Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County, was designated to sit in his stead pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. VI, § 3.
. We do not address the setting in which the department of administration is itself the purchasing agency in fact.
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OPINION
VOSS, Judge.
Rene Rocha-Rocha (defendant) appeals from his conviction and sentence on one count of conspiracy to possess narcotic drugs for sale (cocaine), a class 2 felony under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated section (A.R.S. § ) 13-3408. The state cross-appeals the trial court’s directed verdict of acquittal on one count of possession with intent to sell cocaine. We affirm the conspiracy conviction and sentence, and reverse the trial court’s directed verdict on the possession charge and remand with instructions to reinstate the jury’s verdict and to conduct proceedings not inconsistent with this decision.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In April 1993, Richard E. Fass was an undercover narcotics officer working with the Drug Enforcement Agency. Fass had six years of drug enforcement experience, primarily working undercover on the street.
Fass was assigned to the Phoenix office working undercover on April 23, 1993, when an informant named Berto contacted him. Berto advised Fass that he knew some people who were interested in purchasing large amounts of cocaine.
Fass and Berto met that same afternoon and drove to the Travelers’ Inn. In the parking lot of the motel, Fass and Berto met Francisco Oros-Oropeza, one of the potential purchasers. Oros-Oropeza escorted Fass and Berto to a room at the motel. Oros-Oropeza testified that the purpose of the meeting was to negotiate purchasing cocaine from Fass.
Five people, including defendant, were in the motel room. Fass had never encountered any of the individuals in the room. After introductions, the conversation turned to drugs. Fass testified that a woman named Charobono told him that they had been in town a few days looking to purchase cocaine. Further, she conveyed that they were just interested in purchasing five kilos of cocaine initially, but the amount would eventually increase to twenty kilos of cocaine. Fass testified that the others in the room, including defendant, were listening to the conversation and appeared to share Charobono’s desires to purchase.
The group discussed price and agreed upon $20,000 per kilo. When timing for delivery was discussed, defendant told Fass the money could be obtained that day — that his cousin had the money. Defendant also stated that he and Oros-Oropeza would procure the money and rent another room to complete the exchange at a different location. Defendant then advised Fass that when defendant had the money and the new room, he would contact Fass. Defendant and Oros-Oropeza then left the motel room. Fass and Berto left shortly thereafter.
Later that day, Fass received a page to call the room at Travelers’ Inn, the site of the first meeting. Fass called and spoke to Kathy Rosas. Rosas told Fass the money was ready and directed him to a room at the La Quinta motel. Fass and Berto went to the motel room as directed, where they met defendant and Oros-Oropeza. Defendant told Fass there was enough money to purchase one kilo of cocaine and spread $20,000 in cash out on the bed. Oros-Oropeza testified that defendant brought the money to the room. Once the money was counted, defendant and the others went to a car in the parking lot where defendant took possession of one kilo of cocaine. Defendant was arrested shortly after taking possession of the cocaine and was later indicted on one count of possession of cocaine for sale and one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine for sale, class 2 felonies under A.R.S. §§ 13-1003 and 13-3408, respectively.
Defendant did not appear for his trial and was tried in absentia. In both his opening statement and closing argument, defense counsel admitted defendant’s guilt of “at least possession.” The jury agreed, returning guilty verdicts on both counts.
Defendant was arrested nine months later. At sentencing, the trial judge concluded that he had erred in denying defendant’s Rule 20 motion for directed verdict on the possession for sale charge, and therefore entered a judgment of not guilty on Count II, despite the jury conviction. The judge reasoned that the facts amounted to entrapment as a matter of law because “you can’t convict an individual of possession of drugs when the drugs that he is charged with possessing was (sic) drugs that are furnished by law enforcement.” On Count I, the trial court sentenced defendant to an aggravated eight-year prison term.
Defendant timely appealed his conviction and sentence on Count I. The state timely cross-appealed the judgment of acquittal on Count II.
ISSUES PRESENTED
On appeal:
WHETHER THE STATE INTRODUCED EVIDENCE SUFFICIENT TO IDENTIFY DEFENDANT AS THE PERSON WHO WAS ON TRIAL.
On cross-appeal:
WHETHER ENTRAPMENT ARISES AS A MATTER OF LAW WHERE THE STATE SUPPLIES DRUGS TO A DEFENDANT AND THEN CHARGES HIM WITH POSSESSION OF THOSE DRUGS.
DISCUSSION
1. The evidence was sufficient to support the finding that the person who committed the crime and the person convicted of the crime were one and the same.
The state has the burden to prove the identity of the person who committed the crime. State v. Hall, 136 Ariz. 219, 221, 665 P.2d 101, 103 (App.1983). Defendant argues that the state failed to carry its burden because “there was no evidence linking [defendant] to the man identified as Rene Rocha-Rocha” or evidence sufficient to enable the witnesses to identify defendant “as the Rene Rocha-Rocha who was on trial.” In support of his argument, defendant notes that the state did not introduce either a booking photograph or fingerprint evidence, and that the witness testimony did not include a physical description of the man who was arrested and charged, under the name Rene Rocha-Rocha. The evidence, however, did include statements from Alonso Rocha-Rocha, a co-defendant, who testified that he was defendant’s cousin, and that Rene was the person police arrested on April 23, 1993. Police officers also testified that the person who purchased the cocaine was Rene Rocha-Rocha, and that he was taken into custody immediately after he purchased the cocaine. The evidence further indicated that defendant was taken into custody the day he purchased the cocaine.
The analysis in Hall is instructive here:
The real question is not whether the evidence was sufficient to convict the John Richard Hall described but whether the John Richard Hall who was sentenced is the same person as the man initially arrested for the crime.
136 Ariz. at 221, 665 P.2d at 103.
The “real question” here is whether the Rene Rocha-Rocha who was sentenced is the same person as was initially arrested. As in Hall, “there is no doubt” about the answer. Id. Defendant, like the defendant in Hall, was arrested, indicted, arraigned, released on bond, failed to appear for trial, and was tried in absentia. Id. As in Hall, the state did not introduce a booking photograph or fingerprint evidence. Id. Finally — again as in Hall — defendant stood mute at sentencing when the trial court asked whether there was any legal cause why sentencing should not proceed. Id. This case is even stronger than Hall because here defendant not only failed to object at sentencing, but told the court, “I am sorry about what I did, and I want to apologize.”
There is more than an identity of names in this case. Police testified that the man taken into custody was the man who purchased the cocaine. He went by the name “Rene Rocha-Rocha,” and he was booked and indicted under that name.
It is not enough to argue, as defendant did at trial, that identification was lacking because the state did not put on proof that the man on trial — conceded by all to be Rene Rocha-Rocha — physically “matched” the man they arrested. Defendant made positive identification impossible by absenting himself from trial, and we decline to create a rigid legal standard for identification that would encourage defendants to violate their release conditions by failing to appear. At a minimum, defendant must assert that he is not the man who was arrested at the scene of the crime. We have no reason to believe that the person convicted was anyone other than defendant, and in the absence of a claim to that effect we need not address this issue further.
2. The trial court improperly dismissed Count II.
During trial, the court expressed its concern that entrapment might exist as a matter of law because the state had furnished the cocaine to defendant. Defendant did not notice entrapment as a defense, but argued for a directed verdict on the ground articulated by the trial court. At trial, the court denied defendant’s motion. However, at sentencing, citing State v. Boccelli, the trial court directed a verdict of acquittal for defendant as to Count II, maintaining that the supreme court has held that entrapment is proven as a matter of law in a possession for sale case when the police have supplied the drugs to the defendant. 105 Ariz. 495, 497, 467 P.2d 740, 742 (1970); see also State v. McKinney, 108 Ariz. 436, 439-40, 501 P.2d 378, 381-82 (1972). We disagree and reverse.
Entrapment as a matter of law exists where uncontradieted testimony demonstrates that through the creative activity of the police, the state induces an otherwise innocent person to commit a criminal act. Boccelli, 105 Ariz. at 496-97, 467 P.2d at 741-42 (quoting Sorrells v. United States, 287 U.S. 435, 442, 53 S.Ct. 210, 212-13, 77 L.Ed. 413 (1932)); State v. Gessler, 142 Ariz. 379, 382, 690 P.2d 98,101 (App.1984). An entrapment defense does not lie when the police “merely afforded an opportunity for a predisposed person to commit a crime.” Gessler, 142 Ariz. at 382, 690 P.2d at 101.
The facts in Gessler, like here, involved a “reverse buy.” An informant advised law enforcement that defendants were looking for drugs. Law enforcement was introduced to defendants and negotiations for the drugs ensued. Money was exchanged, the drugs were delivered, and defendants were arrested immediately following the transaction. In addressing the entrapment issue, Division Two of this court underscored the factual distinctions between their case and those in Boccelli:
In the instant case it cannot be said that the undercover agents supplied all the ingredients of the offense. The distinction between the situations in Boccelli and in Strong and the situation herein is most readily apparent with respect to the nature of the transaction. Here, the undercover agents merely pretended that they were selling marijuana to the appellees. In Boccelli and in Strong the charges emanated from a “sale” of narcotics wherein the drugs were supplied by undercover agents and sold to undercover agents. Thus the agents were supplying the sine qua non of the offense, the indispensable condition upon which the offense was predicated. The court in Boccelli reversed the conviction since uncontradicted testimony at trial indicated that all of the ingredients of the offense, the plan, marijuana, buyer, purchase money and intent to make the sale, were provided by the state.
Gessler, 142 Ariz. at 383-84, 690 P.2d at 102-03 (emphasis added).
Like in Gessler, the facts here are clearly distinguishable from those in Boccelli and McKinney. In Boccelli, after defendant refused to buy drugs from a government informant, defendant agreed to keep the drugs at his house. Boccelli, 105 Ariz. at 496, 467 P.2d at 741. Later, the informant brought an undercover police officer to purchase the drugs from defendant. Id. Similarly, in McKinney, the government provided defendant with drugs through an informant, and the informant initiated contact with undercover officers to arrange defendant’s sale of the drugs. 108 Ariz. at 438, 501 P.2d at 380. Rather than presenting mere opportunity, both of these cases present situations where a state agent supplied drugs to the defendant and aided defendant in attempting to sell the drugs to a second state agent. Id.; Boccelli, 105 Ariz. at 496, 467 P.2d at 741. Such facts led the Boccelli court to conclude: “the State’s agents supplied all the ingredients of the offense: the plan, the marijuana, the buyer, the money for the purchase ... even the intent to sell.” 105 Ariz. 495, 497, 467 P.2d 740, 742.
Here, conversely, law enforcement did not direct' defendant to purchase or sell the cocaine, and did not arrange, or attempt to arrange, a second sale to another state agent. Defendant was looking for cocaine and his activities clearly show a predisposition to possess cocaine. The fact that he purchased the drugs from an undercover officer does not, in itself, give rise to an entrapment defense. Further, the amounts discussed and the amount purchased allowed the jury to conclude that the cocaine was for re-sale.
Moreover, the difference in the statutory scheme at the time Boccelli and McKinney were decided further distinguishes these eases from the present case. At the time both Boccelli and McKinney were decided, the statute in effect prescribed a per se rule for entrapment when the government provided the drugs. Former A.R.S. § 36-1002.07 prohibited the possession of drugs with no exceptions. The Boccelli court found that: “ ... the evidence is uncontradicted that the State’s agents placed in commerce the narcotic, the trafficking in which is absolutely forbidden by the legislative act.” Boccelli, 105 Ariz. at 497, 467 P.2d at 742 (referring to A.R.S. § 36-1002.07 (1956) (repealed 1981)) (emphasis added). Now, A.R.S. § 13-3412(A)(4) permits state officers, employees, and their agents to possess such drugs while acting in the course, of their official duties, thereby nullifying the statutory per se rule articulated in Boccelli and followed in McKinney. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s directed verdict of acquittal as to Count II.
CONCLUSION
Boccelli was decided at a time when even law enforcement was “absolutely forbidden” from placing narcotics in commerce. The law has changed. Additionally, the facts of Boccelli are infinitely different from those here and this court in Gessler recognized that difference.
We therefore affirm defendant’s conviction on Count I (conspiracy to possess cocaine for sale) and reverse the trial court’s directed verdict of acquittal on Count II (possession of cocaine for sale) and remand with instructions to reinstate the jury’s verdict and for proceedings not inconsistent with this decision. We have not reviewed the record for fundamental error. See State v. Smith, 184 Ariz. 456, 459, 910 P.2d 1, 4 (1996).
WEISBERG, P. J., and GRANT, J., concur.
. We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdicts, resolving all reasonable inferences against the defendant. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993).
. The presumptive term was seven years; the maximum aggravated term was fourteen years. A.R.S. §§ 13-701(C) (subsequently amended), - 702(B) (subsequently amended).
. This decision comports with other reported cases affirming convictions where the defendant was arrested by the police officer who observed him commit the crime, later released, and tried in absentia. Id. at 221-22, 665 P.2d at 103-04; State v. Corrales, 119 Ariz. 381, 381-82, 580 P.2d 1235, 1235-36 (App.1978); People v. Williams, 274 Ill.App.3d 793, 211 Ill.Dec. 441, 446-47, 655 N.E.2d 470, 475-76 (1995); Murphy v. State, 555 N.E.2d 127, 128-29 (Ind.1990).
|
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OPINION
VOSS, Judge.
Ernest Aro (“defendant”) appeals from his convictions and sentences for first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and third-degree burglary. We hold that the “taking” of property from a victim, as an element of aggravated robbery, does not require movement of that property. Defendant’s convictions and sentences are affirmed.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
We view the evidence at trial in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury’s verdicts. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert, denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993).
Early in the morning of September 30, 1993, defendant, Efren Medina, and Kevin Martinez were driving in West Phoenix in Medina’s Mercury Sable. They saw the victim sleeping inside his 1975 Toyota Corolla. Medina told defendant, who was driving, “Pull over. I’m going to take [that] car____ Meet me at the corner.” Defendant stopped the car and dropped off Martinez and Medina.
Medina dragged the victim from his car, beat him, and dragged him into the street. He unsuccessfully attempted to start the Toyota and steal the radio inside. Defendant drove down the street, turned around, and returned to the scene. Medina got inside the car. The Sable was then driven over the victim’s body, reversed direction, then driven over the body again. The victim died as a result of multiple blunt force trauma consistent with being run over with a car. At trial, whether defendant or Medina was driving at that time was in dispute.
A jury found defendant guilty of first-degree murder, a class 1 felony, on both premeditated and felony-murder theories; third-degree burglary, a class 4, dangerous felony; and aggravated robbery, a class 3, dangerous felony. The court sentenced defendant to concurrent presumptive terms of six years and 7.5 years, respectively, on the burglary and robbery charges and to a consecutive term of life imprisonment on the murder charge. Defendant timely appealed, raising the following issues:
1. Did the trial court err in denying defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal on the charges of aggravated robbery, third-degree burglary, and first-degree felony murder?
2. Did fundamental error occur when the trial court failed to instruct the jury, sua sponte, that defendant could not be found guilty based on his “mere presence” at the scene of the offenses?
DISCUSSION
A. DENIAL OF JUDGMENT OF ACQUITTAL
Defendant asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal on the charges of aggravated robbery, third-degree burglary, and first-degree felony murder. A judgment of acquittal is warranted where there is no “substantial evidence to warrant a conviction.” Rule 20, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure (“Rule(s)”). “Substantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla and 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. Mathers, 165 Ariz. 64, 67, 796 P.2d 866, 869 (1990) (quoting State v. Jones, 125 Ariz. 417, 419, 610 P.2d 51, 53 (1980)). We examine each of defendant’s arguments under this standard.
1. Aggravated robbery
Defendant argues that insufficient evidence supported his conviction for aggravated robbery because no evidence established that the object of the robbery, the victim’s car, was ever moved. Because aggravated robbery includes the elements of robbery, this argument focuses on the elements of that offense. The statutory definition provides:
A person commits robbery if in the course of taking any property of another from his person or immediate presence and against his will, such person threatens or uses force against any person with intent either to coerce surrender of the property or to prevent resistance to such person taking or retaining property.
Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated section (A.R.S. § ) 13-1902(A).
Defendant contends that “taking,” which is undefined by statute, includes the movement, or “asportation,” of property. However, in the related context of theft, “taking occurs when the offender secures dominion over the property.” See 2 Wayne R. La Fave and Austin Scott, Jr., Substantive Criminal Law, § 8.3 at 345 (1986). “Taking,” also known as “caption,” and asportation (or “carrying away”), were two distinct elements of theft at common law. See id. The .Arizona Supreme Court, construing the predecessor robbery statute, recognized this distinction:
The crime of robbery is complete when the robbers without lawful authority and by means of force or fear obtain possession of the personal property of another in the presence of its lawful custodian and reduce it to manual possession.
State v. Hitchcock, 87 Ariz. 277, 284, 350 P.2d 681 (1960), cert. denied, 365 U.S. 609, 81 S. Ct. 823, 5 L.Ed.2d 821 (1961)(quoting People v. Beal, 3 Cal.App.2d 251, 39 P.2d 504, 505 (Dist. 4 1934)). Accord, State v. Allen, 1 Ariz.App. 161, 163, 400 P.2d 589 (1965) (in context of shoplifting, “taking” means obtaining “the complete, independent, and absolute control of the thing desired adverse to the rights of the owner”).
We presume that the legislature is aware of existing ease law when it passes a statute and that, when it retains language upon which appellate decisions are based, it-approves the judicial interpretation. State v. Pennington, 149 Ariz. 167,168, 717 P.2d 471, 472 (App.1985). Accordingly, we conclude that “taking” under the present robbery statute means obtaining possession of or dominion over property, and does not require that the property be moved. Because sufficient evidence was presented that Medina obtained possession of the victim’s car when he forcibly removed the victim from it, the trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal on the aggravated robbery count.
2. Third-degree burglary
Defendant also argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction of third-degree burglary, which is statutorily defined as follows:
A person commits burglary in the third degree by entering or remaining unlawfully in or on a nonresidential structure or in a fenced commercial or residential yard with the intent to commit any theft or any felony therein.
A.R.S. § 13-1506(A). Defendant contends that, even though evidence was presented that his accomplices entered the victim’s car with the intent to steal it, the evidence was insufficient because the statute requires proof that the theft occur “therein” — that is, inside the car. As a result, he asserts, the offense cannot be premised upon theft of the car itself.
We find no merit to this argument. Pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-1802(A)(1), theft occurs when a defendant knowingly “[c]ontrols property of another with the intent to deprive him of such property.” “Control” means “to act so as to exclude others from using their property except on the defendant’s own terms.” A.R.S. § 13-1801(A)(2). We find sufficient evidence that defendant’s accomplice entered the victim’s car with the intent to “control” it, by his beating of the victim, removing him from the vehicle, and attempting to start it.
3. First-degree felony murder
Because sufficient evidence supports defendant’s convictions for aggravated robbery and third-degree burglary, and sufficient evidence established that he and his accomplices caused the victim’s death, the trial court properly denied his motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of first-degree felony murder. See A.R.S. § 13-1105(A)(2); State v. Vargas, 127 Ariz. 59, 60, 618 P.2d 229, 230 (1980).
B. FAILURE TO INSTRUCT ON “MERE PRESENCE”
Defendant also argues that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that proof of his “mere presence” at the scene of the offenses was insufficient to support a determination of guilt. However, defendant’s counsel did not request such an instruction at trial. Failure to request an instruction waives the issue on appeal in the absence of fundamental error. Rule 21.3(c); State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 154, 812 P.2d 626, 627 (1991). “Fundamental error is ‘error going to the foundation of the case, error that takes from the defendant a right essential to his defense, and error of such magnitude that the defendant could not possibly have received a fair trial.’ ” State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 572, 858 P.2d 1152, 1175 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994)(quoting State v. Hunter, 142 Ariz. 88, 90, 688 P.2d 980, 982 (1984)). We examine the prejudicial nature of the unobjected-to error in light of the entire record. Id.
Defendant contends that he was entitled to a jury instruction like the one at issue in State v. Noriega, which stated:
Guilt cannot be established by defendant’s mere presence at a crime scene or mere association with another person at a crime scene. The fact that the defendant may have been present does not in and of itself make defendant guilty of the crimes charged.
187 Ariz. 282, 928 P.2d 706, 707 (App.1996), review granted, Dec. 17,1996.
Defendant notes that, in his opening, defense counsel suggested a mere presence defense, stating:
[A]ll you will find about Ernie Aro is that he was there. The Judge will tell you later on at the end of the trial ... what being there means. Suffice it to say, at this point in the trial, being there is insufficient to find Ernie Aro guilty.
By the end of trial, however, the defense theory apparently had changed. Focusing on the court’s instruction on accomplice liability, defense counsel argued that defendant was not an accomplice because he did not act with “the intent to promote or facilitate the commission of the offense.” Counsel did not assert that defendant’s mere presence was insufficient to establish his guilt. Rather, he argued that defendant was not guilty because he was not present when Medina and Martinez committed the burglary and robbery. Counsel stated:
Ernie wasn’t there. “Let me out of the car. I am going to take his car.” Okay. Does that mean Ernie has some way aided and assisted in the commission of either the robbery or the burglary of [the victim] and his ear? No. He left. He was down the street. He let those people out of his car and he left. Why do you think he left? Has there been anything proven to you other than he left because he didn’t want to be part of it. He said, “Okay. Okay. I will let you out. Okay. You go commit the crime.” Doesn’t mean I am going to do it.
Although a mere presence instruction may not have been logically inconsistent with this argument, such an instruction would not have advanced the assertion that defendant was not guilty because he was not present. The record strongly suggests that the defense made a tactical choice not to request a mere presence instruction. Under these circumstances the fact that the trial court did not instruct the jury on the concept sua sponte does not constitute fundamental error.
CONCLUSION
We have not reviewed the entire record for fundamental error because such review is no longer required. See State v. Smith, 184 Ariz. 456, 459, 910 P.2d 1, 4 (1996). Defendant’s convictions and sentences are affirmed.
WEISBERG, P.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
|
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ORDER
It appearing to the Court that the grant of review in this case was improvident, IT IS ORDERED that the order granting review is vacated.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the petition for review is dismissed.
Justice Martone dissents from the order dismissing this case on the following grounds: (1) under Arizona law, a mere presence instruction is never required because it is always implicit in the charge, and (2) in those close cases in which a trial judge chooses to give it, it must nevertheless be supported by the evidence.
Justices Feldman and Jones wish to add that they join the Court’s order with confidence that the Court of Appeals was well aware that instructions need not be given unless supported by evidence. They are equally confident that the bar shares this view and will not misinterpret the Court of Appeals’ opinion.
|
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NOYES, Judge.
Clinton Taliaferro (“Father”) appeals from a decree of dissolution of marriage. His attorney, Robert A. Hirschfeld, appeals from a $20,000 sanction. In a previous opinion, we vacated both the decree and the sanction on grounds that the trial court had erroneously denied Father’s notice of change of judge. Taliaferro v. Taliaferro, 184 Ariz. 613, 911 P.2d 619 (App.1995). The supreme court then vacated our decision on grounds that “rulings by noticed judges on the propriety of the notice are reviewable only by way of special action relief.” Taliaferro v. Taliaferro, 186 Ariz. 221, 222, 921 P.2d 21, 22 (1996). The case was remanded to this Court for “consideration of all other issues properly raised on appeal.” Id. at 224, 921 P.2d at 24. Having considered those issues, we now affirm the decree but vacate the $20,000 sanction on grounds that it was excessive and, therefore, an abuse of discretion. We remand for imposition of a just and appropriate sanction on Hirschfeld for the cited violation.
We have jurisdiction of the appeal pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 12-2101(A) (1994).
CUSTODY and VISITATION
The parties were married in August 1987 and their son was born in May 1988. The marriage was dissolved in August 1993, following years of hostilities and a six-day trial in which each party tried to prove that the other was emotionally unstable, an abusive spouse and an unfit parent. Father was 51 years old and disabled, Mother was 29 years old and employed, and Child was 5 years old and emotionally damaged by the behavior of his parents.
Father argues on appeal that the trial court abused its discretion in awarding custody to Mother and supervised visitation to Father. The trial court’s findings and conclusions on the custody issue are supported by the record and are as follows:
9) Joint Custody is not in the minor child’s best interest for the following reasons:
a) The total lack of the parents’ ability to cooperate in the decision-making process concerning the child;
b) The acts of domestic violence committed by the Petitioner [Father] in the presence of [Child and step-child].
c) The ongoing “war” between the parties; and
d) Neither of the parties is likely to allow the child frequent and continuing contact with the other parent.
10) The Petitioner is not fit to have sole custody of the minor child for the following reasons:
а) The Petitioner is an alcoholic with severe emotional problems.
3) In November of 1992 the Petitioner believing he was having a heart attack, drove to the hospital with the minor child in the automobile. At the hospital a blood alcohol test was performed. The reading was .258.
5) The [May 1993] suicide attempt was because Petitioner believed he was going to lose custody of his child; and
б) The Petitioner has been verbally abusive to his son and his step-son.
12. [Mother] is a fit and proper person to have the care, custody and control of [Child],
13. The Court is not unmindful of the fact that both parents have wrongfully caused the minor child to suffer emotional trauma, and that both parents are in need of hostility reduction counseling.
14. In Exhibit 2, the records of Thunderbird Samaritan Hospital, the following statement is noted: “... he [Father] is denying any suicidal thoughts to me, however, he has been on the telephone [with his attorney] and his sitter in the room reported that the patient stated that he needed a gun and was crying and was agitated____” [Report of Psychiatric Consultation, dated May 25,1993.]
Because of the Petitioner’s habits of driving in an intoxicated condition with the minor child in the automobile and the potential for violence, it would be in the minor child’s best interest that the Petitioner be granted supervised visitation....
Father argues on appeal that the trial court should have awarded joint custody as recommended by Pat Ferguson, who studied this family and found neither parent fit for sole custody. Ferguson has a Master’s degree in Sociology, Marriage and Family Life, was a custody supervisor and assistant director of Conciliation Court for twelve years, and has been in private practice for six years. She did recommend joint custody, but only to “balance the power” and only because she believed that whichever parent received sole custody would deprive the other of any contact with the child. Ferguson’s written report, in part, is as follows:
SYNOPSIS
... During the course of this evaluation Mr. and Mrs. Taliaferro have continued to wage war. Both claim to have been physically assaulted by the other. Mail has been stolen, property damaged, threats made, allegations of child physical and sexual abuse have been made, phone messages intercepted and deliberate programming of [Child] was done by both parents.
Since [Child] has been in the custody of Johanna, Clint has not received visitation with [Child] except for one visitation held at my office....
Both parents take good physical care of [Child], but seemingly they haven’t a clue as to what is needed for [his] emotional and psychological well-being.
Both Johanna and Clint see themselves as victims and take little responsibility for their own actions in continuing the battle. Hopefully, the damage done to [Child] is not irreparable.
RECOMMENDATIONS
I do not consider either parent capable of being the sole custodial parent, therefore, I am recommending joint custody in the hope that this will balance the power struggle between the parents.
The parents should receive hostility reduction counseling. If the battle continues, the parent causing the first problem should lose custody and have the most minimum visitation possible.
In her testimony, Ferguson referred to the deplorable behavior that occurred the entire year that I saw these people. [Child] was increasingly under stress.... I see this couple as being locked in a very heavy power struggle to have control. And unfortunately the only thing they have to use against one another is their child ... and I think the power struggle has taken priority over what is in the best interests of the child____ This child is going to be in therapy until he’s 35 if we can’t get the fighting stopped.
You know, they are both good parents in their own way and the child loves both of them. That’s not the problem. The problem is their continued infighting. It doesn’t make any difference to me who raises the child. This is a neat little boy that I would like to have a future.
Ferguson also found that, although each parent was accusing the other of threats, “I do not think that either one of these parents presents a danger physically to [Child] at all.” When the trial court asked Ferguson for a sole custody recommendation, she stated: “I think if you could safeguard by your order that visitation to the other parent never be interrupted or changed or withheld, probably Johanna is more rational than Clint is.”
The trial court acted within its discretion in declining to order “balance of power” joint custody and in deciding to award sole custody to Mother with supervised visitation to Father.
FINANCIAL ORDERS
Father argues that he should have been awarded spousal maintenance and that the trial court erroneously attributed to him income from his mother, who had paid $24,-000 on the parties’ house; made all mortgage payments ($800 per month), bought much of the furniture, and paid over $40,000 for Father’s attorney’s fees in this case. The court also found that, although Father received disability benefits of $425 per month, “he is capable of gainful employment.” The court attributed gross monthly income of $1,425 to Father and $1,215 to Mother. Neither party was awarded spousal maintenance. Father was ordered to pay child support of $383 per month.
Father had problems from a 1967 plane crash and a 1985 industrial accident. He had three back surgeries in the early 1980’s, has a “foot drop,” and has been on Social Security disability since 1988 because he cannot stand or sit for long. Father also has a college degree. On August 3, Father testified that “I have never not tried to find employment,” and he blamed his inability to find a job on “unspoken age bias.” Although Father testified on August 5 that he did not feel capable of being employed, the record supports the trial court’s finding that Father was employable. Father had prior experience in accounting and computer programming and a fairly solid work history since 1965. We sustain the child support award, not on grounds that Father’s 80-year-old mother was going to support him, but on grounds that the record supports the conclusion that Father was capable of producing gross income of $1,425 per month. For these same reasons, we affirm the spousal maintenance decision.
If, despite Father’s best efforts, the trial court’s 1993 opinion of Father’s employability has been disproved by time and circumstance, Father’s remedy is to seek modification of his support obligation. The Decree orders that “every twenty-four (24) months the parties shall exchange financial information such as tax returns, financial affidavits and earnings statements.”
Father claims entitlement to compensation because Mother dropped him from her health insurance. Because Father receives Medicare benefits when necessary, the trial court did not err in finding that “Petitioner has failed to establish that he will be damaged by the Respondent’s unilateral cancellation of the Petitioner as an insured under her medical insurance policy.”
HIRSCHFELD SANCTIONS
Hirschfeld was Father’s third attorney in the case and the parties were at war long before he appeared in February 1993. On May 23, 1993, Father was hospitalized following an overdose of prescription medication. Hirschfeld went to the hospital while Father was still unconscious, then later talked with him on the telephone. Hirschfeld notified the Phoenix City Court of the hospitalization and requested a continuance of Father’s upcoming assault trial, but Hirschfeld did not disclose the hospitalization to court or counsel in this case. On the eve of trial, Mother’s attorney, Martin D. LaPrade, learned of the hospitalization and filed a motion for release of medical records. Hirschfeld did not oppose the motion and the trial court ordered the hospital to release Father’s records to LaPrade. On later reviewing the records, the trial court fairly characterized the event for which Father was hospitalized as an “attempted suicide.” This “event” was fully explored during trial.
At the end of trial, on August 6, the trial court announced a $20,000 sanction of Hirschfeld and verbally issued the following preliminary findings and conclusions to explain the sanction:
In the opinion of the Court, and the Court so finds, and Mr. Hirschfeld so testified that he had an obligation to disclose the hospitalization to opposing counsel.
In this Court’s opinion and the Court so finds that not only has Mr. Hirschfeld engaged in unethical conduct, his conduct is reprehensible because what he did was he placed four people in jeopardy, and by that I mean, Mrs. Taliaferro, the two children, and her significant other.
And the reason why I say that is I’m looking now at the ... report of psychiatric consultation dated May 25th, 1993, and I quote ... he is denying any suicidal thoughts to me. However, he had been on the telephone, and a sitter in the room reported the patient stated he heeded a gun and was crying and was agitated. Having ... attempted suicide because he felt he was going to lose custody of his child, and now in effect having lost custody of his child, there is a substantial likelihood that he could kill, he could kill himself and the four others mentioned.
Mr. Hirschfeld’s conduct, in the Court’s opinion, is so outrageous and reprehensible, and having informed the court that he has received [$20,000] in attorney’s fees, as and for attorney’s fees and costs, it is the order of the Court that Mr. Hirschfeld is assessed ... as and for sanctions slash attorney’s fees the sum of $20,000.
Mr. LaPrade, upon receipt of the $20,000, is to petition the Court and the Court will set a hearing, and out of the $20,000, Mr. LaPrade will first be paid his attorney’s fees and the balance will be paid to the Clerk of the Superior Court.
MR. LAPRADE: Do you intend to address the issue of the husband’s contribution towards the wife’s attorney’s fees? THE COURT: I said that the $20,000 is going to be used first to pay your attorney’s fees and the balance is going to go to the Superior Court.
The trial court directed LaPrade to submit proposed findings and conclusions, and he did so. On August 13, however, the court advised in a minute entry that it declined to sign counsel’s proposed findings and conclusions and would prepare its own. On August 24, the trial court filed its 29-page Amended Findings and Conclusions which, in some respects, are narrower and less severe than the verbal findings provided when the $20,000 sanction was announced, and are as follows:
30. Respondent’s Motion for Sanctions
' f) The Petitioner attempted suicide because he believed he was going to lose custody of the parties’ minor child.
g) Mr. Hirschfeld knew that pursuant to Rule 26.1, [Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure], he had a duty to disclose the hospitalization of May 23,1993.
h) Mr. Hirschfeld did not intend to disclose the hospitalization at the trial.
i) The reason Mr. Hirschfeld did not intend to disclose the hospitalization was because he knew it would be extremely damaging to his client’s chances of prevailing on the custody issue.
j) Mr. Hirschfeld by intentionally withholding this information, which he knew had to be disclosed, attempted to perpetrate a fraud on the Court.
Mr. Hirschfeld’s conduct is without excuse, mitigation or justification.
k) Without knowing of the hospitalization, the Court may have found the Petitioner’s statement that he has not ingested alcohol since January 7, 1993 to be credible, and would not have known of the Petitioner’s propensity for violence if he lost on the custody issue. Mr. Hirschfeld’s failure to disclose the information would have placed the child in jeopardy.
l) Mr. Hirschfeld has received TWENTY THOUSAND ($20,000.00) DOLLARS as and for attorney’s fees and costs.
m) Because of the egregious conduct on the part of Mr. Hirschfeld, it would be appropriate that Mr. Hirschfeld be ordered to pay to the Respondent the sum of TWENTY THOUSAND ($20,000.00) DOLLARS, as and for attorney’s fees/sanetions which is to be apportioned as follows: The Respondent is to be reimbursed for her reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, and the balance, if any, is to be paid to the Clerk of the Superior Court. Rules 16(f), 26(f), and 26.1, Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure.
In opposing the sanctions, Hirschfeld argues on appeal that the suicide attempt was an “event” and that Rule 26.1 does not “encompass disclosure of an event.” In open court, however, when the trial court asked Hirschfeld if he agreed that the suicide attempt was relevant to child custody, Hirschfeld said: “In retrospect, yes, I would agree at this time.” We, too, agree that an attorney.in a custody dispute cannot properly fail to disclose that his client was hospitalized for an attempted suicide shortly prior to trial.
Hirschfeld argues against the sanctions by counter-attacking: He accuses the trial court of “outrageous and deplorable conduct.” The record does not support that accusation. Hirschfeld argues that the trial court evidenced “personal displeasure with having to hear a fully contested trial.” Hirschfeld, mainly, gave reason for any such displeasure by incessantly dwelling on argumentative cross-examination and pointless, negative direet examination.
During trial, the court repeatedly stated that negative testimony was not helping decide the custody issue. Such advice suggests that the court was focused on relevant issues but the parties were not. For example, on July 26, the trial court said: “The person that summed it up is Pat Ferguson who said both parents engaged in deplorable behavior as relates to the child. So let’s move on to the substantive issues.” On July 27, after Father said he only hit Mother once, after she cut him with a knife, the trial court interjected: “Mother Theresa married Jeffrey Dahmer, Mahatma Gandhi married Bonnie and Clyde and if you think this is going to help me decide this case, you’re wrong____ And the reason I’m saying that is — where reality lies as relates to these accusations on both sides, only God knows.” Incredibly, Hirschfeld’s next question to Father was this: “Has Johanna kicked you in the genitals?” Remarkably, the trial court let it go.
On August 3, after Hirschfeld continued to elicit negative testimony from Father about Mother, the trial court called a recess and left the bench. On returning, the court advised:
I just want to give you my impressions ... [Bjoth parties have in all probability committed acts of domestic violence against the other. It is impossible for this Court to determine who is the culprit in these situations.
Going through this isn’t helping me decide what is in the best interest of this child.
On August 4 the trial court did cut off Hirschfeld’s cross-examination of Mother, but only after enduring twenty-seven pages of argumentative, objectionable questions, such as the following:
Q: Besides the people involved with you, who do you feel are Clint’s enemies?
Q: And you feel that Pat Ferguson is off the wall; is that correct?
q. So [Child] lies; is that correct?
Q: So were you lying then or lying now?
Q: It’s true, isn’t it, that you would use whatever reason you can to be sure that the child cannot be with Clint including that he be in jail; isn’t that true?
Q: Isn’t it true you wanted Sam to create a situation where you could get Clint arrested for hitting Sam?
Q: But isn’t it true you lied in obtaining medical attention in order to get money out of an insurance company?
Q: Did you or did you not tell Pat Ferguson that you married Clint to get into the United States?
THE COURT: Who cares.
Q: Wouldn’t it be much simpler if Clint were dead right now for you and for your dealings with the courts and everything else?
THE COURT: That’s a ridiculous question. I’m sustaining my own objection. Your time’s up. You may step down.
The record supports the court’s decision to sanction counsel for failing to disclose the suicide attempt and the record does not support counsel’s accusations against the court. The question now becomes whether the record supports a $20,000 sanction.
AMOUNT OF SANCTIONS
Our standard of review is whether the trial court abused its discretion. Standage v. Jaburg & Wilk, 177 Ariz. 221, 229, 866 P.2d 889, 897 (App.1993), and James, Cooke & Hobson, Inc. v. Lake Havasu Plumbing & Fire Protection, 177 Ariz. 316, 319, 868 P.2d 329, 332 (App.1993). In his motion for sanctions, LaPrade argued that, if the overdose had been disclosed, Mother “would undoubtedly have avoided substantial attorney’s fees incurred in the trial of this matter due to the incredibly damaging nature of the information.” LaPrade requested an award of “all attorney’s fees and costs in the preparation of trial of this matter;” he avowed that Mother’s fees through trial were $12,555. LaPrade’s hourly rate was $150 and he billed 40.5 hours after May 1993, which means that Mother incurred fees of $6,075 after Father’s overdose. About $1,000 of those fees were caused by the discovery violation for which Hirschfeld received a $20,000 sanction.
We find no support for the argument that disclosure of Father’s suicide attempt would have settled the custody issue or significantly simplified the trial. Father was not about to give up his custody fight; his despair over possibly losing custody was what drove him to a suicide attempt. And these people were fighting over more than just the custody issue. Evidence of the overdose was significant to visitation and counseling issues, true, but we do not agree that it made any impact on the custody decision. The attempted suicide was but one of Father’s problems. At the end of the trial, the court stated: “With all these problems, how [Father] could realistically think he would be granted custody by any Court is beyond me.” We agree that it is unlikely that any court would have granted Father sole or joint custody even if he had not attempted suicide in May 1993.
Furthermore, considering the mental health issues raised by the behavior of both parties, Father’s overdose was not as remarkable as it would have been in most cases. The overdose did not even change Ferguson’s joint custody recommendation: After reviewing the hospital records, she testified that,
I believe Clint made the suicide attempt out of desperation of not seeing [Child]. He’s exceptionally close to [Child]. He loves this child a great deal, and I do not believe that he would willingly put this child in any kind of jeopardy if he had him during this [recommended week-on, week-off] period of time.
(Because of the overdose, Ferguson recommend psychological counseling for Father as a prerequisite to visitation with Child.)
Mother’s brief on appeal devotes only one page to defending the sanctions award and cites only Standage and James, Cooke, each of which involved Rule 11 sanctions. See Ariz. R. Civ. P. 11(a). In Standage, attorney Allen was sanctioned $30,000 for filing the latest “in a series of what can only be classified as vexatious lawsuits brought by Stand-age.” 177 Ariz. at 223, 866 P.2d at 891. In affirming, this Court found that, “[t]he record is replete with information that the claims made by Allen on behalf of Standage were unsubstantiated and frivolous.” Id. at 229, 866 P.2d at 897. Many of Standage’s claims had already been resolved against him in another lawsuit. Id. at 229-30, 866 P.2d at 897-98. Whereas the Standage attorney was sanctioned for filing and prosecuting a frivolous lawsuit, Hirschfeld was sanctioned for failure to disclose one “event” in a non-frivolous lawsuit in which the parties were at war with one another long before he appeared.
The authorities cited by the trial court for sanctioning Hirschfeld were discovery rules, namely, Rules 16(f), 26(f), and 26.1(g), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 16(f) provides:
(f) Sanctions. If a party or attorney fails to obey a scheduling or pretrial order, ... the judge, upon motion or the judge’s own initiative, shall, except upon a showing of good cause, make such orders with regard to such conduct as are just____ In lieu of or in addition to any other sanction, the judge shall require the party, or the attorney representing the party, or both, to pay the reasonable expenses incurred because of any noncompliance with this rule, including attorneys’ fees, or payment of an assessment to the clerk of the court, or both, unless the judge finds that the noncompliance was substantially justified, or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
Rule 26(f) provides that, “[t]he court shall assess an appropriate sanction including any order under Rule 16(f) against any party or attorney who has engaged in unreasonable, groundless, abusive, or obstructionist conduct.”
Rule 26.1(g) provides that, “[i]f a party or attorney fails to comply with the provisions of this rule, the court upon motion of a party or on the court’s own motion shall make such orders with regard to such conduct as are just, including any of the orders provided in Rule 16(f).”
The sanctions authorized by these Rules are discretionary but the Rules provide that the sanctions are to be “appropriate” and “just,” which means that they are to bear some relationship to the violation. The same is true for Rule 11, which authorizes an “appropriate sanction.” In James, Cooke, this Court affirmed a Rule 11 sanction but did not review the amount of the sanction because pertinent transcripts were not part of the record. 177 Ariz. at 321, n. 7, 868 P.2d at 334, n. 7. The court noted, however, that Rule 11 sanctions should be limited to those reasonably incurred to meet the groundless, bad-faith moves of the sanctioned attorney, citing Rathbun v. Warren City Schools (In re Ruben), 825 F.2d 977, 990'(6th Cir.1987). It is well-settled that “Rule 11 is not a fee shifting statute.” Business Guides, Inc. v. Chromatic Communications Enters., Inc., 498 U.S. 533, 553, 111 S.Ct. 922, 934, 112 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1991) (quoting Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U.S. 384, 409, 110 S.Ct. 2447, 2462, 110 L.Ed.2d 359 (1990)). As a general rule, the sanction for a Rule 11 violation should bear some relationship to the expenses directly caused by the sanctionable conduct. See Jennings v. Joshua Indep. School Dist., 948 F.2d 194,199 (5th Cir.1991), cert. denied 504 U.S. 956, 112 S.Ct. 2303, 2304, 119 L.Ed.2d 226 (1992). The same is true for sanctions imposed pursuant to Rules 16, 26, or 26.1.
The $20,000 sanction of Hirsehfeld was less related to his discovery violation than it was to the fees he had been paid for representing Father. The express intent of the sanction was to forfeit Hirschfeld’s entire $20,000 attorney’s fee. We conclude that this forfeiture cannot be sustained on the findings made or the rules cited by the trial court. Father had a right to be represented at trial, Hirsehfeld had a right to be paid for his services, and Father had some legitimate complaints and concerns about Mother. Hirsehfeld was not cited for filing and prosecuting a frivolous action; he was not cited for any claim made in the action; he was not cited for anything he said or did during trial; he was cited for one discovery violation which was cured during trial. Hirschfeld’s discovery violation was very serious, but it has to be considered in context and punished fairly.
We fully understand why the trial court was alarmed that an attorney had failed to disclose that a custody contestant was recently in the hospital for a suicide attempt and was overheard asking for a gun. When the trial court announced the $20,000 sanction on August 6, it stated that Hirschfeld’s deception had “placed four people in jeopardy” because “there is a substantial likelihood that [Father] could kill, he could kill himself and the four others mentioned.” We find it significant, however, that when the trial court issued its Amended Findings and Conclusions two weeks after making those preliminary statements, it did not repeat the “substantial-likelihood-to-kill” findings. Because Hirsehfeld, Father, and Pat Ferguson all gave evidence or argument to the effect that Father was not a threat to human life, there is ample support in the record for the trial court’s tempering of its findings in that regard. But, although the court’s written, final findings were not as severe as its verbal, preliminary findings, the sanction remained the same. We respectfully conclude that, when viewed in light of the Amended Findings and Conclusions and the cited discovery rules, a $20,000 sanction is an unjust and inappropriate punishment for this single discovery violation which opposing counsel cured during trial at a cost of about $1,000.
Hirsehfeld’s violation was certainly serious enough to warrant a sanction harsher than the attorney’s fees it cost Mother to cure: additional punishment of Hirsehfeld was warranted to stress the importance of counsel’s candor to the court, his compliance with the discovery rules, and his responsibility to consider the best interests of the child. The possible range of just and appropriate sanctions is quite broad in this case. We will not presume to state our own views on what sanction is just and appropriate to impose on Hirsehfeld based on the Amended Findings and Conclusions and the cited discovery rules: We do not decide the sanction; we review the trial court’s decision. After conducting that review, we respectfully conclude that a $20,000 sanction so far exceeds what is just and appropriate for the cited violation that it is a clear abuse of trial court discretion.
The sanction, which included an order that Hirsehfeld pay all of Mother’s attorney’s fees, mooted Mother’s request that Father pay those fees. That request may no longer be moot and may be considered on remand, in the exercise of trial court discretion.
Mother has requested an award of attorney’s fees on appeal. A.R.S. section 25-324 (Supp.1996) requires consideration of “the financial resources of both parties.” We will decide the issue after receiving financial affidavits from both parties. Father’s failure to file a financial affidavit is his consent to an award of reasonable attorney’s fees to Mother. As Father will be the one ordered to pay any such fees, Mother’s application should not include fees related to Hirschfeld’s pro se appeal. Mother is awarded her taxable costs on appeal.
The decree of dissolution is affirmed, the sanctions judgment is vacated and the matter is remanded for further proceedings.
GERBER and GARBARINO, JJ., concur.
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OPINION
KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.
The question in this case is whether the taxpayer, Smith’s Food & Drug Center’s Inc., is entitled to subtract the amount it paid in federal income tax from its Arizona income tax for the year 1990. The resolution of the question turns on whether Smith’s tax year began before the effective date of the repeal of the law that allowed such a subtraction. We hold that Smith’s tax year did not begin before the effective date of the repeal, and we affirm the summary judgment that the tax court entered in favor of the Arizona Department of Revenue.
FACTS
Arizona’s current income tax scheme provides that a corporation’s “Arizona gross income” shall be the same as its “federal taxable income for the taxable year.” Ariz.Rev. Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 43-1101(1) (1980 & Supp.1996). This is the starting figure from which, after additions and deductions as mandated and allowed by statute, the corporation’s “Arizona taxable income” is derived. A.R.S. § 43-1101(2) (1980 & Supp.1996).
Before 1990, Arizona allowed a taxpayer to subtract “[t]he amount of any federal income taxes paid, accrued or withheld during the taxable year” from its Arizona gross income. See A.R.S. §§ 43-1022(11) (1980) (current version at A.R.S. § 43-1022 (Supp.1996), 43-1122(1) (1980)). In 1990, this law was amended and applied retroactively to taxable years beginning from and after December 31, 1989. 1990 Ariz. Sess. Laws 3d Spec. Sess. Ch. 3, §§ 28 & 42.
Smith’s, like most other grocery businesses, uses a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year for the purpose of achieving uniform and comparable accounting periods. It maintains its accounting records in periods of full weeks with each period ending on the same day of the week. The accounting year always ends on the date on which that day last occurs in the calendar month, or alternatively, on the date on which the day falls nearest to the last day of a calendar month. Each accounting year has four thirteen-week accounting periods except once every sixth year the accounting year has fifty-three weeks.
When Smith’s filed its return for the 1990 tax year, it used December 31, 1989, as the start of its tax year. Since that date precedes January 1, 1990, the effective day of the repeal of the provision allowing the subtraction of the federal tax, Smith’s subtracted the federal tax from its Arizona gross income.
The Arizona Department of Revenue disallowed the subtraction and issued a notice of assessment for additional taxes, interest and penalties. Smith’s pursued the matter in the tax court, which, on summary judgment, held in favor of the Department.
THE DEPARTMENT’S ARGUMENT
The Department acknowledges that Smith’s has consistently used the fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year since it began doing business in Arizona. It nonetheless insists that Smith’s tax year for the period in question began on January 1, 1990. The Department’s argument depends entirely on whether both sections of a provision of the federal Internal Revenue Code have been incorporated into state law. That provision is 26 U.S.C. section 441(f) (1988 & Supp. 1996). It reads:
Election of Year Consisting of 52-53 Weeks.—
(1) General Rule. — A taxpayer who, in keeping his books, regularly computes his income on the basis of an annual period which varies from 52 to 53 weeks and ends always on the same day of the week and ends always—
(A) on whatever date such same day of the week last occurs in a calendar month, or
(B) on whatever date such same day of the weeks falls which is nearest to the last day of a calendar month,
may (in accordance with the regulations prescribed under paragraph (3)) elect to compute his taxable income for purposes of this subtitle on the basis of such annual period. This paragraph shall apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this title.
(2) Special rules for 52-53 week year.—
(A) Effective dates. — In any case in which the effective date or the applicability of any provision of this title is expressed in terms of taxable years beginning, including or ending with reference to a specified date which is the first or last day of a month, a taxable year described in paragraph (1) shall (except for purposes of the computation under section 15) be treated
(i) as beginning with the first day of the calendar month beginning nearest to the first day of each taxable year, or
(ii) as ending with the last day of the calendar month ending nearest to the last day of such taxable year____
The Department takes the position that when the legislature decreed that a taxpayer’s Arizona gross income would be the same as its federal taxable income, it necessarily imported into state law the “special rules” embodied in section 441(f)(2)(A)(i) and (ii). The Department says that the intention to incorporate the effective date of a change in federal law is found in A.R.S. section 43-102 (Supp.1996). That statute provides:
A. It is the intent of the legislature by the adoption of this title to accomplish the following objectives:
2. To adopt the provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code relating to the measurement of taxable income for corporations, ... to the end that taxable income reported each taxable year by a corporation, ... to the internal revenue service shall be the identical sum reported to this state, subject only to modifications contained in this title.
3. To achieve the results in paragraphs 1 and 2 by the application of the various provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code relating to the definitions of income, exceptions, deductions, accounting methods, taxation of ... corporations ... and other pertinent provisions relating to gross income as defined, resulting in an amount called ... taxable income for corporations ... in the Internal Revenue Code.
The Department asserts that it has no power to allow taxpayers to use a taxable year for which there is no express legislative authority. The only such authorization for such a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year, it says, is found in A.R.S. section 43-102. If the Department is correct, Smith’s tax year began on January 1, 1990, and it may not deduct the federal taxes it paid in 1990.
THE TAXPAYER’S ARGUMENT
Smith’s concedes that its federal and state tax years must correspond exactly. It argues, however, that the “special rules” found in 26 TJ.S.C. section 441(f)(2)(A)(i) and (ii) do not apply because A.R.S. section 43-102, which incorporates parts of the internal revenue code into state law, is narrow and does not allow the Department carte blanche to use the federal code at will and for all purposes. Smith’s points out that section 43-102(A)(2) restricts its incorporation of federal law to matters relating to the measurement of taxable income and says nothing about incorporating a federal tax year or any provision relating to the effective date of any statute.
Smith’s has a second argument. It says that the state statutes relating to accounting periods are ambiguous. Arizona Revised Statutes section 43-901 (1980) provides that taxable income shall be computed on the basis of the taxpayer’s “annual accounting period, fiscal year or calendar year.” Another statute, A.R.S. section 43-104(7) (Supp. 1996) defines fiscal year as “an accounting period of twelve months ending on the last day of any month other than December.” Thus, there is no express provision 'in the Arizona statutes which either adopts or recognizes a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year. This gap in the law, Smiths’ argues, should be bridged to its advantage by requiring the Department to accept the fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week accounting period as a means of reconciling an ambiguity in state law, not by adopting any federal code provision.
Finally, Smith’s argues that the Department’s interpretation of section 43-102 would render A.R.S. section 43-901 redundant. That provision requires that taxable income be computed on the basis of an accounting period and indicates an accounting period as either a calendar year or a fiscal year. This legislation, Smith’s says, would be unnecessary if the legislature had adopted the federal version of a tax year.
THE FEDERAL CODE IS INCORPORATED INTO STATE LAW
It is entirely possible, as Smiths’ suggests, that the legislature never gave specific thought to authorizing a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year or how taxpayers who use such a year are to be treated with respect to when changes in the law become effective. That does not mean, however, that the legislature, in incorporating the federal code to facilitate the equation of “federal taxable income” with “Arizona Gross income,” did not adopt 26 U.S.C. section 441(f). The spirit and intent of section 43-102 is broader than Smith’s would concede. The term “accounting methods” as used in section 43-102, the incorporating statute, is certainly broad enough to encompass the concept of a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year. What the legislature did, in essence, was say “use whatever fits from the federal code to make the equation work.” Since there is no provision for a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year in state law, and since the two tax years must be identical, the federal code is the authority for the use of the fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year.
An argument can be made, however, for the proposition that even if the authority to use a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year derives from the federal code, the legislature did not necessarily incorporate the special rules found in 26 U.S.C. section 441(f)(2) into Arizona law. Subsection (2) simply lays down a federal rule for when new provisions of federal tax law become effective. Subsection (2) does not change a taxpayer’s tax year. Since that is the ease, its incorporation into Arizona law is not absolutely essential to the orderly and equitable application of state tax law.
There are several reasons why we believe, however, that subsection 2 has been incorporated into state law. First, Smith’s does not argue otherwise. In its reply brief, Smith’s says:
Smith’s is not attempting to obtain the benefits of section 441 and avoid the burdens of section 441(f)(2). In fact, Smith’s concedes that, if section 441(f) applies in this case, the entire section applies including subsection (f)(2). Smith’s merely asserts that the Department, through proper administrative action, has permitted 52/53 week accounting periods and that, just as in Allentoum, it is not section 441, but rather state law, which allows that accounting period.
Second, it seems highly unlikely that the legislature, in the rather broad exercise of incorporation that section 43-102 represents, intended to pick and choose among the parts of a single narrow provision of the federal code, applying some but not others. This is particularly true when a failure to adopt the special rules would result in a significant loss of state revenue simply because the taxpayer’s accounting period falls shy of the effective date of the repeal by a single day.
The Department cites several eases in support of its position. In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. Department of Revenue, 127 Ill.App.3d 323, 82 Ill.Dec. 733, 469 N.E.2d 267 (1984), the court was concerned with the effective date for the repeal of a provision that was favorable to the taxpayer’s computation of capital gains. An Illinois statute provided that for state tax purposes a person’s taxable year would be the same as his taxable year for federal income tax purposes. Another Illinois statute provided that terms used in the Illinois revenue code would have the same meaning as terms used in a comparable context in the federal code. The taxpayer, which operated on a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year, had an argument identical to Smith’s. It claimed the legislature had not incorporated the special rules applicable to fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week years found in subsection (2) of the federal code. The Illinois court, after noting that Illinois statutes provided that a taxpayer’s state and federal tax year should be the same, disagreed, saying:
As we have noted section 441(f)(2)(A) allows a taxpayer to select a 52-53 week fiscal year but also limits that right by providing that for purposes of determining the applicability of statutes which become effective on the first day of a month such 52-53 week fiscal years will be treated as beginning with the first day of the calendar month beginning nearest to the first day of that taxable year. We find no basis for concluding that in determining what constitutes a 52-53 week fiscal year as defined in the federal statute we should be limited to only the first, permissive, portion of that statute. The second portion is applicable because the Illinois statute setting out the effective date for abolition of the deduction is expressed in terms of a taxable year beginning with the first day of a month, namely January 1,1971.
82 Ill.Dec. at 735, 469 N.E.2d at 269.
We see nothing to distinguish the case before us from Weyerhaeuser. It is true that the Illinois statute contained a provision to the effect that terms in the state and federal law shall be given the same meaning. The absence of a similar provision from Arizona law makes no difference, however, because we are concerned with the adoption of an entire provision, not with the definition of a term.
In Eastman Kodak Co. v. Sullivan, 32 Conn.Supp. 127, 342 A.2d 913 (1975), the question was when a new state tax became effective. The taxpayer owed the new tax only if the special rules embodied in 26 U.S.C. section 441(f)(2) applied. Connecticut had a statute which defined fiscal year as:
the income year ending on the last day of any month other than December or an annual period which varies from fifty-two to fifty-three weeks elected by the taxpayer in accordance with the provisions of the internal revenue code.
342 A.2d at 914.
The court, after rejecting several peripheral arguments raised by the taxpayer, concluded:
A study of the legislative history of the taxing statutes which permit the election of a variable fifty-two to fifty-three week’ year as chosen by the plaintiff indicates that the laws were adopted for the convenience of the taxpayers so that they could compute their taxable income on the same basis as that used for federal taxation. Therefore, when, in defining “fiscal year,” General Statutes § 12-213 uses the phrase “in accordance with the provisions of the internal revenue code,” it is logical to assume that the legislature intended to adopt all provisions of the code pertinent to the effective use of the fifty-two to fifty-three week accounting method. To look only at the provision of the code establishing the method and to ignore the provisions providing for the effect of such a selection is not logical or in accord with obvious legislative intent.
342 A.2d at 915.
We agree with the courts that decided Weyerhaeuser and Eastman Kodak. While a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year could be used without adopting the special rules embodied in subsection (2), those rules are obviously intended to prevent the privilege of the use of such a fifty-two-to-fifty-three-week tax year from resulting in a windfall to taxpayers just because the start of such a tax year has crept backward in the calendar year. We believe that the broad language of A.R.S. section 43-102(A)(3), which applies the provisions of the federal code relating to, among other things, “accounting methods,” was intended to incorporate the special rules found in U.S.C. section 441(f)(2). In reaching this conclusion we have not forgotten that ambiguities in the tax law are to be construed in favor of the taxpayer. Wilderness World Inc. v. Department of Revenue, 182 Ariz. 196, 895 P.2d 108 (1995). We see the problem which confronts the parties in this case as not so much one of ambiguity, as one in which the legislature attempted to deal with a myriad of details by means of a broad incorporation of the federal code. It is not surprising that the adoption of such an approach leads to a taxing scheme that contains some redundancy.
THE CROSS-APPEAL
The Department argues that the tax court erred when it upheld the board’s abatement of the penalty for failure to make a timely payment. Relying on People of Faith v. Department of Revenue, 171 Ariz. 140, 829 P.2d 330 (App.1992), it insists that Smith’s failure to pay constituted willful neglect and that it did not carry its burden of showing reasonable cause for not paying. The Department points to the fact that the year in question was the first time that Smith’s treated its fiscal year as beginning in December instead of on January 1. It asserts that Smith’s employee’s affidavit about advice Smith’s received from its accountants is insufficient to justify the conclusion that Smith’s was exercising “ordinary business care and prudence.”
Penalties are designed to secure compliance with the law, not to punish. General Petroleum Corp. of Cal. v. Smith, 62 Ariz. 239, 243, 157 P.2d 356, 358 (1945). Smith’s position has sufficient plausibility to support the action of the board and the tax court in remission of penalties.
The judgment of the tax court is affirmed in all respects.
SULT, P.J., concurs.
|
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OPINION
THOMPSON, Presiding Judge.
James and Carol Wages (collectively Wages) sought confirmation of an arbitration award. The trial court denied confirmation, deciding that there was “evident partiality” in the proceedings and that the arbitrators abused their discretion in barring Smith Barney Harris Upham & Co. (Smith Barney) from presenting evidence in support of its defense. For the following reasons, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The facts are not in dispute. In 1972, James Wages was rendered quadriplegic in a construction accident. - He received a net settlement of $888,000 on his personal injury claim. With the advice of a financial advisor, he invested most of it in bond mutual funds and annuity funds. Unable to work, Wages depended on the income from the investments to pay living expenses.
In June 1986, Wages met Dennis Melton, a Smith Barney employee. Acting on Melton’s recommendations, Wages liquidated then-previous investments and authorized Smith Barney to invest $250,000 in American Mutual Fund (AMF) and $150,000 in a limited partnership that owned and operated a Westin Hotel in San Francisco, California. They subsequently invested approximately $100,-000 in other securities recommended by Melton and his successor at Smith Barney, Thomas Jeffrey. In 1988, they quit dealing with Smith Barney.
In October 1992, four years after moving their account from Smith Barney, Wages submitted a claim to the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), asserting that Smith Barney had improperly induced them to invest in high risk ventures that resulted in significant losses. The next month, the NASD found the claim deficient, stating that the claim was ineligible for arbitration under § 15 of the NASD Code of Arbitration Procedure (the NASD Code) because it arose more than six years before arbitration was sought.
On July 15, 1993, Wages filed suit in superior court making the same or similar allegations as had their arbitration claim. They did not reveal the NASD’s rejection of their prior claim. Smith Barney moved to compel arbitration. The court granted Smith Barney’s motion and referred the matter to NASD arbitration.
Three months later, Wages filed the claim at issue here with the NASD. The' claim alleged that investments urged by Smith Barney were unsuitable and unreasonably risky. They also claimed that Melton and Jeffrey had misrepresented the safety of the investments and had overstated the income they would generate.
Smith Barney was served on March 25, 1994. On May 3, 1994 it received an extension of time to respond until May 13, 1994. Smith Barney, then known as Smith Barney Shearson, confirmed the extension by letter to Wages’s attorney, and sent a copy to the NASD. On May 13, Wages gave Smith Barney an additional extension of one business day to Monday, May 16, 1994. This extension was also memorialized in a letter to counsel and copied to the NASD.
On May 17, Smith Barney’s counsel requested an additional extension of time to May 24, explaining that he was having difficulty obtaining information concerning the Wages investments. The letter to opposing counsel stated that “[i]f you are not in position to grant this extension, please take this letter as a general denial to which an amendment will be forth coming.” The letter does not indicate whether it was copied to the NASD.
On May 4 and May 23, 1994 Wages served Smith Barney with requests to produce documents pursuant to § 32(b)(1) of the NASD Code. No documents were produced. On June 28, the request for production of documents was repeated. Again, Smith Barney produced no documents. On October 14, 1994 Wages made a final request for production of the documents they initially sought in May. Smith Barney never produced any documents.
On November 9, 1994, approximately five months prior to the arbitration hearing, Smith Barney filed an “amended answer” to the claim. The amended answer denied liability and asserted nine affirmative defenses, including untimeliness.
The October 14, 1994 letter complained only of the lack of a discovery response by Smith Barney. It did not complain of inadequacies in the answer (that is, the general denial), nor that Smith Barney’s failure to file a more complete answer was hindering the claimants’ preparations for the arbitration hearing. Wages did not request a prehearing conference to compel the production of documents as provided for under § 32(b)(4) of the NASD Code.
On November 19, the NASD notified Smith Barney that it had begun the process of choosing an arbitration panel. Both sides exercised peremptory challenges against proposed arbitrators. The NASD then appoint ed Phoenix attorney Brian Warnock to the panel. Warnock became its chairman.
On December 9, Wages moved to bar Smith Barney from presenting evidence, arguments, or defenses at the hearing. They based the motion on Smith Barney’s allegedly late and inadequate answer, and on Smith Barney’s failure to respond to their document requests. They asserted that these failings prejudiced their ability to prosecute their claim.
Smith Barney’s response asserted that because the claims were so old, it was difficult to locate relevant documents and witnesses. Smith Barney moved to dismiss the claims as untimely under § 15 of the NASD Code.
The arbitration panel granted Wages’s motion on January 12,1995, barring Smith Barney from “presenting any matter, arguments or defenses at the hearing in this proceeding.” The order was expressly based on § 25(b)(2)(iii) of the NASD Code, which provides:
A respondent ... who fails to file an Answer within twenty (20) business days from receipt of service of a Claim, unless the time to answer has been extended pursuant to paragraph (5), below, may, in the discretion of the arbitrators, be barred from presenting any matter, arguments, or defenses at the hearing.
Smith Barney made a motion for reconsideration which was denied by the arbitrators.
The panel’s order precluded Smith Barney from presenting any evidence on damages and liability. The panel subsequently interpreted the order to allow Smith Barney to cross-examine witnesses and present argument on matters regarding which Wages had the burden of proof.
When Warnock was appointed to the panel, the NASD provided the parties with his Arbitrator Disclosure Statement. Section 23 of the NASD Code requires each arbitrator to “disclose to the Director of Arbitration any circumstances which might preclude such arbitrator from rendering an objective and impartial determination.” Pursuant to § 23(a)(2), such required disclosure includes “existing or past financial, business, professional, family, or social relationships that are likely to affect impartiality or might reasonably create an appearance of partiality or bias.” Warnoek’s disclosure statement revealed that he had served as an arbitrator in four securities arbitrations, served as a securities mediator five times, and served as counsel in three securities arbitrations.
On March 21, 1995, six days before the hearing, Smith Barney moved the Director of Arbitration to remove Warnock from the panel for cause, asserting he had failed to disclose facts revealing possible bias. Smith Barney also requested replacement of the other arbitrators, asserting that Warnock’s nondisclosure had compromised the apparent fairness of the entire panel. The Director denied the request. Smith Barney was then allowed to present the motion to the arbitration panel as a request for recusal. The arbitrators denied the request on the first day of the hearing.
Smith Barney based its motion on the following matters, which had not been disclosed by Warnock:
1. Two of the three securities arbitration cases handled by Warnock as counsel involved the retail brokerage business of Shearson Lehman Brothers, Inc. (Shearson).
2. One of the claims Warnock filed against Shearson was very similar to the instant ease. Warnock represented Webb, a claimant who was handicapped and unable to work. Warnock had’ argued that income from Webb’s investments was necessary for his livelihood and that he was promised his investments were safe and would provide sufficient income to live on. Warnock also asserted that the promises of safety were false and the investments were unsuitable.
3. Smith Barney asserted that Warnock harbored strong opinions about how a securities firm should handle a disabled investor’s funds. Warnock had criticized the handling of Webb’s accounts in a demand letter to Shearson, stating:
[Webb’s] impairment and lack of sophistication were such that it was totally unrealistic for either Moyer or the brokerage firm to look to him for meaningful confirmation of any investment decisions....
This account clearly reflects a violation of almost every basic industry and common law obligation. I am of the opinion that both the broker and the firm are responsible for [Webb’s] devastating losses____
Warnock also criticized Shearson for its insensitivity and lack of responsiveness:
A meeting with Mr. Kirkman, the branch manager, and subsequent written inquiries have failed to produce ANY information or assistance, save a demand for $300 to obtain copies of the account and caustic letter to Mr. Webb____ Communication with the branch clearly shows a lack of sensitivity to Mr. Webb’s position.
At one point in the Webb proceedings, Warnock characterized Shearson’s conduct as “reprehensible.”
4. In another case, Warnock accused Shearson of misrepresentation and failing to live up to its promises.
Both the NASD and the panel refused to remove Warnock and he refused to step down. After a three-day hearing, the arbitration panel issued its award. It awarded Wages $950,000 in compensatory damages, plus costs and fees.
On April 28, 1995, Wages filed an application to confirm the award in superior court. Smith Barney opposed the application and moved to vacate the award, asserting that the arbitration had not been fair because of the “evident partiality” of Warnock and because it had been deprived of a fair opportunity to present its case. Smith Barney also argued that the arbitrators exceeded then-authority by failing to dismiss Wages’s claim under § 15 of the NASD Code.
The trial court vacated the award, finding that Warnoek’s “evident partiality” and the preclusion order deprived Smith Barney of a fair hearing. The court remanded for a new ai'bitration proceeding. Wages timely appealed and Smith Barney filed a notice of cross-appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) § 12-2101.01(A)(3).
DISCUSSION
I. WHO DETERMINES ARBITRABILITY
Smith Barney has filed a cross-appeal. It challenges the trial court’s tacit rejection of its argument that Wages’s claim was untimely under the NASD Code, and that the arbitrators exceeded their authority in considering the claim. One of the bases for vacating a claim is that the arbitrators exceeded their authority. 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(4); A.R.S. § 12-1512(A)(3). The issue centers around § 15 of the NASD Code, which provides:
No dispute, claim, or controversy shall be eligible for submission to arbitration under this Code where six (6) years have elapsed from the occurrence or event giving rise to the act or dispute, claim, or controversy. This section shall not extend applicable statutes of limitations, nor shall it apply to any ease which is directed to arbitration by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Smith Barney moved the arbitrators to dismiss the arbitration pursuant to this section. The arbitrators denied the motion without comment. Smith Barney then raised the issue in opposing the application to confirm the arbitration award, arguing that the court should rule that the claim was untimely filed. The court vacated the arbitration award, but not on this basis.
A threshold issue is whether the court or the arbitrator may decide whether a dispute is arbitrable. According to the Supreme Court, who decides arbitrability is like any other contract interpretation question: it de pends on what the parties agreed to. First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938, 943, 115 S.Ct. 1920, 1924, 131 L.Ed.2d 985 (1995) (“arbitration is simply a matter of contract between the parties; it is a way to resolve those disputes — but only those disputes — that the parties have agreed to submit to arbitration”). This is generally a state-law question. Id. The Court imposed an “important qualification” on that general rule, however:
Courts should not assume that the parties agreed to arbitrate arbitrability unless there is “clea[r] and unmistakabl[e]” evidence that they did so. In this manner the law treats silence or ambiguity about the question “who (primarily) should decide arbitrability” differently from the way it treats silence or ambiguity about the question “whether a particular merits-related dispute is arbitrable because it is within the scope of a valid arbitration agreement” — for in respect to this latter question the law reverses the presumption.
Id. (citations omitted) (emphasis added).
Smith Barney argues that Foy v. Thorp, 186 Ariz. 151, 920 P.2d 31 (App.1996), supports the position that the question of timeliness of an arbitration demand is a matter for the court. We do not reach this threshold issue, however, because Smith Barney has waived it.
Smith Barney compelled arbitration here and obtained dismissal of Wages’s civil action by asserting that this dispute was arbitrable. A party may not compel submission of an issue to arbitration, and then challenge the authority of the arbitrators to act on that very issue when an unfavorable decision results. Ficek v. Southern Pac. Co., 338 F.2d 655, 657 (9th Cir.1964), cert. denied, 380 U.S. 988, 85 S.Ct. 1362, 14 L.Ed.2d 280 (1965). Because this is what Smith Barney seeks here, we reject Smith Barney’s challenge to the arbitrators’ authority. Having invoked the authority, Smith Barney must abide by it.
II. EVIDENT PARTIALITY
Courts have an obligation to maintain the integrity of their own role in the arbitration process. Accordingly, pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(2), the court may vacate the arbitration award “[wjhere there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators. ...” Similarly, A.R.S. § 12-1512(A)(2) provides that “the court shall decline to confirm an award and enter judgment thereon where ... [tjhere was evident partiality by an arbitrator appointed as a neutral or corruption in any of the arbitrators or misconduct prejudicing the rights of any party.” A party challenging an arbitration award has the burden of proving the existence of grounds to vacate the award. Woods v. Saturn Distribution Corp., 78 F.3d 424, 427 (9th Cir.1996), cert. dismissed, — U.S.-, 117 S.Ct. 30, 135 L.Ed.2d 1123 (1996); Sheet Metal Workers Int’l Ass’n Local Union # 420 v. Kinney Air Conditioning Co., 756 F.2d 742, 745 (9th Cir.1985).
Neither 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(2) nor A.R.S. § 12-1512(A)(2) defines “evident partiality.” In Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Casualty Co., 393 U.S. 145, 89 S.Ct. 337, 21 L.Ed.2d 301 (1968), the Supreme Court, considering 9 U.S.C. § 10, stated:
[The provisions of § 10] show a desire of Congress to provide not merely for any arbitration but for an impartial one.
We can perceive no way in which the effectiveness of the arbitration process will be hampered by the simple requirement that arbitrators disclose to the parties any dealings that might create an impression of possible bias.
[A]ny tribunal permitted by law to try cases and controversies not only must be unbiased but also must avoid even the appearance of bias. We cannot believe that it was the purpose of Congress to authorize litigants to submit their cases and controversies to arbitration boards that might reasonably be thought biased against one litigant and favorable to another.
393 U.S. at 147, 149-50, 89 S.Ct. at 338, 340 (emphasis added).
In Morelite Constr. Corp. v. New York City Dist. Council Carpenters Benefit Funds, 748 F.2d 79 (1984), the Second Circuit Court of Appeals found that 9 U.S.C. § 10 requires a showing of something more than the mere appearance of bias but less than proof of actual bias. The court held that “evident partiality” under § 10 will be found “where a reasonable person would have to conclude that an arbitrator was partial to one party to the arbitration.” Id. at 84.
The various federal and state courts that have addressed “evident partiality” have struggled with the concept. See, e.g., Morelite, 748 F.2d at 82 (recognizing that what constitutes “evident partiality” by an arbitrator is a troublesome question); International Bhd. of Elec. Workers, Local Union No. 323 v. Coral Elec. Corp., 104 F.R.D. 88, 89 (S.D.Fla.1985) (“ ‘Evident partiality’, like obscenity, is an elusive concept: one knows it when one sees it____ No jurist has yet coined an exacting legal standard for ‘evident partiality’, although many have tried.”); Schreifels v. Safeco Ins. Co., 45 Wash.App. 442, 725 P.2d 1022, 1024 (1986) (quoting International Bhd. of Elec. Workers). What is clear is that in determining whether “evident partiality” exists, courts take a case-by-case approach. Sun Ref. & Mktg. Co. v. Statheros Shipping Corp. of Monrovia, Liberia, 761 F.Supp. 293, 298 (S.D.N.Y.1991), aff'd, 948 F.2d 1277 (2d Cir.1991) (citing Andros Compania Maritima, S.A. v. Marc Rich & Co., 579 F.2d 691, 700 (2d Cir.1978); see also Lifecare Int’l, Inc. v. CD Medical, Inc., 68 F.3d 429, 435 (11th Cir.1995), modified, 85 F.3d 519 (11th Cir.1996)) (“This is one area of the law which is highly dependent on the unique factual settings of each particular case.”).
Wages argue that this was not a nondisclosure case, and therefore, the standard for evident partiality enunciated in Commonwealth Coatings does not apply — the proper standard is an actual bias standard. They further argue that even if Commonwealth Coatings applies, the connection between Warnock and Smith Barney is so attenuated it does not constitute the type of relationship contemplated by the Supreme Court. However, this is a nondisclosure case. Warnock failed to reveal he had sued Smith Barney’s predecessor, Shearson, in two separate instances on behalf of investors, one with virtually identical claims to those asserted by Wages and also involving a disabled investor. Any reasonable participant in the arbitration process would expect an arbitrator to disclose such information, pursuant to § 23 of the NASD Code, as indicative of “circumstances which might preclude such arbitrator ¡from rendering an objective and impartial determination,” and of “past financial, business, or professional ... relationships that are likely to affect impartiality or might reasonably create an appearance of partiality or bias.” (Emphasis added.) Wages contend however that, because Smith Barney discovered these facts on its own ten days prior to the hearing, there is no issue of nondisclosure. But the panel, including Warnock, had already made the crucial ruling that took away Smith Barney’s defense months prior to the hearing date and prior to Smith Barney’s discovery. It is also telling that in opposing Smith Barney’s motion to remove Warnock, Wages argued it would be unfair to change the panel on the eve of the hearing. Thus, the fact that Warnock’s nondisclosure had been effectual until the eve of the arbitration proceeding was used by Wages to influence the panel when it was asked to remove Warnock. That Smith Barney learned of the undisclosed matters before the hearing did not remedy the problem created by the nondisclosure.
We also disagree with the assertion that the proceedings were not tainted by evident partiality. After examining the totality of the circumstances in this case, including the panel’s extreme preclusion order, we find that a reasonable person could indeed conclude that Warnock was partial to Wages in that he was biased against Smith Barney. See Sun Refining, 761 F.Supp. at 302 (no distinction between partiality to and partiality against; company involved in arbitration has a right to an arbitrator neither evidently partial in favor of the other side nor evidently partial against the company).
This case bears marked similarities to Sun Refining. In that case the district court, relying on Morelite, found that an arbitrator who became involved as a witness in a separate arbitration between his employer and one of the parties in the case he was arbitrating (Sun Refining) was evidently partial as an arbitrator. 761 F.Supp. at 295. Several months prior to the hearing, Sun Refining, the party objecting to confirmation of the award, became aware of the arbitrator’s involvement in the second case, and requested the arbitrator to recuse himself. Id. at 296. The arbitrator refused to do so, maintaining he could be fair and impartial. Id. Without finding actual bias, after examining the totality of the circumstances in the case, the district court found that a reasonable person would conclude the arbitrator was partial against Sun Refining. Id. at 299, 301. The court was particularly disturbed by a decision made by two-thirds of the panel (including the arbitrator in question) to allocate arbitration fees unevenly to Sun Refining’s detriment. Id. at 301.
Similarly, we are disturbed by the panel’s order in this case completely barring Smith Barney from presenting any evidence whatsoever, including evidence of damages, at the hearing. Because Wages neither challenged the adequacy of the answer until shortly before the hearing nor took any formal steps to obtain additional documents, an order that essentially barred any defense is so extreme that we find it difficult to explain unless partiality played a role. Warnock served as chairperson of the three-member panel, and was the only attorney on that panel. Combined with Warnock’s nondisclosures as noted above, we are left with an impression of partiality.
Further, as Sun Refining illustrates, while Smith Barney’s discovery of the details of Warnock’s arbitration history came too late to save it from the disastrous bar order, Wages’s arguments here are not advanced by noting the fact that the discovery came before the arbitration hearing and after the exercise of peremptory challenges. As to the effect of Warnock’s evident bias on the conduct of the arbitration hearing, the issue is not the timing of the ultimate disclosure, but the consequence of Warnock’s continued presence on the panel after Smith Barney had become enlightened as to Warnock’s history and his nondisclosure, and objected to him serving as an arbitrator. Because Warnock remained after the objection, “each of the arbitrators and [Wages] ran the risk that [Smith Barney] might later challenge the panel’s award ... and that a court might ultimately [undo the award for evident partiality].” Id. That latent risk has now come to fruition.
In other words, Warnock’s nondisclosure unfairly harmed Smith Barney because, being ignorant of Warnock’s prior representation of other claimants against Shearson in cases so similar to this, Smith Barney could not challenge his presence on the panel as it decided to emasculate the defense. Warnock’s presence on the panel after his evident partiality became known and objected to by Smith Barney essentially made the proceedings voidable at the ultimate election of Smith Barney.
Wages look to Schmitz v. Zilveti, 20 F.3d 1043 (9th Cir.1994), in support of their argument that the “evident partiality” standard should not apply in this ease. Schmitz clearly does not support this reading; here, Smith Barney was palpably injured by Warnoek’s nondisclosure. Schmitz provides, however, a succinct paraphrase of “evident partiality,” as a “reasonable impression of partiality.” 20 F.3d at 1047. According to Schmitz, then, the impression of partiality with which our careful .review of the circumstances of this ease has left us is “evident partiality.” We are also buttressed in our conclusion here by Rogers v. Sobering Corp., 165 F.Supp. 295 (1958), aff'd, 271 F.2d 266 (3d Cir.1959), which smartly rejects the notion that a party who has exercised all available peremptory strikes is not entitled to know of an arbitrator’s evident partiality, and holds that such nondisclosure requires vacating an arbitration award. Id. at 302.
We conclude that the trial court did not err in setting aside the award on the basis of evident partiality.
III. UNFAIR HEARING
Because we affirm the trial court’s finding of evident partiality, we do not consider whether the panel abused its discretion in barring Smith Barney from presenting evidence in support of its defense.
CONCLUSION
Because Warnock, a “neutral” arbitrator, failed to disclose highly pertinent facts and participated in a troublesome ruling imposing a draconian sanction, thereby creating a reasonable impression of partiality, we hold that the trial court properly vacated the arbitration award. In addition, we conclude that Smith Barney, by compelling arbitration and thereby avoiding litigation, waived the claim that the arbitrators exceeded their authority in determining that Wages’s claim was arbitrable in the first instance. Accordingly, the judgment is affirmed.
MeGREGOR, C.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. Wages’s contract with Smith Barney contained the following provision:
11. The undersigned agrees that all controversies between the undersigned and Smith Barney and/or any of its officers, directors or employees concerning or arising from (i) any account maintained with Smith Barney by the undersigned; (ii) any transaction involving Smith Barney and the undersigned, whether or not such transaction occurred in such account or accounts; or (iii) the construction, performance or breach of this or any other agreement between us, whether such controversy arose prior, on, or subsequent to the date hereof, shall be determined by arbitration before the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, or any recognized arbitration facility provided by any exchange and in accordance with the rules of such body then obtaining. The undersigned may elect which arbitration forum shall hear the matter by sending a registered letter or telegram addressed to Smith Barney at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10105, Attn: Law Department.... The undersigned and Smith Barney agree that the award of the arbitrators, or the majority of them, shall be final and judgment upon the award rendered may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.
. Section 39(b) of the NASD Code provides:
After a panel has been appointed, no new or different pleading may be filed except for a responsive pleading as provided for in (a) above or with the panel’s consent.
. Under § 22 of the NASD Code, each side, regardless of the number of claimants or respondents, has the right to exercise one peremptory challenge.
. The reference to paragraph “(5)” is to § 25(b)(5), which provides:
The time period to file any pleading, whether such be denominated as a[n] ... Answer ... may be extended for such further period as may be granted by the Director of Arbitration.
. In July 1993, Smith Barney acquired Shear-son’s retail brokerage division. Smith Barney purchased all of Shearson’s retail brokerage assets; the company became the second largest retail brokerage house in the nation; Smith Barney also purchased the Shearson name. Shear-son's retail operations were more than three times as large as those of Smith Barney. The company became known as "Smith Barney Shearson.”
. The Court explained:
[GJiven the principle that a party can be forced to arbitrate only those issues it specifically has agreed to submit to arbitration, one can understand why courts might hesitate to interpret silence or ambiguity on the "who should decide arbitrability” point as giving the arbitrators that power, for doing so might too often force unwilling parties to arbitrate a matter they reasonably would have thought a judge, not an arbitrator, would decide.
First Options, 514 U.S. at 946, 115 S.Ct. at 1925.
. Nondisclosure is significant because the concealment of pertinent information by an arbitrator interferes with the parties’ ability to choose their arbitrators intelligently, and justifies vacating an award entered by an evidently partial arbitral body. See Commonwealth Coatings, 393 U.S. at 151, 89 S.Ct. at 340 (White, J., concurring) (“it is far better that the relationship be disclosed at the outset, when the parties are free to reject the arbitrator or accept him with knowledge of the relationship...."). Indeed, in many of the reported decisions, it is the nondisclosure claim which "fueled the claim of bias.” Toyota of Berkeley v. Automobile Salesmen’s Union, Local 1095, 834 F.2d 751, 756 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 486 U.S. 1043, 108 S.Ct. 2036, 100 L.Ed.2d 620 (1988). In this case, Wamock's nondisclosure of his involvement in previous claims against Shearson deprived Smith Barney of the opportunity to timely object on grounds of bias to Warnock’s consideration of Wages’s motion to preclude Smith Barney’s defenses. Warnock's nondisclosure of pertinent facts surely "fueled the claim of bias” here.
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OPINION
NOYES, Judge.
On February 24,1990, Chiquita Burt called a City of Phoenix 911 operator and, initially, said that “someone just keeps harassing me” and he was threatening to do something to the car of her boyfriend, Darryl Usher. After further conversation, the 911 operator took Usher’s address and said, “[Wje’ll send an officer out there.” About eighteen minutes later, Burt’s ex-boyfriend, Craig Gardner, broke into Usher’s apartment and shot and killed Usher, Burt, and himself. The victims’ mothers filed wrongful death actions against the City, claiming that the 911 operator mishandled the call and that, but for this fault, police would have arrived at Usher’s apartment in time to prevent the murders. The City denied that the 911 operator was at fault and claimed that all fault was Gardner’s.
After a three-week trial, the jury awarded $600,000 to Plaintiff Hutcherson for the loss of her daughter and $1,100,000 to Plaintiff Usher for the loss of her son. The jury found the City seventy-five percent at fault and Gardner twenty-five percent at fault. After denying post-trial motions, the court multiplied the damages verdicts by the percentage of fault assigned to the City and entered judgments against the City in the amount of $450,000 for Plaintiff Hutcherson and $825,000 for Plaintiff Usher.
The City’s appeal argues error in all elements of the case. Plaintiffs’ cross-appeal argues error in assigning any fault to Gardner. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-210KB) and (F)(1) (1994).
We affirm the liability and damages verdicts. Pursuant to Rule 59(a)(8), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure (“Rule”), we reverse and remand for new trial on apportionment of fault. The evidence does not justify a verdict that the 911 operator was three times as much at fault for the wrongful deaths of Plaintiffs’ decedents as Gardner, who intentionally shot and killed Plaintiffs’ decedents.
The 911 Call
An appellate court must view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdict and judgment. McFarlin v. Hall, 127 Ariz. 220, 224, 619 P.2d 729, 733 (1980). Because the litigation focused in microscopic detail on a four-and-a-half minute telephone conversation, we set forth a transcript of that tape-recorded call. The City’s 911 calls are numbered in the order received. Burt’s call on February 24 was number 106,572, meaning that the City’s 911 operators handled about 1,940 calls a day in the first fifty-five days of 1990. We have heard the tape of Burt’s 911 call; all voices on it sound relatively calm and controlled.
Operator (0):
This is 911. What is your emergency.
Chiquita Burt (C):
Um yes. I’m calling because someone just keeps harassing me and last night I got a restraining order on him and I can’t get it through until Monday. So I was calling to see, what can I, what kind of process can I go through because he’s threatening to do something to my boyfriend’s car.
O: Okay. Hold on, let me take you off the emergency line first.
C: Okay. Thanks.
O: How are you being harassed?
C: Um, last night he tried to assault me and then he was threatening my family and me, telling me that he was going to kill us, and stuff like that, and um I had two guys that helped me out of the club because he tried to do something to me. And then so last night, I went to Tempe; and then I called the um Phoenix Police Department and we met ’em and we told them what happened, and so the police officer said that he would take all the information and that he would put it through and to let every — you know, I guess to let the police, ya know, the other polices know that I did file a complaint towards this guy.
O: Uh huh.
C: And so now today he got the number to where my boyfriend lives and he’s trying ’ta um, he just called over here and pretended like he was somebody else to see if I was here, and then he’s threatening to walk around the apartments until he finds his car, and he’s gonna do something to his car, so I don’t know, could you have somebody go over there to his house, or something?
O: Is he an ex-boyfriend or something?
C: Yeah, he is. And um, my boyfriend said if he comes over here, he’s gonna shoot him. ’Cause he’s been doing this all night. And then last night he went to my girlfriend’s house about twice, one at three in the morning and one at five in the morning.
O: Okay.
C: So either you can bring the police over here and I’ll go to his house with the police or—
0: Well, do you have a restraining order that has to be served or you don’t got one now?
C: I was, I was in the process of the restraining order last night, and the um cop I talked to, he says that it wouldn’t go through until, ah, ’till Monday.
0: Well, you, you have to go to the justice of the peace court or to ’tha municipal court to get one. The officers can’t give you one.
C: Okay, right, that’s what he said. He gave me all the information, but I’m talk ing about, about right now. What can I do?
O: Where does he five? Nearby or something?
C: Yeah, he lives close.
0: Well, how close is close to where you’re at now?
C: I’m, like five minutes, not even five minutes away.
0: Well, where are you calling from?
C: Phoenix.
0: Where?
C: Off of 52nd Street and Van Burén. At the ah, what’s the name of the apartments, Darryl? Ciera Del, Del Rey Apartments.
0: And where does he live, though?
C: He lives off 52nd Street in the Boulder Creek Apartments, not that far from here. And he just called here and hung up. Pretended like he was someone else.
0: Did he say he was coming over?
C: Yeah.
0: Well, we can have an officer come out there and take some information. If he happens to show up, though, before an officer gets there, you need to call us right away, okay, and tell us he’s there now. What is the actual address you’re at?
[Dialogue about addresses and phone numbers omitted.]
C: [Darryl’s] gonna run and check the apartment number. Oh, ok. Because he just moved here so he’s going to check to see what they’re called.
0: Okay.
C: He plays football and I don’t want him to get in trouble or anything, but he’s gonna, if the guy comes over here, you know ’cause he has been, he’s been threatening me all night, you know, that’s why I came over here, because he went to my girlfriend’s house twice in a row looking for me, you know, and I’m — I’m just trying to prevent somebody from getting hurt.
0: Okay, he fives on 52nd Street and what?
C: Van Burén too, but he fives off 915 North 52nd Street. Darryl Usher: (From background) Apartment “0”.
C: It’s Apartment “0” — Building “0”.
0: Okay, well, we’ll send an officer out there, um like I said, if he happens to show up at the apartment before the officers first do, just call us back right away, okay?
C: All right.
0: Bye.
C: Okay, thanks.
Duty
Prior to trial, the City moved for summary judgment on grounds that it owed no duty to Burt and Usher. The trial court denied the motion. The City’s claim of error is based on out-of-state cases holding that the relationship created by a 911 call does not impose a duty of care on the agency receiving the call. See, e.g., Warner u District of Columbia, 580 A.2d 127, 131-32 (D.C.1990); Galuszynski v. City of Chicago, 131 Ill.App.3d 505, 86 Ill. Dec. 581, 583, 475 N.E.2d 960, 962 (1985); Lewis v. City of Indianapolis, 554 N.E.2d 13, 16 (Ind.App.1990); Allen v. Anderson, 490 N.W.2d 848, 856 (Iowa App.1992). The City’s eases all turn on recognizing a pubficprivate/general-specific duty distinction. Arizona adopted this doctrine in Massengill v. Yuma County, 104 Ariz. 518, 523, 456 P.2d 376, 381 (1969), but abandoned it in Ryan v. State, 134 Ariz. 308, 310, 656 P.2d 597, 599 (1982) (“[W]e conclude that the doctrine in Massengill should be abandoned and that case is overruled.”).
The doctrine articulated in Ryan was that “the parameters of duty owed by the state will ordinarily be coextensive with those owed by others.” Id. Because Ryan is the law in Arizona, we do not discuss the out-of-state cases cited by the City, except for Maple v. City of Omaha, 222 Neb. 293, 384 N.W.2d 254 (1986), which stated that “we are persuaded by the reasoning of the Arizona court in Ryan.” Id. 384 N.W.2d at 260. In Maple, a motorcyclist sued the city after being hit by a police vehicle responding to a high-priority dispatch. Id. at 257. The Maple court found “no credible evidence in this record that the 911 dispatchers, or others, acted improperly or imprudently in dispatching [the officer] on an emergency basis.” Id. 384 N.W.2d at 261. As in this case, the city in Maple had a duty. See id. at 260. Unlike this case, however, the trier of fact in Maple found that the city did not breach its duty. Id. at 261.
The City also relies on Morton v. Maricopa County, 177 Ariz. 147, 865 P.2d 808 (App. 1993), a Division Two opinion which held that a county had no duty to an unidentified decedent’s survivors because:
The state’s interest in identifying human remains is primarily to foster public safety through the investigation of suspected homicides. The identification of remains, of course, incidentally benefits friends and relatives. Because this is not the primary purpose, however, no relationship is created which would give rise to a duty to the Mortons.
Id. at 151, 865 P.2d at 812. We respectfully, but summarily, conclude that Morton cannot and does not revive the Massengill doctrine after Ryan’s express abandonment of that doctrine.
Ryan was explained and followed in Austin v. City of Scottsdale, 140 Ariz. 579, 684 P.2d 151 (1984). In Austin, a police dispatcher received an anonymous call advising that Austin’s life might be in danger. Id. at 579-80, 684 P.2d at 151-52. The dispatcher took no action, Austin was murdered, his survivors sued, and the trial court held that the city owed no duty to Austin. Id. at 581, 684 P.2d at 153. In reversing and remanding, the supreme court held that, by providing police protection, the city owed a duty to Austin. Id. at 581-82, 684 P.2d at 153-54. The court also held that a jury could find that the city had breached its duty by not doing more than it did. Id. at 582, 684 P.2d at 154; see also Newman v. Maricopa County, 167 Ariz. 501, 503-05, 808 P.2d 1253, 1255-57 (App.1991) (in investigating hidden danger on private land, sheriff had a duty to others who might go on the land).
Ryan and Austin are on point and controlling: by providing a 911 service, the City assumed a duty of care to those it served.
Standard of Care
The City argues that the trial court erred by instructing the jury that the City should be held to a negligence, rather than a gross negligence, standard of care. Here, again, the City asks us to ignore advice in Ryan and Austin that the appropriate standard of care in cases such as this is negligence. See Austin, 140 Ariz. at 581-82, 684 P.2d at 153-54; Ryan, 134 Ariz. .at 311, 656 P.2d at 600. The City argues that Ryan and Austin .are only about duty, but we also find them instructive on standard of care.
Ryan declared that, generally, “the state and its agents will be subject to the same tort law as private citizens.” Ryan, 134 Ariz. at 311, 656 P.2d at 600. Private citizens are generally held to a negligence standard of care. The Ryan court noted that qualified immunity — a gross negligence standard of care — was the exception, not the rule. Id. at 309, 656 P.2d at 598 (citing Stone v. Arizona Highway Comm’n, 93 Ariz. 384, 392, 381 P.2d 107, 112 (1963)). “[T]he right to sue the state is not a statutory grant, as is the case in several other states; rather, it is a common law rule in Arizona that the government is liable for its tortious conduct and immunity is the exception.” Pritchard v. State, 163 Ariz. 427, 431, 788 P.2d 1178, 1182 (1990).
Ryan found that the legislature has “recognized that the state is hable for the negligent acts of its agents.” Ryan, 134 Ariz. at 310, 656 P.2d at 599. On remand, Ryan was tried on a negligence standard of care, and the resulting defense verdict was affirmed on appeal. Ryan v. State, 150 Ariz. 549, 554, 724 P.2d 1218, 1223 (App.1986). Austin stated that “[u]nder Ryan, therefore, the City of Scottsdale, having opted to provide police protection, had a duty to act as would a reasonably careful and prudent police department in the same circumstances.” Austin, 140 Ariz. at 581-82; 684 P.2d at 153-54. This is a negligence standard of care.
The legislature has not granted qualified immunity for 911 service. In 1984 the legislature enacted A.R.S. sections 12-820 to -826 (1992 & Supp.1995) regarding liability and immunity of public entities and public employees for tortious conduct. 1984 Ariz. Sess.Laws 1091,1092-93. The statute which grants qualified immunity for acts of public employees is A.R.S. section 12-820.02 (Supp. 1995). This statute does not grant qualified immunity to 911 operators, but it does, for example, grant it to public employees accused of “[t]he failure to make an arrest or the failure to retain an arrested person in custody.” A.R.S. § 12-820.02(A)(1). Failure to make an arrest includes “failure to make an investigatory stop which may or may not lead to an arrest.” Walls v. Arizona Dep’t of Public Safety, 170 Ariz. 591, 595, 826 P.2d 1217, 1221 (App.1991). Thus, under the current statute, the City has qualified immunity if plaintiff is harmed after police arrive and they fail to make an arrest or an investigatory stop of the suspect; but the City does not have qualified immunity if plaintiff is harmed before police arrive, but after the City has received a 911 call about the suspect. We take no position on what the law should be; we only note that there is nothing in the current immunity statute covering 911 service.
The City’s standard of care argument is based mainly on Landeros v. City of Tucson, 171 Ariz. 474, 831 P.2d 850 (App.1992), a Division Two opinion with a paragraph of dictum the City construes as rejecting the negligence standard of care for investigation of crime. See id. at 475, 831 P.2d at 851. Landeros states that “‘to assure continued vigorous police work, those charged with that duty should not be liable for mere negligence.’ ” Id. (quoting Smith v. Iowa, 324 N.W.2d 299, 301 (Iowa 1982)). In Ryan, however, the supreme court recognized well-established Arizona public policy that “ ‘public officers and employees shall be held accountable for their negligent acts in the performance of their official duties.’ ” Ryan, 134 Ariz. at 309, 656 P.2d at 598 (quoting Ruth v. Rhodes, 66 Ariz. 129, 133, 185 P.2d 304, 307 (1947)). The gross negligence paragraph in Landeros is dictum because the court stated that it found no evidence that defendant was negligent; thus, the court did not need to reach the gross negligence issue to decide the case. See Landeros, 171 Ariz. at 475-76, 831 P.2d at 851-52.
We respectfully conclude that the Landeros dictum must yield to Ryan and Austin on standard of care.
Negligence
The 911 operator, who had three years of on-the-job experience, gave a “Priority 3” classification to Burt’s call, meaning that it was a “crime not in progress.” In February 1990 the average Phoenix Police Department response time for Priority 3 calls was 32.6 minutes. Plaintiffs contended through expert testimony and argument that the operator was negligent in various respects, including her failure to designate the call Priority 1 or Priority 2. Priority 2 calls were “urgent,” and had an average response time of 13.6 minutes. Priority 1 calls were “serious crimes with immediate personal danger or harm,” and had an average response time of 4.4 minutes. The City contended through expert testimony and argument that the operator was not negligent. It was a close question. We affirm the finding of negligence because, when the evidence is viewed in a light most favorable to sustaining that finding, it does so. McFarlin, 127 Ariz. at 224, 619 P.2d at 733.
Causation
The City moved for a directed verdict on grounds that Plaintiffs failed to prove that the City’s negligence caused the deaths of Burt and Usher. The trial court denied the motion. The element of causation is well-explained as follows:
Arizona law holds that cause-in-fact exists if the defendant’s act helped cause the final result and if that result would not have happened without the defendant’s act. Defendant’s act need not have been a “large” or “abundant” cause of the final result; there is liability if the result would not have occurred but for defendant’s conduct, even if that conduct contributed “only a little” to plaintiffs injuries.
Ontiveros v. Borak, 186 Ariz. 500, 505, 667 P.2d 200, 205 (1983) (citations omitted).
Plaintiffs’ expert testified that, in his opinion, Burt’s call should have been classified as Priority 1. He further testified that on a Priority 1 or Priority 2 call of this kind, police approach the scene using lights and sirens to scare away the suspect. He testified that a number of Phoenix police officers were in the area and available to take a Priority 1 call, as evidenced by the fact that the response time on the Priority 1 call after Burt and Usher were shot was six minutes ten seconds.
During the 911 call, Banda said to Burt: “Well, we can have an officer come out there and take some information. If [Gardner] happens to show up, though, before an officer gets there, you need to call us right away, okay, and tell us he’s there now.” This statement provided Plaintiffs with an argument that the 911 operator induced the victims to stay in the apartment rather than leave, even though the 911 operator knew that Gardner might get there before police did. Cf. Robertson v. Sixpence Inns of America, Inc., 163 Ariz. 539, 546, 789 P.2d 1040, 1047 (1990) (reasonable persons could conclude that, if officer had been warned of recent armed robbery in area, he would have been more careful in approaching the trespasser who shot and killed him).
Viewed in a light most favorable to supporting the jury’s finding that the 911 operator’s negligence was a cause of the wrongful deaths of Burt and Usher, the evidence does so.
Pre-911 Evidence
The City moved in limine to exclude evidence of events prior to the 911 call. The City argued that it could only be judged on the contents of the call and on whether the 911 operator properly prioritized the call. The trial court denied the motion and the jury heard testimony that, at about 2:00 a.m. on the day of the 911 call, Gardner approached Burt in a nightclub and said, “I’m going to kill you for breaking up with me.” There was a scene, and Burt called police. Officer Bruha, who met with Burt at 3:10 a.m., testified that, in his opinion, “there was a crime of threat ongoing,” and that Burt was in fear for her life. The officer told Burt to get an order of protection, to not go home, and to go someplace where Gardner could not find her. Burt went to Usher’s apartment. A few hours later, she called 911.
The City contends that the pre-911 evidence was unduly prejudicial because it allowed Plaintiffs to find the 911 operator negligent based on information she never received. We see the City’s point, but Plaintiffs showed the trial court arguable relevance to the pre-911 evidence. One of Plaintiffs’ negligence theories was that a reasonable 911 operator would have heard enough from Burt to know to ask her about Gardner’s threats the previous night; and, the argument goes, if those questions had been asked, the 911 operator would have learned that Burt feared for her life and would have given the call a higher priority. Plaintiffs’ expert testified that the standard of care required the operator to ask Burt if she was in fear for her safety. We conclude that admission or preclusion of the pre-911 evidence Was within the range of trial court discretion.
Usher’s Future Income
Darryl Usher was a wide receiver for the Phoenix Cardinals and at the time of his death he was a Plan B free agent and involved in salary negotiations with two other teams. Usher was represented in these negotiations by W.C. Benton, an agent who had represented a number of NFL players over the years. Benton had a Ph.D. in Business Administration and two Masters degrees, he was a tenured college professor, and he headed a company that did research analysis and published data on NFL players and kept track of the salaries of NFL players.
Over the City’s objection, the trial court allowed Benton to testify that Usher had been in recent contact with teams in Houston and Detroit and that, in Benton’s opinion, “to a reasonable degree of probability,” Usher would have gotten “at least $240,000 base pay” in 1990. Benton went on to say that he had had discussions about Usher with Houston’s Director of Player Personnel, and “I think the whole deal ended up being something like 1.3 million dollars over three years, the second year being three or something, and then the third one graduating.” In light of Benton’s expertise, his personal knowledge of Usher, and his personal involvement in Usher’s contract negotiations, we find admission or preclusion of his opinions within the range of trial court discretion.
The City also argues that Usher’s future income was irrelevant. The court instructed the jury that it could compensate for “the income and services that have already been lost to Alma Usher as a result of [Usher’s] death and that were reasonably probable to be lost in the future.” Plaintiff proved, without contradiction, that Usher had a very close relationship with his mother and had told many people that he intended to buy her a house and provide for her financial security. He regularly gave his mother at least $1,000 a month and paid her utilities and insurance. Darryl Usher’s future income was not irrelevant to his mother’s damages.
The Killer’s Fault
Arizona’s comparative fault scheme holds a defendant hable “only for the amount of damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant’s percentage of fault.” A.R.S. § 12-2506(A) (Supp. 1995). Fault is defined as
an actionable breach of legal duty, act or omission proximately causing or contributing to injury or damages sustained by a person seeking recovery, including negligence in all of its degrees, contributory negligence, assumption of risk, strict liability, breach of express or implied warranty of a product, products liability and misuse, modification or abuse of a product.
A.R.S. § 12 — 2506(F)(2). Plaintiffs argue that no fault can be apportioned to Gardner because “fault,” as defined by A.R.S. section 12 — 2506(F)(2), does not expressly include intentional wrongdoing. Plaintiffs also argue that a defendant who has breached a duty to protect another from criminal conduct should be prohibited from seeking to apportion fault to the criminal.
We recently addressed a similar argument in Natseway v. City of Tempe, 184 Ariz. 374, 376, 909 P.2d 441, 443 (App.1995). There, plaintiffs sued the cities of Mesa and Tempe for negligently failing to protect their daughter from being hit and killed by a criminal who was driving at high speed to escape police. Id. at 375, 909 P.2d at 442. The jury apportioned seven percent of the fault to each city, three percent to each of two police officers, and eighty percent to the criminal. Id. at 376, 909 P.2d at 443. Plaintiffs appealed, arguing that no fault could be apportioned to the criminal. We affirmed, holding that Arizona’s comparative fault scheme requires that fault be apportioned among all persons who contribute to the harm, and that each tortfeasor be responsible for his or her percentage of fault and no more. Id.; see also A.R.S. section 12-2506(B).
Given the broad definition of fault in section 12 — 2506(F)(2), and the clear directive in section 12-2506(B) to compare all fault, we conclude that the Arizona comparative fault statutes should be interpreted as requiring comparison of all types of fault, including intentional wrongdoing. A recent case from Division Two reaches the same conclusion. In Thomas v. First Interstate Bank, 187 Ariz. 488, 930 P.2d 1002 (App.1996) a private security guard was shot and killed by an individual who was trying to rob an automatic teller customer at gunpoint. Id. Division Two concluded, as we do, that fault must be apportioned between all wrongdoers, including one who commits a criminal act. Id.
We interpret a statute to give effect to legislative intent. State v. Korzep, 165 Ariz. 490, 493, 799 P.2d 831, 834 (1990). We look to the statute’s “spirit and purpose” as well as the policy behind the statute. Id. The clear policy behind the comparative fault statute is that each party is responsible only for its proportionate share of the fault. Thomas, 187 Ariz. at 489-490, 930 P.2d at 1003-04; Dietz v. General Elec. Co., 169 Ariz. 505, 510, 821 P.2d 166, 171 (1991).
The California comparative fault statute is comparable to Arizona’s and has been interpreted as providing for comparison of all types of fault. See Weidenfeller v. Star and Garter, 1 Cal.App.4th 1, 2 Cal.Rptr.2d 14, 16 (App.1991) (“[T]he purpose of section 1431.2 is to prevent the unfairness of requiring a tortfeasor who is only minimally culpable as compared to the other parties to bear all the damages.”); see also Martin v. United States, 984 F.2d 1033, 1039-40 (9th Cir.1993) (approving Weidenfeller and holding that fault of person who abducted child was to be compared to fault of day care center which allowed child to be abducted); Scott v. County of Los Angeles, 27 Cal.App.4th 125, 32 Cal.Rptr.2d 643, 657 (App.1994) (reaffirming Weidenfeller); Barth v. Coleman, 118 N.M. 1, 878 P.2d 319, 322 (1994) (holding that negligence of bar owner and manager must be compared to intentional conduct of person who assaulted plaintiff).
The Plaintiffs in Natseway, and here, relied on cases standing for the proposition that “[i]n Kansas, comparative fault does not apply if one of several defendants acts intentionally.” Natseway, 184 Ariz. at 377, 909 P.2d at 444 (citing Lynn v. Taylor, 7 Kan. App.2d 369, 642 P.2d 131, 135-36 (1982)). We distinguish the Kansas cases on statutory construction grounds. The Kansas comparative negligence statute does not define which fault is to be compared. See Kan.Stat.Ann. § 60-258a (1994). The Kansas courts have interpreted that statute as not requiring the comparison of negligence with intentional wrongdoing. Gould v. Taco Bell, 239 Kan. 564, 571, 722 P.2d 511, 517 (1986); M. Bruenger & Co. v. Dodge City Truck Stop, Inc., 234 Kan. 682, 675 P.2d 864, 869 (1984). The Arizona comparative fault scheme does not lend itself to that interpretation.
A.R.S. section 12-2506(F)(2) defines fault to include any “actionable breach of legal duty, act or omission” which causes or contributes to the injury or damages. It is an understatement to say that Gardner’s intentional shooting of Plaintiffs’ decedents involved an actionable breach of legal duty which caused or contributed to their injuries. If the legislature intended to exclude intentional wrongdoing from the definition of fault, it would have expressly done so, as it did in A.R.S. section 12-2505(A) (Supp.1995), which provides that “[tjhere is no right to comparative negligence in favor of any claimant who has intentionally, wilfully or wantonly caused or contributed to the injury or wrongful death.”
We hold that “intentional wrongdoing” is necessarily included in the statutory definition of “fault.” Thomas, 187 Ariz. at 489-90, 930 P.2d at 1003-04 (“The legislature defined fault broadly to include all types of fault committed by all persons.”); see also Preferred Risk Mut. Ins. Co. v. Tank, 146 Ariz. 33, 35, 703 P.2d 580, 582 (App.1985) (“What is necessarily implied in the statute is as much a part of it as what is expressed.”).
In arguing that a defendant cannot shift responsibility for fault it had a duty to guard against, Plaintiffs rely on what they refer to as “an analogous context of crashworthiness cases,” such as Cota v. Harley Davidson, 141 Ariz. 7, 684 P.2d 888 (App.1984). In Cota, Harley Davidson was accused of failing to design a crashworthy motorcycle and was denied jury instructions on assumption of risk, product misuse, and unforeseen use. Id. at 12-14, 684 P.2d at 893-95. The court held that because motorcycle crashes were foreseeable, there could be no product mis use defense on the facts of the case. Id. at 14, 684 P.2d at 895. Cota issued before Arizona adopted comparative fault, and we will not speculate on how the ease would be decided today. We note, however, that A.R.S. section 12-2506(F)(2) expressly includes “product liability and misuse” in its definition of “fault.”
Bifurcation of Trial
The City requested and was denied separate trials on liability and damages. The City argued that trying the issues together would allow the jury to hear emotional, sympathy-provoking testimony from damages witnesses with nothing to say about liability. Rule 42(b) vests the trial court with broad discretion to decide whether to bifurcate a trial on liability and damages. Morley v. Superior Court, 131 Ariz. 85, 87, 638 P.2d 1331, 1333 (1981). There were emotional issues in this ease, as in most wrongful death cases, and we find no abuse of trial court discretion in denying the pretrial motion to bifurcate.
Damages
The City argues that the damages verdicts resulted from jury passion and prejudice. The appropriate test of passion or prejudice is whether the verdict is “ ‘so manifestly unfair, unreasonable and outrageous as to shock the conscience of the Court.’ ” Acheson v. Shafter, 107 Ariz. 576, 579, 490 P.2d 832, 835 (1971) (quoting Young Candy & Tobacco Co. v. Montoya, 91 Ariz. 363, 370, 372 P.2d 703, 707 (1962)).
A parent’s loss of a child can be both devastating and difficult to measure. Valuation of that loss can be heavily influenced by witness demeanor and credibility. The damages testimony reflected that Plaintiff Hutcherson and her daughter were close and that mother actively contributed to daughter’s growth and self-improvement efforts. Following Burt’s death, Plaintiff Hutcherson was extremely depressed, suffered from anxiety, and had difficulty working. Plaintiff Usher was also devastated by the loss of her son. The jury heard from several sources about the close relationship between mother and son. Usher provided financial and emotional support for his mother and always intended to “take care of her.” We find in this record evidence to support the damages verdicts, and no legal reason to disturb them. See Valley Nat’l Bank v. Brown, 110 Ariz. 260, 264, 517 P.2d 1256, 1260 (1974) (noting that jury damage awards not disturbed unless the result of passion, prejudice, or a disregard of the evidence).
Apportionment of Fault
In its motion for new trial, the City argued that the apportionment of fault was “against the weight of the evidence” and it requested relief pursuant to Rule 59(a)(8), which provides that a new trial may be granted if the verdict “is not justified by the evidence.” The record reflects that the trial court doubted its authority to grant either a remittitur or a new trial on apportionment of fault, for that issue was a new one in Arizona. We hold that Rule 59 provides authority for granting a new trial on apportionment of fault.
The fact finder has to determine and apportion the “relative degrees of fault of all defendants and nonparties.... ” A.R.S. § 12-2506(0 (Supp.1995). Fault is to be apportioned without regard to the wealth of those found to be at fault. Thomas, 187 Ariz. at 490, 930 P.2d at 1004 (recognizing that “dismal prospect” for recovery from tortfeasor is irrelevant to allocation of fault). The jury apportioned seventy-five percent of the fault to the City and twenty-five percent to the deceased murderer. We conclude that the apportionment of fault is unjustified by the evidence and that the trial court abused its discretion in denying the City’s motion for new trial on apportionment of fault.
In arguing apportionment to the jury, Plaintiffs’ theorized that, because the City had a duty to prevent Gardner from doing what he did, the City should be responsible for everything Gardner did. Plaintiffs’ last words in rebuttal argument were:
On behalf of the Plaintiffs, I would ask you, after you consider all of the evidence, to render a verdict that’s full and fair to Alma, and to Luella, and that you not deduct any percentage by applying fault to Craig Gardner. It was [the City’s] job to prevent Craig Gardner from doing what he did, therefore, standing the whole idea on his head, and you shouldn’t apply any percent to Craig Gardner. Thank you.
In opposition to the City’s motion for new trial, Plaintiffs combined that same argument with an apparent “quotient verdict” argument; they argued that “some jurors may very well have thought that no percentage of fault should be applied against Craig Gardner because it was the duty of the City to prevent this harm from ever occurring.” Plaintiffs certainly did have to prove that the City’s breach of duty was a cause of Plaintiffs’ harm: if that proof was lacking, the City was entitled to a defense verdict. The jury having found both the City and Gardner at fault, its next job was to fairly apportion that fault, to measure and weigh the fault of the City in relation to that of Gardner. Finding fault is not the same as apportioning it; if it were, everyone found to be at fault would be jointly and severally hable for all the damages. That is what the law used to be in Arizona, until it was repealed and replaced with a comparative fault scheme. Fault is now a relative concept in Arizona civil cases: whether an actor’s fault is large or small depends to a significant extent on how it compares to the other fault in the case. For example, if A’s fault is, say, a 9 and B’s fault is a 9, then A is responsible for 50 percent of the total fault. But if A’s fault is a 9 and B’s fault is a 90, then A is responsible for 10 percent of the total fault.
Plaintiffs argue that the jury’s apportionment of fault is supportable on three theories: First, comparative fault is an affirmative defense the jury could have decided not to apply; second, the City did not prove that Gardner was sane; and third, the jury could have decided to assign more fault to a breach of duty to protect from criminal conduct than to the criminal conduct itself. The first two arguments are contrary to law and the third is unjustified by the evidence. First, as a matter of law, the jury was not free to disregard the court’s instructions to apportion the fault of all persons who contributed to the alleged injury. Styles v. Ceranski, 185 Ariz. 448, 451-52, 916 P.2d 1164, 1167 (App.1996). Second, a criminal is presumed to be sane. State v. Bemdt, 138 Ariz. 41, 45, 672 P.2d 1311, 1315 (1983). If Plaintiffs contended that Gardner was insane, they had the burden of proving that contention and they made no effort to do so. The record contains no evidence that Gardner was not responsible for his actions. Third, although the evidence in some cases may be such that a negligent actor could be more at fault than an intentional wrongdoer, no such evidence exists in this case.
In Rosh v. Cave Imaging Systems, Inc., 26 Cal.App.4th 1225, 32 Cal.Rptr.2d 136, 139 (1994), a security company was held seventy-five percent at fault for a shooting committed by a fired employee whom the guards repeatedly allowed back onto the secured premises — despite several notifications by the victim that this person was on the premises and should not be, and several assurances by defendant’s guards who said they would “take care of it” and then did nothing. The court found the security company’s conduct “egregious” and the verdict was affirmed. Id. 32 Cal.Rptr.2d at 141. In contrast to the Rosh defendant’s repeated opportunities and specific orders to keep a certain person out of premises that were controlled by the defendant, the City’s 911 operator had to make all her decisions based on one ambiguous call to an emergency number that received an average of 1,940 calls a day. We find the apportionment of fault to the City in this case comparable to that in two cases where the apportionment verdict was set aside as unjustified by the evidence.
In Scott, a grandmother who “disciplined” her granddaughter by immersing her legs in scalding water until she was burned to the bone was found one percent at fault — and the agency and caseworker who negligently left the child in the grandmother’s care were found to be a total of ninety-nine percent at fault. Scott, 32 Cal.Rptr.2d at 649. The agency and the caseworker had prior information and some evidence that the grandmother was abusive to the child, but they had done nothing about it. Id. Even so, the court held that “[n]o reasonable jury could conclude that [grandmother’s] fault was as trifling as the jury’s allocation would suggest,” and it reversed and remanded for new trial on apportionment of fault. Id. at 655-656, 659.
In another California case, a plaintiff who was raped by a stranger in the dark, underground garage of her “secure” apartment building sued the landlord and the property management company — and the jury assigned ninety-five percent of the fault to those defendants, four percent to the rapist and one percent to his accomplice. Pamela B. v. Hayden, 31 Cal.Rptr.2d 147, 150 (App. 1994). The landlord and property owner had ignored repeated complaints of inadequate lighting in the underground garage, and the garage was not “secure;” it was easily entered by anyone. Id. at 150. Advising that “we cannot leave our common sense on the courthouse steps, which is what we would have to do to affirm the allocation made by the jury in this case,” the court reversed and remanded for new trial on apportionment of fault. Id. at 159-60. The court also asked a question which might be asked in this case:
How can the man who [intentionally injured the plaintiff] be only four percent at fault for her injuries? To ask that question compels the answer. He cannot. (Cf. Rangel v. Graybar Electric Co. (1977) 70 Cal.App.3d 943, 946, 139 Cal.Rptr. 191; Knott v. State of California (1994) 23 Cal. App.4th 210, 234, 28 Cal.Rptr .2d 514 [when one defendant’s conduct was negligent, it is reasonable to assume the jury will apportion fault so that the one who acted intentionally should bear ‘most if not all of the blame’].)
Id. at 160.
Interestingly, Pamela B. and Knott were cited by the Louisiana Supreme Court in support of its decision that negligence should not in all cases be compared with intentional fault because:
Given the fact that any rational juror will apportion the lion’s share of the fault to the intentional tortfeasor when instructed to compare the fault of a negligent tortfeasor and an intentional tortfeasor, application of comparative fault principles in the circumstances presented in this particular case would operate to reduce the incentive of the [the negligent defendant] to protect against the same type of situation occurring again in the future.
Veazey v. Elmwood Plantation Associates, Ltd. 650 So.2d 712, 719 (La.1994).
In conclusion, we are well aware that an appellate court should rarely disturb a jury’s verdict and we have reviewed the record with that policy and the following principles in mind:
It is, of course, the invariable rule of this court that, where there is a dispute in the evidence from which reasonable [persons] could arrive at different conclusions as to the ultimate facts, we will not disturb the findings of a trial court or the verdict of a jury because we do not agree with the conclusion reached. On the other hand, if there is no evidence in the record which would justify such a conclusion by the triers of fact, it is not only our right, but our duty, to set aside a verdict.
Spain v. Griffith, 42 Ariz. 304, 305, 25 P.2d 551, 551 (1933).
We conclude that there is no evidence in this record which would justify a verdict finding the City seventy-five percent at fault for the wrongful deaths of Plaintiffs’ children. In regard to the dissent we express respectful disagreement but no comment.
Partial Retrial
A partial retrial is appropriate when the issues are not “inextricably entwined” and the possibility of prejudice is slight. Styles, 185 Ariz. at 450-51, 916 P.2d at 1167;
Martinez v. Schneider Enters., 178 Ariz. 346, 349, 873 P.2d 684, 687 (App.1994). We find that the liability and damage verdicts were justified by the evidence and were neither inextricably entwined with nor tainted by the unjustified apportionment of fault; we therefore conclude that partial retrial is an adequate remedy. See Saide v. Stanton, 135 Ariz. 76, 80, 659 P.2d 35, 39 (1983) (when error relates to one issue, issues may be severed and new trial confined to contaminated issue); see also Martinez, 178 Ariz. at 350, 873 P.2d at 688.
Conclusion
The judgments are affirmed on liability and damages and reversed and remanded for new trial on apportionment of fault.
THOMPSON, J., concurs.
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THOMPSON, Judge.
This is a special action review of Arizona Industrial Commission decisions upon hearing and review denying reimbursement of child care expenses. Two issues presented are whether the administrative law judge abused his discretion by deciding this case without testimony from the treating psychiatrist and whether Aiiz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (A.R.S.) § 23-1062(A) extends to child care. Because we find no abuse of discretion and conclude that the statute does not extend to child care, we affirm the decisions upon hearing and review.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In August 1981, petitioner employee (claimant), a nurse’s aide, was injured at work when a patient attacked her and hit her in the jaw. Claimant has since undergone approximately sixteen surgeries to repair her jaw, some of which have required hospitalization. Claimant has also been receiving psychiatric treatment for the severe depression which accompanies her ongoing rehabilitation.
Respondent carrier (Fund) had been voluntarily paying claimant’s child care expenses, but it discontinued these payments in 1993. Claimant then requested an investigation of the Fund’s liability for child care expenses “due to her hospitalization treatment.” See A.R.S. § 23-1061(J). An administrative law judge subsequently scheduled a hearing.
Pending this hearing, claimant requested a subpoena for her treating psychiatrist. The administrative law judge did not request disclosure of the expected testimony. At the hearing, administrative law judge and counsel discussed the scope and basis for claimant’s arguments and the Fund’s defense. Claimant’s counsel explained that psychiatric testimony was necessary to establish whether claimant’s injuries prohibited her from being able to take care of her child. If she could not care for her child, even when claimant was at home, she would claim child care expenses generally; if she could care for her child when at home, she would claim child care expenses for in-patient and out-patient hospitalizations.
Claimant’s counsel also asserted that the Fund was liable for child care expenses because claimant’s disability compensation was inadequate to pay for child care. The Fund asserted that A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) did not cover child care expenses “under any circumstances whatsoever.”
Claimant testified that before the industrial injury, she was able to care for her daughter, who has special needs from chronic asthma. Claimant was able to pay her mother $3.00 an hour for forty hours of child care each week. Claimant asserted that since her injury, she has been unable to care for her daughter or to pay her mother for child care.
Claimant acknowledged that she lived with her parents before the industrial injury and continues to do so. Although her mother continued to provide child care after the Fund terminated reimbursement, claimant was concerned that her mother will have to stop because child care income is her livelihood. Claimant conceded that she was attempting to obtain child support from her daughter’s father and that she had applied for Social Security disability benefits for herself and her daughter.
At the close of the hearing, the administrative law judge directed both counsel to submit legal memoranda. They were to assume that claimant was incapable of caring for her child because of the industrial injury and that, although claimant’s pre-injury wages were adequate to pay for child care, her disability compensation was inadequate to do so. The administrative law judge advised that after reviewing the memoranda, he would either subpoena claimant’s psychiatrist or issue a decision upon hearing.
Before the memoranda were submitted, the administrative law judge issued his decision. He held:
The issue herein is whether or not the Workers’ Compensation Act provides for the payment of child care expenses under the circumstances alleged by the applicant. Assuming for the purpose of this decision that applicant’s allegations are true; that she is incapable of caring for her daughter due to the residuals of her injury, and that she has sustained a loss of disposable income under the Act, it is the finding of the undersigned that the Act does not provide for the payment of child care expenses. See, A.R.S. 23-1021(A) and 23-1062(A) and (B). See also, Martinez v. Industrial Commission, 175 Ariz. 319, 856 P.2d 1197 (App.1993). Accordingly, applicant’s claim for reimbursement of child care expenses must be denied.
On administrative review, claimant stated that, had the administrative law judge subpoenaed her psychiatrist, the psychiatrist would have testified that child care was medically necessary for claimant’s recovery. Relying principally on Florida cases that allow child care when it is medically necessary, claimant asserted that child care in her ease constituted reasonably required other treatment pursuant to A.R.S. § 23-1062(A). She also requested a hearing to produce her psychiatrist’s testimony.
The Fund responded by reiterating its argument that A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) did not extend to child care. However, the Fund did not directly respond to claimant’s newly raised theory that child care would hasten her recovery or to her request for a supplemental hearing.
The administrative law judge summarily affirmed the award, declining to respond to claimant’s newly raised theory. Claimant then brought this special action. This court has jurisdiction under A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21 and 23-95KA).
DISCUSSION
Right to Expert Testimony
Claimant asserts that the administrative law judge abused his discretion by deciding the case without hearing claimant’s psychiatrist’s testimony. As a general rule, an administrative law judge may deny a timely subpoena request if the expected testimony would not be material or otherwise necessary. See Reinprecht v. Industrial Comm’n, 27 Ariz.App. 7, 10, 550 P.2d 654, 657 (1976). Claimant argues that the subpoena was warranted because the psychiatrist would have provided material evidence regarding her new theory. We disagree. The administrative law judge decided the case without the psychiatrist’s testimony because he assumed the truth of the expected testimony. Testimony is cumulative and therefore unnecessary if the trier of fact assumes for the purpose of decision that the testimony is true.
We will therefore assume, for the purpose of this appeal, that adequate child care is necessary to treat claimant’s industrial injury and that the administrative law judge did not find that assumption material to the disposition of the legal issues. We reject claimant’s argument that.the administrative law judge abused his discretion by deciding the case without testimony from the treating psychiatrist.
Child Care As A Medical Benefit
Claimant contends that child care is “reasonably required” “other treatment” because it is necessitated by, and necessary to treating, her industrial injury. A covered employee suffering a compensable injury is entitled to “medical, nurse, and hospital services and medicines ... as provided in this chapter.” A.R.S. § 23-1021(B). The subsection providing these benefits states:
Promptly, upon notice to the employer, every injured employee shall receive medical, surgical and hospital benefits or other treatment, nursing, medicine, surgical supplies, crutches and other apparatus, including artificial members, reasonably required at the time of the injury, and during the period of disability. Such benefits shall be termed “medical, surgical and hospital benefits.”
A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) (emphasis added).
This subsection does not expressly cover child care, and no Arizona case has addressed this issue. However, this court has liberally interpreted the term “other apparatus” under A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) to include a new van for a quadriplegic. See Terry Grantham Co. v. Industrial Comm’n, 154 Ariz. 180, 183, 741 P.2d 313, 316 (App.1987). The court relied on Florida case law to support its conclusion. Id. at 183-84, 741 P.2d at 316-17 (citing Fidelity and Casualty Co. v. Cooper, 382 So.2d 1331, 1332 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1980)).
Claimant seeks to extend this line of reasoning to cover child care expenses. She urges us to liberally interpret the terms “other treatment” and “reasonably required” in A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) and to follow Florida case law that allows child care when necessitated by and necessary to treat an industrial injury. See Stables v. Rivers, 562 So.2d 784, 785 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App.1990) (where child care was shown, by testimony from a doctor and rehabilitation nurse, to have been necessitated by the industrial injury and to be useful in mitigating the effects of the injury or facilitating the process of recovery, such services were properly awarded under Florida statute ch. 440.13); Doctors Hospital of Lake Worth v. Robinson, 411 So.2d 958, 958-59 (Fla.Dist. Ct.App.1982) (child care applicable only in extreme circumstances).
The Fund argues that these Florida cases are unpersuasive because Florida Statute eh. 440.13(l)(a), (b) and (u) allow for the payment of medical benefits and services “to an injured worker’s family which includes child care expenses.” However, the Florida statutes do not expressly authorize services for child care. See Fla.Stat. ch. 440.13(l)(b), (2)(b).
The Fund also argues that the current case is comparable to Martinez v. Industrial Comm’n, 175 Ariz. 319, 856 P.2d 1197 (App. 1993). We again disagree. Martinez involved a claim for travel reimbursement. Other jurisdictions had interpreted comparable medical benefits statutes to require reimbursement for travel necessary to obtain covered treatment. See id. at 322, 856 P.2d at 1200 (citing 2 Arthur Larson, The Law of Workmen’s Compensation § 61.13(b)(1) at 10-934-36 (1993)). This court nevertheless concluded that § 23-1062(A) was unambiguous, that it had to be interpreted as written, and that it excluded travel expense reimbursement because it did not mention coverage for this cost. Id.
Subsection 23-1062(A) also does not mention child care. However, it does include coverage for “other treatment” that is “reasonably required.” The claimant in Martinez could not argue that these terms applied to travel expense reimbursement. Notwithstanding the necessity for travel to obtain covered treatment, travel is not treatment. In contrast, the instant claimant is contending that child care is reasonably required other treatment because it is necessitated by and necessary to treat her industrial injury. Unlike Martinez, the current case requires statutory interpretation.
Despite its contention that interpretation is unnecessary, the Fund argues that ejusdem generis, a principle of statutory interpretation, applies to the terms “other treatment” and “reasonably required.” When a general term follows specific terms in a statute, the general term is restricted to the same class or type as the specific terms. E.g., Arizona Pub. Serv. Co. v. Town of Paradise Valley, 125 Ariz. 447, 450, 610 P.2d 449, 452 (1980). This general rule does not apply, however, when a contrary legislative intent is apparent. Id. at 451, 610 P.2d at 453.
The Oregon Court of Appeals applied the principle of ejusdem. generis to a medical benefits statute covering “medical, surgical, hospital, nursing, ambulances and other re lated services____” See Lorenzen v. SAIF Corp., 79 Or.App. 751, 719 P.2d 1336, 1337 (1986). The court concluded that the statute did not extend to child care because it was not of the same type or class as the specifically enumerated services. Id.
We are persuaded that ejusdem generis applies to A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) because we discern no contrary legislative intent. Rather, the statute itself defines the class of covered benefits to include “medical, surgical and hospital benefits.” Other treatment of the same class would include, for example, chiropractic treatment. Child care, in contrast, is a service provided to a third person, not to the injured worker. The service itself is not generally considered medical treatment.
Claimant concedes that child care generally is not medical treatment. However, she asserts that it should be classified as medical treatment when a doctor recommends it to relieve stress. The difficulty with this argument is that such a theory extends equally to any source of stress. A claimant may experience stress because he or she cannot care for an aging parent or disabled sibling, because he or she cannot meet financial obligations, or because he or she cannot perform a variety of domestic obligations. We decline to interpret A.R.S. § 23-1062(A) so expansively. Other jurisdictions have statutes that expressly cover child care under particular circumstances. See, e.g., Vait v. Merillat Industries, 431 N.W.2d 536, 537-39 (Minn.1988) (Minn.Stat. § 176.102 allows reasonable cost of child care during rehabilitation). Claimant’s remedy would thus appear to be with the legislature.
Claimant argues that child care should be covered because she cannot afford to pay for it from her disability compensation. Even if disability compensation is inadequate, we fail to see how the inadequacy itself justifies classifying child care as a medical benefit. The legislature alone may increase disability compensation. See, e.g., McPeak v. Industrial Comm’n, 154 Ariz. 232, 235-36, 741 P.2d 699, 702-03 (App.1987).
CONCLUSION
We affirm the decisions upon hearing and upon review denying reimbursement for child care expenses.
GERBER, P.J., and VOSS, J., concur.
. Because claimant’s daughter was not in school before the industrial injury but is now attending school, child care expenses on weekdays have decreased.
. In her brief, claimant states that "the stress of caring for her child currently interferes with the progress of her treatment.” This statement presumably paraphrases the psychiatrist's expected testimony. Claimant did not testify that stress related to child care affected her treatment.
. The Colorado Supreme Court has also interpreted its rehabilitation statute to allow coverage of child care even though it does not expressly cover child care. See Grover v. Industrial Comm'n, 759 P.2d 705, 713-14 (Colo.1988).
. To demonstrate the unlimited scope of claimant’s argument, the Fund suggests that § 23-1062(A) could be extended to cover lawn care. Florida has indeed extended its medical benefits statute to lawn care. See Frederick Electronics v. Pettijohn, 619 So.2d 14, 16 (Fla.Dist.Ct.App. 1993).
|
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OPINION
TOCI, Judge.
Arizona prohibits a rental ear company from knowingly renting a car to an unlicensed driver. Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 28-477(B) (1989). Dennis Saban and Saban’s Rent-A-Car (“Sabans”) violated the statute by renting a car to John Pitts, knowing that he was going to entrust the car to Karla Fernandez, an unlicensed driver. While driving the rental car, Fernandez ran a red light and collided with a van driven by Gloria M. Tellez, who died in the accident.
Jose and Rosario Tellez (“Tellez”), Gloria’s parents, sued Sabans for her wrongful death. The trial court entered summary judgment for Sabans, ruling as a matter of law that Sabans’ violation of a statute was not the proximate cause. of the fatal accident. On appeal, we hold that the trial court erred in determining as a matter of law that Sabans’ conduct was not the proximate cause of the accident. We reject the rationale of Christy v. Baker, 7 Ariz.App. 354, 439 P.2d 517 (1968), and reverse the judgment for defendants.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
We view the facts in the light most favorable to Tellez, the party against whom the court entered summary judgment. Ontiveros v. Borak, 136 Ariz. 500, 503, 667 P.2d 200, 203 (1983). In August 1991, Fernandez was twenty-four years old and had neither a ear, credit card, nor valid driver’s license. Because she wanted to drive to Tucson, she asked John Pitts to use his credit card to help her rent a car.
On August 30, Pitts and Fernandez drove Pitts’ truck to Saban’s Rent-A-Car and parked in view of Michael Loan and Dennis Saban, the employees on duty. Fernandez selected a car, and Loan consulted her through Pitts concerning the rental terms. Pitts rented the car but informed Loan that Fernandez was going to drive it.
Loan asked whether Fernandez had a driver’s license. When Fernandez said that she did not, Loan told her that she could not drive the car off the lot. In Loan’s presence, Pitts told Fernandez to drive his truck off the lot. Fernandez responded, “Okay, we’ll go around the corner and we’ll switch cars.” Neither Saban nor Loan did anything to prevent the exchange of vehicles.
Although Pitts and Saban had understood that the rental was for a single day, Fernandez did not return the car after driving to and from Tucson. On September 7, 1991, seven days after taking possession of the car, Fernandez gave a party at which she drank heavily. During the evening, she left the party and drove the car to a bar where she consumed alcoholic beverages over a three-hour period. Upon leaving the bar, she stopped to purchase beer. In driving away from the store, she ran a red light and collided with Gloria Tellez’s vehicle.
Tellez brought this action on September 8, 1992, and alleged, among other matters, that Sabans had negligently rented the vehicle and that as a result of Sabans’ violation of the statute requiring inspection of Fernandez’s driver’s license, Fernandez caused the accident that killed Gloria Tellez. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendant Dennis Saban on the claim for negligent entrustment. The court found “[n]o evidence exists that Karla Fernandez’s lack of a driver’s license played any part in causing the accident.” Therefore, as a matter of law, the court concluded that the evidence “failed to show that the Defendants’ negligent entrustment of this vehicle to an unlicensed driver was a proximate cause of or contributed to Karla Fernandez negligently running the red light, hitting and killing” Gloria Tellez, citing Christy v. Baker, 7 Ariz.App. at 355-58, 439 P.2d at 518-20. The trial court also granted summary judgment to Saban Rent-A-Car on the same basis and denied Tellez’s motion for reconsideration.
II. DISCUSSION
Defendants concede that they violated A.R.S. section 28-477(B) by entrusting Fernandez with a rental ear knowing that she was an unlicensed driver. They contend, however, that the trial court correctly found no proximate cause linking either their conduct or Fernandez’s lack of a license with the fatal accident. They argue that under Christy and Quintero v. Continental Rent-A-Car System, Inc., 105 Ariz. 135, 460 P.2d 189 (1969), they are not liable to Tellez. Tellez, on the other hand, asserts that the court erred in deciding the question of proximate cause as a matter of law and that Christy does not control this case.
One who violates A.R.S. section 28-477(B) is subject to a fíne. A.R.S. § 28-491 (1989). The court in Christy, however, assumed without discussion that a violation of this statute by the renter of an automobile constituted negligence per se. 7 ArizApp. at 355, 439 P.2d at 518. The court’s decision on this point implies that the statute establishes a standard of care for the renting of vehicles. This mandated standard of care necessarily preempts the inquiry in a common law negligence ease of whether the risk of harm in renting a vehicle to an unlicensed driver is an unreasonable one. Restatement (Second) of Torts (“Restatement”) § 286 cmt. d (1965).
We note at the outset, however, that had the legislature intended to establish A.R.S. section 28-477(B) as a standard of conduct in a negligence action, it could have easily done so. Since the legislature did not so provide, the question is whether this court in Christy properly adopted the statute as the standard of conduct for a reasonable person. Restatement § 286 cmt. d. Therefore, we begin with some observations about the relationship between common law negligence and negligence arising from the violation of a statute.
“[N]eghgence is conduct which falls below the standard established by law for the protection of others against unreasonable risk of harm.” Id. § 282, at 9. The standard of conduct required of a reasonable person “may be (a) established by a legislative enactment ... which so provides, or (b) adopted by the court from a legislative enactment ... which does not so provide----” Id. § 285, at 20. A court may adopt a statute as the relevant standard of care if it first determines that the statute’s purpose is in part to protect a class of persons that includes the plaintiff and the specific interest at issue from the type of harm that occurred and against the particular action that caused the harm. Id. § 286, at 25. Violation of the statute thus stamps the defendant’s conduct as negligence per se, id., but will not render the defendant liable to the plaintiff unless the violation is the legal cause of the plaintiffs injury and no other defenses negate liability. Id. § 288B cmt. b, at 38.
Not all statutes establish a standard of conduct applicable in a negligence action. We cannot say that A.R.S. section 28^177 was intended to protect any particular individual or class of persons from harm. Rather, it was intended to further the state’s interest in requiring that all persons who operate motor vehicles on public highways are licensed. See Restatement § 288 cmt. b (statutes intended for the protection of public at large rather than an individual or class of persons do not create the standard of conduct required of a reasonable, person). Therefore, we find no reason to allow the breach of this statute, which the legislature punishes with a fine, to create a cause of action in tort for Tellez. Sabans’ violation of section 28-477(B) is not negligence per se, and their conduct must be measured by the common law standard of conduct of a reasonable and prudent owner of rental vehicles. This conclusion, however, does not dispose of Sabans’ potential liability. We will return to that question after a brief summary of Christy v. Baker.
Defendants cite Christy v. Baker as dis-positive of their liability to Tellez. In that case, Baker, a passenger in a rented ear driven by Walter Walk, was injured in a one-car accident. 7 Ariz.App. at 354, 439 P.2d at 517. She sued Marshall Christy, the owner of a rental car company from whom Walk had rented cars on three prior occasions. On the fourth occasion, when Christy’s employee asked to see Walk’s driver’s license, Walk said that he had one but did not produce it. The employee gave Walk the keys and completed the rental application from company records. Id. at 355, 439 P.2d at 518.
The evidence established that Walk was a competent driver, that his driver’s license had been seized because he had inadvertently failed to appear at a hearing on a prior conviction for driving while intoxicated, and that had he appeared, he would have kept his license. Id. at 355, 357, 439 P.2d at 518, 520. This court relied on Lutfy v. Lockhart, 37 Ariz. 488, 295 P. 975 (1931), to conclude that lack of a driver’s license was not contrary evidence of Walk’s incompetence. 7 Ariz. App. at 357,439 P.2d at 520.
Christy’s liability thus hinged solely on a violation of A.R.S. section 28-477(B). Al though the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, this court reversed. The court assumed that the statute was intended to protect the public safety, and because Christy admitted its violation, that Christy was guilty of negligence per se. Id. at 355, 439 P.2d at 518. Had Christy rented Walk the ear knowing that he was incompetent, the court conceded that proximate cause might exist between the statutory violation and the accident. See id. at 357, 439 P.2d at 520. But because the court found that Walk’s negligent driving alone caused the accident, it held as a matter of law that Christy’s statutory breach was not the proximate cause of Baker’s injuries. Id. at 357-58, 439 P.2d at 520-21.
For reasons stated above, the court erred in finding A.R.S. section 28-477(B) to be a “safety” statute that created a standard of care the violation of which labelled Christy’s conduct negligent. Further, although the court disposed of the case by finding no proximate cause, more accurately, Christy was simply not negligent: Christy knew that Walk was a competent driver and had produced a license on prior occasions. On the day of the accident, Walk stated that he had a license, and it was merely fortuitous that he did not. Walk’s license had been revoked for failure to appear at a scheduled hearing, but had he actually received the notice and attended the hearing, he would have retained his license and thus had it in his possession on the occasion of the fourth rental. Christy’s duty as a renter of vehicles was “to act reasonably in the light of foreseeable and unreasonable risks.” Rogers ex rel. Standley v. Retrum, 170 Ariz. 399, 400, 825 P.2d 20, 21 (App.1991).
From Christy’s perspective, he had no reason to foresee an unreasonable risk of harm when he rented to Walk, a driver he knew from prior experience to be competent. See id. at 402-03, 825 P.2d at 23-24; see also W. Page Keeton et al., Prosser and Keeton on the Law of Torts, § 42 at 275 (“In [some] cases the standard of reasonable conduct does not require the defendant to recognize the risk, or to take precautions against it____ When courts say that his conduct is not the ‘proximate cause’ of the harm, they not only obscure the real issue, but suggest artificial distinctions of causation which have no sound • basis____”).
Here, by contrast, Sabans did not know that Fernandez was a competent driver. Sabans contend, however, that their knowledge that she did not have a license nevertheless gave them no reason to believe that she was an incompetent driver or to foresee that she might drive negligently. We disagree. Although Sabans’ statutory breach does not render their conduct negligence per se, we conclude that the owner of a rental car agency owes a common law duty to other motorists to guard against unreasonable risks of harm created by persons to whom it rents vehicles. Davis v. Cessna Aircraft Corp., 182 Ariz. 26, 31, 893 P.2d 26, 31 (App.1994) (duty obliges one to act reasonably in the light of foreseeable and unreasonable risks); see also Petolicchio v. Santa Cruz County Fair & Rodeo Assoc., Inc., 177 Ariz. 256, 261, 866 P.2d 1342, 1347 (1994) (whether duty exists is decided by the court).
Having concluded that Sabans had a duty to protect the public from the unreasonable risk of harm of entrusting incompetent drivers with motor vehicles, we must determine whether a reasonable jury could conclude that Sabans’ actions breached this duty. The dissent contends that Sabans’ knowledge that Fernandez was unlicensed cannot support an action for negligent entrustment. We respectfully disagree.
Unlike Christy, where the rental car owner knew that the driver had exhibited his license and successfully rented and returned cars on other occasions, Sabans did not know if Fernandez possessed even minimal driving skills. We acknowledge that the mere absence of a valid driver’s license is not necessarily indicative of a person’s driving skills. For example, one who has met the minimum licensing standards and has been licensed may have let his license expire. Thus, the possibility exists that an unlicensed driver is fully competent to operate a motor vehicle.
Nevertheless, a reasonable person in Sabans’ position should have known that it was equally possible that Fernandez was unlicensed because she lacked the minimum qualifications to obtain a license. For example, she might be unlicensed because she failed to demonstrate understanding of the driving laws and of safe driving practices or because her license had been revoked as a result of the addictions, failures, or other disabilities listed in A.R.S. section 28-413. Indeed, had Sabans inquired, Fernandez might have revealed that her license had been revoked for DUI violations. We conclude that reasonable minds could differ on whether Sabans’ act of renting to an unlicensed driver without investigating the reason for the absence of a license created an unreasonable risk of harm to the public.
We are not persuaded by the dissent’s assertion that we have done violence to the law of negligent entrustment. If Sabans rented to Fernandez after learning that her license had been revoked for DUI violations, Sabans could be found negligent. See Restatement § 308 cmt. b. illus. 4. (If A lends his automobile to B, whose license has to A’s knowledge been revoked for reckless driving, and B negligently runs down C with A’s vehicle, A is negligent toward C.). To allow Sabans to avoid all liability as a matter of law simply by turning a deaf ear to the reasons for Fernandez’s lack of a license would violate the legislative policy articulated in A.R.S. section 28-477. Id. § 308 cmt. b.
Nor are we persuaded by the dissent’s citation of Anderson Aviation Sales Co. v. Perez, 19 Ariz.App. 422, 426, 508 P.2d 87, 91 (1973), and Powell v. Langford, 58 Ariz. 281, 285, 119 P.2d 230, 232 (1941). Although those cases state the general rule, they do not restrict the tort of negligent entrustment to cases in which the owner entrusts a vehicle to one known to be incompetent or inexperienced. See Restatement § 308. The latter section applies where the “third person’s known character or the peculiar circumstances of the case are such as to give the actor good reason to believe that the third person may misuse [the instrumentality].” Id. cmt. b.
Nevertheless, even assuming that a jury were to find Sabans negligent, before Tellez may recover, the jury must also find that Sabans’ conduct was the legal and proximate cause of Gloria Tellez’s death. Proximate cause is “that which, in a natural and continuous sequence, unbroken by an efficient intervening cause, produces an injury, and without which the injury would not have occurred.” Brand v. J.H. Rose Trucking Co., 102 Ariz. 201, 205, 427 P.2d 519, 523 (1967). To be a proximate cause, Sabans’ conduct need have contributed only slightly to the injury. Ontiveros, 136 Ariz. at 505, 667 P.2d at 205. Ordinarily, proximate cause is a jury question. Smith v. Johnson, 183 Ariz. 38, 41, 899 P.2d 199, 202 (App.1995).
Here, Sabans’ negligence will remain a proximate cause of the injury despite Fernandez’s intervening negligence if (1) Sabans’ conduct was a cause-in-fact and (2) the intervening acts were foreseeable by a reasonable person in Sabans’ position and do not appear abnormal or extraordinary in hindsight after the event. Robertson v. Sixpence Inns of Am., Inc., 163 Ariz. 539, 546, 789 P.2d 1040, 1047 (1990); Ontiveros, 136 Ariz. at 505-06, 667 P.2d at 205-06.
Cause-in-fact turns on whether Sabans helped to cause the accident that resulted in Gloria Tellez’s death and whether that accident would not have occurred but for Sabans’ conduct. We cannot answer these questions as a matter of law in the negative. If Sabans had not rented to Fernandez without first investigating the reason for her lack of a license, Fernandez would presumably not have been driving the ear and could not have collided with Gloria Tellez seven days later. A reasonable jury could conclude that Sabans’ conduct “helped cause” the accident and that the accident would not have occurred without that conduct.
Fernandez’s own behavior was, of course, an intervening act and a cause-in-fact of the accident. An intervening act relieves the original actor of liability for his negligence if it “steps between the original wrongful act or omission of the defendant and the injury to the plaintiff ... and produces a result which would have not otherwise occurred.” City of Phoenix v. Schroeder, 1 Ariz.App. 510, 516, 405 P.2d 301, 307 (1965). The intervening act, however, must be both unforeseeable and, with the benefit of hindsight, abnormal or extraordinary. Robertson, 163 Ariz. at 546, 789 P.2d at 1047.
The definition of a reasonably foreseeable event is an event that might “reasonably be expected to occur now and then, and -would be recognized as not highly unlikely if it did suggest itself to the actor’s mind.” Keeton, et al., supra, § 44, at 307. As we stated in Rogers, in determining, the legal cause of an injury, we “ ‘take a broad view of the class of risks and victims that are foreseeable, and the particular manner in which the injury is brought about need not be foreseeable.’ ” 170 Ariz. at 401, 825 P.2d at 22 (citation omitted). Further, the “reckless or criminal nature of an intervenor’s conduct does not place it beyond the scope of a duty of reasonable care if that duty entails foresight and prevention of precisely such a risk” Id. at 401-02, 825 P.2d at 22-23 (emphasis added).
The dissent argues that Fernandez’s negligence was an intervening superseding cause. The dissent claims that no reasonable person in Sabans’ position could foresee that “renting a ear to Fernandez, through Pitts, for one day, would result in Fernandez absconding with the car, getting heavily intoxicated, running a red light, and colliding with another vehicle eight days later.” We think the issue is not whether Sabans should have foreseen that Fernandez would “abscond” with the vehicle and become intoxicated. Rather, the issue is whether a reasonable person in Sabans’ position would have foreseen that Fernandez might operate the vehicle negligently and whether, with the benefit of hindsight, her negligence is abnormal or extraordinary.
As we discussed above, a reasonable person in Sabans’ situation should have known that Fernandez’s absence of a license might be related to her competency as a driver. Consequently, Sabans should have made fur ther inquiry to determine why Fernandez did not have a driver’s license. Had Sabans inquired, they presumably would have learned that Fernandez’s license had been revoked for DUI convictions, and as a result of that information, would not have rented the vehicle.
Similarly, a reasonable jury could find that, under these circumstances, an unlicensed driver’s negligent driving eight days after the car was entrusted to her was neither abnormal nor extraordinary in hindsight. Where cause-in-fact exists, remoteness in time and space do not defeat proximate cause. Keeton et al., supra, § 36, at 282-83. The legislature declared by the enactment of A.R.S. section 28-477(B) that renting automobiles to unlicensed drivers increases the risk of harm to the public. We cannot say as a matter of law that Fernandez’s negligence a week later was outside the scope of the risk created by Sabans’ conduct in failing to investigate the reason for Fernandez’s lack of a license. See Rossell v. Volkswagen of Am., 147 Ariz. 160, 169, 709 P.2d 517, 526 (1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1108, 106 S.Ct. 1957, 90 L.Ed.2d 365 (1986) (scope of risk due to original actor’s negligence may include foreseeable negligent or criminal acts of others); Central Alarm of Tucson v. Ganem, 116 Ariz. 74, 77, 567 P.2d 1203, 1206 (App.1977) (intervening burglary “within the ambit of risk” created by original actor’s negligence).
III. CONCLUSION
We disagree with the trial court’s reliance on Christy v. Baker and its ruling that, as a matter of law, Gloria Tellez’s death was not a proximate result of Sabans’ breach of A.R.S. section 28-477(B). We conclude that although a violation of 28-477(B) is not negligence per se, a reasonable jury may find that Sabans were negligent in renting to Fernandez with knowledge that she did not possess a driver’s license. We therefore reverse the grant of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
FIDEL, J., concurs.
. A.R.S. § 28-477(B) states:
No person shall rent or lease a motor vehicle to another until he has inspected the driver’s license of the person to whom the vehicle is to be rented or leased and compared and verified the signature thereon with the signature of the person written in his presence.
. Sabans' reliance on Quintero is misplaced. Quintero predates our comparative negligence statute, A.R.S. section 12-2505 (Supp.1995). That case arose when Walter Walk’s surviving widow and children sued the automobile rental agency for negligently entrusting him with the vehicle in which he was killed and the plaintiff in Christy was injured. The complaint alleged that Walk's reckless and negligent driving caused the collision. 105 Ariz. at 136, 460 P.2d at 190. Our supreme court affirmed summary judgment for the defendant because under those facts, Walk’s negligence was the proximate cause of his own death, and therefore, he could not have sued Continental for his injuries. Furthermore, his survivors could sue Continental for Walk's death only if, had he survived, he could have maintained an action on his own behalf. Because he could not, they could not, and the trial court properly dismissed the action. Id. The case, however, does not say that no proximate cause existed between Continental's negligence and Walk's death.
. The dissent notes that we have reached issues not raised below or in the appellate briefs. The practice of not addressing issues for the first time on appeal "is merely a rule of procedure, and not a matter of jurisdiction." Town of So. Tucson v. Board of Supervisors of Pima County, 52 Ariz. 575, 582, 84 P.2d 581, 584 (1938). A legal principle, although not proposed by either party, should be adopted if it will expedite enforcement of a right or redress an injustice. Rubens v. Costello, 75 Ariz. 5, 9, 251 P.2d 306, 308 (1952) (quoting 4 C J.S. Appeal and Error § 242). Furthermore, the parties’ statement of the issues does not preclude us from raising an error or addressing an issue not contemplated by the parties. Word v. Motorola, Inc., 135 Ariz. 517, 520, 662 P.2d 1024, 1027 (1983).
. We note in passing that other courts have found entrustment of a vehicle to an unlicensed driver is some evidence of negligence. See Kauffman v. Gullace, 252 N.J.Super. 467, 600 A.2d 143, 147 (App.Div.1991) (entrusting a vehicle to an unlicensed person “might be considered negligence”); Williams v. Bolding, 6 Ohio App.3d 48, 452 N.E.2d 1346, 1348 (1982) (lack of a license is relevant evidence in negligent entrustment); see also Mason v. New, 475 So.2d 854, 856 (Ala.1985) (lack of a license is probative of driver’s incompetence in negligent entrustment action); Johnson v. Owens, 639 N.E.2d 1016, 1022 (Ind.App.1994) (negligent entrustment could be premised on entrusting car to unlicensed driver, but no evidence entrustor knew driver was unlicensed); Tri-State Truck & Equip. Co. v. Stauffer, 24 Md.App. 221, 330 A.2d 680, 685 (1975) (when a statute requires licenses and forbids owners from allowing unlicensed persons to drive, statutory violation is evidence of negligence or is negligence per se); LaRoque v. Sanchez, 641 S.W.2d 298, 301 (Tex.App.1982) (driver’s lack of license is an element of negligent entrustment).
. Foreseeability of risk plays a dual role in negligence: it not only defines the standard of care but also determines whether an actor’s conduct was the proximate cause of the injury. Jefferson L. Lankford & Douglas A. Blaze, The Law of Negligence in Arizona § 2.5, at 13 (1992).
. The record is clear that the car was rented by Pitts because Fernandez did not have a driver’s license. Sabans knew that the car was rented for Fernandez’s use.
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TOCI, Judge.
In actions consolidated in the tax court, Pimalco, Inc. and Payless Cashways, Inc. (“taxpayers”) sought refunds of property taxes assessed on their leasehold interests in real property held by the United States Government in trust for the Gila River Indian Community (“the tribe”). The tribe challenged the validity of the possessory interest tax. The parties now appeal from the grant of summary judgment to Maricopa County (“the County”) and the Arizona Department of Revenue (“DOR”).
The taxpayers and the tribe contend that (1) the tax court erred in finding the leasehold interests constituted a “possessory interest” taxable under former Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) sections 42-681 and 42-682; (2) Arizona’s former possessory interest tax was invalid under federal Indian law, constituted a direct tax on Indian lands, and unduly interfered with tribal self-government; (3) the County’s enforcement of the possessory interest tax violated the taxpayer’s rights to equal protection; and (4) the taxpayers were entitled to partial refunds of 1993 possessory interest taxes under a statute that retroactively reclassified non-ownership interests in Indian lands and subjected them to a one percent assessment factor. We find no error in the tax court’s judgment on the first three issues but reverse and remand as to the fourth.
I. FACTUAL AND LEGAL BACKGROUND
The Gila River Indian Community is a federally-recognized Indian tribe. It occupies a reservation of approximately 372,000 acres in Maricopa and Pinal Counties. The United States of America holds title to the land in trust for the tribe, but the tribe governs and administers the land.
Using federal grant money, the tribe developed the Lone Butte Industrial Park (“the Industrial Park”) on its reservation. In 1966, the tribe leased the Industrial Park to Lone Butte Industrial Development Corporation (“Development Corp.”), a tribally-chartered instrumentality of the tribe, with the approval of the United States Secretary of the Interior. The Development Corp. then subleased a portion of the Industrial Park to Pimalco for its manufacturing business and to Payless Cashways for its business of warehousing and distributing building materials.
The subleases required each taxpayer to build certain improvements on the land and provided that the improvements were part of the real property owned by the United States in trust for the tribe. The subleases were not binding on either the tribe or lessee until approved by the Secretary of the Interi- or. They acknowledged that while the leased premises are in trust or restricted status, all of the lessees’ obligations under the lease, and the obligations of its sureties, are to the United States Government, as well as to the lessor. Each sublease gave the lessee “the right to contest any claim, asserted tax or assessment against the property by posting bond to prevent enforcement of any lien resulting therefrom” and required the lessee to hold harmless the Development Corp., the tribe, the Secretary of the Interior, and the leased premises “from any and all claims, taxes, assessments and like charges,” and “from any lien or sale or other proceedings to enforce payment thereof, and all costs in connection therewith.”
In 1985, the Arizona legislature for the first time extended ad valorem property taxation to rights to possess and actual possession of land or improvements under non-freehold rights. 1985 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 264, §§ 1, 2. Former A.R.S. section 42-682 subjected “possessory interests” in the property of federal, state, county, and municipal governments and their subdivisions to taxation as unsecured personal property. See A.R.S. §§ 42-601 et seq. But, A.R.S. section 42-684 expressly exempted a number of possessory interests in governmental property, including those in “property held in trust for an Indian or an Indian tribe by the United States government.” A.R.S. § 42-684(4) (1991) (repealed by Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 191, § 9).
In an unpublished and unappealed ruling in 1993, the Arizona Tax Court invalidated those exemptions on the ground that they were not authorized under our constitution. See Scottsdale Princess Partnership v. Maricopa County, 185 Ariz. 368, 371, 916 P.2d 1084, 1087 (App.1995) (appeal resolving other rulings in same case). The legislature then (1) repealed and replaced former A.R.S. section 42-684, (2) added a new class twelve to the property classification statute and assessed that class at one percent of full cash value, (3) extensively amended the sections governing possessory interests, and (4) enacted a number of exemptions from the possessory interest tax. 1993 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 191. Most of the new exemptions, however, closely resembled those in the repealed version of A.R.S. section 42-686, which the tax court had invalidated.
Maricopa County brought a declaratory judgment action against the state to challenge the constitutionality of the new exemptions. In July 1993, in an unpublished and unappealed ruling, the tax court determined that the exemptions violated the Arizona Constitution. Maricopa Comity v. State of Arizona, Dep’t of Revenue, TX 93-00217 (Ariz. Tax Ct. July 1993). The legislature repealed the exemptions effective July 17, 1994. 1994 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 293, § 2.
Maricopa County thereafter classified the taxpayers’ leasehold interests in the Industrial Park as class three commercial/industrial property for 1993 and assessed 1993 property taxes against them on twenty-five percent of full cash valué. See A.R.S. § 42-227(A)(3) (1991). The taxpayers paid the assessments under protest.
In 1994, the legislature adopted the possessory interest taxing scheme at issue in this case. 1994 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 293. Retroactive to January 1, 1993, A.R.S. section 42-162(A)(12)(g) included in class twelve, “[t]o the extent allowed pursuant to federal law, interests in property held in trust for an Indian or an Indian tribe by the United States government.” If applied to the 1993 tax year, this amendment would have reduced the assessment factor for the taxpayers’ leasehold interests from twenty-five percent (class three) to one percent (class twelve). See A.R.S. § 42-227(A)(3), (12) (as amended).
Effective January 1, 1993, A.R.S. section 42-681 governing possessory interests provided in relevant part:
3. “Possessory interest” means possession of public property pursuant to an agreement with a governmental entity regardless of how the interest is identified in any document by which it is created, except possession pursuant to and by virtue of ownership of a freehold interest in the real property or ownership of the improvements or personal property. For the purposes of this paragraph, “governmental entity” includes:
(a) A governmental entity described in paragraph J, or
(b) An agent established by the governmental entity for the purpose of leasing the property.
h. “Public property” means real or personal property or improvements, or any combination of such property, owned or held by:
(a) The United States, this state or any county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state as owner, trustee, agent or in any other capacity.
(b) An agency or instrumentality of the United States, of this state or of any county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state as owner, trustee, agent or in any other capacity.
(Emphasis added.)
The enacting legislation further provided that it would apply retroactively to tax years after December 31, 1992, and that the possessory interests which had been exempt under the prior statutes should be assessed and taxed for tax year 1993 at the one percent rate. A.R.S. § 42-681(8). Finally, the statute barred any assessment “for any tax year prior to 1993 for possessory interests which were previously designated as exempt.” A.R.S. § 42-681(9).
In 1995, the legislature repealed A.R.S. sections 42-681 through 42-687 effective retroactively to January 1, 1995. 1995 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 294, § 8.
II. THE LITIGATION
After exhausting their administrative remedies, the taxpayers commenced separate actions for refunds of the possessory interest taxes they had paid under protest for 1993. The tribe commenced a separate action, in which Pimalco joined, attacking the validity of the possessory interest tax as applied to the leasehold interests in Indian land. After the actions were consolidated, the taxpayers and the tribe unsuccessfully moved for summary judgment. The tax court found that the taxpayers’ interests
are possessory interests and were properly taxed as such ...; (2) taxing the possessory interests is not a tax on Indian land; (3) federal law does not preempt the tax; (4) there is no evidence of unconstitutional discrimination in the application of the tax laws; [5] plaintiffs are not entitled to a refund; and [6] these taxes do not unduly interfere with Tribal self-government.
The parties then stipulated that the tax court deny any claim for relief not adjudicated in the ruling on the motions for summary judgment. The tax court entered a formal judgment for the County and DOR, and the taxpayers and the tribe (“appellants”) timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(B); the appeal is assigned to Department T of this court pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-120.04(0 and 12-170(C).
III. ANALYSIS
A. Taxpayers’ Leasehold Interests in Tribal Land as “Possessory Interests”
Appellants first contend that their leasehold interests were not subject to taxation because they did not constitute “possessory interests” in public property as required under former A.R.S. section 42-681(3) and (4). We disagree.
1. Indian Land as “Public Property”
Appellants acknowledge that the definition of public property in former A.R.S. section 42-681(4) “might seem to encompass land held in trust by the United States for Indian tribes.” They argue, however, that by failing to list Indian reservations in the definition of property and by classifying possessory interests in Indian land as class twelve property “[t]o the extent allowed pursuant to federal law,” the legislature intended that federal law determine whether property within an Indian reservation was “public property.”
Amended former A.R.S. section 42-162(A)(12)(g), however, did not condition the class twelve status of possessory interests in Indian trust lands on their being “public property” under federal law. The statute expressly defined public property in the language of former A.R.S. section 42-681(4) and presupposed that the interest in question met all the requirements of former A.R.S. section 42-681 for taxability under Arizona law. Former section 42-162(A)(12)(g) simply excluded from class twelve those possessory interests whose taxation federal law forbade.
Appellants also assert that the leasehold interests did not constitute interests in public property within former A.R.S. section 42-681(4). We disagree. The Industrial Park is held by the United States as trustee for the tribe. Property held by the United States as trustee is public property under former A.R.S. section 42-681(4)(a) and (b). The fact that the United States may also hold lands in trust for non-Indians or off-reservation lands in trust for Indians does not alter this conclusion. Moreover, because reservation land held by the United States in trust for Indians clearly falls within the definition of public property in former A.R.S. section 42-681(4), that statute’s failure to specifically refer to reservation land in the definition of public property is not significant.
2. Taxpayers’ Leaseholds as Taxable “Possessory Interests”
Appellants also contend that the leasehold interests are not “possessory interests” within former A.R.S. section 42-681(3) because the taxpayers do not possess their portions of the Industrial Park “pursuant to an agreement with a governmental entity.” We are not persuaded.
The taxpayers assert that they contracted with the Development Corp., a tribally-chartered instrumentality that is neither an agency nor instrumentality of Arizona, of any state political subdivision, or of the United States. They argue that if the Development Corp. is not a “governmental entity” within former A.R.S. section 42-681(3), their leaseholds were not pursuant to an agreement with such a governmental entity, and the leaseholds were not possessory interests subject to taxation.
We cannot agree with this narrow interpretation of A.R.S. section 42-681(3). The nominal lessor under the taxpayers’ subleases was indeed the Development Corp., but legal title to the subleased property is held by the United States; all contractual duties owed to the Development Corp. as lessor were equally owed to the United States Government; neither sublease could have been consummated without the approval of the United States Secretary of the Interior; and the tribe could not terminate the sublease without the consent of the federal government. See 25 U.S.C. § 415 and regulations thereunder; Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe v. Watt, 707 F.2d 1072 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied sub nom., Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribe v. Clark, 464 U.S. 1017, 104 S.Ct. 548, 78 L.Ed.2d 723 (1983). Moreover, although the United States may not have been a formal party to the subleases, it was a signatory to them. We conclude that the taxpayers necessarily obtained their leaseholds “pursuant to an agreement with a governmental entity.”
We are confident that this was the understanding of the legislature when it amended both former A.R.S. section 42-681 and former section 42-162. Specifically, it amended former section 42-162(A)(12) to classify possessory interests “as defined in section 42-681 ... in property held in trust for an Indian or an Indian tribe by the United States government” as class twelve taxable property “[t]o the extent allowed pursuant to federal law.” 1994 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 293, § 1. See also former A.R.S. § 42-271.01; former A.R.S. § 42-684 (1980). Appellants have not satisfactorily explained why the legislature would have adopted this amendment if it did not intend for former A.R.S. sections 42-681 and 42-682 to tax contractual rights to possess Indian trust lands.
The tax court correctly found, therefore, that the taxpayers’ leasehold interests were taxable possessory interests in public property within former A.R.S. section 42-681(3) and (4).
B. Validity of Former Possessory Interest Tax under Federal Indian Law
1. Direct Tax on Indian Land
Under well-established principles, the individual states cannot levy taxes on Indian tribes, reservation Indians, or reservation Indian or tribal-owned property. See McClanahan v. Arizona State Tax Comm’n, 411 U.S. 164, 170-71, 93 S.Ct. 1257, 1261-62, 36 L.Ed.2d 129 (1973); Oklahoma Tax Comm’n v. Texas Co., 336 U.S. 342, 366-67, 69 S.Ct. 561, 574-75, 93 L.Ed. 721 (1949); see also Washington v. Confederated Tribes of Colville Indian Reservation, 447 U.S. 134, 152, 100 S.Ct. 2069, 2080-81, 65 L.Ed.2d 10 (1980); Moe v. Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of Flathead Reservation, 425 U.S. 463, 480-81, 96 S.Ct. 1634, 1644-45, 48 L.Ed.2d 96 (1976); Industrial Uranium Co. v. State Tax Comm’n of Arizona, 95 Ariz. 130, 134, 387 P.2d 1013, 1015-16 (1963). The appellants suggest that the possessory interest tax was necessarily on reservation real property, including the tribe’s reversionary interest, and therefore that as applied to the leasehold interests, it was an invalid tax on Indian land.
Appellants also argue that the state has no authority to enter the reservation to sell a leasehold to foreclose a lien and that, unlike income or privilege taxes, an ad valorem tax is in rem and an obligation owed by the property itself. Peabody Coal Co. v. Navajo County, 117 Ariz. 335, 338, 572 P.2d 797, 800 (1977). Accordingly, they contend that the possessory interest tax encumbered not only the taxpayers’ leasehold interests but also the tribe’s reversionary interest in the leased parcels.
By its express terms, former A.R.S. section 42-682 taxed only possessory interests in real property. The lien of the tax extended only to the property actually subject to the tax. See A.R.S. § 42-609. During 1993 and 1994, the taxpayers and not the tribe owned the possessory interests the state sought to tax.
Mescalero Apache Tribe v. Jones, 411 U.S. 145, 93 S.Ct. 1267, 36 L.Ed.2d 114 (1973), cited by appellants, is inapposite. There, the Supreme Court invalidated a New Mexico use tax on personal property that a tribe had purchased and used to construct a ski lift; after construction, the tribe became the sole owner of the property. 411 U.S. at 158, 93 S.Ct. at 1275-76. The Court held that a tax on the materials was essentially a state ad valorem tax on the tribe’s fee estate from which the tribe was immune as a matter of federal law. Here, by contrast, the tribe has long since conveyed leasehold interests to non-Indian entities, and those interests alone were subjected to the possessory interest tax. Thus, the possessory interest tax did not illegally tax Indian tribal lands.
2. Preemption by Federal Statutory Law
Appellants assert that the extensive federal regulation of leaseholds in Indian trust lands, 25 U.S.C. §§ 81, 415 and 25 C.F.R. § 162, has preempted the field and that the state has no authority to legislate in this area. They cite a number of older Supreme Court decisions, beginning with Warren Trading Post Co. v. Arizona State Tax Comm’n, 380 U.S. 685, 85 S.Ct. 1242, 14 L.Ed.2d 165 (1965) and ending with New Mexico v. Mescalero Apache Tribe, 462 U.S. 324, 103 S.Ct. 2378, 76 L.Ed.2d 611 (1983). They do not offer, however, the “particularized examination of the relevant state, federal, and tribal interests” required in an Indian law preemption case. Ramah Navajo School Bd., Inc. v. Bureau of Revenue of New Mexico, 458 U.S. 832, 838,102 S.Ct. 3394, 3398, 73 L.Ed.2d 1174 (1982); see Arizona Dep’t of Revenue v. M. Greenberg Constr., 182 Ariz. 397, 897 P.2d 699 (App.1995). They also do not suggest how Arizona’s taxation of their leasehold interests interferes with the tribe’s use and development of its land.
The tribe recently faded to persuade the federal court with a similar argument in Gila River Indian Community v. Waddell, 91 F.3d 1232, 1239 (9th Cir.1996). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that federal statutes and regulations governing the leasing of trust lands did not preempt state sales tax on ticket sales by non-Indians to non-Indians for events held on the reservation. Although the court had recognized that tribal regulations of reservation land may preempt conflicting state rules in Segundo v. City of Rancho Mirage, 813 F.2d 1387 (9th Cir. 1987), also in that case the court held that in “the field of taxation ... the laws of both State and Tribe may be enforced simultaneously” and rejected the argument that “the mere existence of federal oversight over leasing of Indian lands preempts a state tax.” Id. at 1393.
This result is consistent with a number of analogous decisions. See Cotton Petroleum Corp. v. New Mexico, 490 U.S. 163, 177, 109 S.Ct. 1698, 1708, 104 L.Ed.2d 209 (1989) (no preemption of state tax of non-Indian-owned oil and gas leaseholds in Indian lands when state provided substantial services, tax incidence was not on tribe, and federal and tribal regulation was not exclusive); Washington, 447 U.S. at 161, 100 S.Ct. at 2085 (federal laws encouraging Indian self-government and economic development do not preempt state taxation of cigarette sales on Indian reservation by non-members to non-members); Salt River Pimar-Maricopa Indian Community v. State of Arizona, 50 F.3d 734, 736 (9th Cir.1995), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 116 5. Ct. 186, 133 L.Ed.2d 123 (1995) (state tax on sales of non-Indian goods by non-Indians to non-Indians at shopping center on leased reservation land not preempted); Fort Mojave Tribe v. San Bernardino County, 543 F.2d 1253 (9th Cir.1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 983, 97 S.Ct. 1678, 52 L.Ed.2d 377 (1977) (state taxation of non-Indians’ possessory interests in Indian lands not preempted); M. Greenberg Constr., 182 Ariz. at 398, 897 P.2d at 700 (state prime contracting privilege taxes on receipts from construction contracts performed on Indian reservation not preempted); State ex rel. Arizona Dep’t of Revenue v. Dillon, 170 Ariz. 560, 566, 826 P.2d 1186, 1192 (App.1991) (state luxury tax on cigarette sales on reservation by nonmember to non-members not preempted).
We agree with the tax court that federal law did not preempt the taxation of the taxpayers’ leaseholds in the Industrial Park under former A.R.S. section 42-682.
3. Undue Interference with Tribal Self-Government
Appellants also claim that the possessory interest tax infringed the tribe’s right to make its own laws. See Ramah Navajo Sch. Bd., Inc., 458 U.S. at 837, 102 S.Ct. at 3398; White Mountain Apache Tribe v. Bracker, 448 U.S. 136, 143-44,100 S.Ct. 2578, 2583-84, 65 L.Ed.2d 665 (1980); McClanahan, 411 U.S. at 179, 93 S.Ct. at 1266; Williams v. Lee, 358 U.S. 217, 220, 79 S.Ct. 269, 270-71, 3 L.Ed.2d 251 (1959). They contend that state law collection procedures would establish a super-priority tax lien on the possessory interest and would require the county sheriff to seize and sell that interest at a public auction. See A.R.S. §§ 42-609 (tax lien); 42-613(C) (seizure of taxable property and posting of sale notice); 42-614(A) (sale at public auction to highest bidder); 42-683(A) (incorporating procedures of A.R.S. §§ 42-601 et seq. for collecting delinquent personal property taxes). A state tax lien would supersede and thus violate the tribe’s ability to collect under its own leases, and the seizure and sale of any leasehold would impair the tribe’s ability to retain desirable tenants and reject unacceptable ones. Appellants argue that the tax was therefore wholly invalid as applied to possessory interests in reservation lands.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected a similar argument in Fort Mojave. 543 F.2d 1253; see also Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians v. County of Riverside, 442 F.2d 1184, 1186 (9th Cir.1971). The Fort Mojave court sustained a state tax on possessory interests in leaseholds in reservation land despite an argument that state law collection procedures might cloud the tribe’s title and unlawfully encumber their land. 543 F.2d at 1258-59. The court noted that no tax sales and no injury to Indian rights had yet occurred nor did it expect future injury because federal laws both requiring the Secretary of the Interior to approve leases and allowing the tribe to refuse a lease could effectively “thwart tax sales contrary to the wishes of the Secretary and the Indians.” Id. at 1259. State law nevertheless expressly allowed the county to recover the tax either by a direct suit or by seizing and selling the lessee’s personal property, improvements, and possessory interests. Id.
Arizona law also contains collection procedures that would potentially transgress Indian rights if carried out against possessory interests on reservation land without the consent of the tribe and the Secretary of the Interior. See A.R.S. §§ 42-609 through 42-615. Appellants assume, however, that if one of several statutory procedures for collecting delinquent possessory interest taxes on reservation land may be invalid under federal law, then the tax itself is invalid. We know of no reason why this should be, and appellants suggest none.
Further, the Secretary of the Interior and the tribe retain their federal statutory rights to prevent a taxing authority’s attempt to foreclose on reservation land or interests. The powers conferred by 25 U.S.C. §§ 415 and 476 make it virtually impossible that these collection procedures would infringe the rights of reservation Indians. As the Ninth Circuit noted in Fort Mojave, provisions of federal law requiring Secretarial and tribal approval of reservation leases effectively preclude tax sales contrary to the wishes of the tribe and the Secretary. 543 F.2d at 1259.
Moreover, Arizona law grants the taxing authority an alternative remedy. A.R.S. section 42-616(A) declares an unsecured personal property tax to be a debt of the owner and his successors in interest; it enables the county treasurer or sheriff to realize the tax out of any of the owner’s personal property and to recover a personal judgment against him or his successors in interest for the unpaid taxes and costs. Given this procedure, the possible infirmity of the collection and lien foreclosure procedures is not material to the validity of the possessory interest tax itself.
Appellants contrast this case with Cotton Petroleum and argue that it represents the greatest extent to which the Supreme Court has gone to sustain a state tax against a claim of interference with tribal sovereignty. 490 U.S. at 163, 109 S.Ct. at 1700-01. They urge that the reasons DOR offers to validate former A.R.S. section 42-682 fall far short of those that guided the ruling in Cotton Petroleum. Again we cannot agree.
In Cotton Petroleum, the Court held that federal law did not preempt application of New Mexico’s oil and gas severance taxes to non-Indians who extracted oil and gas from reservation real property pursuant to tribal mineral leases. 490 U.S. at 177, 109 S.Ct. at 1708. It distinguished Ramah and White Mountain Apache Tribe because in neither case had the taxing authority provided a regulatory function or service to justify a tax on the non-Indian taxpayers’ on-reservation activities. Cotton Petroleum, 490 U.S. at 185-86, 109 S.Ct. at 1712-13. In both Ramah and White Mountain Apache Tribe, the federal government had imposed comprehensive regulatory schemes, and the economic burden of the taxes ultimately fell on the tribes. Id. at 184-85, 109 S.Ct. at 1711-12. On the other hand, in Cotton Petroleum, New Mexico provided substantial services to the taxpayer and the tribe; regulated the spacing and mechanical integrity of the wells; federal and tribal regulation of oil and gas leasing was extensive but not exclusive; and the economic burden of the severance tax did not fall on the tribe.
This case is more like Cotton Petroleum than appellants concede. Federal law regulates the leasing of Indian lands, but the regulatory scheme is not so pervasive that it cannot coexist with state taxation of possessory interests in leased lands. Further, the economic burden of the tax fell on the taxpayers, not the tribe. Under the sublease, the taxpayers must hold harmless the leased premises and improvements, the Development Corp., the tribe, and the Secretary of the Interior “from any and all claims, taxes, assessments ..., and from any lien or sale or other proceedings to enforce payment thereof.”
Finally, the record contains considerable evidence that Arizona provides on-reservation services to the tribe and these taxpayers. The state or county maintain the major access roads to the Industrial Park and surrounding areas. The state provides significant financial aid to schools attended by Indian children on and off the reservation and law enforcement services to non-Indians on the reservation, such as the taxpayers. Both taxpayers employ non-Indians who enjoy all of the benefits of state and local governments; they both rely on off-reservation suppliers and customers, who similarly benefit from state and local governments. Cf. Dillon, 170 Ariz. 560, 826 P.2d 1186 (state’s interest in raising revenue is strongest when tax taps value generated off-reservation and taxpayer receives state services).
Appellants fail to demonstrate that imposition of the former possessory interest tax on the taxpayers’ leasehold interests interfered in any degree with the tribe or its members’ exercise of the right to self-government.
C. Enforcement of Tax as Violation of Taxpayers’ Right to Equal Protection
Appellants contend that the County’s enforcement of the possessory interest tax against the taxpayers and not others was arbitrary and unconstitutional. They base this contention solely on the affidavit of Zuzette Kisto, a legal assistant employed in the Gila River Indian Community’s general counsel’s office. Kisto averred that on April 11, 1995, she spoke by telephone to certain named persons in either the assessor’s or treasurer’s offices of six of Arizona’s counties other than Maricopa who said that those counties “were not attempting to assess and collect possessory interest taxes against leasehold interests in Tribal Trust Lands within their respective counties.”
The legislature repealed the possessory interest taxing statutes effective January 1, 1995, 1995 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 294, § 8, but the enactment was not filed with the Secretary of State Office until April 25, 1995. Nevertheless, information about the repeal would almost certainly have been known by county taxing officials well before that date. Kisto’s information about the practices of six counties does not mean that these or other counties had refrained from taxing possessory interests during 1993 and 1994.
Additionally, to establish unreasonable discrimination in the administration of tax laws, the taxpayers must prove that the taxing authority intentionally or arbitrarily treated similarly situated persons unequally. Hibbs v. Calcot, Ltd., 166 Ariz. 210, 218, 801 P.2d 445, 453 (App.1990); Scottsdale Princess Partnership, 185 Ariz. at 376, 916 P.2d at 1092. The record contains no evidence that Maricopa County intended to or did treat other holders of taxable possessory interests any differently from these taxpayers.
The tax court did not err in rejecting appellants’ claim that the assessments violated the taxpayers’ equal protection rights.
1. Failure to Order Partial Refund of 1993 Possessory Interest Taxes
In 1994, rather than attempting to exempt possessory interests from taxation, the legislature reclassified, retroactive to January 1,1993, possessory interests as class twelve property assessable at one percent of full cash value. 1994 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 293, § 8 (all possessory interests exempt under pre-amendment law were to be assessed for 1993 as class twelve property). See A.R.S. §§ 42-162(A)(12) and 42-227(A)(12), as amended by 1994 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 293, §§ 1, 3, 8. For 1993, however, the County had already classified the taxpayers’ possessory interests as class three (commercial) property assessable at twenty-five percent of full cash value and taxed them accordingly.
After the 1994 amendments became effective, the taxpayers sought refunds of the difference between the taxes paid at the twenty-five percent rate and those they would have paid at the one percent rate, which was equivalent to ninety-six percent of their 1993 possessory interest taxes. The County refused to refund any money, and the tax court upheld the denial of the refund requests.
Although DOR does not contest the refunds, the County argues that the retroactive provision was an unconstitutional gift of public funds in violation of Ariz. Const, art. 9, section 7 (the Gift Clause), and thus that the taxpayers cannot receive a refund for tax year 1993. We recently considered an attack on the validity of retroactive tax legislation under the Gift Clause in Maricopa County v. State of Arizona (Sherwood), 928 P.2d 699 (App.1996). After some individuals had used their property for agricultural purposes but had failed to take the necessary steps to receive an agricultural classification and valuation, the legislature adopted HB 2007, an uncodified enactment that allowed those persons to obtain agricultural treatment and a refund by filing a certification of agricultural use. Id. at 701-02. Maricopa County challenged the enactment as violative of the Gift Clause. Id.
We noted that the Gift Clause’s purpose was to bar governmental bodies from giving special advantages or increasing the public debt by engaging in non-public enterprises. Kromko v. Arizona Bd. of Regents, 149 Ariz. 319, 320-21, 718 P.2d 478, 479-80 (1986); Wistuber v. Paradise Valley Unified Sch. Dist., 141 Ariz. 346, 349, 687 P.2d 354, 357 (1984); Arizona Ctr. for Law in Public Interest v. Hassell, 172 Ariz. 356, 367, 837 P.2d 158, 169 (App.1991). A use of public money or property, for a public purpose, when the value of the public money or property is not disproportionately greater than the public benefit received, does not contravene the Gift Clause. Wistuber, 141 Ariz. at 349, 687 P.2d at 357. Even if particular persons or organizations benefit, this does not change the result. See Industrial Dev. Auth. of Pinal County v. Nelson, 109 Ariz. 368, 373, 509 P.2d 705, 710 (1973).
In Sherwood, we found that HB 2007 furthered the agricultural assessment statute’s valid public purpose in protecting farmland from urban encroachment. 928 P.2d at 704-OS. We also found that the county failed to meet its burden of proof in demonstrating that the exchange of tax money for the public benefit was disproportionate. Id.
The taxpayers asserted in the tax court that the reclassification statute was intended to encourage commercial development of reservation property and promote Indian self-sufficiency and economic welfare. The County argues, however, that the reclassification does not actually further those purposes or benefit the public, and thus that it fails the proportionality test.
We agree with the taxpayers. From the initial adoption of the possessory interest taxing statutes in 1985 through their repeal in 1995, the legislature has consistently sought either to exempt possessory interests in Indian lands from ad valorem taxation or to minimize the financial impact of such a tax. These attempts reflect a desire to prevent the possessory interest tax from deterring non-Indian commercial development on Indian lands and a desire to further the public benefit of an expanded employment base available to all Arizonans, Indians and non-Indians alike.
The reclassification enactment was simply a logical extension of the original legislative purposes. It also might have stemmed from concern for those who had relied on the favorable ad valorem tax treatment and had invested in commercial enterprises on reservations; if they then discovered that the state had retreated from its purpose of encouraging development, future business investment on the reservations might shrink. In light of the tax court’s repeated rulings invalidating a total exemption from possessory interest taxes to reservation leaseholds, the legislature reasonably could have determined to sharply reduce the financial impact of the taxes both to support its reservation investment policy and to reassure those who had already acted in reliance on it. Like HB 2007, the reclassification furthered a policy that underlay the legislature’s prior statutory attempts at total exemption. Id.
The County relies heavily on the tax court’s opinion in Sherwood, which we vacated. 928 P.2d 699 (App.1996). The County argues that the reclassification statute only affects taxpayers who already have leases with Indian tribes and need no further encouragement to invest on the reservation. It challenges the asserted public purposes of Indian self-sufficiency and economic development and contends that no rationale “link[s] retroactive refunding to private, non-Indian enterprises, with tribal self-sufficiency and economic welfare.” Because nothing requires that the refunded money be spent on a public purpose, the County claims that the refund would be a gift of public funds to private entities voiding the retroactive reclassification statute.
The pertinent question is whether the refund would disproportionately outweigh the public benefit from the statute. This is a question of fact, and as the challenger of the statute, the County bears the burden of demonstrating disproportionality. Wistuber, 141 Ariz. at 350, 687 P.2d at 358. As in Sherwood, the County here failed to support its allegations and did not meet its burden of proof. See 928 P.2d at 705-06.
Higgins’ Estate v. Hubbs, 31 Ariz. 252, 252 P. 515 (1926), does not aid the County. Although the court remarked that it would be “absurd to suppose any sane legislature intended to give away public money with no legal or moral consideration whatever,” 31 Ariz. at 261, 252 P. at 518-19, the Gift Clause was not at issue. Similarly, we decline to follow the California decisions in Doctors General Hospital of San Jose v. Santa Clara County, 150 Cal.App.2d 53, 309 P.2d 501 (1957), and In re Stanford’s Estate, 126 Cal. 112, 58 P. 462 (1899).
The tax court, therefore, erred in denying refunds to the taxpayers based on the statutory reclassification of their possessory interests in the Industrial Park as class twelve property for 1993.
IV. CONCLUSION
We affirm the tax court judgment that the leasehold interest constituted a taxable possessory interest, that the possessory tax was validly applied, and that no equal protection violation occurred. We reverse the denial of refunds based on the reclassification statute, however, and remand this matter for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
GARBARINO, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
. Biegert Aviation, Inc. also joined as a plaintiff in the action filed by the tribe but did not appeal from the judgment.
. Under the Arizona Constitution art. 9, section 2(6), ''[a]ll property in the State not exempt under the laws of the United States or under this Constitution or exempt by law under the provisions of this section shall be subject to taxation to be ascertained as provided by law.” Our supreme court, however, has long recognized that while the legislature has the power to tax, it may choose not to exercise that power. Maricopa County v. Fox Riverside Theatre Corp., 57 Ariz. 407, 412, 114 P.2d 245, 247 (1941) (absent express provision and administrative mechanism for taxing leasehold interests, such interests are not taxed); see also Maricopa County v. Trustees of Arizona Lodge No. 2, 52 Ariz. 329, 80 P.2d 955 (1938) (same for intangibles).
. For example, former A.R.S. § 42-271.01 exempted possessory interests in Indian tribal trust lands.
. Although the taxpayers' opening brief requests refunds for 1993 and 1994, the record does not contain a request for refunds of 1994 taxes in the tax court.
. Contrary to the implicit premise of appellants’ argument, former § 42-682 did not state that the taxpayers’ possessory interests constituted unsecured personal property. It provided only that possessory interests in public property were "subject to taxation as unsecured personal property under this chapter.” Former § 42-682(A)(2). Through that device, the legislature merely adopted for possessory interests the taxation model already specified for unsecured personal property.
. Recently limited by Department of Taxation & Finance of New York v. Milhelm Attea & Bros., Inc., 512 U.S. 61, 70-71, 114 S.Ct. 2028, 2034, 129 L.Ed.2d 52 (1994).
. In Fort Mojave, the Ninth Circuit noted that none of the state collection procedures had been completed. 543 F.2d at 1259. The record here does not reveal that the County or DOR commenced any of the collection procedures feared by appellants.
. Ariz. Const, art. 9, § 7 provides:
Neither the State, nor any county, city, town, municipality, or other subdivision of the State shall ever give or loan its credit in the aid of, or make any donation or grant, by subsidy or otherwise, to any individual, association, or corporation ....
. See also Fund Manager v. Corbin, 161 Ariz. 364, 365, 778 P.2d 1260, 1261 (1989) (legislature may supply any authority retroactively that it could have provided prospectively); Fairfield v. Huntington, 23 Ariz. 528, 533-34, 205 P. 814, 816 (1922) (satisfying a moral or equitable claim that is legally unenforceable does not constitute making a donation).
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OPINION
ESPINOSA, Presiding Judge.
Defendants/appellants James and Cleopatra Outlaw, their son Andrew Outlaw, and the Church of Jesus appeal from jury verdicts in favor of plaintiffs/appellees Rose Mary Martinez-Barnes, Naomi Martinez Outlaw, and Isaac Martinez on their claims for damages resulting from counseling mal practice, breach of fiduciary duty, false light invasion of privacy, invasion of privacy and defamation, and James Barnes’s claim for loss of consortium. Appellants challenge the trial court’s subject matter jurisdiction and also argue that the court erred in instructing the jury and in denying their motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm in part and vacate in part.
Facts and Procedural Background
On appeal from a judgment entered on a jury verdict, we view the evidence, and all reasonable inferences arising therefrom, in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. Callender v. Transpacific Hotel Corp-, 179 Ariz- 557, 880 P.2d 1103 (App. 1993). Rose Mary Martinez-Barnés is the older sister of Naomi Martinez Outlaw and Isaac Martinez. In the summer of 1986, Pastor J.P. Kirkland referred Rose to James Outlaw, pastor of the Church of Jesus, for counseling, in view of Outlaw’s many years of counseling experience. In September, Rose met with Outlaw for help with emotional problems following the breakup of her relationship with Kirkland, with whom she had lived for nine months. Rose subsequently joined the Church and continued to meet with Outlaw for counseling, relating to him highly personal and private matters, including her feelings of guilt about having had a meretricious relationship with a clergyman. About two years later, Naomi moved to Phoenix and joined the Church at Rose’s suggestion.
In early 1990, Isaac told Rose he was troubled because his wife had been unfaithful to him. Because she believed Outlaw had helped her, Rose encouraged Isaac to seek counseling with Outlaw about his wife’s infidelity. In June, Isaac met with Outlaw and confided that his wife was having an affair with his father. He also confided that, in retaliation for his wife’s adulterous conduct, he had had an affair with a close friend of hers. Later, when Rose discovered that her sister-in-law’s affair had been with her father, she also discussed the matter with Outlaw.
Naomi and Andrew Outlaw, James Outlaw’s son and an associate pastor of the Church, began dating and were married in early 1992. They underwent premarital and marriage counseling with Outlaw. After one counseling session, Naomi met with Outlaw alone and confided to him that her father had once embraced her in an “uncomfortable way.” That July, Rose and James Barnes were also married in the Church after undergoing premarital counseling with Outlaw.
By November, Naomi and Andrew had been separated for several months. In December, Naomi went to see him at home and found him and another woman there, both unclothed. A few days later, Andrew served Naomi with annulment papers, alleging “[mjisrepresentation at time of marriage” on Naomi’s part. Believing that the annulment was to save Andrew and Outlaw from disgrace in the Church and to counter the accusations made against Naomi in the annulment papers, Rose contacted Church leaders and told them what had happened between Andrew and Naomi. One of the “elders” invited Rose and Naomi to attend a meeting after Sunday services to discuss the situation.
Rose and Naomi went to the Church that Sunday. After the service, Outlaw called Rose into his office and told her he had canceled the meeting. With his wife present, Outlaw told Rose that Naomi was “screwed up” because she had been molested by their father, and intimated he would reveal his “knowledge of [Rose] and a man named Kirkland” if she and Naomi did not drop their accusations against Andrew. As Rose and Naomi were leaving, they were confronted by Outlaw’s mother, who told them to stop lying about Andrew because “we know things about your family.” Outlaw’s sister joined in, telling them not to say anything about Andrew, stating “we know things about your father,” and accusing him of adultery. When Rose and Naomi returned to Outlaw’s office to use the telephone, Outlaw told them what a “no good” person their father was because he “had sex with his daughters.” Outlaw also said that if Rose and Naomi did not drop their accusations against Andrew, they would find out “what kind of person” Outlaw was. During this exchange, the office door was open and Outlaw’s son-in-law was sitting in an empty pew in the sanctuary.
Later that day Outlaw and a Church administrator had a conversation in which Outlaw described the discord between Rose and Naomi and his family. Outlaw also told him that there were “incest problems” between the Martinez siblings and their father and that he had learned of the incest during his counseling sessions with Rose, Naomi, and Isaac. During a Wednesday evening service, Outlaw described Rose’s and Naomi’s conduct to the congregation, “marked” them as causing division in the Church, and stated that their family was “incestuous” and “dysfunctional.” A few days later, Outlaw called a meeting with the Church elders, during which he reported he had counseled Naomi and had been reluctant to show her affection “because of some of the things which had happened to her in the past.” He also read aloud a portion of a letter she had written Andrew.
Rose, Naomi, Isaac, and James sued the Outlaws and the Church, asserting numerous claims for relief. At the close of plaintiffs’ evidence, the defendants moved for a directed verdict on all claims. The claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent supervision, conspiracy to inflict emotional distress, and disregard of the Church’s corporate entity were dismissed, as were all of James’s claims except loss of consortium, and all claims against Andrew. The claims for false light invasion of privacy, invasion of privacy, defamation, malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, and James’s loss of consortium claim were submitted to the jury, which found for appellees on all counts. Appellants’ subsequent motions for new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict were denied.
Ecclesiastical Abstention
Appellants first contend that the trial court lacked subject matter jurisdiction under the doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention. They argue that Outlaw was motivated by a “biblical admonition” when he brought appellees’ conduct to the attention of the congregation during the “marking” and that the “essence” of the injuries appellees claimed was the termination of their relationship with the Church and its members. As a result, they contend, the trial court was barred from “addressing religious controversies which were beyond the jurisdiction of civil authority.”
The doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention prohibits courts from determining issues of canon law. Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696, 96 S.Ct. 2372, 49 L.Ed.2d 151 (1976). It is not applicable here because this dispute can be resolved without inquiry into religious law and polity. We need not consider the “marking” ritual nor its origins in resolving these issues. Outlaw revealed confidences from his counseling sessions with Naomi to Rose and threatened to publicize Rose’s involvement with Kirkland. He divulged confidences of Naomi, Rose, and Isaac to his wife, mother, sister, and the Church administrator and also relayed false information to them. There was no evidence that this conduct was part of the observance of the Church’s religious practices or beliefs; thus, the doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention has no bearing here. See Paul v. Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 819 F.2d 875, 878 n. 1 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 926, 108 S.Ct. 289, 98 L.Ed.2d 249 (1987).
Moreover, appellants misstate appellees’ injury claims. In their complaint, appellees alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress, loss of consortium, damage to their reputations, and exposure to public ridicule and disgrace. That the injuries occurred in a religious setting does not render them noncompensable, nor does it deprive the court of jurisdiction. See McNair v. Worldwide Church of God, 197 Cal.App.3d 363, 242 Cal. Rptr. 823 (1987) (free exercise clause did not bar defamation claim against minister for remarks made during meeting explaining church doctrine); Hester v. Barnett, 723 S.W.2d 544 (Mo.App.1987) (defamation claim against minister for statements made in sermons compensable); Guinn v. Church of Christ of Collinsville, 775 P.2d 766 (Okla. 1989) (intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy claims based on continued denunciation of former member during church services actionable).
Counseling Malpractice
We next address appellants’ challenge to the trial court’s malpractice instruction to the jury as legally erroneous and unsupported by the evidence. On appeal, “ij]ury instructions are viewed as a whole, with an eye toward determining whether or not the jury has been given the proper rules to apply in arriving at its decision.” Catchings v. City of Glendale, 154 Ariz. 420, 424, 743 P.2d 400, 404 (App.1987). We will not overturn a verdict because of instructions that were given unless there is substantial doubt whether the jury was properly guided in its deliberations. Id.
Appellants maintain that appellees’ malpractice claim was essentially a claim for clergy or pastoral malpractice and that the therapist malpractice instruction submitted to the jury ignored the reality of the parties’ relations and thus was improperly given. In support of this argument, appellants cite several cases rejecting clergy malpractice claims because of First Amendment concerns about determining a standard of care. Those cases are not applicable here because the claim submitted to the jury was for therapist malpractice, not clergy malpractice, and was based on a psychological therapist’s duty not to disclose confidential information revealed in counseling sessions. Dausch v. Rykse, 52 F.3d 1425 (7th Cir.1994). Appellees’ claim arose, not out of any duty Outlaw owed them in his capacity as their pastor, but rather out of his duty as a therapist or counselor to refrain from acting in a manner that carried a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm to the person being counseled. See Dausch (psychological malpractice claim upheld against minister acting as counselor); Sanders v. Casa View Baptist Church, 898 F.Supp. 1169 (N.D.Tex.1995) (professional malpractice claim upheld against pastor acting as marriage counselor).
Although we have found no Arizona cases in which the disclosure of confidential information by a counselor served as the basis of a malpractice claim, other jurisdictions have recognized causes of action arising from disclosures of confidences by providers of counseling services. See Johnson v. Lincoln Christian College, 150 Ill.App.3d 733, 103 Ill.Dec. 842, 501 N.E.2d 1380 (1986) (counselor); Hope v. Landau, 21 Mass.App. 240, 486 N.E.2d 89 (1985), vacated on other grounds, 398 Mass. 738, 500 N.E.2d 809 (1986) (psychologist);' Harley v. Druzba, 169 A.D.2d 1001, 565 N.Y.S.2d 278 (1991) (social worker); Watts v. Cumberland County Hospital System, Inc., 75 N.C.App. 1, 330 S.E.2d 242 (1985), reversed in part on other grounds, 317 N.C. 321, 345 S.E.2d 201 (1986) (marital and family therapist). Additionally, we note that counseling malpractice has been recognized generally by Division One of this court. See L.A.R. v. Ludwig, 170 Ariz. 24, 821 P.2d 291 (App.1991) (counselor may be subject to liability for negligence claim based on improper treatment and counseling).
Arizona has long acknowledged and protected the confidential nature of relationships between physicians and their patients, A.R.S. § 12-2235, and more recently between psychologists and other behavioral health providers and their clients, A.R.S. §§ 32-2085 and 32-3283, including counselors and “marriage therapists.” A.R.S. §§ 32-3301 and 32-3311. The purpose behind these privileges is “to enhance the effective diagnoses and treatment of illness by insuring that a person requiring professional attention will not be deterred by fear that his physical or mental condition may become public, thereby subjecting him to embarrassment or humiliation.” Bain v. Superior Court in and for Maricopa County, 148 Ariz. 331, 334 n. 1, 714 P.2d 824, 827 n. 1 (1986). See also Jaffee v. Redmond, — U.S.-, 116 S.Ct. 1923, 135 L.Ed.2d 337 (1996) (recognizing psychotherapist-patient privilege and extending it to counseling sessions with social worker).
Appellants point out that the privileges noted above apply only to licensed counselors and therapists, A.R.S. § 32-3283, and argue that Outlaw should not be held to the same standards. We find this argument flawed for two reasons. First, that Outlaw was not subject to Arizona’s statutory scheme for establishing professional counseling standards and shielding client confidences from disclosure has no bearing on the question of whether he had a duty not to disclose the confidences at issue, particularly when no statutory violations were alleged in appellees’ complaint or at trial. Second, one who holds himself out and undertakes to render services in the practice of a profession or trade is required to exercise the skill and knowledge normally possessed by members of that profession or trade in good standing in similar communities. Kreisman v. Thomas, 12 Ariz.App. 215, 469 P.2d 107 (1970); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 299A (1965). At trial, appellees presented expert testimony that mental health therapists and counselors have a duty not to disclose confidential information, with certain limited exceptions, and that this duty applies to both pastoral and professional counselors, whether licensed or not.
In sum, appellants offer no good reason for insulating a counselor from liability for betraying clients’ confidences to their detriment merely because the counselor is a clergy member and unlicensed, and the counseling as well as wrongful disclosure takes place in a religious setting.
Here, Rose testified that she was referred to Outlaw for counseling to help her through emotional difficulties and depression “because of his 40 years’ counseling experience,” that she made an appointment with him for that purpose, and that she met with him in his office at the Church. During Rose’s first counseling session, Outlaw used a chart to determine her level of self-esteem and concluded it was very low and she needed to raise it. Outlaw also discussed ways for Rose to deal with her feelings of guilt about her relationship with Kirkland. The inclusion of biblical passages on the chart did not convert the session into religious counseling, especially when the purpose of the meet ing was not to provide her with religious or spiritual guidance, the Church’s precepts and practices were not part of the counseling, and Rose was not a Church member when she sought help from Outlaw.
As to Isaac, Rose referred him to Outlaw for help in dealing with his emotional reactions to his wife’s infidelity. Prior to joining the Church, Isaac met with Outlaw at his Church office and they discussed how Isaac should cope with his wife’s affair with his father. They continued to meet and subsequently discussed Isaac’s retaliatory affair with a friend of his wife and Outlaw advised him on his marital relationship. Isaac testified that he considered these meetings to be for counseling and believed they were confidential.
Prior to their marriage, Naomi and Andrew went to Outlaw for premarital counseling. When difficulties arose in their marriage, they returned to Outlaw for marital counseling because of their previous counseling relationship and because he held himself out as a marriage counselor. After one session, Naomi met with Outlaw alone in the Church office and confided to him that she was unable to receive affection from her father because he had once “embraced her in an uncomfortable way.” Outlaw diagnosed Naomi as having an “acute rejection complex.” Naomi testified she believed Outlaw would keep confidential the information he learned in counseling her.
Outlaw subsequently divulged highly personal facts about all three Martinezes to his family members, threatened to make additional disclosures about Rose, and told a Church administrator that there were “incest problems” between the Martinezes and their father, all of which he had either learned or purportedly learned during one-on-one counseling sessions with Rose, Naomi, and Isaac. During his testimony, Outlaw conceded that he considered information learned in counseling sessions to be confidential and that confidentiality applies even when others know the information. Accordingly, we conclude that the evidence supported the giving of a counseling malpractice instruction.
We find appellants’ remaining arguments challenging jury instructions and the denial of their motions for directed verdicts on appellees’ other claims involving breach of fiduciary duty, defamation, and invasion of privacy without merit. We need not specifically address any of those issues, however, because of our resolution of the malpractice issue and because the trial court did not permit appellees duplicate recoveries on any of their claims.
Loss of Consortium
Appellants’ final contention is that James cannot recover damages for loss of consortium because Rose recovered only for emotional injuries and suffered no physical injuries. When one spouse is injured by tortious conduct, the other may bring an action for loss of consortium, which is defined as “a loss of capacity to exchange love, affection, society, companionship, comfort, care and moral support.” Pierce v. Casas Adobes Baptist Church, 162 Ariz. 269, 272, 782 P.2d 1162, 1165 (1989). Appellees argue that loss of consortium claims can be based on nonphysical injuries because “Arizona law recognizes that emotional injuries are to be compensated on a par with physical injuries,” citing Skousen v. Nidy, 90 Ariz. 215, 367 P.2d 248 (1961), and Reed v. Real Detective Publishing Co., 63 Ariz. 294, 162 P.2d 133 (1945). This may be a correct statement of law, but those cases are inapplicable here because they involved direct claims for emotional injuries to the plaintiffs, while loss of consortium is a derivative claim. See Villareal v. State Department of Transportation, 160 Ariz. 474, 774 P.2d 213 (1989).
We find no Arizona authority permitting one spouse to recover for loss of consortium in the absence of physical injury to the other spouse. Both sides urge us to follow case law from other jurisdictions supporting their respective positions. However, the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 693 (1977), in defining loss of consortium, requires the underlying injury to be physical:
One who by reason of his tortious conduct is liable to one spouse for illness or other bodily harm is subject to liability to the other spouse for the resulting loss of the society and services of the first spouse----
(Emphasis added.) As a general rule, in the absence of law to the contrary, Arizona follows the Restatement. Webster v. Culbertson, 158 Ariz. 159, 761 P.2d 1063 (1988); Jesik v. Maricopa County Community College District, 125 Ariz. 543, 611 P.2d 547 (1980). We agree with appellants that this is not the case to expand Arizona law by allowing a spouse essentially to recover for emotional distress resulting from the other spouse’s emotional distress. Consequently, we vacate the judgment in favor of James on his loss of consortium claim.
Disposition
The trial court’s judgments in favor of Rose, Naomi, and Isaac are affirmed. The judgment for James is vacated. Rose, Naomi, and Isaac are entitled to their costs on appeal upon compliance with Ariz. R. Civ. App. P. 21(a), 17B A.R.S.
DRUKE, C.J., and TOCI, J., concur.
. Schmidt v. Bishop, 779 F.Supp. 321 (S.D.N.Y. 1991); Nally v. Grace Community Church of the Valley, 47 Cal.3d 278, 253 Cal.Rptr. 97, 763 P.2d 948 (1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1007, 109 S.Ct. 1644, 104 L.Ed.2d 159 (1989); Hester v. Barnett, 723 S.W.2d 544 (Mo.App.1987).
. In Arizona, mental health counselors are not required to be licensed and appellees’ expert testified that he had previously practiced as an unlicensed counselor for ten years.
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OPINION
THOMPSON, Judge.
This is a review of an award and decision upon review denying compensability. Applying our independent judgment, we conclude that an injury arises out of and in the course of employment when a worker voluntarily but reasonably uses his or her employer’s premises after-hours and the origin of the risk resulting in the injury is the employer’s business use of the premises. We accordingly set aside the award and decision upon review.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Respondent employer (ABCO) employed petitioner employee (claimant) in a Phoenix area grocery store. The store premises included a break room for employees. Employees sometimes used this break room after finishing work. ABCO neither encouraged nor prohibited employees from using the break room after-hours, and supervisors sometimes discussed work with employees using the break room after-hours. ABCO also used the room to store cartons of paper products.
Claimant worked as a stock clerk between 12:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. On August 15,1992, after finishing his shift and clocking out, claimant bought coffee and doughnuts at ABCO and joined co-employees in the break room. Approximately fifteen minutes later, a stack of cartons stored in the break room collapsed onto and injured claimant.
In July 1994, claimant filed a workers’ compensation claim. Respondent carrier (Transamerica) denied this claim and also raised the affirmative defense of an untimely claim. After a hearing, the administrative law judge excused the untimely filing but nevertheless denied compensation:
The fact is that the applicant finished his shift and had clocked out. Nothing about his employment required him to stay for a break on the premises of the defendant employer. That was a personal choice which he could make or forego. He chose to do it. It is concluded that when he was there and when the boxes fell upon him he was there in a “personal activity” context rather than being in any context which would bring him within the purview of the workers’ compensation coverage. His alleged injuries did not arise out of and within the course of his employment with the defendant employer. His claim is not compensable.
(Emphasis added.)
The administrative law judge affirmed this award on review. Claimant then brought this special action. This court has jurisdiction under Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) §§ 12-120.21(A)(2) (1992), 23-951(A) (1995).
On review, claimant contends that his injury arose out of and in the course of his employment. For the reasons that follow, we agree.
DISCUSSION
A compensable injury must arise out of and in the course of employment. A.R.S. § 23-1021(A) (Supp.1996); e.g., Royall v. Industrial Comm’n, 106 Ariz. 346, 349-51, 476 P.2d 156, 159-61 (1970); Jayo v. Industrial Comm’n, 181 Ariz. 267, 269, 889 P.2d 625, 627 (App.1995). Both statutory elements must be satisfied, but the strength of one element may counterbalance the weakness of the other to yield a compensable claim. See, e.g., Royall, 106 Ariz. at 349-50, 476 P.2d at 159— 60 (citing Larson’s “quantum theory” of work-connection); see also 1A Arthur Larson, The Law of Workmen’s Compensation § 29.10 (1996) (discussing “quantum theory”); Arizona Workers’ Compensation Handbook § 3.2.1, at 3-10 (Ray Jay Davis et al. eds., 1992) (“[Larson’s] model may be visualized as a mobile: the weight of the components determines the balance of the whole.”).
A reviewing court defers to the administrative law judge’s reasonably sup ported factual findings. Jayo, 181 Ariz. at 270, 889 P.2d at 626 (citing Finnegan v. Industrial Comm’n, 157 Ariz. 108, 109, 755 P.2d 413, 414 (1988)). It, however, independently decides whether or not the evidence establishes a compensable claim. Id.
A. Arising Out of Employment
An injury arises out of employment if its cause is employment-related. E.g., Royall, 106 Ariz. at 349, 476 P.2d at 159; Jayo, 181 Ariz. at 269, 889 P.2d at 627. To assess whether or not the cause of an injury is employment-related, “the best approach is to classify risks by origin and by nature.... ” Arizona Workers’ Compensation Handbook § 3.2.1, at 3-4; see also,e.g., Nowlin v. Industrial Comm’n, 167 Ariz. 291, 295, 806 P.2d 880, 884 (App.1990).
In the current case, the injury originated in ABCO’s business use of its premises to store cartons in the break room. Furthermore, because the general public did not use the break room, only ABCO employees were exposed to the risk of falling cartons that had been stored there. Consequently, claimant’s injury clearly arose out of the employment.
B. Arising In Course Of Employment
An injury arises in the course of employment if the time, place, and circumstances of the injury are employment-related. E.g., Royall, 106 Ariz. at 349-50, 476 P.2d at 159-60; Jayo, 181 Ariz. at 269, 889 P.2d at 627. The “ultimate test” is whether “the totality of circumstances establishes sufficient indicia of employment connection.” Jayo, 181 Ariz. at 271, 889 P.2d at 629.
In the current case, the administrative law judge addressed only some of the totality of circumstances. He in essence found that claimant had freely chosen to remain on-premises after-hours for a personal purpose. But even assuming arguendo that the evidence reasonably supports this finding, we nevertheless conclude that the totality of circumstances compels the conclusion that claimant was injured in the course of his employment.
We have not discovered an Arizona case that is comparable to the current one. Claimant principally relies on Jayo and on Nicholson v. Industrial Comm’n, 76 Ariz. 105, 259 P.2d 547 (1953). Both of these cases involved remote work sites and unexpected work stoppages. See Nicholson, 76 Ariz. at 107, 259 P.2d at 548; Jayo, 181 Ariz. at 268-69, 889 P.2d at 626-27. Consequently, although the employees were off-work and technically free to go, their most reasonable alternative was to remain at or near the work site.
In contrast, claimant worked in Phoenix and had completed his normal shift. He chose to use the break room before leaving, but other night-shift employees admittedly chose to go directly home. The circumstances of claimant’s employment did not make one choice more reasonable than the other.
Although no prior Arizona case has involved a similarly unforced choice, Larson does address this type of ease. The test, according to Larson, is not whether a worker voluntarily remained on the employer’s premises after-hours, but whether he acted reasonably. See 1A Larson, supra §§ 21.60(a)-(c). Larson explains that
[tjhere are at least four situations in which the course of employment goes beyond an employee’s fixed hours of work: the time spent going and coming on the premises; an interval before working hours while waiting to begin or making preparations, and a similar interval after hours; regular unpaid rest periods taken on the premises, and unpaid lunch hours on the premises. A definite pattern can be discerned here. In each instance the time, although strictly outside the fixed working hours, is closely contiguous to them; the activity to which that time is devoted is related to the employment, whether it takes the form of going or coming, preparing for work, or ministering to personal necessities such as food and rest; and, above all, the employee is within the spatial limits of his employment.
It has already been observed several times that the “premises” limitation is to some extent arbitrary and artificial, but, since some limitation is unavoidable, it is perhaps as good as any that can be devised. It can be defended in part on a sort of presumption that as long as the employee is on the premises he is subject to all the environmental hazards associated with the employment, and also that, although he may be free to go elsewhere during the interval, he is in some degree subject to the control of the employer if he actually chooses to remain on the premises, merely by virtue of being present on the employer’s property.
Id. § 21.21(a), at 5-11 to 5-12 (emphasis added) (footnotes omitted).
Cases from other states apply this analysis. See, e.g., Briley v. Farm Fresh, Inc., 240 Va. 194, 396 S.E.2d 835, 836-37 (1990) (barring civil suit by grocery store employee who, after clocking out but before leaving the store, slipped and fell while shopping for groceries); Jones v. Bendix Corp., 407 S.W.2d 650, 652-53 (Mo.Ct.App.1966) (affirming compensability of workers’ compensation claim by employee who slipped and fell in employer’s cafeteria ten to fifteen minutes before shift began); Carter v. Volunteer Apparel, Inc., 833 S.W.2d 492, 494-96 (Tenn. 1992) (reversing chancellor’s finding that workers’ compensation claim by employee who slipped and fell in break room about forty minutes before shift began was noncompensable). No case that we have discovered has rejected this analysis.
To support its position, Transamerica principally relies on Gaumer v. Industrial Comm’n, 94 Ariz. 195, 382 P.2d 673 (1963). In Gaumer, the worker was, among other things, a pilot for the employer. Id. at 197, 382 P.2d at 674. An unrelated owner of an historic plane sold it to a third party, and the worker agreed to deliver the plane on his own time in about a week. Id. His only incentive was his interest in flying this type of plane. Id. A few days later, during a lunch break, the worker attempted to test-fly the plane and fatally crashed. Id.
Gaumer is readily distinguishable from the current case. The injury occurred off the employer’s premises. The worker was pursuing a private avocation. The deviation from work was substantial. Finally, the injury arose solely out of this private and substantial deviation.
We are persuaded by Larson’s analysis of after-hours injury cases. Notwithstanding a worker’s unforced choice to stay on-premises after-hours, if that choice and the ensuing conduct were reasonable under the totality of circumstances, the worker remained in the course of employment.
Applying this analysis to the current ease, we conclude that the totality of circumstances compels the conclusion that claimant acted reasonably. Understandably, he chose to remain at ABCO because he was tired and hungry after finishing his shift, a rest area and refreshments were conveniently available at ABCO, and ABCO allowed its employees to use the break room after-hours and even occasionally used this time to discuss work with them there. Claimant used the break room for its intended purpose. The fifteen minute duration between the end of the night-shift and the time of injury was reasonable.
C. Quantum Of Work-Connection
Although the totality of circumstances establishes sufficient indicia of employment-connection, we recognize that this case weakly satisfies the course of employment element. As noted above, however, this case strongly satisfies the arising out of employment element because only ABCO employees were exposed to a risk originating in ABCO’s business use of its premises. The combined weight of these elements clearly satisfies the standard for compensability. See, e.g., 1A Larson, supra § 29.10, at 5-478; Arizona Workers’ Compensation Handbook § 3.2.1, at 3-10.
CONCLUSION
For these reasons, we set aside the award and decision upon review denying compensation.
McGREGOR, C.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. Claimant also cites Delgado v. Industrial Comm’n, 183 Ariz. 129, 901 P.2d 1159 (App. 1994). This case involved both a remote work site and an injury that occurred during the claimant's hours of employment. Id. at 130, 901 P.2d at 1160.
. The same test and rationale apply to an injury during an unpaid lunch hour. Even if an employee may freely choose to eat on or off the employer’s premises, the employee remains in the course of employment when he or she chooses to stay on-premises. 1A Larson, supra § 21.21(a), at 5-6.
|
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OPINION
EHRLICH, Judge.
Gerald J. “Jack” McLamb (“defendant”) appeals from a judgment of the Maricopa County Superior Court affirming his conviction in the City of Phoenix Municipal Court for a violation of Phoenix City Code (“Code”) section 23-21 proscribing the unauthorized wearing of the official insignia of the Phoenix Police Department. We have jurisdiction to determine the facial validity of this ordinance. Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 22- 375. Because we find that the ordinance is valid, the judgment of the superior court is affirmed.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The facts essential to the resolution of this appeal are not disputed. The defendant was a City of Phoenix Police Officer from 1976 through 1986 when he retired. At that time, he was given a Phoenix Police Department retired officer’s badge. The defendant also had what he called his “retirement uniform” which, in part, consisted of an official Phoenix Police Department shirt on which were shoulder patches with the official department insignia.
The defendant had long been involved in a number of political activities. For example, he was the publisher of a newsletter named Aid and Abet which was directed to law enforcement officers with the expressed purpose of “educating them concerning constitutional issues.” In 1993, he helped form an organization called “Police Against the New World Order.” This organization produced a manual, to which he contributed, called Operation Vampire Killer 2000.
On December 12, 1993, the defendant operated a booth at a gun show at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. Over the booth hung banners declaring “Police Against the New World Order,” “Police Support Your Right to Bear Arms” and ‘We Will Not Take Your Guns Away.” The defendant distributed his Aid and Abet newsletter and advertised the Operation Vampire Killer 2000 manual. He wore his “retirement uniform” with the official Phoenix Police Department insignia shoulder patches, as well as his police department retired officer’s badge and a whistle used by department motor officers. Visible in the defendant’s booth was a police helmet. The defendant admitted that he wore the uniform to give weight and credibility to his political views. However, he maintained that he never represented himself to be an active police officer or a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department.
The Phoenix Police Department received a complaint about the defendant’s conduct in handing out political literature in a police officer’s uniform. In response, Officers David Lundberg and Ted Music went to the gun show and saw the defendant in his attire. They advised the defendant that he could not wear the Phoenix Police Officer’s badge nor the official Phoenix Police Department insignia shoulder patches because his unauthorized use of the badge and insignia violated the Phoenix City Code. The defendant refused to remove his shirt or, alternatively, to remove the patches, claiming that he had a First Amendment right to wear his “retirement uniform.” He then was issued two citations, one for impersonating a police officer in violation of Code section 23-20 and one for wearing an official badge or insignia without authorization in violation of Code section 23-21.
The Phoenix Municipal Court dismissed the Code section 23-20 charge on the basis that it was preempted by state legislation. The court also found that the defendant had not violated section 23-21 by wearing his retired officer’s badge because the badge was not an official one. However, it found that the defendant had violated section 23-21 by wearing the shoulder patches with the official Phoenix Police Department insignia.
Following an evidentiary hearing on the defendant’s claim of selective and discriminatory enforcement, the municipal court found that there was no such exclusive enforcement and that the defendant was guilty of violating Code section 23-21. It fined him $79.
The defendant appealed the conviction and sentence to the superior court, which affirmed the municipal court’s judgment.
The defendant timely appealed to this court. He presents the following issues:
1. Whether his prosecution was impermissibly selective and discriminatory;
2. Whether Code section 23-21 is preempted by A.R.S. section 13-2406;
3. Whether Code section 23-21 is unconstitutionally vague;
4. Whether Code section 23-21 is unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution;
5. Whether Code section 23-21 is unconstitutionally overbroad.
DISCUSSION
A. Selective and Discriminatory Prosecution
Our review is limited to the facial validity of Code section 23-21 because this action was instituted in municipal court and appealed to superior court. A.R.S. § 22-375; State v. Phillips, 178 Ariz. 368, 370, 873 P.2d 706, 708 (App.1994). If the ordinance is facially constitutional, we have no jurisdiction to examine its application to the individual defendant. Id. Since the issue of selective and discriminatory enforcement involves only the implementation of the ordinance, we will not consider this issue.
B. Preemption
The City of Phoenix, as authorized by the Arizona Constitution, Article 13, Section 2, has adopted a charter permitting it to enact municipal ordinances. As a charter city, Phoenix may exercise “all the powers authorized by its charter, providing those powers are not inconsistent with the Arizona Constitution or the general laws of this state.” State v. Jacobson, 121 Ariz. 65, 68, 588 P.2d 358, 361 (App.1978); see A.R.S. § 9-284.
The defendant argues that Code section 23-21 is preempted by A.R.S. section 13-2406, thus invalidating the ordinance. We disagree.
The rule regarding preemption states:
[Bjoth a city and state may legislate on the same subject when that subject is of local concern or when, though the subject is not of local concern, the charter or particular state legislation confers on the city express power to legislate thereon; but where the subject is of statewide concern, and the legislature has appropriated the field by enacting a statute pertaining thereto, that statute governs throughout the state, and local ordinances contrary thereto are invalid.
Phoenix Respirator & Ambulance Service, Inc. v. McWilliams, 12 Ariz.App. 186, 188, 468 P.2d 951, 953 (1970) (citations omitted).
Section 13-2406(A) of the Arizona statutes provides:
A person commits [the crime of] impersonating a public servant if such person pretends to be a public servant and engages in any conduct with the intent to induce another to submit to his pretended official authority or to rely upon his pretended official acts.
Section 23-21 of the Code provides:
It shall be unlawful for any person to wear a fireman’s or policeman’s badge or insignia, or the badge or insignia of any public officer or inspector of the City when not properly authorized to wear such badge or insignia.
The ordinance bars the unauthorized use of a public officer’s insignia on clothing. In contrast, the statute, with no mention of an insignia, prohibits the impersonation of a public servant engaging in “conduct with the intent to induce another to submit” to his faked authority. There is no conflict between Code Section 23-21 and A.R.S. section 13-2406(A).
The question remains whether the statute “has so completely occupied the field that it becomes the sole and exclusive law on the subject, leaving no room for any supplementary or additional local regulation.” Jacobson, 121 Ariz. at 69, 588 P.2d at 362; see Prendergast v. City of Tempe, 143 Ariz. 14, 691 P.2d 726 (App.1984). Simply because the state and local legislation “touch upon a common element” does not mean that the ordinance is preempted. Jacobson, 121 Ariz. at 70, 588 P.2d at 363. An ordinance will not be found invalid if a reasonable interpretation of it avoids conflict with a statute. State v. Crisp, 175 Ariz. 281, 284, 855 P.2d 795, 798 (App.1993). In the case of these two laws, there is no suggestion that the legislature intended to preempt the regulation of municipal insignias. Id. In passing its statute, the state’s manifest purpose was to protect its populace from persons having the intent to persuade or cause innocent individuals to submit to simulated authority or to rely upon pretended “official” acts. The City of Phoenix, with a different purpose altogether, sought to regulate the use of indicia of its governmental authority.
C. Vagueness
The defendant argues that Code section 23-21 is unconstitutionally vague. He claims that it failed to give him adequate notice of how and when the ordinance would be enforced and under what circumstances the wearing of Phoenix Police Department insignia would be authorized.
When a law is challenged on the basis of vagueness or overbreadth, the appellate court has the duty of construing a law in such a manner that it will be constitutional. State v. Tocco, 156 Ariz. 116, 119-20, 750 P.2d 874, 877-78 (1988); State v. Lycett, 133 Ariz. 185, 190, 650 P.2d 487, 492 (App.1982). In this regard, the defendant has the burden of establishing the ordinance’s invalidity beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.; State v. Steiger, 162 Ariz. 138, 145, 781 P.2d 616, 623 (App.1989).
“A legislative enactment is unconstitutionally vague if it does not give persons of ordinary intelligence a reasonable opportunity to learn what it prohibits and does not provide explicit standards for those who will apply it.” State v. Takacs, 169 Ariz. 392, 394, 819 P.2d 978, 980 (App.1991); see State v. Tober, 173 Ariz. 211, 214, 841 P.2d 206, 209 (1992); Bird v. State, 184 Ariz. 198, 203, 908 P.2d 12, 17 (App.1995).
The Constitution only requires that language convey a sufficiently definite warning as to proscribed conduct when measured by common understanding and practices. That there will be marginal cases in which it is difficult to determine the side of the line on which a particular fact situation falls is no sufficient reason to hold the language too ambiguous to define a criminal offense. [Citation omitted.]
State v. Cota, 99 Ariz. 233, 236, 408 P.2d 23, 26 (1965). See United States v. Nat’l Dairy Products Corp., 372 U.S. 29, 32, 83 S.Ct. 594, 597-98, 9 L.Ed.2d 561 (1963). If a statute gives notice of prohibited conduct, it is not void for vagueness “simply because it may be difficult to determine how far one can go before the statute is violated.” Phillips, 178 Ariz. at 370, 873 P.2d at 708 (quoting Berenter v. Gallinger, 173 Ariz. 75, 81, 839 P.2d 1120, 1126 (App.1992)).
The word “insignia” as used in Code section 23-21 has a well-established, common meaning which a person of ordinary intelligence would understand, and the defendant does not challenge this word. Rather, he claims that the word “authorized” as used in the same code section is vague because the ordinance does not specify when a person is permitted to wear the insignia.
The Oxford English Dictionary (1971) defines the word “authorize” as “to give legal force to; to make legally valid; to give formal approval to; to give legal or formal warrant to (a person) to do something; to empower, permit authoritatively.” See also, Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (2d ed.). Its meaning is clear. The fact that the defendant now contends that he did not know prior to being told by Officer Music that he was not authorized to wear the patches with the official Phoenix Police Department insignia does not render the word “authorize” unconstitutionally vague. Rather, the defendant understood the word but allegedly did not know that to wear the insignia was not permitted.
The defendant also claims that the word “authorize” is vague because it gives law enforcement officers discretion whether to enforce Code section 23-21. He illustrates his point by claiming that the spouses and children of Phoenix Police officers wear hats and shirts with the department badges and insignia at picnics or outings without allowance to do so but that they are not prosecuted. He concludes that this demonstrates that the ordinance is vague because the city can arbitrarily enforce it.
As a preliminary issue, there is the question of the defendant’s standing to make this argument. A statute “must of necessity be examined in the light of the conduct with which a defendant is charged.” Nat’l Dairy Products, 372 U.S. at 33, 83 S.Ct. at 598.
A defendant whose conduct is clearly proscribed by the core of the statute has no standing to attack the statute. “One to whose conduct a statute clearly applies may not successfully challenge it for vagueness.” Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 756 [94 S.Ct. 2547, 2562, 41 L.Ed.2d 439] (1974). See also Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 610 [93 S.Ct. 2908, 2914-15, 37 L.Ed.2d 830] (1973).
Tocco, 156 Ariz. at 119, 750 P.2d at 877.
Proceeding nonetheless to address the defendant’s argument, the ordinance sufficiently defines the behavior prohibited: wearing the insignia of any city officer when not properly authorized to wear such insignia. The code section does not apply to a replica, facsimile or other likeness of an insignia. Thus, interpretation of the ordinance is not dependent on the judgment of police officers. To the contrary, the ordinance “gives fair and objective guidelines to both potential offenders and law enforcement personnel” exactly what behavior is prohibited. Phillips, 178 Ariz. at 371, 873 P.2d at 709. Further, it must be supposed that public “officers will act fairly and impartially and in accordance with their best judgment,” and a statute will not be held unconstitutional because of a supposed possibility they will not do so. Brady v. Mattern, 125 Iowa 158, 100 N.W. 358, 362 (1904).
When the language is clear, the statute is not rendered unconstitutionally vague because there is a theoretical potential for arbitrary enforcement or the exercise of discretion by a law enforcement officer or prosecutor, or even if the conduct is prevalent and ignored. Matter of Pima County Juvenile App. No. 74802-2, 164 Ariz. 25, 29, 790 P.2d 723, 725 (1990). Indeed, statutes that require some assessment by a law enforcement officer or prosecutor of the surrounding circumstances consistently have been upheld against vagueness challenges. For example, in State v. Miller, 260 Ga. 669, 398 S.E.2d 547 .(1990), the Georgia Supreme Court ruled constitutional an anti-mask statute directed primarily at persons wearing Ku Klux Klan regalia. The defendant argued that the statute was vague and subject to arbitrary enforcement because, by its terms, it also prohibited wearing a ski mask in winter or sunglasses on a sunny day. Noting that the purpose of the anti-mask law was to prevent conduct provoking a reasonable apprehension of intimidation, threats or violence, the court concluded that the statute was not unconstitutionally vague because persons of ordinary intelligence could readily discern when behavior would or would not be criminal. Id. 398 S.E.2d at 552. It gave as an illustration a person wearing a ski mask in winter who would not warrant alarm unlike a person wearing a ski mask in summer while entering a bank. Id. Measured by the standard of “common understanding and practice,” United States v. Petrillo, 332 U.S. 1, 8, 67 S.Ct. 1538, 1542, 91 L.Ed. 1877 (1947), Code section 23-21 is not void for vagueness because it sufficiently warns against the proscribed conduct.
D. Violation of First Amendment
The defendant contends that the ordinance on its face violates his First Amendment right of free speech. In support of his position, he relies on Schacht v. United States, 398 U.S. 58, 90 S.Ct. 1555, 26 L.Ed.2d 44 (1970), wherein the defendant, wearing as a costume a United States Army uniform, participated in a skit protesting American involvement in Vietnam. He was convicted under a federal statute which made it a crime to wear a military uniform without authority to do so. A statutory exception provided, however, that an actor in a theatrical production “may wear the uniform of that armed force if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force.” The Court in Schacht was concerned solely with the last portion of the statutory exception, specifically stating:
Our previous cases would seem to make it clear that 18 U.S.C. § 702, making it an offense to wear our military uniforms without authority is, standing alone, a valid statute on its face. But the general prohibition of 18 U.S.C. § 702 cannot always stand alone in view of 10 U.S.C. § 772 which authorizes the wearing of military uniforms under certain conditions and circumstances including the circumstance of an actor portraying a member of the armed serves in a “theatrical production.”
Id. at 61, 90 S.Ct. at 1558 (citations omitted). The Court held that the clause restricting authorization to those dramatic portrayals which do not “tend to discredit” the military was an unconstitutional abridgement of the freedom of speech. Id. at 62-63, 90 S.Ct. at 1558-59.
It is for that reason, though, that Schacht is distinguishable from this case. In Schacht, the statute contained a content-based qualification on political speech. Such restrictions are subject to the most exacting scrutiny. See Boos v. Barry, 485 U.S. 312, 108 S.Ct. 1157, 99 L.Ed.2d 333 (1988) (District of Columbia prohibition against displaying signs within 500 feet of embassy “bringing foreign governments in disrepute” was content-based restriction on political speech violative of First Amendment.). Code section 23-21, on the other hand, is, on its face, content-neutral. It prohibits the unauthorized wearing of an official insignia without regard to a particular expressive activity or the political viewpoint communicated by the wearer.
The defendant argues that to wear the insignia was a form of expressive speech integral to the spoken presentation of his political views. He relies on Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 109 S.Ct. 2533, 105 L.Ed.2d 342 (1989), as well as a line of other United States Supreme Court flag-desecration cases and additional eases involving symbolic speech.
In Johnson, the defendant was convicted of burning a United States flag contrary to a Texas statute making flag-desecration a crime. In reversing the conviction, the Court stated that, although the First Amendment encompasses both speech and expressive conduct, “[t]he government generally has a freer hand in restricting expressive conduct than it has in restricting the written or spoken word.” Id. at 406, 109 S.Ct. at 2540. In articulating when the state may regulate symbolic speech consistent with the First Amendment, the Court stated that, first, it must be decided if the conduct is indeed expressive. The test is whether “[a]n intent to convey a particularized message was present, and [whether] the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed it.” Id. at 404, 109 S.Ct. at 2539 (quoting Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405, 410-11, 94 S.Ct. 2727, 2730-31, 41 L.Ed.2d 842 (1974)). If the conduct is expressive, the court must next decide whether the state’s regulation is “related to the suppression of free expression.” Id. at 403, 109 S.Ct. at 2539. If the state’s regulation is not related to expression, then the less-stringent standard for regulation of non-communicative conduct controls as applied in United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 377, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 1679, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968) (federal statute making it a crime to burn Selective Service card did not violate First Amendment). Id. If the state’s regulation is related to expression, then the court determines whether the governmental interest justifies the conviction under a more “demanding standard” as applied in Spence, 418 U.S. at 414-15, 94 S.Ct. at 2732-33 (defen dant displaying United States flag upside down with peace symbol on it engaged in constitutionally-protected activity). Id. at 403-04,109 S.Ct. at 2538-40.
Wearing an official Phoenix Police Department insignia in the context in which the defendant was wearing it was expressive conduct. The defendant conceded that he wore the insignia in order to convey a message that he was a former Phoenix Police officer advocating certain political ideas. He also admitted that the insignia was intended to imbue his political beliefs with an aura of importance.
Since the ordinance is not related to the suppression of free expression, the less-stringent standard of O’Brien applies. A four-part test is used to determine when a governmental interest sufficiently justifies the regulation of expressive conduct:
... if it is within the constitutional power of the Government; if it furthers an important or substantial governmental interest; if the governmental interest is unrelated to the suppression of free expression; and if the incidental restriction on alleged First Amendment freedoms is no greater than is essential to the furtherance of that interest.
391 U.S. at 377, 88 S.Ct. at 1679.
By its terms, Code section 23-21 neither attempts to regulate or restrict the content of the defendant’s expression, nor is it “directed at the communicative aspect of [the defendant’s] conduct.” Bird, 184 Ariz. at 205, 908 P.2d at 19. It does not burden “core political speech,” which then would prompt “exacting scrutiny.” See McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334, 347, 115 S.Ct. 1511, 1519, 131 L.Ed.2d 426 (1995). Except for the city’s bar to wearing an official insignia, the defendant is otherwise free to express his political views.
The City of Phoenix has a legitimate governmental interest in regulating the use of its official insignia. The police insignia has a “communicative force all its own.” Thomas v. Whalen, 51 F.3d 1285, 1291 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. —, 116 S.Ct. 518, 133 L.Ed.2d 426 (1995). Its unauthorized use jeopardizes the appearance of political neutrality and impartiality of the Phoenix Police Department and the city, particularly because the insignia is itself the imprimatur of authority.
Such governmental interest has been discussed in analogous cases dealing with statutes or regulations restricting the political and speech activities of government employees. The United States Supreme Court in United States Civil Service Commission v. National Ass’n of Letter Carriers, 413 U.S. 548, 565, 93 S.Ct. 2880, 2890-91, 37 L.Ed.2d 796 (1973), recognized the interests of the federal government in restricting the political activities of its employees to maintain an appearance of neutrality.
In Thomas v. Whalen, 51 F.3d 1285, a police officer challenged on First Amendment grounds disciplinary action against him after he had made an unauthorized appearance for the National Rifle Association while wearing his official uniform. The court found that the state’s interests outweighed the defendant’s First Amendment rights. The defendant was free to express his ideas but he could not “exploit [his] rank ... for the purpose of enhancing credibility for personal or political gain.” Id. at 1291.
In Paulos v. Breier, 507 F.2d 1383 (7th Cir.1974), it was held that a police officer’s First Amendment rights to publicly urge support for a political candidate were outweighed by the rights of the City of Milwaukee because “a municipality has [ ] interests in preserving the apolitical nature of its police force.” Id. at 1385. In Detroit Fire Fighters Ass’n, Local 334 v. City of Detroit, 508 F.Supp. 172 (E.D.Mich.1981), the court held that the First Amendment did not pre vent the city from restricting the public appearances of uniformed firefighters to advocate defeat of a charter amendment.
The City of Phoenix has a legitimate governmental interest in restricting the use of its official insignia when the use serves to advance personal political views of the wearer. The city’s tenable interest outweighs the individual’s interest in advocating those views while wearing such an insignia. As in O’Brien, the governmental interest is important and substantial, and the interest is unrelated to the regulation of free expression. 391 U.S. at 376-77, 88 S.Ct. at 1678-79. Moreover, the restriction on free expression is minimal. “[A]ny impact on First Amendment rights is only incidental.” Bird, 184 Ariz. at 205, 908 P.2d at 19. The ordinance does not violate the defendant’s First Amendment rights.
E. Overbreadth
As a related issue, the defendant argues that the statute is overbroad because it prohibits wearing official insignia without authorization under all circumstances, including at home, at social events, in photographs, dramatic presentations, video productions or satirical presentations, or during political protests. He argues that wearing the insignia in these situations is either harmless or directly infringes upon First Amendment rights of expression.
“An overbroad statute is one designed to burden or punish activities which are not constitutionally protected, but ... includes within its scope activities which are protected by the First Amendment.” State v. Baldwin, 184 Ariz. 267, 269, 908 P.2d 483, 485 (1995) (quoting State v. Jones, 177 Ariz. 94, 99, 865 P.2d 138, 143 (App.1993)). The defendant’s conduct does not come within the areas in which he claims the ordinance is overbroad. Thus, unless the challenged legislation, “by its terms, regulates the exercise of first amendment rights, its constitutionality may not be challenged on the ground that it might apply to parties not before the court.” Cacavas v. Bowen, 168 Ariz. 114, 117, 811 P.2d 366, 369 (App.1991).
This exception to the ordinary .rule of standing has been carved out in the First Amendment area because the very existence of an overbroad statute may have a chilling effect on persons not before the court. Broadrick v. Oklahoma, 413 U.S. 601, 612, 93 S.Ct. 2908, 2915-16, 37 L.Ed.2d 830 (1973). In Broadrick, the Court found constitutional an Oklahoma statute prohibiting partisan political activities of state employees. Although the conduct of the employees challenging the statute fell within its core, because the statute covered potentially-protected expression, the litigants were permitted to challenge its constitutionality. However, as noted by the Court, “... where conduct and not merely speech is involved ... the overbreadth of a statute must not only be real, but substantial as well, judged in relation to the statute’s plainly legitimate sweep ... and that whatever overbreadth may exist should be cured through case-by-case analysis of the fact situations to which its sanctions, assertedly, may not be applied.” Id. at 615-16, 93 S.Ct. at 2917-18. In Broadrick, the challenged statute validly prohibited many activities but it also forbade constitutionally-protected exercises. Nonetheless, the Court found that it was not necessary to discard the statute in toto and that improper applications of the statute could be dealt with as the situation arose. Id. at 618, 93 S.Ct. at 2919.
“[T]he mere fact that one can conceive of some impermissible applications of a statute is not sufficient to render it susceptible to an overbreadth challenge.” Members of City Council v. Taxpayers for Vincent, 466 U.S. 789, 800, 104 S.Ct. 2118, 2126, 80 L.Ed.2d 772 (1984). To claim “substantial overbreadth” is appropriate in cases when, “despite some possibly impermissible application, the remainder of the statute ... covers a whole range of easily identifiable and constitutionally proscribable ... conduct.” Secretary of State of Maryland v. Joseph H. Munson Co., 467 U.S. 947, 964-65, 104 S.Ct. 2839, 2850-52, 81 L.Ed.2d 786 (1984) (citations omitted).
If the Court believes that the statute is so sweeping that it would deter persons from engaging in protected speech, or that the statute may be used on an arbitrary basis against political dissenters, the Court will strike the law as overbroad. If the Court believes that there is little chance that the statute will deter constitutionally protected speech, or will be used in a selective manner to punish dissenters, it will uphold the law and allow it to be applied on a “case-by-case” basis.
Ronald D. Rotunda & John E. Nowak, 4 Treatise on Constitutional Law: Substance and Procedure 2nd, § 20.8, p. 32 (1992). Thus, -to prevail on an overbreadth claim, “[tjhere must be a realistic danger that the statute will significantly jeopardize recognized first amendment protections of individuals not before the court.” Steiger, 162 Ariz. at 144, 781 P.2d at 622 (citation omitted) (emphasis original); see State v. Western, 168 Ariz. 169, 812 P.2d 987 (1991) (ordinance prohibiting striptease performances substantially overbroad because prohibited broad range of legitimate artistic expression); State v. Weinstein, 182 Ariz. 564, 898 P.2d 513 (App.1995) (theft-by-extortion statute substantially overbroad because it criminalized many “threats” common in everyday business).
The defendant relies on Houston v. Hill, 482 U.S. 451, 107 S.Ct. 2502, 96 L.Ed.2d 398 (1987), and Lewis v. New Orleans, 415 U.S. 130, 94 S.Ct. 970, 39 L.Ed.2d 214 (1974), to support his claim that the ordinance is over-broad. In Hill, the ordinance prohibited speech that “interrupted a police officer in the execution of his duty.” Id. at 455, 107 S.Ct. at 2506. In Lewis, the ordinance made it unlawful to use “obscene or opprobrious” language toward a police officer. 415 U.S. at 132, 94 S.Ct. at 972. Those cases are distinguishable because the statutes prohibited a wide range of protected speech.
Code section 23-21 is not substantially overbroad. The core of the ordinance regulates the wearing of official insignia and is directed at activities in which wearing such insignia compromises the appearance of neutrality and impartiality of the police, fire or other city department. The ordinance is not “a censorial statute, directed at particular groups or viewpoints.” Broadrick, 413 U.S. at 616, 93 S.Ct. at 2918. There is no realistic danger that the ordinance will significantly infringe upon First Amendment rights, will deter constitutionally-protected speech or will be used selectively to punish dissenters. Accordingly, the law is not unconstitutionally overbroad.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed above, we hold that Phoenix City Code section 23-21 is facially valid. We therefore affirm the judgment of the superior court and thereby affirm the defendant’s conviction and sentence.
GRANT, P.J., and NOYES, J., concur.
2,
. The Oxford English Dictionary (1971) defines insignia as "distinguishing marks of office or honour.” See also, Webster’s New International Dictionary (2d ed.).
. The word "authorize” or its variants is found in many criminal statutes. See e.g, A.R.S. § 13-1504(2) (unlawful to enter and look into residential structure without lawful “authority”); § 13-1803 (unlawful use of means of transportation is temporary "unauthorized” control over another’s means of transportation); § 13-2104 (forgery of credit card is alteration of credit card without the express "authorization” of the issuer); § 13-2316(B) (computer fraud includes altering or destroying any computer without "authorization”).
. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, in part, that there “shall” be "no law ... abridging the freedom of speech.” While the defendant also refers to Article 2, section 6, of the Arizona Constitution (the state counterpart to the First Amendment), because he only relies on cases interpreting the First Amendment, we do not separately discuss the Arizona Constitution.
. See e.g., United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310, 110 S.Ct. 2404, 110 L.Ed.2d 287 (1990); Spence v. Washington, 418 U.S. 405, 94 S.Ct. 2727, 41 L.Ed.2d 842 (1974); Smith v. Goguen, 415 U.S. 566, 94 S.Ct. 1242, 39 L.Ed.2d 605 (1974); Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 91 S.Ct. 1780, 29 L.Ed.2d 284 (1971); Street v. New York, 394 U.S. 576, 89 S.Ct. 1354, 22 L.Ed.2d 572 (1969); Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969); United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367, 88 S.Ct. 1673, 20 L.Ed.2d 672 (1968); Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 51 S.Ct. 532, 75 L.Ed. 1117 (1931).
. The defendant, had he been still employed by the Phoenix Police Department, nonetheless would have been prohibited from wearing his uniform at the gun show to promote his political beliefs. "[N]o court has recognized a right to exploit one’s rank in public employment solely for the purpose of enhancing credibility for personal or political gain — in effect, to use the fact of public employment as a 'soap box’ from which the employee can advocate a political position on an issue of public debate.” Thomas v. Whalen, 51 F.3d 1285, 1291 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, - U.S.-, 116 S.Ct. 518, 133 L.Ed.2d 426 (1995).
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OPINION
KLEIN SCHMIDT, Judge.
The Juvenile pleaded guilty to sexual contact with a minor. He appeals an order requiring him to register as a sex offender pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 13-3821 (Supp.1995). He asserts that the statutory scheme is unconstitutional because it permits the juvenile court to exercise jurisdiction over the Juvenile beyond his eighteenth birthday, impermissibly impinges on the confidentiality of juvenile proceedings, and is an unconstitutional ex post facto law. We disagree, and we affirm.
The juvenile registration requirement is found in A.R.S. section 13-3821, which, in pertinent part, reads:
A. A person who has been convicted of a violation or attempted violation of any of the following offenses or who has been convicted of an offense committed in another jurisdiction which if committed in this state would be a violation or attempted violation of any of the following offenses shall, within ten days after the conviction or within ten days after entering any county of this state for the purpose of residing or setting up a temporary domicile for ten days or more, register with the sheriff of the county in which the person resides or sets up temporary domicile:
2. Sexual conduct with a minor pursuant to § 13-1405.
C. The court may require a person who has been adjudicated delinquent for an act that would constitute an offense specified in subsection A or B of this section to register pursuant to this section. Any duty to register under this subsection shall terminate when the person reaches the age of twenty-five.
Access to the registration information is restricted to criminal justice agencies. A.R.S. §§ 13-3823 (1989) and 41-1750 (Supp. 1995). Registrants have a continuing duty to notify the sheriff of a change of address. A.R.S. § 13-3822 (Supp.1995). A failure to register and notify the sheriff of a change of address is punishable as a class six felony. A.R.S. § 13-3824 (1989).
THE STATUTES DO NOT EXTEND THE JURISDICTION OP THE JUVENILE COURT
The Juvenile argues that A.R.S. section 13-3821(0 is an unconstitutional expansion of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction because it allows the juvenile court to exercise control over him after he reaches age eighteen. Article VI, section 15 of the Arizona Constitution provides that “[t]he superior court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction in all proceedings and matters affecting dependent, neglected, incorrigible or delinquent children, or children accused of crime, under the age of eighteen years.” The superior courts act as the juvenile court when they exercise their jurisdiction under Article VI, section 15. Maricopa County, Juvenile Action No. J-U275, 117 Ariz. 317, 572 P.2d 451 (App.1977). The juvenile court retains its jurisdiction over a juvenile only until the child reaches eighteen years of age. A.R.S. § 8-202(E) (Supp.1995).
We reject the Juvenile’s argument that the statute constitutes an exercise of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction after the juvenile reaches the age of eighteen. If the juvenile court orders a juvenile to register, it necessarily exercises its discretion at a time when the court does have jurisdiction over the juvenile. The juvenile court loses jurisdiction once a juvenile who has registered reaches the age of eighteen. At that time, by virtue of the statute, the status of a registrant continues until the registrant reaches age twenty-five. Redress for a failure to keep the sheriff advised of a change of address after the registrant turns eighteen does not reside in the juvenile court, but depends upon the filing of a new criminal charge in the adult court.
We recently addressed a closely related question in Maricopa County Juvenile Action Nos. JV-512600 and JV-512797, 187 Ariz. 419, 930 P.2d 496 (App.1996). In that case the juveniles questioned the jurisdiction of the juvenile court to require them to take a DNA test, the results of which could be used for any law enforcement identification purpose, even after they were eighteen years of age. The juveniles argued that Article VI, section 15 of the Arizona Constitution limits the power of the juvenile court to persons under the age of eighteen. We disagreed with the juveniles. We noted that the last sentence of section 15 states that “‘[t]he powers of the judges to control such children shall be as provided by lav/ ” and went on to say that this means that once the juvenile court has acquired jurisdiction of a person it may continue to control that person as the legislature directs. 187 Ariz. at 423, 930 P.2d at 500-01. We concluded that the juvenile court could order DNA tests and the results of those tests could be used after the juveniles passed their eighteenth birthdays.
At least one court has addressed the question of registration of juvenile sex offenders under a slightly different statutory scheme. In State v. Acheson, 75 Wash-App. 151, 877 P.2d 217 (1994), the court upheld a Washington statute which required a juvenile to register as a sex offender and remain registered past the age of majority. The Washington statute did not require the juvenile court to order registration, but it did require the court to notify the juvenile offender of the legal requirement that he register as a sex offender. The juvenile’s argument that this order constituted an impermissible exercise of juvenile jurisdiction beyond the time when he reached his majority was rejected on the grounds that the registration was not court ordered but arose solely by virtue of the statute. Although the court in Arizona does order juveniles to register, Acheson is relevant because it inferentially acknowledges the same principle we applied in Maricopa County Juvenile Action Nos. JV-512600 and JV-512797: The legislature may enact a statute which applies to juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent and which requires them to do something even after they reach the age of majority.
SECTION 13-3821 DOES NOT VIOLATE THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF JUVENILE PROCEEDINGS
The Juvenile next argues that A.R.S. section 13-3821 violates the confidentiality of juvenile proceedings. We disagree. Traditionally, juvenile proceedings have been confidential. See, e.g., A.R.S. § 41-1750(Z)(5) (excluding information relating to juveniles from the definition of “criminal history record information” unless adjudicated as adults). Recently, however, this confidentiality has eroded. See, e.g., A.R.S. § 8-208 (Supp.1995) (providing for the release of juvenile records to law enforcement agencies when a person is arrested, charged, or convicted in superior court for a criminal offense); Ariz.R.Juv.Proe. 7(c) (Supp.1995) (providing for public attendance at juvenile hearings involving certain serious offenses); Ariz.R.Juv.Proe. 13 (Supp.1995) (requiring all juvenile transfer hearings to be open to the public absent a juvenile judge’s written findings); Ariz.R.Juv.Proe. 19.1 (allowing public inspection of a juvenile’s file in various instances). More important, the registration and information pertaining to it are available only to law enforcement agencies and are not included in the information available under the recently enacted community notification law. See A.R.S. § 13-3825(F) (Supp.1995) (community notification provisions of section 13-3825 not applicable to registration requirements of section 13-3821 if offense was adjudicated by a juvenile court). Accordingly, the registration requirements of sections 13-3821 and 13-3822 do not violate any rule of confidentiality.
THE RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT DOES NOT VIOLATE THE EX POST FACTO CLAUSES OF THE FEDERAL AND STATE CONSTITUTIONS
The Juvenile also contends that since his offense predated the adoption of the statute requiring him to register, it violates the proscription against ex post facto laws found in both the federal and state constitutions. See U.S. Const, art. I, § 10; Ariz. Const, art. II, § 25.
In State v. Noble, 171 Ariz. 171, 829 P.2d 1217 (1992), the Supreme Court of Arizona concluded that retroactive application of the sex offender registration requirement was regulatory rather than punitive and therefore not violative of any constitutional proscription of ex post facto laws. The court, following Kennedy v. Mendozar-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 83 S.Ct. 554, 9 L.Ed.2d 644 (1963), balanced the following factors in reaching this conclusion: whether registration is an affirmative disability or restraint; whether registration has historically been regarded as punishment; whether registration serves the traditional deterrent function of punishment; and whether registration is excessive in relation to an alternative, non-punitive purpose. The court concluded that the most significant factor in the balance was that the overriding purpose of the registration requirement was intended to facilitate the location of sex offenders, a purpose unrelated to punishing offenders for past offenses.
The Juvenile argues that the holding in Noble does not apply to juveniles. He asserts that a registration requirement affects juveniles more harshly than it does adults, thus tipping the balance in favor of the conclusion that as to juveniles, the regulation is punitive and not regulatory. His argument has three facets. First, he says that since juvenile adjudication records remain closed, juveniles suffer more when they are required to register than do adults, whose criminal case files are a matter of public record. Second, he argues that registration is counter to the emphasis on rehabilitation that is supposed to be the main purpose of juvenile proceedings. Third, invoking a factor from Kennedy v. Mendozar-Martinez that our supreme court did not discuss in Noble, the Juvenile argues that his crime was one that required scienter, a factor that is often immaterial to a regulatory scheme.
The Juvenile’s arguments are not of sufficient weight to remove juveniles from the holding in Noble. The fact remains that, as in Noble, the overriding purpose of the statute is to facilitate the location of offenders and that purpose is unrelated to punishing the offender for past crimes.
The adjudication and disposition of the juvenile court is affirmed.
SULT, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
|
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OPINION
FIDEL, Presiding Judge.
The rule of work-product immunity bars adversary discovery of a lawyer’s mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, and legal theories concerning a pending or impending ease. But does the rule immunize a lawyer’s communications to an expert witness on a subject the expert will testify about at trial? And if the expert has been hired not only to testify, but also to help the lawyer prepare for trial, does this dual role immunize communications that would lack immunity if the expert were hired for testimony alone? These questions are presented in this special action. We hold that a lawyer forgoes work-product protection for communications with an expert witness concerning the subject of the expert’s testimony even if the expert also plays a consulting role.
I.
The underlying lawsuit is an antitrust and breach-of-contract action, whose merits do not concern us here. Petitioners, the plaintiffs, hired Michael J. Williams, an “antitrust expert,” for testimony and consultation. The Real Parties In Interest, preparing to depose Williams, served him with a subpoena duces tecum, commanding him to produce his entire case file. Petitioners moved to quash both this subpoena and another to Williams’s custodian of records. Invoking work-produet immunity, Petitioners’ lawyers argued that Williams’s file contained protected hypotheses, mental impressions, and litigation strategies that they had explored with Williams in his consulting role. The trial court denied Petitioners’ motion and ordered them to produce the file; the court declined to first review the file in camera.
Petitioners seek relief by special action. We accept jurisdiction. “When a trial court orders disclosures that a party or witness believes to be protected by a privilege, appeal provides no remedy. Special action is the proper means to seek relief.” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Superior Court, 159 Ariz. 24, 25-26, 764 P.2d 759, 760-61 (App.1988).
II.
If Petitioners had engaged Williams as a consulting, not testimonial, expert and chosen a different expert to testify at trial, Petitioners’ lawyers could protect their communications with Williams under Rule 26(b)(4)(B), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) (1987 & Supp.1996) (relating to discovery from experts retained for trial preparation but not expected to testify). Cf. State ex rel. Corbin v. Ybarra, 161 Ariz. 188, 193, 777 P.2d 686, 691 (Ariz.l989)(reports from experts are attorney work product when those experts will not be presented as witnesses at trial). What differentiates this case is that Williams was retained as both a testimonial and consulting expert. The question follows whether Petitioners’ lawyers have sacrificed work-product protection that would have shielded their communications with a consulting expert by using their testimonial expert for that role.
To respond, we first examine Rules 26(b)(3) and 26(b)(4) of the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. The former constitutes Arizona’s work-product rule. The latter governs discovery from testimonial and consulting experts.
Rule 26(b)(3) (Supp.1996) provides in pertinent part:
Trial Preparation: Materials. Subject to the provisions of subdivision (b)(4) of this rule, a party may obtain discovery of documents and tangible things otherwise discoverable under subdivision (b)(1) of this rule and prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or by or for that other party’s representative ... only upon a showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials in the preparation of the party’s case and that the party is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means. In ordering discovery of such materials when the required showing has been made, the court shall protect against disclosure of the mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of an attorney or other representative of a party concerning the litigation.
Rule 26(b)(4) provides in pertinent part:
Trial Preparation: Experts. Discovery of facts known and opinions held by experts, otherwise discoverable under the provisions of subdivision (b)(1) of this rule and acquired or developed in anticipation of litigation or for trial, may be obtained only as follows:
(A) (i) [relating to interrogatories], (ii) Upon motion, the court may order further discovery by other means, subject to such restrictions as to scope ... as the court may deem appropriate.
(B) A party may discover facts known or opinions held by an expert who has been retained or specially employed by another party in anticipation of litigation or preparation for trial and who is not expected to be called as a witness at trial, only as provided in Rule 35(b) or upon a showing of exceptional circumstances under which it is impracticable for the party seeking discovery to obtain facts or opinions on the same subject by other means.
Subsection (B) of Rule 26(b)(4) imposes a substantial barrier against discovery from consulting experts — those not expected to be called as witnesses at trial. Subsection (A)(ii), in contrast, extends the trial court broad authority to order such discovery from a testimonial expert “as the court may deem appropriate.” The rule, however, does not expressly address whether such discovery may extend to the expert’s communications with counsel. Nor does it address what happens when the expert plays a joint consulting and testimonial role. Curiously, these questions are of first impression in Arizona. Decisions under Federal Rule 26 are split.
In Bogosian v. Gulf Oil Corp., 738 F.2d 587, 593 (3d Cir.1984), the Third Circuit extended work-product protection to documents that lawyers had provided to a testimonial expert containing the lawyers’ “ ‘mental impressions and thought processes relating to the legal theories’ ” of the case. The court found only “marginal value in the revelation on cross-examination that the expert’s view may have originated with an attorney’s opinion or theory,” and concluded that this marginal value did not “warrant overriding the strong policy against disclosure of documents consisting of core attorney’s work product.” Id. at 595 (footnote omitted); accord Haworth, Inc. v. Herman Miller, Inc., 162 F.R.D. 289 (W.D.Mich. 1995).
The leading case for the contrary position is Intermedics, Inc. v. Ventritex, Inc., 139 F.R.D. 384, 387 (N.D.Cal.1991), which holds:
[Ajbsent an extraordinary showing of unfairness that goes well beyond the interests generally protected by the work product doctrine, written and oral communications from a lawyer to an expert that are related to matters about which the expert will offer testimony are discoverable, even when those communications otherwise would be deemed opinion work product.
Accord United States v. City of Torrance, 163 F.R.D. 590 (C.D.Cal.1995); Furniture World, Inc. v. D.A.V. Thrift Stores, Inc., 168 F.R.D. 61 (D.N.M.1996). The Intermedies court rejected the premise that only marginal value is achieved by permitting cross-examiners to explore whether an expert’s opinions have originated with counsel. 139 F.R.D. at 397. Rather, the court stated:
[I]t would be fundamentally misleading, and could do great damage to the integrity of the truth finding process, if testimony that was being presented as the independent thinking of an “expert” in fact was the product, in whole or significant part, of the suggestions of counsel. The trier of fact has a right to know who is testifying.
Id. at 395-96. The court acknowledged that work-product immunity enables lawyers “to think dispassionately, reliably, and creatively both about the law and the evidence,” and permits them “to preserve the privacy of their mental processes and to prevent others from ‘leeching’ off their work.” Id. at 392. But lawyers can adequately maintain such protection, the court concluded, by choosing separate experts for testimony and consultation, recognizing in advance that their communications with testifying experts are likely to be discoverable. Id. at 392-93.
We find Intermedies more compatible than Bogosian with discovery rules and practice in this state. Arizona has long favored full cross-examination of expert witnesses. In Middleton v. Green, 35 Ariz. 205, 210-11, 276 P. 322, 324 (1929), a personal injury ease, the trial court refused to permit defendants’ lawyer to ask plaintiffs doctor whether he first learned of plaintiffs condition from plaintiffs counsel. Defendants contended that “they had a right, not being bound by the statement of a witness for plaintiff, to examine him fully as to the source of his information, and to deprive them of this right constituted prejudicial error.” Id. at 212, 276 P. at 325. Our supreme court agreed, holding that the trial court had erred by “depriving the defendants of their right to test [the] accuracy [of adversary expert testimony] by throwing upon it the searchlight of a full cross-examination.” Id.
Middleton, as Petitioners point out, predated the work-product doctrine, which arose in Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947), and appeared in Arizona in Dean v. Superior Court, 84 Ariz. 104, 324 P.2d 764 (1958). Thus, Respondents overstate its impact when they argue that Middleton is determinative of the present case. Further, the Middleton court assumed that an expert’s opinions could be invalidated by showing them to be based, even in part, upon information from another source. 35 Ariz. at 211-12, 276 P. at 324. It is not invalidating, in current practice, for an expert to gather information from another source. See Ariz. R. Evid. 703, 17A A.R.S. (Supp.1996).
Yet Middleton remains timely in its reliance upon “the searchlight of a full cross-examination” to test the truth and reliability of expert opinion. 35 Ariz. at 212, 276 P. at 325. Just as an expert witness’s sources remain a proper subject of cross-examination, see Ariz. R. Evid. 705; Zier v. Shamrock Dairy, 4 Ariz.App. 382, 384, 420 P.2d 954, 956 (1966), so do the expert’s relations with the hiring party and its counsel. See State v. Mauro, 159 Ariz. 186, 199, 766 P.2d 59, 72 (1988)(“the defense was able to extensively cross-examine [the state’s expert] about his alleged bias, including his opinions in prior cases, and the amount of money he had been paid by the state to testify ... in this and other cases”).
Just as Arizona authorities have granted expansive scope for expert cross-examination, so have they granted expansive scope for pretrial discovery from expert witnesses. The State Bar Committee Note to the 1970 Amendment of Rule 26(b)(4) states, “Under Arizona practice, ... an expert ... may be examined [at deposition] upon any matter which would be permitted if he were cross-examined in open court at the conclusion of his main testimony.” Before the adoption of Rule 26(b), our supreme court had placed the opinions of expert witnesses and their “groundwork” within the open range of pretrial discovery. See State ex rel. Willey v. Whitman, 91 Ariz. 120, 124, 370 P.2d 273, 277 (1962). Rule 26(b)(4) was intended to maintain, not deviate from, the discovery practice that evolved under Whitman. See 1970 State Bar Committee Note, Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4).
In short, since Middleton, Arizona authorities consistently have supported free-ranging, skeptical cross-examination of expert witnesses and open discovery to probe the groundwork for their opinions. It would be incompatible with these authorities, in our judgment, for an Arizona court to adopt the Bogosian premise that only marginal value can be achieved by revelation on cross-examination that an expert’s theories originated with the hiring lawyer.
We acknowledge the value of enabling trial lawyers to consult with experts when necessary to prepare themselves for trial. We return, however, to the fact that Rule 26(b)(4) distinguishes sharply between testimonial and consulting experts, prohibiting discovery from the latter except “upon a showing of exceptional circumstances.” Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4)(B); see also Corbin, 161 Ariz. at 193, 777 P.2d at 691 (defining as lawyer work product the report of a “non-testifying expert used only for [the lawyer’s] investigation and education”). In Corbin, the supreme court posed but did not answer the question whether a lawyer waives protection for communications with a consulting expert “by electing to present the expert as a witness.” Id. That question, presented here, was recently answered in Furniture World. The court there, building upon Intermedies, stated:
[A] person initially selected to testify as an expert at trial cannot be shielded from questioning by later being also designated as a consultant expert and invoking the work product doctrine. Counsel must choose to designate an expert as either one who will testify at trial or consult with counsel. Having an expert who is both creates an unmanageable situation by requiring a question-by-question analysis of an expert witnesses’ deposition testimony to determine whether the work product doctrine applies.
Furniture World, 168 F.R.D. at 63.
Like the court in Furniture World, we too find it “unmanageable” to attach an indeterminate measure of work-product protection to a blending of expert consulting and testimonial roles. Such protection would be uncertain for those invoking it and amorphous for those attacking it. Discovery battles to define the extent of such protection case-by-case would raise litigation costs for parties and inflict trial courts with an endless string of in camera inspections. As Petitioners themselves state in their opening brief:
Ambiguity as to the extent to which attorneys can work in conjunction with consultants and expert witnesses to prepare complex mixed issues of law and fact for trial chills the parties’ analytical process and discourages thorough preparation for trial.
In our judgment, the most practical, most economical, and surest way to relieve such ambiguity is to adopt the either/or rule of Furniture World. An expert may be either a witness or a protected consultant, but not both. “Counsel must choose.” Id.
In adopting this position, we decline to adopt an approach that the American Law Institute is currently examining in the Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers, Proposed Final Draft No. 1 (March 29, 1996). Section 141 of the Restatement Draft, entitled “Waiver of Work-Product Immunity by Use in Litigation,” provides in pertinent part:
(2) The work-product immunity is waived for recorded material if a witness
(b) employed the material in preparing to testify, and the tribunal finds that disclosure is required in the interests of justice.
As drafted, section 141(2)(b) would apply comprehensively to expert witnesses, non-expert witnesses, and the parties themselves. Each of those categories, however, warrants separate consideration; and we limit our discussion to the utility of section 141(2)(b) as a standard to regulate disclosure of recorded material that an expert witness has considered. We conclude that such a standard would generate the costs, uncertainty, and managerial problems discussed above. Discovery disputes over expert witness files, presently rare in Arizona, would be invited. With each dispute, the trial court would be obliged to undertake a time-consuming inquiry to determine: (1) whether the expert had examined the documents for trial preparation or “for generally facilitating preparation of the case,” Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers § 141 cmt. e (Proposed Final Draft No. 1 1996), and (2) if the former, whether disclosure would serve the interests of justice.
We decline to impose this burden on the courts, this cost on the parties, or this uncertain standard on the law. We find the bright line of an either/or rule more workable for all concerned. Lawyers can adequately seek expert assistance in trial preparation and adequately maintain work-product protection for such consultations by choosing a different expert than their expert witness for a preparatory role. See Intermedies, 139 F.R.D. at 392-93. Though an either/or approach to testimonial and consulting experts will sometimes oblige parties to hire two experts instead of one, such costs, though potentially substantial, are likely cumulatively to be lesser than the systemic costs of innumerable discovery battles over expert witness files.
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the trial court properly rejected the Petitioners’ work-product claim and permissibly declined to conduct an in camera inspection.
GARBARINO and GRANT, JJ., concur.
. Under Rule 26(b)(4)(A)(ii), a party must proceed by motion and order before taking discovery from a testimonial expert by means other than interrogatories. Explaining this requirement, however, the drafting committee stated, "Because of our strong desire to maintain substantial uniformity between the State and Federal Rules, we keep the phrase 'upon motion’ in the Rule; but it is intended in this jurisdiction that the motion shall be perfunctory, and that it will be automatically granted, barring the most exceptional circumstances.” 1970 State Bar Committee Note, Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4).
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OPINION
TOCI, Judge.
Cyprus Bagdad Copper Corporation (“Cyprus”) prevailed after trial in a property tax valuation matter. Cyprus requested “fees and other expenses” pursuant to Ariz.Rev. Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 12-348 (1990). The tax court ruled that Cyprus was not eligible for an award pursuant to subsection (A) of that statute but was only eligible for one pursuant to subsection (B). The tax court further ruled that the $20,000 cap in section 12-348(E)(5) on subsection (B) awards applied not only to attorney’s fees but to all other awardable expenses and taxable costs.
The tax court accordingly entered an order awarding Cyprus “a total of $20,000 for its fees, expenses and costs.” Cyprus timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(C). The appeal is assigned to Department T of this court pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-120.04(G) and 12-170(C).
On appeal, Cyprus contends that the tax court erred in (1) failing to award taxable costs apart from and in addition to attorney’s fees and other expenses under A.R.S. section 12-348; (2) interpreting section 12-348 as subjecting its “other expenses” to the $20,-000 cap in section 12-348(E)(5); (3) failing to also award the attorney’s fees and other expenses Cyprus had incurred during the administrative proceedings; and (4) failing to award attorney’s fees and other expenses without regard to the $20,000 cap in section 12-348(E)(5) on the theory that by filing a counterclaim for an increase in the valuation approved in the administrative process, the Arizona Department of Revenue (“DOR”) effectively commenced a civil action against Cyprus within the meaning of A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(1).
Our opinions in City of Phoenix v. Paper Distributors of Arizona, Inc., 186 Ariz. 564, 925 P.2d 705 (App.1996), and SMP II Limited Partnership v. Arizona Department of Revenue, 188 Ariz. 320, 935 P.2d 898 (App. 1996), expressly or implicitly determine all issues but the first. We now address that issue and conclude that taxable costs are not subject to the $20,000 cap in A.R.S. section 12-348(E)(5). We resolve the remainder in accordance with Paper Distributors and SMP II Limited Partnership.
A. Separate Award of Taxable Costs
A.R.S. section 12-341 provides, “The successful party to a civil action shall recover from his adversary all costs expended or incurred therein unless otherwise provided by law.” (Footnote added.) An award of “fees and other expenses” is “[i]n addition to any costs which are awarded as prescribed by statute.” A.R.S. § 12-348(A)(1), (A)(2), and (B). Thus, section 12-341 entitled Cyprus to an award of taxable costs in addition to any amount awarded pursuant to section 12-348. The $20,000 cap imposed by section 12-348(E)(5) on awards of “fees and other expenses” under subsection (B) did not apply to the taxpayer’s award of taxable costs pursuant to section 12-341. The tax court erred in ruling otherwise.
DOR conceded that Cyprus is entitled to an award of taxable costs, but the parties dispute whether the cost of the transcript of the hearing before the Board of Tax Appeals is covered. For the reasons discussed in Section C.l of this opinion, the cost of the transcript in the administrative proceeding is not a recoverable cost. The parties also dispute whether particular items that Cyprus claimed as taxable costs were properly awardable as such. Because the tax court apparently concluded that the sums Cyprus claimed as taxable costs were limited by the $20,000 cap, it did not separately rule on the statement of costs and DOR’s objections. We leave this determination to the tax court on remand.
B. Applicability of $20,000 Cap to “Other Expenses”
Cyprus argues that the tax court erred in subjecting its claimed reimbursement for expert witness fees to the $20,000 cap on awards pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-348(B). We agree. We recently interpreted section 12-348(E)(5) as applicable only to the attorney’s fees component of an award under section 12-348. SMP II Ltd. Partnership, 188 Ariz. at 327, 935 P.2d at 905.
The parties contest whether certain costs that Cyprus sought qualified as “other expenses” under A.R.S. section 12-348(I)(1). The tax court evidently viewed its ruling on the scope of the $20,000 cap as obviating the consideration of DOR’s objections to particular costs claimed by Cyprus. We leave the determination of those objections to the tax court on remand.
C. Availability of Separate Awards Under A.R.S. § 12-348ÍA)
Cyprus contends that in addition to an award of “fees and other expenses” pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-348(B), it was entitled to separate, additional awards pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(1) and (2).
1. Administrative Appeals Process-A.R.S. § 12-348(A)(2)
Cyprus asserts that the tax court proceeding from which this appeal is taken was one “to review a state agency decision” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(2). According to Cyprus, the tax court was therefore required to apply that statute and to include within its award the attorney’s fees and other expenses “incurred in the contested case proceedings in which the decision was rendered” as provided by A.R.S. section 12-348(I)(1).
We resolved this issue against Cyprus’ position in Paper Distributors. We concluded from the scope and nature of the 1990 amendments to A.R.S. section 12 — 348(B), (E)(3) and (E)(5) that the legislature intended “to prescribe a uniform standard for fee awards which was to exclusively apply to all tax cases.” Paper Distributors, 186 Ariz. at 566, 925 P.2d at 707. We disapproved Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. v. Arizona Department of Revenue, 147 Ariz. 216, 231-32, 709 P.2d 573, 588-89 (App.1985), and Stewart Title & Trust v. Pima County, 156 Ariz. 236, 244, 751 P.2d 552, 560 (App.1987), both property tax cases which had held that the pre-amendment predecessors of A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(2) and (B) were concurrently applicable in tax actions. Paper Distributors, 186 Ariz. at 568, 925 P.2d at 709. We concluded from the 1990 amendments that the legislature “plainly intended to give entirely different treatment to fees awards under the two subsections. The criteria and limitations for fees awards under section 12-348(B) now differ in almost every respect from those applicable to fees awards under section 12-348(A).” We refused to treat subsection (A)(2) as concurrently applicable with subsection (B) to tax court cases.
We also found that the legislature had recently adopted A.R.S. sections 12-348.01 and 42-139.14 which allow awards of attorney’s fees in administrative proceedings if the agency’s position “was not substantially justified” or its action “constituted harassment or was not substantially justified.” See 1994 Ariz. Sess. Laws Ch. 281, § 1; Ch. 375, § 8. “If the legislature had intended in 1990 to preserve the prior judicial interpretations that permitted an award in tax cases of fees incurred at the administrative level, the adoption of these new provisions permitting but circumscribing such awards would have been unnecessary.” Paper Distributors, 186 Ariz. at 568, 925 P.2d at 709 (footnote omitted).
We filed our opinion in Paper Distributors several weeks after Cyprus filed its opening brief in this case. In its reply brief, Cyprus distinguishes Paper Distributors as an excise tax case and argues for a different result in property tax cases. Nothing in A.R.S. section 12-348, however, suggests that the legislature intended to treat property tax cases differently than other tax matters. Moreover, neither of the pre-1990 decisions that we disapproved in Paper Distributors accorded any significance to the fact that each case involved property tax issues. Rather, those cases focused on interpreting the language of A.R.S. section 12-348. The central issue in Paper Distributors was the 1990 revision of section 12-348.
Cyprus’ essential contention is that Paper Distributors’ analysis and result run contrary to the legislative purpose of ameliorating the economic disincentives that deter private challenges to governmental action. Cyprus suggests that the 1990 amendments to A.R.S. section 12-348 demonstrate an intention that fee awards be mandatory when a taxpayer prevails at the administrative level and incurs the additional expense of defending in the tax court as provided in A.R.S. section 12-348(A). When the taxing authority prevails at the administrative level and the taxpayer pursues a further challenge in the tax court, however, Cyprus argues that the legislature intended that fee awards be discretionary, as in A.R.S. section 12-348(B).
We are unconvinced. Cyprus offers no explanation for the legislature’s deliberate decision to create a discrete procedure within A.R.S. section 12-348(B) applicable by its terms only to tax litigation. See A.R.S. section 12-348(E)(2) through (E)(5). Further, Cyprus’ proffered explanation of the 1990 amendments depends on two premises we do not accept: one, that the taxpayer who prevails at the administrative level will have spent more in prosecuting those proceedings against the state than the taxpayer who loses at that level, and two, that the taxpayer who succeeds at the administrative level and in the tax court deserves a mandatory award of fees and expenses incurred in both proceedings without limitation, while the taxpayer who loses at the administrative level but prevails in the tax court can only hope for a discretionary award of fees and expenses incurred in the tax court proceedings not exceeding $20,000.
Cyprus’ interpretation also fails to respond to our question in Paper Distributors of why the legislature “would have designed a system specifically for tax cases, only to condition its applicability on the fortuitous circumstance of who prevailed at the administrative level.” 186 Ariz. at 566, 925 P.2d at 707. Moreover, it does not take account of the supreme court’s strong intimation in New Pueblo Constructors, Inc. v. State, 144 Ariz. 95, 696 P.2d 185 (1985), that the predecessor of A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(2) applied only in superior court proceedings under the Administrative Review Act, A.R.S. sections 12-901 et seq., and in other statutory proceedings in which the superior court considers the correctness of an agency decision under a limited standard of review. 144 Ariz. at llO, 696 P.2d at 200; see Paper Distributors, 186 Ariz. at 568 n.4, 925 P.2d at 709 n. 4. Tax court proceedings do not fall within the latter category; they are de novo in all cases, including those that concern property taxes. See A.R.S. §§ 42-124, 42-125, 42-178 (Supp. 1996).
Therefore, A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(2) did not apply in this action. The tax court properly denied an award of fees and other expenses incurred in the administrative proceedings.
2. DOR’s Counterclaim-A.R.S. § 12-348(A)(1)
Cyprus next contends that DOR’s assertion of a counterclaim for an increase in the valuation approved by the State Board of Tax Appeals took this case out of A.R.S. section 12-348(B) and rendered it equivalent to a “civil action brought by the state ... against the party” within A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(1). Cyprus argues that it therefore deserves a mandatory award of fees and other expenses not subject to the $20,000 cap in section 12-348(E)(5). See A.R.S. § 12-348(E)(4) ($10,000 cap does not apply in action brought by state).
For the reasons discussed above, Paper Distributors undermines this position. There we held that A.R.S. section 12-348(B) applied in tax litigation exclusively, without regal'd to which party commenced the tax court proceedings. We said: “[I]t is obvious that the legislature desired that fee awards in tax eases be discretionary and ... clearly designed subsection (B) expressly for tax cases.” 186 Ariz. at 566, 925 P.2d at 707.
Estate of Walton, 164 Ariz. 498, 794 P.2d 131 (1990), does not mandate a contrary result. Walton was not a tax case, and thus A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(1) was the only possible basis for an attorney’s fee award to the successful plaintiffs. 164 Ariz. at 501, 794 P.2d at 134. The issue was whether subsection (A)(1) applied where DOR had not commenced the litigation but had intervened to contest a petition for adjudication of heirship. Id. at 500, 794 P.2d at 133. The court held DOR’s act of contesting the heirship claim was sufficient to constitute a “civil action brought by the state” within A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(1). Id. Contrary to Cyprus’ argument, Walton does not hold that A.R.S. section 12-348(A)(1) supersedes or supplements section 12-348(B) whenever the taxing authority happens to be the party who appeals to, or seeks affirmative relief, in the tax court.
In conclusion, we decline to reexamine Paper Distributors or to hold it inapplicable in property tax litigation. We affirm the judgment in part, reverse in part, and remand this matter to the tax court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
GARBARINO, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
. A.R.S. § 12-348 provides in pertinent part:
A. In addition to any costs which are awarded as prescribed by statute, a court shall award fees and other expenses to any party other than this state or a city, town or county which prevails by an adjudication on the merits in any of the following:
1. A civil action brought by the state or a city, town or county against the party.
2. A court proceeding to review a state agency decision, pursuant to chapter 7, article 6 of this title [A.R.S. §§ 12-901 et seq!\, or any other statute authorizing judicial review of agency decisions.
B. In addition to any costs which are awarded as prescribed by statute, a court may award fees and other expenses to any party, other than this state or a city, town or county, which prevails by an adjudication on the merits in an action brought by the party against this state, a city or town or county challenging the assessment or collection of taxes.
E. The court shall base any award of fees as provided in this section on prevailing market rates for the kind and quality of the services furnished, except that:
2. Except for awards made pursuant to subsection B, the award of attorney fees may not exceed the amount which the prevailing party has paid or has agreed to pay the attorney or a maximum amount of seventy-five dollars per hour unless the court determines that an increase in the cost of living or a special factor, such as the limited availability of qualified attorneys for the proceeding involved, justifies a higher fee.
3. For awards made pursuant to subsection B, the award of attorney fees may not exceed the amount which the prevailing party has paid or agreed to pay the attorney or a maximum amount of one hundred dollars per hour.
4. Except for awards made pursuant to subsection B, an award of fees against a city, town or county as provided in this section shall not exceed ten thousand dollars.
5. For awards made pursuant to subsection B, such awards of fees against the state or a city, town or county shall not exceed twenty thousand dollars.
. "Costs” in the superior court are defined and limited by A.R.S. §§ 12-332 and 12-333.
. A.R.S. § 12-34800(1) (1992) provides:
"Fees and other expenses” includes the reasonable expenses of expert witnesses, the reasonable cost of any study, analysis, engineering report, test or project which is found by the court to be necessary for the preparation of the party's case and reasonable and necessary attorney fees, and in the case of an action to review an agency decision pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 2 of this section, all such fees and other expenses incurred in the contested case proceedings in which the decision was rendered.
. See footnote 1, above.
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OPINION
NOYES, Judge.
Gregory Graves (“Appellant”) was indicted on five counts of sale of narcotic drugs, class 2 felonies. The State subsequently amended the indictment to allege two prior felony convictions. A jury found Appellant guilty on all five counts and it also found that he had two prior felony convictions. The only issues on appeal relate to the prior convictions. We conclude that the class 5 felony prior conviction did not qualify as a historical prior felony conviction because, after excluding time while Appellant was incarcerated, the class 5 offense occurred more than five years prior to any of the current offenses. We therefore affirm the convictions, vacate the sentences and remand for resentencing.
I.
The amended indictment charges Appellant with two prior felony convictions: (1) conviction in Maricopa County Superior Court for burglary committed on January 1, 1985, CR 145592, and (2) conviction in Coconino County Superior Court for larceny committed on September 29, 1983, CR 83-10541. At the beginning of trial on the prior convictions, the court told the jury that the offenses were “burglary” and “theft,” with conviction dates of June 17, 1985 and April 23, 1984, respectively. At the end of that trial, the court read to the jury from the verdict forms and no one noticed that the verdict for the prior theft charge gave the date of conviction as June 17,1985 instead of the correct date of April 23, 1984. The jury found that Appellant had been convicted of the two pri- or felonies. Its verdict on the prior theft conviction contained the incorrect date of conviction.
Pursuant to A.R.S. section 13-604(D) (Supp.1995), Appellant’s five current convictions were enhanced with the two prior convictions and he was sentenced to aggravated, consecutive terms of twenty-five years imprisonment on each of the five counts. In explaining its reasons for such a long sentence, the trial court cited many, many aggravating factors. Appellant timely appeal ed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-120.21(A)(1) (1992), 13-4031 (1989) , and 13^033(A) (Supp.1995).
II.
Appellant has three arguments, all of which are raised for the first time on appeal: the indictment charged one of the prior convictions as “larceny” when the actual charge was “theft;” the verdict form on the prior theft conviction had the wrong date; and the jury failed “to make appropriate findings” to support sentencing Appellant as a repetitive offender under A.R.S. section 13-604(D).
A. Defective Indictment
“No issue concerning a defect in the charging document shall be raised other than by a motion filed in accordance with Rule 16.” Ariz. R.Crim. P. (“Rule”) 13.5(c). Had Appellant complained at trial that “larceny” was alleged rather than “theft,” this minor defect would have been readily corrected. The failure to raise this issue in the trial court renders any error harmless. Rule 13.5(c) cmt. (“This provision makes any defects harmless error unless timely raised under Rule 16.”)
B. Defective Verdict Forms
It is also well established that Appellant cannot object to the forms of verdict for the first time on appeal unless the error was “fundamental.” State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 154, 812 P.2d 626, 627 (1991); State v. Conner, 163 Ariz. 97, 101, 786 P.2d 948, 952 (1990) ; see also Rule 21.3(c) (party who fails to object to verdict forms waives the error on appeal).
“Fundamental error exists where the error goes to the foundation of the case or deprives the defendant of an essential right to his defense.” State v. White, 160 Ariz. 24, 31, 770 P.2d 328, 335 (1989). Furthermore, to be fundamental, “the error must be clear, egregious, and curable only via a new trial.” Gendron, 168 Ariz. at 155, 812 P.2d at 628.
The problem with the verdict form was not fundamental error; it was clerical error. The trial court began the trial on the prior convictions by correctly advising the jury that the date of the alleged prior theft conviction was April 23, 1984. The State introduced into evidence certified records from Coconino County Superior Court and the Arizona Department of Corrections establishing April 23, 1984 as the date of the prior theft conviction. There was no argument at trial about this date, and the erroneous date on the verdict form was merely a clerical error. The error would have been easily corrected if noticed, and that it was not noticed neither compromised Appellant’s right to a fair trial nor affected the foundation of his case regarding the prior theft conviction.
C. The Jury’s Findings of Appellant’s Prior Convictions
Appellant argues that A.R.S. section 13-604(P) (Supp.1995) requires the jury to determine whether the prior convictions fit within the time limits of A.R.S. section 13-604(U)(1) (Supp.1995). Subsection (c) of this statute provides that “historical prior felony conviction” means: “Any class 4, 5 or 6 felony ... that was committed within the five years immediately preceding the date of the present offense. Any time spent incarcerated is excluded in calculating if the offense was committed within the preceding five years.” Subsection (b) of this statute has similar language for class 2 and 3 felonies, except that the relevant time period is ten years.
We conclude that A.R.S. section 13-604(P) requires that the fact of the prior felony conviction be found by the jury and that, at sentencing, the judge determine whether that prior conviction qualifies for sentence enhancement pursuant to A.R.S. section 13-604(D). We note that HB 2045, recently enacted by the 42nd Arizona Legislature, now requires that the judge, not the jury, hear the trial of prior convictions in eases where the existence of a criminal record may be used for sentence enhancement.
Appellant’s reliance on State v. Aragon, 185 Ariz. 132, 912 P.2d 1361 (App.1995) is misplaced. The issue in Aragon involved the requirement that the jury, not the trial court, determine an element of the crime itself; the issue here relates only to enhancement of sentence pursuant to A.R.S. section 13-604.
D. Dates of Appellant’s Historical Prior Felony Convictions
Although Appellant’s argument regarding who must make findings regarding the dates of prior convictions is misplaced, we agree that the trial court committed fundamental error in finding that Appellant’s class 5 prior felony conviction qualified for sentence enhancement purposes pursuant to A.R.S. section 13-604.
Appellant represented himself at trial, assisted by advisory counsel. At sentencing, the State advised the court that Appellant was incarcerated from January 3, 1985 through August 25, 1989. If these dates were correct, both of Appellant’s prior convictions qualified for sentence enhancement purposes. Appellant disputed the latter date; he argued that he had been released on parole in 1988, about ten months prior to August 1989. Appellant was right. The Department of Corrections documents introduced in evidence by the State to prove Appellant’s prior convictions also prove that he was granted parole effective October 28, 1988. Nevertheless, the court found that Appellant’s incarceration ended on August 25, 1989, and it enhanced Appellant’s sentences with two historical prior felony convictions pursuant to A.R.S. section 13-604.
Appellant committed the class 5 prior felony on January 1, 1985 and was incarcerated for that offense from January 3, 1985 until his sentence expired on January 3, 1987, at which time he began serving his prison sentence on the class 3 felony. Appellant was paroled on October 28, 1988, and the first of his current offenses was committed more than five years later, on January 18, 1994. Therefore, unless Appellant was “incarcerated” while on parole, the class 5 prior felony conviction does not qualify as a “historical prior felony conviction.”
We conclude that a person on parole is not “incarcerated” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 13-604(U). As a general rule, “words and phrases used in statutes and rules have their ordinary meaning unless the context indicates otherwise.” Cochise County v. Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, 170 Ariz. 443, 445, 825 P.2d 968, 970 (App.1991). The court in Cochise County consulted Black’s Law Dictionary in crafting its definition of “incarceration” as “imprisonment; confinement in a jail or penitentiary.” Id., citing BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY 760 (6th ed.1990). The court also noted that the word “incarceration” is derived from the latín word “incarcerare,” and pointed out that the word “career” means prison. Cochise County, 170 Ariz. at 445, 825 P.2d at 970. In one statute, the legislature has defined “incarceration” as “facilities that are dedicated to the confinement of persons who are committed to the department.” A.R.S. § 41-1609(D)(3) (Supp.1995). Because “incarceration” means “confinement” we conclude that it does not include parole, which involves release from confinement.
Appellant’s incarceration having ended more than five years prior to any of his current offenses, his class 5 prior felony conviction does not fall within the time period prescribed by A.R.S. section 13 — 604(U)(l)(e). Therefore, Appellant’s class 5 prior felony conviction does not qualify as a “historical prior felony conviction” for purposes of sentence enhancement.
Appellant committed his prior class 3 felony on March 7, 1983. Excluding Appellant’s incarceration (January 3, 1985 through October 28, 1988) brings this prior felony conviction within the ten year period provided by A.R.S. section 13-604(U)(l)(b).
III.
The convictions on the five current offenses are affirmed, the sentences are vacated and the matter is remanded for re-sentencing with one historical prior felony conviction.
FIDEL and McGREGOR, JJ., concur.
|
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OPINION
GRANT, Presiding Judge.
Appellant, the personal representative of the Dorothy Killen estate, defended Mrs. Killen’s will against a charge that it was invalid due to the testator’s lack of testamentary capacity. The probate court found the will to be invalid. It denied an award of attorneys’ fees to appellant, as personal representative, for defense of the will on the ground that it lacked jurisdiction to make such an award because the judgment regarding validity of the will was on appeal. The court noted that even if it had jurisdiction to award fees, appellant was not entitled to a fee award because he had defended the invalid will only to protect his interest as a beneficiary.
We hold that the probate court had jurisdiction to rule on the attorneys’ fees application despite the pending appeal because the fee application was not inextricably tied to the result of the judgment on appeal. We further hold that appellant is entitled to an award of fees from the estate unless the trial court finds that he defended the will in bad faith.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Appellant Marion MeCannon (“Marion”) was a nephew of Dorothy Killen and was the major beneficiary of Mrs. Killen’s will. Eighteen other beneficiaries were also named. In the will, Mrs. Killen appointed Marion as the personal representative of her estate. Upon Mrs. Killen’s death in March 1993, Marion submitted the will for informal probate and was appointed by the probate court as personal representative.
The seven other nieces and nephews of Mrs. Killen (“petitioners”) contested the will, arguing that when she made it she was suffering from a paranoid delusion disorder and thus lacked testamentary capacity. They also sought removal of Marion as personal representative.
After a bench trial, the probate court concluded that at the time Mrs. Killen executed her will, she lacked testamentary capacity as the result of a delusional paranoid disorder that influenced the creation and terms of her purported will. It thus declared that the will was invalid and that Mrs. Killen died intestate. The court also removed Marion as personal representative of the estate. In its order, which was entered on November 18, 1993, the court awarded petitioners their attorneys’ fees in the amount of $59,331.25 and costs of $6,938.75 to be paid from estate assets. In addition, the order stated, “Respondent [Marion] is hereby denied all attorneys’ fees and costs.”
On December 14, 1993, Marion, as personal representative and personally, appealed from the court’s order. Then on January 5, 1994, he filed with the probate court an application, pursuant to Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 14-3720, for the estate to pay the attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by him as personal representative in the will contest. Petitioners objected to the application on two grounds; first, that because a notice of appeal had been filed the probate court lacked jurisdiction to award fees arising from the matter that was on appeal and, second, that A.R.S. section 14-3720 does not authorize payment of attorneys’ fees by the estate when fees are incurred for the personal representative’s own benefit rather than the benefit of the estate.
The probate court denied Marion’s application. It first noted that Arizona courts have interpreted A.R.S. section 14-3720 to preclude a personal representative from receiving attorneys’ fees from the estate when the fees were incurred to protect the administrator’s interest as a beneficiary and not to protect the estate itself. The court found that Marion had defended an invalid will and that the defense was clearly for Marion’s benefit rather than for the benefit of the estate; thus, Marion’s expenses of litigation should not be paid by the estate. Additionally, the court noted that as a general rule, when a timely appeal has been filed, the trial court loses all jurisdiction, even to award attorneys’ fees, except in furtherance of the appeal. Therefore, the court concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to award attorneys’ fees to Marion even if he were entitled to them.
Final judgment denying Marion an award of attorneys’ fees and costs from the estate was entered on July 26, 1994. He timely appealed from the judgment. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(J).
DISCUSSION
A. Jurisdiction of the Trial Court
In support of the probate court’s ruling, petitioners point out that the court denied Marion all attorneys’ fees and costs in its November 18, 1993 order and argue that Marion attempted to obtain a second bite at the apple by filing an application for attorneys’ fees while the appeal from the order was pending. They assert that the July 26, 1994, order denying Marion’s application for attorneys’ fees addressed the same issue previously decided by the trial court. Marion argues that the November order denied his request for an award of attorneys’ fees in his ■ favor and against the petitioners but that his subsequent application concerned his request as personal representative for an award of attorneys’ fees from the estate as a cost of administration of the estate.
We believe that Marion’s characterization of the November order and his subsequent application is correct. In his response to the petition for determination of testacy and removal as personal representative, he asked that petitioners be required to pay all of the attorneys’ fees he incurred in defending against the petition. Because this was Marion’s only request for fees made prior to entry of the November order, we conclude that the court denied this request. The subsequent application for attorneys’ fees sought a fee award from the estate pursuant to A.R.S. section 14-3720. This type of award was not encompassed within Marion’s previous request for fees. Therefore, the second fee request was not precluded by the court’s November order.
In finding that it did not have jurisdiction to award Marion attorneys’ fees from the estate, the probate court relied on Trebilcox v. Brown & Bain, P.A., 133 Ariz. 588, 653 P.2d 45 (App.1982), disapproved in other part, Barmat v. John and Jane Doe Partners A-D, 155 Ariz. 519, 524, 747 P.2d 1218, 1223 (1987). Marion argues on appeal that Trebilcox does not control here because it involved a civil action arising from a contract whereas this case is a probate matter. The difference between the actions, Marion points out, is that even after the probate court determined that the will was invalid, the probate proceedings continued, unlike a contract case that typically ends with the judgment that is appealed.
Marion argues that Trebilcox itself recognized that the court below retains jurisdiction to award fees even after an appeal has been taken when the award is not dependent on the outcome of the appeal. Because A.R.S. section 14-3720 authorizes an award of fees to a personal representative for defending a will regardless of whether the defense is successful, Marion maintains that an award of fees in this action is not dependent on whether his appeal regarding the validity of the will is successful; therefore, he argues, the probate court had jurisdiction to award fees.
We agree.. In Trebilcox, the court held that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to award attorneys’ fees pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-341.01 when a notice of appeal had been filed from the underlying contract claim upon which the award was based. 133 Ariz. at 591, 653 P.2d at 48. In reaching this conclusion, it explained that the general rule is that when an appeal to a higher court has been perfected, the trial court loses all jurisdiction except for actions in furtherance of the appeal. Id. at 589, 653 P.2d at 46. See State v. O’Connor, 171 Ariz. 19, 21, 827 P.2d 480, 482 (App.1992) (trial court may not render any decision that would defeat or usurp appellate court’s jurisdiction of the case on appeal). The Trebilcox court noted, however, that this general rule is subject to many well-established exceptions, including one that an appeal from an intermediate or interlocutory order does not divest the trial court of jurisdiction to proceed with matters not involved in the appeal. Id. at 590, 653 P.2d at 47.
Significantly, the Trebilcox court reasoned that the award of attorneys’ fees in the case before it was “inextricably tied” to the granting of summary judgment to Brown & Bain. Id. The award was so tied because under A.R.S. section 12-341.01 the court could award attorneys’ fees only to the prevailing party; thus, the entitlement to fees was completely dependent upon the outcome of the appeal of the summary judgment. Id. If the appellate court reversed the judgment of the trial court on the merits, the award of attorneys’ fees would have been in derogation of the appellate decision rather than in furtherance of the appeal. Id. The Trebilcox court further noted that other jurisdictions had found that the trial court is without jurisdiction to make an award of attorneys’ fees if the award is dependent upon the party to whom the award is made prevailing on appeal but that attorneys’ fees may be awarded where the award is not dependent upon the outcome of the appeal. Id.
Among the cases cited by the Trebilcox court for this rule is Bailey v. Bailey, 392 So.2d 49 (Fla.App.1981). In Bailey, the trial court awarded the wife her attorneys’ fees incurred in fighting a decrease in alimony after the husband appealed from the denial of his motion to modify. In ruling that the trial court had jurisdiction to make such an award, the court explained:
Whether the trial court lacks jurisdiction depends not simply on the fact that an appeal in the case has been taken and is pending, but rather on the nature of the action being taken by the trial court in relation to the subject matter of the pending appeal. If what the trial court does while the appeal is pending cannot affect or interfere with the subject matter of the appeal, and thus impinge upon the appellate court’s power and authority to decide the issues presented to it by the appeal, then the trial court can act. The jurisdiction of the appellate court is exclusive only as to the subject matter of the appeal.
392 So.2d at 52.
The Bailey court further noted that because the purpose of an award of attorneys’ fees in dissolution proceedings was to equalize the abilities of the parties to secure legal counsel, the trial court could make such an award after an appeal had been filed because the award was not “predicated upon being the successful party in the litigation and [was] thus not dependent on the ultimate outcome of the appeal.” Id. at 52 n. 7.
An award of attorneys’ fees from a decedent’s estate when the personal representative has defended or prosecuted a proceeding also is not predicated upon the personal representative being successful in the litigation. The controlling statute, A.R.S. section 14-3720, provides:
If any personal representative or person nominated as personal representative defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not he is entitled to receive from the estate his necessary expenses and disbursements including reasonable attorneys’ fees incurred.
An award of fees under this statute does not depend on whether the personal representative prevails in the trial court or ultimately prevails on appeal; the personal representative need not be the successful party to be entitled to an award of fees and costs from the estate. Thus, an award of fees is not inextricably tied to the outcome of either the probate court proceedings or the appeal.
The judgment on the will contest was an intermediate or interlocutory order in the probate. This order did not end the matter; the probate proceedings could continue with, for example, the marshaling and safeguarding of the estate assets, payment of creditors’ claims, and court-approved payments of administration expenses. See A.R.S. section 14-1302. The outcome of the appeal concerning the will contest would not affect an award of fees under A.R.S. section 14-3720. Accordingly, the probate court had jurisdiction to enter an order awarding or denying fees to the personal representative even though the appeal of the court’s judgment concerning the will contest was pending.
B. Denial of Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs from the Estate
Marion argues that under A.R.S. section 14-3720 he, as personal representative of Mrs. Killen’s estate, had a statutory right to reimbursement of the attorneys’ fees and costs he incurred in defending the will. He maintains that the probate court made no finding that he had defended the will in bad faith, and, absent such a finding, the court was without statutory power to deny his application for reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.
First, we note, as pointed out by Marion, that the personal representative of an estate has a duty to defend the validity of the decedent’s will if the will is challenged. The Arizona Supreme Court stated in In re Monaghan’s Estate, 60 Ariz. 346, 351-52,137 P.2d 390, 391-92 (1943), that “the executor appointed by will ... must, in duty to his trust, protect the instrument when it is assailed in court.” More recently, the supreme court affirmed this rule in In re Harber’s Estate, 104 Ariz. 79, 89, 449 P.2d 7, 17 (1969), when it adopted the rule set forth in In re Corotto, 125 Cal.App.2d 314, 270 P.2d 498 (1954), that “after a will has been admitted to probate, it is the duty of the executor to defend and uphold it against subsequent attack, and that this duty rests primarily upon him and not the legatees and devisees.” Even if the will is challenged before it is admitted to probate and a personal representative appointed, the personal representative named in the will has the duty to defend in a will contest. In re Pitt’s Estate, 1 Ariz.App. 533, 541, 405 P.2d 471, 479 (1965). Thus, as the personal representative named in the will, Marion clearly had a duty to defend Mrs. Killen’s will in the will contest.
Nevertheless, the probate court ruled that because Marion defended an invalid will that, if valid, would have given him specific devises from the estate, the defense of the will was for his own benefit rather than the benefit of the estate and thus his expenses of litigation should not be paid from the estate. The court based this ruling on its belief that Arizona courts have interpreted A.R.S. section 14-3720 as precluding a personal representative from receiving attorneys’ fees from the estate when the fees are incurred to protect the administrator’s beneficiary interest in the estate and not to protect the estate itself, citing Matter of Stephens’ Estate, 117 Ariz. 579, 574 P.2d 67 (App.1978).
We do not believe Stephens supports the proposition relied on by the probate court. In Stephens, the estate was administered by co-executors who did not get along. Although the probate matter and appeal involved interpretation of the will, the validity of the will was not challenged. One of the issues was whether one of the co-executors, Kate, was entitled to an award of attorney’s fees from the estate for the fees she had incurred apart from the fees incurred by the other co-executor.
The Stephens court first ruled that A.R.S. section 14-3720 precluded Kate from receiving compensation for any of the attorney’s fees she incurred subsequent to her removal as an executor of the estate. 117 Ariz. at 585, 574 P.2d at 73. The court also concluded that Kate was entitled to reimbursement for her attorney’s fees incurred while she was a co-executor only if the services rendered by her attorney benefitted the estate and not if they were incurred to protect her personal interest as a beneficiary of the estate and not to further her administration. Id. The court explained:
“Such separate counsel should not expect, and should not receive, fees for services that do not represent a distinct benefit to the estate. Such services, or such portion thereof, as inure to the benefit of the executor or co-executors primarily should not be compensable out of the estate funds.”
Id. (quoting In re Maxcy’s Estate, 240 So.2d 93, 96 (Fla.App.1970)).
The petitioners also cite Matter of Estes’ Estate, 134 Ariz. 70, 654 P.2d 4 (App.1982), for the proposition that a personal represen tative is entitled to reimbursement for attorneys’ fees only for those services rendered to benefit the estate. In Estes, the executor, a bank, was surcharged for negligent mishandling of the decedent’s estate. The bank incurred attorneys’ fees in defending against the charges that it mismanaged the estate; the validity of the will was not challenged. The Estes court noted that an “executor is entitled to reimbursement for attorneys’ fees only for services rendered to benefit the estate, not if the services were rendered to protect the executor’s personal interest.” 134 Ariz. at 80, 654 P.2d at 14. The matter was remanded for a determination of whether the attorneys’ fees were for services rendered in good faith to benefit the estate.
As noted, neither Stephens nor Estes involved a challenge to the validity of the will. Thus, unlike Marion, neither the Stephens co-executors nor the Estes executor incurred attorneys’ fees in defending the will. Although it is not entirely clear from the Stephens opinion, it appears that Kate argued for an interpretation of the will that benefit-ted her. As such, it was proper for the probate court to determine whether the services rendered by Kate’s attorney benefitted the estate. Similarly, the bank in Estes incurred the attorneys’ fees in defending its performance as executor, and it was necessary for the court to decide whether that defense benefitted the estate.
However, in Marion’s case, as personal representative he was under a legal duty to defend the validity of the will, regardless of whether the will benefitted him. By definition, the defense to a challenge to the validity of the decedent’s will benefits the estate even if it also benefits the personal representative’s beneficiary interest in the estate. Therefore, in determining whether to award attorneys’ fees from the estate, the probate court need not determine whether the defense of the will against a charge of invalidity due to lack of testamentary capacity benefits the estate; by definition, it does.
Section 14-3720 does not exclude a right to reimbursement from the estate if the personal representative is also a beneficiary of the will. The statute does not contain such an exclusion for a good reason; the personal representative who is also a devisee of the will should not have to fulfill his duty to defend the validity of the will under the risk that he will have to personally bear the expense of the defense merely because he is also a beneficiary. See Pitt, 1 Ariz.App. at 541, 405 P.2d at 479 (because duty and law require an executor to defend in a will contest, he should not be required to defend at his peril). Therefore, the fact that a person named in a will as personal representative is also a devisee does not preclude him from recovering from the estate the attorneys’ fees incurred in defending the will, even if defense of the will also benefits the personal representative/devisee.
Under A.R.S. section 14-3720, the only circumstance in which the personal representative defending a will would not be entitled to receive from the estate the necessary expenses and disbursements, including attorneys’ fees, is if he did not defend the proceeding in good faith. The probate court made no finding that Marion defended the will in bad faith. The petitioners had alleged that Marion had caused Mrs. Killen to make the will by his undue influence. However, because the probate court found the will invalid due to lack of testamentary capacity, it did not reach the issue of undue influence and made no findings on the question.
Presumably, a finding that Marion knew that Mrs. Killen lacked testamentary capacity and that he nevertheless influenced her to make the will leaving him much of her estate would indicate that he knew the will was invalid and, even as personal representative, acted in bad faith in defending the will. On the other hand, other devisees of the will had an interest in its validity, and Marion may have had a duty to them as well as to the testator, notwithstanding any doubts as to Mrs. Killen’s testamentary capacity, to defend the will. Cf. In re Warren’s Estate, 74 Ariz. 319, 322, 248 P.2d 873, opinion modified in other part, 74 Ariz. 385, 249 P.2d 948 (1952) (executor owes distinct and binding duty to devisees to properly account to them concerning management of estate); In re McCabe’s Estate, 11 Ariz.App. 555, 556, 466 P.2d 774, 775 (App.1970) (executor is representative of all parties interested in estate and has duty to protect estate assets).
Additionally, we note that a portion of the proceedings below, although it appears to be a relatively small portion, concerned the removal of Marion as personal representative. Although the court did remove Marion, the reason was not due to the allegation of undue influence but instead was for the reasons that the will appointing him was invalid, he was not a resident of Arizona, he had not marshalled the estate assets or transferred bank accounts and real estate to the estate, and he had failed to file a proper inventory and appraisement of the estate assets. Thus, removal of Marion as personal representative does not per se indicate that he defended the will in bad faith.
In any event, the probate court made no finding that Marion did not defend the will in good faith. Therefore, we reverse the denial of an award of attorneys’ fees and costs from the estate and remand for further proceedings regarding whether Marion defended the will in bad faith, if the petitioners wish to take that position.
CONCLUSION
In summary, we hold that the probate court had jurisdiction to determine whether attorneys’ fees and costs from the estate should be awarded to Marion. We reverse the denial of Marion’s application for an award of attorneys’ fees and costs from the estate and remand for a determination of whether he defended the will in good faith and whether his defense of his appointment as personal representative benefitted the estate.
Marion requests an award from the estate of his attorneys’ fees incurred on appeal. Pursuant to A.R.S. section 14-3720, we grant his request. The amount of the award must be established by complying with Rule 21(e), Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure. However, Marion may not recover the portion of attorneys’ fees expended to fight his removal as personal representative.
WEISBERG and PATTERSON, JJ., concur.
. Based on the appraisal of the estate done after Mrs. Killen’s death, the value of the money and property bequeathed to Marion was $415,034.62 out of an estate with a total value of $796,917.62.
. We have affirmed the probate court’s judgment declaring the will to be invalid in Estate of Killen, 188 Ariz.App. 562, 937 P.2d 1368 (1996).
. Although the probate court has jurisdiction to make such an award after a notice of appeal has been filed, we nevertheless believe it is the best practice and most conserving of judicial resources to seek fee awards before the appeal of the underlying judgment or order is taken so that if an appeal is taken from the disposition of the fee application, that appeal can be included in the appeal from the judgment.
. We note that in In re Nolan's Estate, 56 Ariz. 366, 108 P.2d 391 (1940), the court concluded that the executrix, who was the only devisee of the will, was defending the will entirely as devisee and legatee and not in her capacity as a trustee of the estate and thus that she, not the estate, should pay the attorneys. However, Nolan did not involve a challenge to the validity of the will. Instead, the decedent’s widow, who received nothing in the will, sought a widow’s allowance that would have left no assets in the estate to pass under the will. If the executrix/devisee prevailed, she would get the entire estate under the will. There was no allegation that the will was invalid due to lack of testamentary capacity.
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OPINION
FIDEL, Judge.
Appellant, a juvenile, argues that the juvenile court improperly denied his motion to suppress contraband seized during a warrantless “stop and frisk.” Whether an investigatory stop is valid is one question; whether a protective frisk is valid is another. The prerequisite for conducting an investigatory stop is a reasonable suspicion that a person is engaged or about to engage in criminal activity; the prerequisite for conducting a protective frisk is a reasonable suspicion that the suspect may be armed and presently dangerous. We find that the investigatory stop was valid in this case, but that the protective frisk was not. We therefore conclude that the juvenile court improperly denied the juvenile’s motion to suppress.
I. BACKGROUND
While watching a residence for narcotics activity, two undercover sheriffs’ officers saw a truck drop two juveniles off at an intersection. The juveniles, Appellant and his companion, walked in one direction, but reversed their path when the truck was out of sight. Appellant entered a house not under surveillance while his companion waited at the corner. Shortly after Appellant entered the house, another person opened the door and looked outside. Minutes later Appellant emerged, put something in his pocket, and, with his hand still in his pocket, rejoined his companion. As he walked, Appellant kept his head down, but continued looking around him as if “he was trying to keep an eye on everything that was going on.”
As the juveniles walked toward the officers, the officers stopped them, identified themselves, and questioned them. One of the officers, Detective Durst, stated that he thought a drug deal had occurred and asked whether the juveniles were carrying drugs. Appellant responded, “We don’t have any drugs, and you can’t prove it,” and began to walk away. Durst grabbed Appellant’s arm and said he was going to pat the juveniles down for safety reasons. Appellant’s companion submitted, but Appellant attempted to pull away, stating, “I’m a juvenile, you can’t do this to me, I want my mom.” Durst escorted Appellant to an unmarked police car, patted him down, and identified a pack of cigarettes by touch. Because it is “a petty offense” under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) § 13-3622 (1989) for a minor to possess cigarettes, Durst treated the cigarettes as contraband and removed them from the juvenile’s pants pocket. In the cigarette pack, Durst found a substance later identified as methamphetamine.
Appellant was charged with an act of juvenile delinquency based on possession of a dangerous drug, a class 4 felony. Before the adjudication hearing, Appellant moved to suppress the methamphetamine on the grounds that the stop and frisk constituted an unlawful search and seizure. After hearing Durst’s testimony, the juvenile court denied the motion and found Appellant delinquent as charged.
II. THE INVESTIGATORY STOP
Appellant argues that the investigatory stop was an unreasonable seizure because his acts — walking down a residential street on a summer afternoon, standing on a corner, and visiting a residence — lacked any facial criminal implications. The State counters that the initial stop was not a “seizure,” but a “voluntary encounter” not subject to Fourth Amendment protection. See Florida v. Royer, 460 U.S. 491, 498, 103 S.Ct. 1319, 1324, 75 L.Ed.2d 229 (1983). Neither argument accurately characterizes the totality of facts before this court.
If an officer forms a reasonable suspicion that a person is engaged or about to engage in criminal activity, the officer may stop and detain the suspect for investigatory purposes. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19-22, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1878-81, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968); accord State v. Rogers, 186 Ariz. 508, 510, 924 P.2d 1027, 1029 (1996). To establish the constitutional validity of an investigatory stop, the officer must “point to specific and articulable facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant that intrusion.” Terry, 392 U.S. at 21, 88 S.Ct. at 1879-80; see also Rogers, 186 Ariz. at 511, 924 P.2d at 1030 (finding investigatory stop unlawful where officers articulated only that it was dark, that defendant and his companion emerged from bushes and walked down the middle of the street, and that defendant stared at officers).
The standard of “reasonable suspicion” defies precise definition, but requires the “[t]otality of the circumstances — the whole picture — [to] be taken into account.” United States v. Cortez, 449 U.S. 411, 411, 101 S.Ct. 690, 692, 66 L.Ed.2d 621 (1981). In Rogers, our supreme court explained:
“Articulating precisely what ‘reasonable suspicion’ ... mean[s] is not possible. [It is a] commonsense, nontechnical coneept[ ] that deal[s] with the ‘factual and practical considerations of everyday life on which reasonable and prudent men, not legal technicians, act.’ ”
186 Ariz. at 511, 924 P.2d at 1030 (quoting Ornelas v. United States, — U.S. —, —, 116 S.Ct. 1657, 1661, 134 L.Ed.2d 911 (1996)). Whether an officer’s suspicion of illegal activity is “reasonable” is a mixed question of law and fact, which we review de novo. See id. at 510, 924 P.2d at 1029.
The State is mistaken in denying that the initial detention was a “seizure.” From the outset, Appellant and his companion were not free to leave. When Appellant attempted to walk away, Detective Durst physically restrained him. It was not only reasonable but accurate for Appellant to feel that his freedom was restricted. See id. (“The fact that an officer pursued defendant when he did leave shows just how reasonable it was for defendant to believe his freedom was being restricted.”). The initial stop was therefore a “seizure” subject to Fourth Amendment analysis.
But Appellant too is mistaken in asserting that his conduct gave no basis to suspect that he was engaged in criminal activity. While each of Appellant’s singular acts was consistent with innocent conduct, those acts cumulatively, under the totality of circumstances, gave an experienced police officer reason to inquire. See Terry, 392 U.S. at 22-23, 88 S.Ct. at 1880-81.
Detective Durst explained the facts that alerted him to potential criminal activity. Shortly after Appellant entered the unknown residence, Durst saw another person peer out of the house “as if trying to look for someone.” Durst continued:
Based on my past experiences, as far as myself doing buys or watching other buys go down, the actions of the subject shoving things into his pocket, the paranoid look as far as not wanting to look up at anyone in particular, but keeping his head down, constantly keeping his hand in his pocket. Also, the second subject pacing up and down, watching another person. That’s not — that’s not really common. Why wouldn’t the other person go into the house with him if he was just going to visit a friend?
It’s usually, based on my training and experience, when something as far as a drug deal takes place, if a second person is not known in that particular residence they are not welcome there, and if they do go there, then the transaction will not take place simply because the person selling is usually so paranoid that everyone’s a cop or everyone’s a snitch that they usually won’t deal with a second unknown person.
As a narcotics investigator, Detective Durst had completed more than 100 hours in narcotics training, had observed more than 100 illegal drug buys, and had participated in undercover buys. He appropriately drew upon that experience and upon specific “articulable” facts to form the belief that Appellant and his companion were engaged in criminal activity. Given the totality of the circumstances, the juvenile court properly concluded that the investigatory stop was reasonably justified.
III. THE PROTECTIVE FRISK
Although the juvenile separately challenged the legitimacy of the investigatory stop and the protective frisk, the juvenile court treated them as one. In denying Appellant’s motion to suppress, the court stated:
[T]his is a stop and frisk under Terry versus Ohio, and if an officer ... has a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity, then the person suspected can be stopped, detained, and a pat-down search can be conducted.
In this case, the Court believes that the officers did have reasonable grounds to conduct the stop and frisk, and the reason is that this is unusual activity. If I had seen this activity, I would have thought something weird was going on.... Sounds like illegal activity is going on to me of some kind, and probably a drug transaction. So, they had reasonable grounds to stop and frisk, which is what they did.
The juvenile court assumed in this ruling that a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity entitled Detective Durst not only to stop Appellant and his companion, but also to conduct a protective frisk. This was error. As we explained in Pima County Juvenile Delinquency Action No. J-103621-01, 181 Ariz. 375, 377, 891 P.2d 243, 245 (App.1995), the validity of the stop and the validity of the frisk are separate questions. “Neither Terry nor its progeny ... authorizes routine pat-down searches of persons simply because they have been detained by the police.”
Under Terry, an officer may lawfully frisk a person for weapons if the officer reasonably suspects that an individual may be armed and presently dangerous to the officer or others. Terry, 392 U.S. at 30, 88 S.Ct. at 1884-85.
The officer need not be absolutely certain that the individual is armed; the issue is whether a reasonably prudent man in the circumstances would be warranted in the belief that his safety or that of others was in danger.
[I]n determining whether the officer acted reasonably in such circumstances, due weight must be given, not to his inchoate and unparticularized suspicion or “hunch,” but to the specific reasonable inferences which he is entitled to draw from the facts in light of his experience.
Id. at 27, 88 S.Ct. at 1883 (citations omitted); accord J-103621-01, 181 Ariz. at 377, 891 P.2d at 245.
The juvenile court made no such inquiry or finding. Nor does the State acknowledge this separate inquiry in its brief. The State argues only that a “reasonable suspicion [of] wrongdoing” entitled Detective Durst to both stop and frisk. In the juvenile court, however, the State raised the question of safety, asking Detective Durst whether he frisked Appellant “for officer safety reasons.” Durst responded affirmatively and explained:
Based on my training and experience that persons involved in the drug trade often carry weapons to protect themselves and protect their investment ... and also that [Appellant’s companion] was being compliant, and [Appellant] decided he was not going to. I didn’t know where he may have been going to flee to or go around the corner or something to that effect, because he was, like I said, very nervous, and I didn’t know exactly what he may have had on him or if he had any weapons or anything to that effect.
But on cross-examination, Durst added that Appellant had no weapon in plain view, wore no backpack, had nothing in his hands, made no threatening or furtive gestures, and did not wear bulky or layered clothing (Appellant wore a tank top and baggy cut-off shorts). Durst did not indicate that the neighborhood was a factor in his decision, and the time of day was approximately noon. When asked if he had a reason to believe that he was dealing with an armed and dangerous individual, Durst responded, “Based on my experience, it’s always that possibility.”
The courts must be receptive to an officer’s need to protect himself and others against a potentially armed or dangerous suspect in the course of an investigatory encounter. See State v. Blackmore, 186 Ariz. 630, 632, 925 P.2d 1347, 1349 (1996) (officer reasonably believed burglary suspect was armed and dangerous where officer was alone with the suspect in an alley at dusk, and suspect was hiding); State v. Vasquez, 167 Ariz. 352, 355, 807 P.2d 520, 523 (1991) (protective frisk justified where officers responded to domestic call at 2:00 a.m., defendant had been drinking and arguing, and emotions were running high); State v. Romero, 178 Ariz. 45, 49, 870 P.2d 1141, 1145 (App.1993) (protective frisk justified where officer was aware that suspects were believed to have recently committed a drive-by shooting).
Yet the courts must not “condone[] the use of a ‘frisk’ to search for evidence of an independent crime.” State v. Collins, 139 Ariz. 434, 437, 679 P.2d 80, 83 (App.1983). As we stated in J-103621-01:
A Terry search is limited to that necessary to discover weapons that might be used to harm the officer or others; it does not permit an officer to undertake a “fishing expedition.”
181 Ariz. at 378, 891 P.2d at 246.
In Ybarra v. Illinois, 444 U.S. 85, 92-93, 100 S.Ct. 338, 342-43, 62 L.Ed.2d 238 (1979), the Supreme Court held a protective frisk unlawful because the frisk was unsupported by a reasonable belief that the suspect was armed and dangerous. There the suspect was a patron of a tavern where the police were executing a search warrant for narcot ics. The court stressed that the defendant was not a known criminal and made no threatening gestures. And though he wore a long lumber jacket, the Court rejected the assertion that his jacket provided a reasonable ground for believing him armed and dangerous, as lumber jackets were typical attire for the season. Id. at 93, 100 S.Ct. at 343.
In J-103621-01, a police officer responded to a 9:00 p.m. radio call to investigate two juveniles parked in the parking lot of a mall. 181 Ariz. at 376, 891 P.2d at 244. Driving by the car, the responding officer saw two youthful occupants — one in the front seat, one in the back seat — and “numerous unopened” beer cans in the back. When the officer asked the front seat occupant to step out of the car and patted him down, the officer felt objects that, upon further search, turned out to be a pager and a baggie of marüuana. The radio report had not mentioned weapons, the officer did not inquire about beer or weapons, and the officer did not “engage in any conversation that would have justified a belief that the officer was in danger.” Id. at 377, 891 P.2d at 245. Instead, the officer “patted down the minor as though it were simply a routine police procedure.” Id. We found these facts insufficient evidence of apparent danger to support a protective frisk. Id. at 377-78, 891 P.2d at 245^6.
In this case, Detective Durst testified that he believed a pat-down was necessary “for officer safety reasons,” yet provided no objective facts or observations to support such a belief. Appellant was not a known criminal, there was nothing suspicious about his attire, he made no threatening gestures, and the encounter occurred at midday on a public street. Because the State failed to present specific, articulable facts to support a reasonable suspicion that Appellant was armed and presently dangerous, we conclude that the State failed to establish the constitutional validity of subjecting Appellant to a protective frisk.
IV. CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that the juvenile court erred in denying Appellant’s motion to suppress. We reverse the adjudication of delinquency and remand for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
NOYES, P.J., and RYAN, J., concur.
. Appellant also moved to suppress statements that he made during the stop and frisk, and he has appealed the denial of that motion. However, his brief addresses only the suppression of methamphetamine. A party abandons an appellate issue who fails to argue the issue in his brief. State v. McCall, 139 Ariz. 147, 163, 677 P.2d 920, 936 (1983). We confine our discussion to the issue that was briefed.
. The State also argues that the seizure of the methamphetamine was lawful under the plain touch rule. The validity of the pat-down, however, is a threshold issue; and because we find the pat-down invalid, we do not reach the issue of plain touch.
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ORDER
After hearing oral argument and considering further the pleadings filed, it appears to the Court that the grant of review in this case was improvident. Therefore,
IT IS ORDERED that the order granting review is vacated.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Petition for Review is dismissed.
|
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OPINION
HATHAWAY, Judge.
Pima County appeals the granting of summary judgment ordering it to pay appellee University Medical Center (UMC) $160,-953.27 plus interest for hospital expenses incurred on behalf of Miguel Lara (Lara), who, while committing a felony, was wounded by a Tucson Police Officer. Lara was then transported directly to UMC, where he remained hospitalized under Tucson Police guard for approximately two months. Upon discharge, Lara was transported to the county jail and incarcerated.' The county argues that it should not be held responsible for Lara’s medical expenses because there was no arrest or charge, nor was Lara incarcerated until after his hospitalization ended. The county argues, in the alternative, that if it is liable, it should not be charged the “full billed” amount (non-discounted charges) for Lara’s hospitalization. We affirm the trial court’s decision.
The trial court awarded judgment to UMC based on A.R.S. §§ 11-601(3) and 31-121(C). Section 11-601 states that county charges are:
3. Expenses necessarily incurred in the support of persons charged with or convicted of crime and committed therefor to the county jail.
Section 31-121(C) provides in pertinent part:
A person who is arrested by a peace officer employed by a city or town and thereafter charged in the superior court or a justice of the peace court may be housed in a county jail. The costs of incarceration are a county expense.
The county contends that it was not responsible for Lara’s medical expenses under the cited statutes until he was arrested, charged and committed to or housed in jail. We disagree. Section 11-601(3) does not limit its application to expenses necessarily incurred after the charging, conviction and commitment to jail. We presume, and the parties do not dispute, that Lara was charged within 48 hours of his arrest as required by Rule 4.1(b), Ariz.R.Crim.P., 17 A.R.S. But for the severity of Lara’s injuries, he would have been taken to jail immediately. That it was imprudent for the officers to stop at the jail prior to going to the hospital does not reheve the county of its obligation.
The county further argues that mere custody (Lara was chained to his hospital bed and guarded by a Tucson police officer at all times) is not “incarceration,” and because Lara was not guarded by county sheriff personnel during his hospital tenure, his expenses are not the county’s obligation. In § 31-121(C), Arizona has adopted a “nature of the offense” rule, that “[rjesponsibility for prisoner maintenance depends upon the nature of the offense committed, not upon which court has jurisdiction over the prisoner____” Mohave County v. City of Kingman, 160 Ariz. 502, 505, 774 P.2d 806, 809 (1989). Lara was wounded while committing a felony, and arrested, charged and incarcerated for his commission of that felony, a state offense. It is irrelevant that he was guarded by a city police officer; what is important is that he was in custody for a state and not a city offense, and that he was not yet in the county jail only because of his injuries related to that offense. Mohave.
The county contends that our opinion in Cochise County v. Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, 170 Ariz. 443, 825 P.2d 968 (App.1991), holding that an “inmate of a public institution” does not include one en route to the institution for booking and incarceration, is contrary to the trial court’s ruling in the instant case. We disagree. In Cochise, we interpreted specific language of an AHCCCS regulation stating that an inmate of a public institution means a person incarcerated in the institution. As a result, we found it necessary to interpret the meaning of “incarcerated” in order to apply the regulation. However, the term “incarcerated” is not critical to the application of § 11-601(3), the decisive statute in this case. As noted above, § 11-601(3) does not impose a time requirement; as long as the elements of the statute are satisfied, the resulting expenses are a county charge. In this case, Lara was charged with and convicted of a crime, and committed therefor to the county jail as the statute requires. As a result, his medical expenses are the county’s obligation.
Moreover, Cochise is further distinguishable because the issue there was whether AHCCCS, a governmental agency, or the county, likewise a governmental agency, was responsible for payment of an indigent’s hospitalization costs. There, AHCCCS was held responsible based upon the statutory scheme and the AHCCCS director’s regulations. In contrast, the issue here is whether the hospital or a governmental agency is responsible for a prisoner’s care and custody. As a matter of public policy, some governmental agency must be responsible for Lara’s care, particularly in light of the absence of any time constraints in the relevant statutes, and the fact that all elements of the statutes were ultimately satisfied. Accordingly, the expenses must be attributed to the appropriate governmental agency and not imposed upon the hospital.
The county contends, in the alternative, that if we determine it is liable for Lara’s medical expenses, we must allow it to pay a discounted amount ($113,584.73), and not the full charges billed ($160,953.27). A.R.S. § 11-297.01 authorizes reimbursement to the county at a discounted rate for medical care provided to “indigent” patients. The parties agree that Lara was not “indigent” at the time of his hospitalization. The county nonetheless argues that it is only authorized to pay for medical expenses at the reduced rate and that UMC has uniformly accepted payment for inmates (both indigent and non-indigent) at the discounted rate in the past. We are, however, bound by the statutes, which only allow for payment at the discounted rate for indigent patients. It is the legislature’s role, not ours, to determine whether non-indigent patients should be afforded the discounted rate. Section 11-601(3) obligates the county to pay for Lara’s care, and in the absence of statutory support for a discounted rate, we have no choice but to affirm the trial court as a matter of law.
In light of our decision holding the county liable, we do not address UMC’s cross-appeal against the City of Tucson. Affirmed.
ESPINOSA, P.J., and FLÓREZ, J., concur.
|
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ORDER
The court has considered the appellant’s motion for order recalling mandate/granting leave to to file delayed petition for review by supreme court in propria persona. No response has been filed. Former counsel has submitted an affidavit stating that appellant received erroneous advice concerning the ne cessity of filing a petition for review. Good cause appearing,
IT IS ORDERED that the clerk of this court shall recall the order and mandate issued on January 17,1996.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED allowing appellant to and including May 16, 1997, in which to file a petition for review.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the clerk of the superior court shall retain all records, exhibits and other matters previously returned to the superior court pursuant to the mandate.
|
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OPINION
JEFFREY P. HANDLER, Judge Pro Tempore.
A jury found appellant guilty of theft by control and third-degree burglary. The trial court suspended the imposition of sentence and placed appellant on probation for four years. He argues that he is entitled to a new trial because the record does not establish that the court gave the jury the verdict form for the lesser-included offense of unlawful use of a means of transportation and that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied his motion for judgment of acquittal on the third-degree burglary charge.
The charges arose from an incident on September 30,1995, when appellant drove off in a vehicle belonging to a Tucson Pizza Hut delivery man. Appellant was apprehended minutes later after a chase conducted by the vehicle’s owner and the pizza parlor’s manager. Appellant’s defense was that he did not intend to permanently deprive the owner of the vehicle.
Appellant requested an instruction on the unlawful use of a means of transportation as a lesser-included offense of theft by control. See State v. Kamai, 184 Ariz. 620, 911 P.2d 626 (App.1995). While the record shows that the trial court gave the requested instruction and that it referred to three forms of verdict, the record only contains two forms of verdict, one for theft by control and one for third-degree burglary, both of which were returned “guilty.”
As appellant concedes, claims of error regarding forms of verdict are generally waived for appeal unless an objection is lodged at trial. Ariz.R.Crim.P. 21.3(c), 17 A.R.S. However, issues regarding the forms of verdict, although not objected to at trial, can still be raised for the first time on appeal as fundamental error. See State v. Moya, 140 Ariz. 508, 683 P.2d 307 (App.1984). Appellant relies on this court’s decision in State v. Flores, 140 Ariz. 469, 682 P.2d 1136 (App. 1984), and Division One’s decision in State v. Knorr, 186 Ariz. 300, 921 P.2d 703 (App. 1996). In both cases, however, the record established that the trial court had failed to provide the requisite forms of verdict. Here, the record does not establish one way or the other whether the jury was given the form of verdict. As the state points out, a matter not contained in the record on appeal is presumed to support the trial court’s decision. State v. Rivera, 168 Ariz. 102, 811 P.2d 354 (App.1990). While we indulge in the presumption for purposes of appeal, appellant is free to seek relief on this issue through proceedings pursuant to Rule 32, Ariz. R.Crim.P., where he may obtain an evidentiary hearing to determine if the lesser-included form of verdict was omitted, and if so, whether he was prejudiced by that omission. See State v. Georgeoff, 163 Ariz. 434, 788 P.2d 1185 (1990).
We find no merit to appellant’s other argument — that the trial court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal on the third-degree burglary charge. He contends that he did not enter the vehicle with the intent to commit an act separate from stealing the car. Under A.R.S. § 13-1506(A), “[a] person commits burglary in the third degree by entering or remaining unlawfully in or on a nonresidential structure ... with the intent to commit any theft or any felony therein.” The question thus presented is whether entry into, or remaining in, a vehicle with the intent to steal the vehicle itself constitutes burglary. Courts in Illinois and Florida have held in the affirmative when interpreting statutes which do not vary in material respect from A.R.S. § 13-1506(A).
In People v. Mullinex, 125 Ill.App.3d 87, 90, 80 Ill.Dec. 344, 347, 465 N.E.2d 135, 138 (1984), the court stated:
There is nothing in the statutory language itself that restricts the scope ... to situations in which the defendant steals or intends to steal something from the interi- or of the automobile, as opposed to attempting to steal or actually stealing the vehicle itself. Furthermore, the court in [People v. Sansone, 94 Ill.App.3d 271, 49 Ill.Dec. 842, 418 N.E.2d 862 (1981) ] concluded that the defendant, who entered an automobile with the intent to steal the vehicle itself, was properly convicted of the offense of burglary____ The Sansone court rejected defendant’s argument that the word ‘therein’ contained in the burglary statute refers only to property taken from within the vehicle, not the vehicle itself.
In light of the plain language of the statute and the legislative intent impliedly expressed therein to protect motor vehicles, adoption of the defendant’s position in this ease would not be in harmony with the legislative enactment and intent, for his interpretation of the statute would create an absurd or illogical result. For example, under the defendant’s view of the statute, a person who enters an automobile without authority and with the intent to steal an item from within the vehicle could be punished as a burglar, whereas a person who enters a car unlawfully with the intent to steal the entire vehicle could be convicted only of the less serious offense of theft or attempted theft.
And the supreme court of Florida in State v. Stephens, 601 So.2d 1195, 1196-97 (FIa.1992), stated:
The use of the word ‘therein’ plainly indicates that the crime of burglary can exist if the defendant formed an intent to commit a crime ‘in that place.’ There is no requirement that the crime must be one that can be completed solely within the fixed limits of that particular place, only that the crime is intended to be committed there. This obviously can include an intent to commit car theft, because such a crime can be committed ‘in that place.’ * i',i Hi * * *
[A] burglary is complete the moment a defendant enters or remains within the vehicle with the requisite intent. Even if the defendant changes plans and decides not to steal the vehicle, the crime of burglary still would exist. However, if the defendant then takes the additional step of starting the vehicle and driving away with it, the separate crime of auto theft then will be complete. In sum, two separate evils involving two distinct temporal events are involved in the typical auto theft. Nothing in our law prohibits the charging of both offenses merely because both often occur within a single transaction.
Because we agree with the reasoning, we cannot conclude the trial court abused its discretion when it denied the motion for judgment of acquittal on the burglary charge. Appellant entered the vehicle without the owner’s permission, drove it away and resisted the owner’s attempt to regain possession. From this, the jury could reasonably find that appellant entered, or remained in, the vehicle with the intent to commit a theft of the vehicle itself. Substantial evidence thus supported the burglary conviction and did not warrant a judgment of acquittal. State v. Landrigan, 176 Ariz. 1, 859 P.2d 111 (1993).
The judgment of convictions and the probationary term imposed are affirmed.
DRUKE, C.J., and FLOREZ, P.J., concur.
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OPINION
DRUKE, Chief Judge.
A jury convicted appellant of one count of child abuse and one count of first-degree murder. The charges against appellant arose after his girlfriend’s one-year-old daughter, Sedona, lapsed into a coma and died of apparent non-accidental head trauma or “shaken baby syndrome.” The trial court sentenced appellant to a presumptive seventeen-year prison term on the child abuse conviction and to life imprisonment on the murder conviction. None of the issues raised on appeal merits reversal.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Appellant first met Sedona and her mother, Beth, in late August 1993. Both appellant and Beth made a living selling handmade crafts at swap meets and flea markets in New Mexico and Arizona. They began living and traveling together in appellant’s van after Beth’s ex-husband left her and Sedona.
Almost from the beginning, appellant treated Sedona as his own daughter. Beth testified that appellant acted “like a proud dad” by telling his friends and others, “This is my daughter.” Beth also said that appellant wanted to adopt Sedona and “make us a family and provide for us.” She also stated:
He became very dominating as far as taking care of her. He became very insistent that he bathe her and feed her and hold her and do everything regarding the parenthood of Sedona. He said that he wanted to bond to her, to get her to know him as her father.
Appellant likewise dominated Beth. She testified that he “made all the decisions,” “control[led] all the money,” and her “place was to be his woman and be quiet.”
Soon after Beth moved in with appellant, she began noticing pinch marks and bruises on Sedona’s cheeks. When Beth asked appellant about them, he told her “that because [Sedona] was teething, her hands were continually in her mouth and that she was pinching herself.” On two occasions, Beth also observed bruises on Sedona’s forehead, which appellant attributed to accidents.
On October 15 and 16, Sedona began showing signs of illness (diarrhea, vomiting, and fever) while appellant and Beth were working at a swap meet in Socorro, New Mexico. The three left Socorro about 4:00 p.m. on October 16, intending to go to Ft. Huachuca, Arizona. However, after spending the night at a freeway rest stop, they changed their minds and decided to go to Tucson. When they later stopped at a supermarket in Benson for Beth to buy some medication for Sedona, appellant said that they were going to a lake south of the freeway because Sedona “was just teething” and would “be all right in a few days once the tooth cuts through.” When Beth protested, appellant stated: “My decision is final. We’re going to the lake, period.”
Shortly after they arrived at the lake, Se-dona stopped breathing. Beth began cardiopulmonary resuscitation and told appellant they had to get Sedona to a hospital. Appellant initially refused, claiming he would be arrested for child abuse, but then relented when Beth threatened to scream for help out the van window. When they reached the freeway and appellant began driving towards Tucson at 55 miles per hour, Beth testified that she told him to drive faster and, if he would not, to “stop a car, stop at a gas station, stop a person, stop cops, stop anybody, get us help!” Beth said appellant replied: “I’m going, I’m going as fast as I can.” Beth then gave this description of their trip to the hospital:
He said he knew that there was a hospital on the highway, but he didn’t know where, and so he drove us into downtown Tucson and he says, “I can’t find it,” and so we turned around and went back all the way back out to the exit where the lake was, and then he said, “Okay. We’re going to go back, I know it’s here,” so we turned around and went all the way back into downtown Tucson and still couldn’t find the hospital, and at that point, I told him, “I know there is a hospital in Benson. I seen the sign when I was at the supermarket. Take me to Benson,” and so we went back to Benson, and he got to the exit[ ] stop at Benson and said, ‘Well, Benson wouldn’t have the facilities that we need, their hospital couldn’t probably help us,” and so he turned back around and started heading back to Tucson, and it was at that time and point that I seen out the window to Kino Hospital, I believe it was, the sign for the hospital.
When they arrived at the hospital, appellant let the two out of the van and drove away.
Beth told the medical personnel that Sedona had been ill for two or three days with vomiting and diarrhea. They later found that Sedona was suffering from profound swelling of the brain and had a “fair amount of bruising” over her body, including her genital area, and a rectal tear. Based on this, the attending physician determined that her condition was the result of non-accidental trauma, with the brain injury likely having been sustained one to three days prior to her arrival at the hospital. Sedona never came out of the coma and died after life support systems were disconnected the next day.
Appellant was charged with one count of-first-degree murder (count one) and three counts of child abuse pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-3623(B)(1): one for failing to seek medical treatment (count two), one for causing retinal hemorrhages and brain injuries (count three), and one for causing rectal tears (count four). The trial court directed a verdict on count four. The jury acquitted appellant of count three and convicted him of counts one and two.
DISCUSSION
Failure to Seek Medical Care
Section 13-3623(B) provides, in pertinent part, as follows:
B. Under circumstances likely to produce death or serious physical injury, any person who causes a child ... to suffer physical injury or, having the care or custody of such child ... causes or permits the person or health of such child ... to be injured or causes or permits such child ... to be placed in a situation where its person or health is endangered is guilty of an offense as follows:
1. If done intentionally or knowingly, the offense is a class 2 felony and if the victim is under fifteen years of age it is punishable pursuant to § 13-604.01.
(Emphasis added.) Appellant’s primary contention on appeal is that he did not have “the care or custody” of Sedona so as to be punishable under the statute for failing to seek medical care for her. We find appellant’s arguments unpersuasive.
In State v. Swanson, 184 Ariz. 194, 196, 908 P.2d 8, 10 (App.1995), we wrote that “care” as provided in the statute, “implies the voluntary assumption of a special responsibility for [a] child____’’ There, the defendant was convicted of negligent child abuse for driving under the influence of alcohol with two children in his car, neither of which was his; one was the child of his live-in girlfriend, who was also a passenger in the car, and the other was the first child’s friend. Given these circumstances, we reversed the defendant’s child abuse conviction, holding that he had not assumed the care of the children because there was no evidence he had “supplied either child with food, shelter, medical needs, discipline, supervision or the like.” Id.
That is not the case here, however. As noted above, appellant voluntarily assumed responsibility for providing for Sedona, going so far as referring to her as his daughter. He assumed the role of primary care giver by dominating Sedona’s mother and controlling all the income. On this record, the jury had more than sufficient evidence to find that appellant had “care” of Sedona as required by § 13-3623(B).
Appellant further argues, however, that Swanson stands for the proposition that “[a] non-parent cannot share ‘care or custody’ for the purposes of criminal liability under the child abuse statutes with a parent who is present and capable of assuming the parental role.” Nothing in Swanson supports appellant’s position. There, we simply noted that the mother had not “relinquished ‘care’ of the children to the defendant” by allowing them to ride with her in the defendant’s car. Id. We did not foreclose the possibility that a parent and a non-parent could, under circumstances such as this, share the responsibility for a child. Likewise, there is nothing in the statute prohibiting a person from assuming the care of a child while the parent remains present. The issue of whether appellant had assumed responsibility for Sedona’s care was simply a question of fact the jury found against appellant, and the record supports that finding.
Appellant next contends that he cannot be held criminally responsible for his failure to seek medical care for Sedona because § 13-3623(B) imposes no legal duty upon him to do so. We disagree. By its terms, and as the jury was instructed, the statute imposes a legal duty on anyone assuming the care or custody of a child to preserve and protect the child’s health. Accordingly, the trial court did not commit fundamental error, as appellant claims, when it failed to instruct the jury, sua sponte, that it must find that appellant had a duty to seek medical care for Sedona before it could find appellant guilty of child abuse.
We also disagree that the statute is unconstitutionally vague as applied to appellant by its failure to define “care.” Under any definition, the responsibility appellant assumed in providing for Sedona constitutes “care.”
Appellant further contends that his conviction for murder on a felony murder theory cannot stand because “a crime of omission may not serve as a predicate felony for felony-murder.” In support of his argument, appellant cites the language of § 13-1105, Arizona’s felony murder statute, which refers to a person “[a]cting either alone or with one or more other persons” who “commits or attempts to commit ... child abuse under Sec. 13-3623, subsection B, paragraph 1” as a predicate for felony murder. (Emphasis added.) First, notwithstanding the dicta appellant quotes from State v. Styers, 177 Ariz. 104, 110, 865 P.2d 765, 771 (1993), we do not believe that the legislature’s use of the word “acting” was intended to preclude crimes of omission when, as here, a person in fact commits an offense that the legislature has specifically included as a basis for felony murder. In addition, by thwarting and impeding Beth’s attempts to obtain medical care for Sedona after she became ill, the jury could well have found that, under § 13-3623(B), appellant actively “cause[d] or permitted] such child ... to be placed in a situation where its person or health [was] endangered.”
Juror Misconduct
Finally, we find appellant’s argument that two nurses on the jury presented improper extrinsic evidence in the form of their medical experience with child abuse victims indistinguishable from that presented and rejected in State v. Aguilar, 169 Ariz. 180, 818 P.2d 165 (App.1991).
We reviewed the entire record in resolving this appeal and found no fundamental error. Accordingly, appellant’s convictions and sentences are affirmed.
ESPINOSA, P.J., and HATHAWAY, J., concur.
|
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OPINION
FELDMAN, Justice.
On June 1, 1994, a jury found Pete Carl Rogovich guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of armed robbery, and one count of unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle. The trial court sentenced Rogovich to death for three of his four murder convictions. This is Rogovich’s direct, automatic appeal of his murder convictions and death sentences. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3), A.R.S. § 13-4031, and Rule 31.2(b), Ariz.R.Crim.P.
BACKGROUND FACTS
On Sunday, March 15, 1992, at 8:30 a.m., a maintenance man saw Rogovich park his car in the lot of his central Phoenix apartment complex. On the way to his apartment, Rogovich spoke to the maintenance man, telling him he was upset with his girlfriend and was going to get even with her. Rogovich then went to his second-floor apartment.
At about 8:45 a.m., a customer entered a Super Stop Market located near Rogovieh’s apartment and found the body of the clerk, Tekleberhan Manna, a 24-year-old Ethiopian immigrant. Manna sustained a fatal gunshot wound to his right eye, fired from within two feet, causing instantaneous death. No money or merchandise had been taken from the store.
Around 1:00 p.m. the same day, Rogovich left his apartment with a gun in his hand and began randomly firing. At that time, Tony Madrid and Pamela Rodgers were leaving the apartment complex by car. One of Rogovich’s shots hit a rear tire. Madrid thought the car was backfiring, and when he and Rodgers momentarily got out of the car to inspect, Rogovich fired at them but missed. Rogovich then ran to the south side of the complex and jumped the fence separating the apartment complex from the neighboring trailer park.
In the trailer park, Rogovich went on what can only be described as a homicidal rampage, leaving three victims in his wake. In the laundry room, 62-year-old Phyllis Mancuso was shot once through her right cheek and neck and died within minutes. In her driveway, 48-year-old Rebecca Carreon was shot once in the back and died from loss of blood within a few minutes. Finally, in her trailer 83-year-old Marie Pendergast was shot twice in the abdomen and also died from blood loss.
Rogovich was last seen running into an open field adjacent to the trailer park. Some time later, he appeared at a restaurant parking lot where disc jockey Kelly Urich was doing promotional work for Y-95, a Phoenix radio station. Rogovich took the distinctive Y-95 van from Urich at gunpoint and drove off.
Rogovich was next seen at a convenience store in Goodyear. Inside the store, he grabbed a couple of 12-packs of beer from the cooler and approached the counter. At the counter, he put down his gun and demanded in a quiet voice, “Give me some money.” The cashier handed him about $45. Rogovich took the money, casually walked out to the Y-95 van, and drove off.
At about 5:00 p.m. Goodyear police, responding to a call concerning the convenience store robbery, spotted the Y-95 van and pursued. Although Rogovich led them on a lengthy chase at speeds ranging from 50 to over 100 miles per hour, police were finally able to stop him at a roadblock.
In interviews with the police, Rogovich admitted to committing all of the various offenses, including the murder of Tekleberhan Manna. He stated, “I did it. I know it was wrong. I know I’ll burn in hell.” When asked if he was sorry, Rogovich replied, “Of course, I’m sorry. It was wrong. I know it, but I just snapped. I was so angry. I just couldn’t stop. I was full of anger.” Rogovich told a detective that the death of his stepfather in 1986 and the recent breakup with his girlfriend really bothered him.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On March 26, 1992, the State charged Rogovich with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of armed robbery, and one count of unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehi ele. The State also filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty.
At arraignment, Rogovich pleaded not guilty. The trial judge subsequently granted Rogovich’s motions for a competency prescreening and a full psychiatric examination. Although the trial court found Rogovich competent to stand trial, several months later Rogovich gave notice of his intent to present the affirmative defense of insanity.
Two mental health experts examined Rogovich for the defense. Dr. Paul Bindelglas, a psychiatrist, concluded that Rogovich suffered from acute psychosis — in particular, paranoid schizophrenia. Dr. Marc Walter, a clinical neuropsychologist, likewise concluded that Rogovich suffered from paranoid schizophrenia.
The State also had two mental health experts examine Rogovich. Dr. Alexander Don, a psychiatrist, concluded that Rogovich suffered only from a personality disorder, not a mental illness. Dr. Michael Bayless, a psychologist, concluded that Rogovich suffered from no thought or mental disorder but only from phencyclidine (POP) intoxication.
Rogovieh’s jury trial commenced on May 12, 1994. Both at the conclusion of the State’s evidence and at the conclusion of all of the evidence, Rogovich moved for a judgment of acquittal; the judge denied both motions. After deliberating for just over five hours, the jurors found Rogovich guilty on all counts.
At the sentencing hearing following trial, the State raised three statutory aggravators. Rogovich sought to prove only one statutory mitigator, though he also sought to prove five nonstatutory mitigators. In rendering his special verdict, the judge found beyond a reasonable doubt that Rogovich lolled the four victims and that he intended to kill them. Concluding that the mitigators were not sufficiently substantial to call for leniency, the judge sentenced Rogovich to death for the murders of Rebecca Carreon, Phyllis Mancuso, and Marie Pendergast and to a parole-eligible life sentence for the murder of Tekleberhan Manna.
TRIAL ISSUES
A. Expert testimony
1. Bases of expert testimony
Rogovich argues that the trial judge erred when he permitted Dr. Philip Keen, the Maricopa County Chief Medical Examiner, to testify at trial in place of Dr. Larry Shaw and explain the autopsy reports and causes of death. Dr. Shaw prepared the autopsy reports but was no longer on staff at the Medical Examiner’s Office at the time of trial.
Rogovich admits this court has specifically held that such testimony is admissible. See State v. Villafuerte, 142 Ariz. 323, 327, 690 P.2d 42, 46, cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1234, 84 L.Ed.2d 371 (1985) (no error in medical examiner testifying about results shown in laboratory reports not prepared by him); State v. Noleen, 142 Ariz. 101, 104, 688 P.2d 993, 996 (1984) (no error in medical examiner offering opinion on cause of death based on his reading and interpretation of autopsy report prepared by another medical examiner). He instead contends that Dr. Keen based his opinion on the observations of someone who may have been unqualified to make those observations. But Rule 703, Ariz.R.Evid., which governs the bases of opinion testimony by experts, provides:
The facts or data in the particular case upon which an expert bases an opinion or inference may be those perceived or those made known to the expert at or before the hearing. If of a type reasonably relied upon by experts in the particular field in forming opinions or inferences upon the subject, the facts or data need not be admissible in evidence.
The rule does not require that the facts or data used as a basis for an opinion be generated by a qualified, testifying expert. In fact, Rogovich has cited no authority for such a proposition. Moreover, in State v. Lundstrom we held that “under most circumstances an expert may testify as to the substance of another expert’s opinion if the testifying expert reasonably relied on that other opinion in forming his own opinion.” 161 Ariz. 141, 148, 776 P.2d 1067, 1074 (1989); see also Hernandez v. Faker, 137 Ariz. 449, 671 P.2d 427 (App.1983). Thus, the question is whether Dr. Keen reasonably relied on reports and opinions from others.
Dr. Keen’s reliance on Dr. Shaw’s report and opinions cannot seriously be disputed. See Lundstrom, 161 Ariz. at 146, 776 P.2d at 1072 (citing Hernandez, 137 Ariz. at 454, 671 P.2d at 432 (testifying expert may reasonably rely on medical opinions of a non-testifying doctor)); M. Udall & J. Liver-more, Arizona Practice — Law of Evidence § 23, at 12 (2d ed. Supp.1989) (“It is hard to say ... that it is not reasonable [for experts] to rely on ... shared opinions”). Rule 703 merely brings to the courtroom the methods now followed by the learned professions and disciplines. Because of technological advances and the publication and wide dissemination of articles and reports, modern scientists have at their disposal and rely in their work on the findings and reports of colleagues from all over the world. Rule 703 allows a testifying expert to reach and express an opinion in the courtroom in the same manner he or she would in the laboratory or other work place. Any other rule would produce absurdity. For example, no orthopedic surgeon could testify unless the radiologist who read the X-rays on which the surgeon relied was first called to testify, and the radiologist could not testify until the technician who took the X-rays had testified. Presumably, the process could continue without end. We therefore reject the argument and avoid the nightmare that would exist without application of Rule 703.
2. Confrontation issues
Citing Idaho v. Wright, 497 U.S. 805, 110 S.Ct. 3139, 111 L.Ed.2d 638 (1990), Rogovich contends that the right of confrontation is satisfied only when evidence comes in under a firmly rooted hearsay exception. Because Rule 703 is not a hearsay exception, he says it is certainly not firmly rooted.
Admitting the substance of a non-testifying expert’s opinion is not a hearsay use at all. Lundstrom, 161 Ariz. at 148, 776 P.2d at 1074. Facts or data underlying the testifying expert’s opinion are admissible for the limited purpose of showing the basis of that opinion, not to prove the truth of the matter asserted. Id. Testimony not admitted to prove the truth of the matter asserted by an out-of-court declarant is not hearsay and does not violate the confrontation clause. State v. Hernandez, 170 Ariz. 301, 307, 823 P.2d 1309, 1315 (App.1991). Thus, the defendant’s confrontation right extends to the testifying expert witness, not to those who do not testify but whose findings or research merely form the basis for the witness’s testimony. See Reardon v. Manson, 806 F.2d 39, 42 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1020, 107 S.Ct. 1903, 95 L.Ed.2d 509 (1987) (“Expert reliance upon the output of others does not necessarily violate the confrontation clause where the expert is available for questioning concerning the nature and reasonableness of his reliance.”).
Rogovich confronted and cross-examined Dr. Keen. Because Dr. Keen’s testimonial reference to Dr. Shaw’s autopsy reports was offered for purposes of showing the basis of Keen’s opinion and not to prove the truth of the matter asserted, the testimony did not violate the confrontation clause.
B. The Wussler instruction
Rogovich contends that the judge committed reversible and fundamental error by instructing the jurors that they were required to decide unanimously if he was guilty of the more serious crime of first-degree murder before they could consider the less serious crime of second-degree murder. At trial, the judge gave the following jury instruction:
The crime of first degree murder includes the less serious crime of second degree murder. You may find the defendant guilty of the less serious crime only if you find unanimously the State has failed to prove the more serious crime beyond a reasonable doubt, but has proved the less serious crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
This conformed with Recommended Arizona Jury Instructions, Standard Criminal 22 (1989); State v. Wussler, 139 Ariz. 428, 679 P.2d 74 (1984); and State v. Staatz, 159 Ariz. 411, 768 P.2d 143 (1988). In Wussler, a majority of this court approved an instruction requiring “the jury to acquit the defendant on the charged offense before considering the lesser-included offenses.” 139 Ariz. at 430, 679 P.2d at 76. However, we recently disapproved both Wussler and Staatz in State v. LeBlanc, holding:
It now appears that requiring a jury to do no more than use reasonable efforts to reach a verdict on the charged offense is the better practice and more fully serves the interests of justice and the parties. Under this method, jurors may render a verdict on a lesser-included offense if, after full and careful consideration of the evidence, they are unable to reach agreement with respect to the charged crime. Thus, the jury may deliberate on a lesser offense if it either (1) finds the defendant not guilty on the greater charge, or (2) after reasonable efforts cannot agree whether to acquit or convict on that charge.
186 Ariz. 437, 438, 924 P.2d 441, 442 (1996).
In LeBlanc, we did not hold that giving a Wussler-type instruction rises to the level of fundamental error. Id. at 440, 924 P.2d at 443^4. To the contrary, we remain “persuaded that the acquittal-first requirement does not violate the United States and Arizona Constitutions.” Id. Furthermore, LeBlanc is to be applied prospectively only. Id. at 440, 924 P.2d at 444. Thus, the judge did not commit reversible error in giving the Wussler-type instruction.
C. The insanity defense
Several months after Rogovich entered his not guilty plea, his lawyer filed notice of his intent to present an insanity defense. Rogovich contends that because the record does not affirmatively show that he agreed to present this defense, his convictions violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Rogovich asserts that because an insanity defense involves a concession of the State’s basic facts, makes virtually any evidence relevant and admissible, and operates as a waiver of fundamental rights, due process requires a defendant’s affirmative, recorded agreement to its presentation.
Rogovich admits that we recently rejected this argument in State v. Hurles, in which we said:
We also disagree with Hurles’ assertions that the insanity defense vitiates the presumption of innocence or negates the state’s burden of proof. Even though criminal defendants have the burden of proving insanity under A.R.S. § 13-502(B), which may, but need not result in a strategy of admitting certain facts of the crime charged, the presumption of innocence and the state’s burden remain unchanged.
185 Ariz. 199, 203, 914 P.2d 1291, 1295 (1996). Hurles, Rogovich concedes, deprives him of this argument.
Rogovich did not personally object to his lawyer presenting an insanity defense. He was not only present at his competency hearing and at trial but was also examined by four mental health experts in response to his insanity claim. Clearly, as in Hurles, failure of counsel to get express, on-the-record permission from Rogovich to advance the insanity defense is not fundamental error. Given the facts, counsel’s decision to raise the defense was certainly reasonable. Because Rogovich, who was present at all critical moments, failed to object, the claim is precluded. Id. See State v. Ryan, 248 Neb. 405, 534 N.W.2d 766 (1995) (holding that defendant acquiesced to insanity defense by cooperating with psychiatrists and that attorneys made reasonable strategic choice in asserting insanity defense).
SENTENCING ISSUES
A. Independent review
Rogovich presents no sentencing issues for review. Furthermore, at oral argument defense counsel, as an officer of the court, avowed that a careful study of the record produced no arguable issues. Nevertheless, we conduct an independent review of the aggravating and mitigating factors in all capital eases to determine whether the death penalty is warranted. State v. Wood, 180 Ariz. 53, 68, 881 P.2d 1158, 1173 (1994).
B. Aggravating circumstances
When seeking to death qualify a defendant, the State must prove the aggravating circumstances enumerated in A.R.S. § 13-703(F) beyond a reasonable doubt. See A.R.S. § 13-703(0; State v. Riles, 175 Ariz. 358, 369, 857 P.2d 1212, 1223 (1993), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1058, 114 S.Ct. 724, 126 L.Ed.2d 688 (1994). In aggravation, the judge found that Rogovich had been convicted of: (1) another offense in the United States for which under Arizona law a sentence of life imprisonment or death was imposable § 13-703(F)(1); (2) a felony involving the use or threat of violence on another person, § 13-703(F)(2); and (3) one or more other homicides committed during the commission of the offense, § 13-703(F)(8). We agree these circumstances exist.
1. Other crimes for which sentences of life imprisonment or death were imposable — § 13-703(F)(1)
The State’s argument for the existence of (F)(1) was intertwined with its argument for (F)(8) — other homicides. The State argued that if the judge did not find the existence of (F)(8) in connection with the trailer park killings, it must find that (F)(1), the convenience store killing, existed. See State v. Cook, 170 Ariz. 40, 63 n. 11, 821 P.2d 731, 754 n. 11 (1991). However, Rogovich urged that (F)(1) could not be found because it only applied to convictions obtained outside of Arizona. The judge rejected this narrow interpretation and found that the State had established the existence of (F)(l)for the trailer park killings but not for the convenience store killing.
There is no support for Rogovich’s contention that the convictions necessary to satisfy an (F)(1) finding must be extraterritorial. Although a review of relevant cases reveals that some involve convictions obtained outside of Arizona, none suggest this is a requirement. The broader interpretation of (F)(1), encompassing both convictions internal and external to Arizona, is the correct one. We thus agree this aggravating circumstance is present. See State v. Smith, 146 Ariz. 491, 501-02, 707 P.2d 289, 299-300 (1985) (prior armed robbery convictions in Yuma, Arizona, were properly considered as an (F)(1) aggravating circumstance).
2. Prior conviction of felony involving violence — § 13-703(F)(2)
The State argued that Rogovich’s convictions for aggravated assault and armed robbery satisfy the existence of former § 13-703(F)(2), which provided that the aggravating circumstance was present if “[t]he defendant was previously convicted of a felony in the United States involving the use or threat of violence on another person.”
Rogovich argued the State failed to establish that the aggravated assault and armed robbery convictions constituted previous convictions under (F)(2). However, in State v. Gretzler we interpreted (F)(2) (and (F)(1)) as applying to convictions entered prior to the sentencing hearing, regardless of the order in which the underlying crimes occurred or the convictions entered. See also State v. Valencia, 124 Ariz. 139, 141, 602 P.2d 807, 809 (1979). Thus, Rogovich’s convictions on these charges were previous convictions.
Rogovich also argued that a conviction qualified under (F)(2) only when its statutory definition necessarily involved the use or threat of violence. This is a correct statement of the law, and a review of the relevant statutes, pleadings, jury instructions, and verdicts leaves no doubt that this aspect of (F)(2) is satisfied.
The judge noted the issue to be resolved is when a conviction qualified for consideration for purposes of (F)(2) analysis. This issue was addressed in State v. McKinney, in which we held:
A conviction occurs when the jury renders its verdict---- The guiding principle in all these cases has been that the purpose of a sentencing hearing is to determine the character and propensities of the defendant and impose a sentence that fits the offender. The same principles apply to the (F)(2) factor present in this case.... Thus, for purposes of § 13-703(F)(2), [defendant’s] second degree murder conviction occurred when the jury returned its verdict and was prior to his capital sentencing hearing.
185 Ariz. 567, 580, 917 P.2d 1214, 1227 (1996) (citations omitted).
The same rationale applies in this case. Thus, the judge correctly found the existence of (F)(2) in connection with all four murders.
3. Multiple homicides — § 13-703(F)(8)
The State argued that it had established the presence of § 13-703(F)(8) in connection with the trailer park killings. In State v. Lavers, we held that in determining whether (F)(8) applied to a particular set of circumstances, we would “analyze ‘the temporal, spatial, and motivational relationships between the capital homicide and the collateral [homicide], as well as ... the nature of that [homicide] and the identity of its victim.’ ” 168 Ariz. 376, 393, 814 P.2d 333, 350 (1991).
A situation similar to the case before us existed in State v. Ramirez, in which the defendant was convicted of multiple homicides. We stated:
Defendant was convicted of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder. The murders occurred in the same place and resulted from the same disturbance. Moreover, both murders “were committed by [defendant] in a relatively short period of time in what can be fairly viewed as one continuous course of criminal conduct.”
178 Ariz. 116, 130, 871 P.2d 237, 251 (1994).
Given Rogovich’s continuous course of conduct, the judge correctly found this aggravating circumstance with respect to the trailer park killings only.
C. Mitigating circumstances
Rogovich has the burden of proving any statutory or non-statutory mitigating circumstances by a preponderance of the evidence. Kites, 175 Ariz. at 373, 857 P.2d at 1227; § 13-703(G). The death penalty is required if at least one aggravating factor is found and the mitigating circumstances are not sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. § 13-703(E). Rogovich offered a single statutory mitigating circumstance, that his “capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law was significantly impaired” when he killed each of the four victims. § 13-703(C)(1). He also offered five non-statutory mitigators: (1) dysfunctional home life and difficult early years; (2) lack of serious prior record; (3) good employment history; (4) good behavior while incarcerated; and (5) admission of guilt and feeling of remorse. The judge found that Rogovich had proven all of the presented mitigators by a preponderance of the evidence, except that he had not established that his capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct was impaired. We agree with each of the judge’s findings.
D. Weighing and sentencing
For the murder of Tekleberhan Manna, the judge found that the (F)(2) aggravating circumstance applied, as well as the six mitigating circumstances. Balancing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the judge concluded that the mitigating circumstances were sufficiently substantial to call for leniency. We agree.
For the murders of Rebecca Carreon, Phyllis Mancuso, and Marie Pendergast, the judge found three aggravating circumstances and six mitigating circumstances. We believe the (F)(8) circumstance carries the most weight. The judge concluded that the mitigating circumstances were not substantial enough to call for leniency in the trailer park killings. We agree. Further, we do not believe the quality and magnitude of the mitigating circumstances are sufficient to warrant leniency. A life sentence would not be more appropriate under the circumstances of this case.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, we affirm Rogovich’s convictions and sentences.
ZLAKET, C.J., JONES, V.C.J., and MARTONE, J., concur.
MOELLER, J., did not participate in the determination of this matter.
. However, it is important to note that we have also held that "if the testifying expert merely acts as a conduit for another non-testifying expert's opinion, the 'expert opinion' is hearsay and is inadmissible, Rule 703 notwithstanding.” Lundstrom, 161 Ariz. at 148, 776 P.2d at 1074 (citing J. Weinstein & M. Berger, Weinstein's Evidence § 703[03], at 703-25 n. 23 (1988)).
. The language of (F)(2) was amended in 1993 to read: “The defendant was previously convicted of a serious offense, whether preparatory or completed.”
. Rogovich was convicted of aggravated assault under § 13-1203(A)(2) (A person commits assault by “[[Intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury ....”) and § 13 — 1204(A)(2) (“A person commits aggravated assault if such person commits assault as defined in § 13-1203 under any of the following circumstances: ... If such person uses a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument."). Thus, unlike State v. Fierro, 166 Ariz. 539, 550 n. 9, 804 P.2d 72, 83 n. 9 (1990), there appears to be no concern that Rogovich may have committed an assault without the use or threat of violence, or requisite mental state of intentionally or knowingly, thereby negating the (F)(2) aggravator. See State v. McKinney, 185 Ariz. 567, 917 P.2d 1214 (1996).
. The judge avoided double counting, as do we. See Special Verdict at 11. The Manna conviction satisfied the (F)(1) factor for the trailer park killings. The (F)(8) factor is also applicable to the trailer park killings, as is the (F)(2) factor.
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OPINION
JONES, Vice Chief Justice.
After an evidentiary hearing, the Commission on Judicial Conduct (Commission) recommended that this court suspend Lawrence H. Fleischman (respondent) from the performance of duties as judge of the Pima County Superior Court for a period of sixty days, without pay. The Commission further recommended that respondent be ordered to pay attorneys’ fees and assessable costs incurred in connection with the hearing. Established by Article 6.1 of the Arizona Constitution, the Commission investigates and hears complaints against judges and recommends to this court the disposition of all cases involving judicial discipline. In re Lehman, 168 Ariz. 174, 174, 812 P.2d 992, 992 (1991); see In re Haddad, 128 Ariz. 490, 491-92, 627 P.2d 221, 222-23 (1981). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Article 6.1, Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Arizona Constitution, and Rule 11, Rules of Procedure for the Commission on Judicial Conduct, 17B Arizona Revised Statutes.
FACTS
In May 1994, Perry Rogers, one of respondent’s former law clerks and the chief operating officer of Agassi Enterprises, Inc. (AEI), invited respondent to act as a consultant and negotiator to represent AEI in contract negotiations between Nike, Inc. and AEI. AEI is wholly owned by Andre Agassi, a top-ranked tennis professional. Respondent consulted informally with the presiding judge of the Pima County Superior Court concerning the propriety of the proposed activity. Although respondent was aware of the purpose and existence of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee — a committee established by the Supreme Court with responsibility to address questions on judicial conduct — he chose not to consult the committee. Respondent apparently concluded that his consulting and negotiating on behalf of AEI would not violate the Code of Judicial Conduct applicable to all judges in Arizona. See Rule 81, Ariz. R. Sup.Ct. We do not know the precise details of respondent’s conversation with the presiding judge because the conversation was neither recorded nor transcribed.
Between August and December 1994, respondent performed as a member of the AEI negotiating team, meeting with representatives from Nike on at least six occasions and dealing frequently with them to negotiate the terms and conditions of a contract to be executed between AEI and Nike. Respondent acted as one of two principal AEI spokespersons. He gave advice regarding strategy, terms, and conditions of the proposed Nike/AEI agreement and reviewed draft copies of the agreement. Representatives of both AEI and Nike were aware that respondent held judicial office in Arizona throughout the negotiations.
AEI and Nike concluded formal negotiations on December 27, 1994, and signed a letter of intent on January 6, 1995. On February 14, 1995, respondent signed his personal consulting agreement with AEI setting forth the terms and conditions of the work previously performed by him during the negotiations with Nike as well as work to be performed thereafter. Respondent did not participate in any meetings between Nike and AEI after January 6,1995, but continued to receive and review documents related to the Nike/AEI contract and to communicate with AEI representatives through the summer of 1995. He visited Nike’s Portland, Oregon, headquarters in June 1995 in his role as consultant and advisor to AEI.
Respondent received monetary compensation for his work on behalf of AEI and accepted travel benefits or reimbursement for travel expenses in connection with this work. AEI paid respondent $50,000 in 1994, $228,968 in 1995, and $152,241 in 1996. In addition, respondent and his spouse received from AEI free clothing and shoes obtained from the Nike company store.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On August 18, 1995, the Commission notified respondent by letter that he had been accused of violating the Code of Judicial Conduct, that an investigation was set to commence, and that he should respond to the Commission with an explanation of the extent and nature of his relationship with Agassi. The Commission’s letter stated specifically that in Arizona “a superior court judge may not practice law nor serve as an advisor or employee of any business entity, except in passive or family-related businesses, and cannot engage in financial and business dealings that may be perceived to exploit the judge’s position.” Respondent answered in writing on August 31, 1995, explaining that Rogers had asked him to assist as a consultant in negotiations for the renewal of Agassi’s contract with Nike, that he had discussed the matter with his presiding judge before beginning the consultation, and that “[ajfter perusing the canons of ethics both [the presiding judge] and I concluded that there was nothing improper in such efforts.” In addition, he attached memoranda prepared by his and the presiding judge’s law clerks discussing this issue. The memoranda, however, dated March 1, 1995, and August 3, 1995, did not address the relevant canons identified by the Commission, i.e., the specific canons prohibiting the practice of law by judges and prohibiting judges from serving as advisors to business entities.
On August 13, 1996, the Commission filed notice that proceedings concerning respondent had been initiated in accordance with Rules 8, 9, and 10 of the Rules of Procedure for the Commission on Judicial Conduct. The Commission held a formal hearing on October 10,1996.
During the hearing, the Commission questioned respondent regarding the terms of his consulting agreement with AEI. When asked how his compensation would be paid, respondent declined to answer, testifying that the agreement contained a confidentiality clause prohibiting disclosure of its terms. When asked what he reported on his tax returns, he could not recall the exact amount of compensation reported, but estimated that the amount was “in the six figures” and that he did not think it was “more than a quarter of a million dollars.” At the time of the hearing, respondent had presumably reported income solely for the years 1994 and 1995. Accordingly, his estimate may have been an approximation of his $278,968 share of AEI earnings for those two years. Respondent did not volunteer that he had also received an additional $152,241 in 1996 or that he stood to receive substantial payments in future years.
Rogers, who also testified, confirmed that the consulting agreement set forth the terms and conditions of respondent’s work for AEI but pointed out that it included a confidentiality clause. When asked if he would waive confidentiality, Rogers agreed to consult with Agassi and inform the Commission as soon as possible whether AEI would offer its waiver.
Because the Commission had not heard from Rogers or respondent, it issued a subpoena on October 16, 1996, six days after the hearing, directing respondent to provide a copy of the consulting agreement to the Commission on or before October 24, 1996. On October 18, Rogers contacted the Commission and agreed to provide a copy of the consulting agreement with those portions excised that related to compensation. On October 21, the Commission received a redacted copy of the agreement with paragraphs 3(a) and 6 totally excised. The Commission concluded that the document as submitted did not comply with the subpoena and so notified respondent’s counsel by letter of October 24. On October 28, Rogers advised the Commission that AEI would not waive confidentiality as to the excised portions of the consulting agreement. Respondent then filed a motion to quash the subpoena with this court.
The Commission filed its Findings of Fact, Amended Conclusions of Law, and Recommendations on November 26, 1996. The Commission specifically identified the following mitigating factors: respondent’s long service as a judge; his relatively high ratings in the judicial performance review program; evidence that respondent’s consulting work did not affect his performance as judge and that he settled approximately the same number of cases as the entire court tried during his period of involvement with the Nike negotiations; that respondent sought advice from a fellow judge about whether his activities might be improper; and the fact that he “completed all, or substantially all, his consulting work on his own time.”
In addition, the Commission identified the following aggravating factors: respondent’s failure to seek an advisory opinion from the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee; respondent’s failure to ask those he contacted for advice to consider whether his activities violated specific and relevant provisions of the Code that prohibit judges from practicing law or acting as a negotiator for or advisor to a business entity; respondent’s actions that permitted others to identify him as a judge while acting as a business or legal advisor; his willingness to participate in protracted negotiations on behalf of a “client”; the probability that the substantial compensation paid to him would, and did, bring the judiciary into disrepute; and respondent’s use, although minimal, of court facilities and personnel to carry out his work on behalf of AEI.
Further, the Commission considered as an aggravating factor respondent’s decision to enter into a consulting agreement that included a confidentiality provision and that such provision might impair the Commission’s ability to accomplish a full investigation of respondent’s activities. The Commission’s concern was heightened by the fact that the consulting agreement was not signed until after the contract negotiations between AEI and Nike had concluded and after respondent had received substantial compensation from AEI.
Based on the record before it, the Commission concluded that respondent’s participation on behalf of AEI in contract negotiations with Nike violated Article 6, Section 28 of the Arizona Constitution and Canons 4G, 4D(3), and 4H(1) of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct. This determination resulted in the recommendation, noted above, that respondent be suspended for sixty days without pay and be required to pay attorneys’ fees and assessable costs.
On December 12, 1996, respondent filed a petition with this court requesting either modification or rejection of the recommendations of the Commission. On December 19, the court ordered that respondent be suspended with pay and that the order remain in effect until the court’s final decision. The court also scheduled oral argument for January 15, 1997, and expressly indicated that counsel could address at that time the question whether the subpoenaed consulting agreement should be ordered produced in unredacted form.
On January 3, 1997, respondent resigned from his position as Judge of the Pima County Superior Court, effective January 7. In his letter of resignation, respondent affirmed his intention never again to seek judicial office. Because the violations found by the Commission occurred during respondent’s tenure in judicial office, the act of resignation did not terminate the case and did not relieve this court of the responsibility to resolve the matter.
Accordingly, the court heard oral argument on January 15, 1997. After consideration, the court denied respondent’s motion to quash the subpoena and issued an order that an unredacted copy of the consulting agreement be produced and filed with the office of the clerk not later than January 22, 1997. On January 21, AEI and Agassi filed a motion for protective order in this court seeking to have paragraphs 3(a) and 6 of the consulting agreement between AEI and respondent sealed by the court for review in camera. On January 22, respondent filed the unredacted agreement “under seal” with a memorandum, similarly requesting that the document be reviewed in camera. Accompanying the agreement was additional documentation disclosing compensation actually received by respondent from AEI in 1994, 1995, and 1996. On January 24, after further consideration, the court denied AEI’s motion for protective order and respondent’s request for in camera review and issued an order directing the clerk to unseal all documentation submitted under seal.
This court was not persuaded then, and we remain unpersuaded now, that the public interest or any other legitimate interest would have been served by retaining these highly relevant documents under court seal.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This case involves serious questions concerning both respondent’s position as an officeholder within the judicial branch of government of the State of Arizona and the public trust vested in him as a judge of the superior court. The ease also addresses the integrity of courts and the responsibility of the judiciary to ensure public confidence in the system as a whole.
We agree with the Commission’s conclusions of law as well as the underlying factual determinations. Respondent violated the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct by practicing law, by serving as an advisor to a business entity, and by receiving compensation and reimbursement for unauthorized extra-judicial activities. We discuss the Commission’s conclusions in order:
1. Respondent’s frequent and significant participation on behalf of AEI in contract negotiations with Nike constitutes the practice of law in violation of both Article 6, Section 28 of the Arizona Constitution and Canon 4G of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct.
“No justice or judge of any court of record shall practice law during his continuance in office____” Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 28. “A judge shall not practice law.” Rule 81, Ariz. R. Sup.Ct., Canon 4G. The practice of law consists of “those acts, whether performed in court or in the law office, which lawyers customarily have carried on from day to day through the centuries____” State Bar of Arizona v. Arizona Land Title & Trust Co., 90 Ariz. 76, 95, 366 P.2d 1, 14 (1961), modified on other grounds, 91 Ariz. 293, 371 P.2d 1020 (1962). Those acts include but are not limited to assisting or advising in the preparation of legal documents or writings, advising regarding legal rights or liabilities, and representing another before a court or administrative agency. Id. “They also include rendering to another any other advice or services which are and have been customarily given and performed from day to day in the ordinary practice of members of the legal profession, either with or without compensation.” Id.
Respondent admitted that he acted as an AEI representative during contract renewal negotiations with Nike. He served as one of two principal spokespersons for AEI, and he advised AEI regarding negotiation strategies and the substance of the Nike/AEI contract being negotiated. He provided these services to AEI over a period of at least six months and traveled out of state to meet with Nike representatives on at least six occasions. Moreover, according to the terms of his own agreement with AEI, respondent continues to have consulting responsibilities in return for which he is to receive continuous compensation from AEI.
We find that respondent’s effort and work for AEI constitute acts that are customarily performed from day to day in the ordinary practice of members of the legal profession. That they also may be performed in part or in whole by non-lawyers from time to time does not exclude them from the practice of law.
We therefore conclude that respondent did engage in the practice of law in violation of both Article 6, Section 28 of the Arizona Constitution and Canon 4G of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct. Respondent’s arguments to the contrary are entirely without merit.
2. Respondent violated Canon 4D(3) of the A’izona Code of Judicial Conduct by acting as an advisor to AEI during its contract negotiations with Nike because AEI is neither a business enterprise closely held by respondent or his family nor an entity primarily engaged in family investments.
A judge shall not serve as an advisor to a business entity. Rule 81, Ariz. R. Sup.Ct., Canon 4D(3). One limited exception to this rule permits a judge to manage and participate in “(a) a business closely held by the judge or members of the judge’s family, or (b) a business entity primarily engaged in investment of the financial resources of the judge or members of the judge’s family.” Id. However, even while acting on behalf of a family member or family entity without compensation, a judge may not serve as an advocate or negotiator in a legal matter. Rule 81, Ariz. R. Sup.Ct., Canon 4G cmt.
Respondent testified that he advised AEI regarding the Nike/AEI contract and that he participated personally in the negotiations. AEI is wholly owned by Agassi and is neither closely held by the judge or members of his family, nor is AEI primarily engaged in the investment of the financial resources of the judge or his family. Accordingly, the family exceptions in Canon 4D(3) are inapplicable. But even if AEI had been a family entity, respondent must still be held in violation because he undertook to represent his “client” (AEI) in negotiations with Nike, a third party. A judge may not do this, even for a member of his own family.
We also agree with the Commission that the term “advisor,” as used in Canon 4D(3), does not imply that a permanent or long-term relationship with a business entity must exist in order for the prohibition to apply. The canon places no minimum or maximum time restrictions on conduct that constitutes a violation. In this case, however, the fully-disclosed consulting agreement between respondent and AEI appears clearly to establish a long-term relationship. Respondent’s argument that his arrangement with AEI was a one-time, short-term relationship is without merit because (a) the unredacted contract contradicts the argument, and (b) the length of the relationship is not determinative.
Accordingly, we conclude that respondent served as an advisor to AEI, a non-family business, in plain violation of Canon 4D(3) of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct.
3. Respondent violated Canon 4H(1) of the Arizona Code of Judicial Conduct by accepting compensation and reimbursement for unauthorized extra-judicial activities.
“A judge may receive compensation and reimbursement of expenses for the extra-judicial activities permitted by [the Code], if the source of such payments does not give the appearance of influencing the judge’s performance of judicial duties or otherwise give the appearance of impropriety.” Rule 81, Ariz. R. Sup.Ct., Canon 4H(1) (emphasis added). Because respondent’s extrajudicial activities violated Canons 4G and 4D(3), it is axiomatic that to accept compensation for such activities also violates Canon 4H(1).
Respondent has admitted accepting reimbursement from AEI for his consulting expenses, clothing, and shoes, and has disclosed his tax records for 1994 and 1995, showing earnings from AEI to have been $50,000 and $228,968, respectively. He also provided documentation of four quarterly payments received from AEI in 1996, indicating further compensation of $152,241. The fee payment schedule set forth in the now disclosed consulting agreement between AEI and respondent provided for payment of additional monies to respondent amounting to 2.1% of cash compensation received by AEI from Nike up to $100 million and 3.5% of cash compensation in excess of $100 million. Moreover, although the consulting agreement will terminate upon respondent’s death, AEI remains obligated to continue these payments after death to his estate as and when they become due.
This stream of income flowing directly to respondent and his estate over a period of years as the result of a business contract that he negotiated while holding judicial office creates the appearance that performance of his judicial duties may have been influenced or compromised and further gives the obvious appearance of judicial impropriety. We conclude, therefore, that respondent has violated Canon 4H(1) by receiving compensation and expense reimbursement for extrajudicial activities prohibited by the Code.
SANCTION
We are charged with responsibility to censure, suspend, or remove from office a judge who violates the judicial canons. Ariz. Const, art. 6.1, §§ 3, 4. Therefore, having established that respondent violated Canons 4G, 4D(3), and 4H(1), and to provide guidance to other judges, we look both to the aggravating and mitigating factors present in the case at bar.
A. AGGRAVATION
First, the Commission correctly found aggravation in the fact that respondent failed to request an advisory opinion from the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. Apparently on the assumption that his conduct might violate the Code, respondent at some point took steps to speak to his presiding judge. Respondent also directed his law clerk to research the matter, but the research memorandum failed to identify relevant Canons 4G and 4D(3). Moreover, respondent has no excuse for failing to seek the necessary opinion from the Advisory Committee, and time constraints on the judge’s schedule do not justify entry by a judge into a private contractual relationship for legal and advisory services before obtaining an adequate determination as to whether such conduct is ethically permissible.
Second, we have searched the record in light of the disclosures contained in the unredacted agreement and find inadequate evidence on which to base a finding that respondent deliberately misled the Commission at the October 10, 1996, hearing. We do conclude, however, that he was less than forthcoming in disclosing relevant facts. Respondent perhaps hoped that the Commission would overlook those portions of the agreement that he wanted sealed, or simply would not order them produced. His answers to questions relating to compensation received under the agreement with AEI were ambiguous as to whether his estimate was intended to cover the total amount received or was merely the amount received for a particular year. Accordingly, respondent’s answers left room for doubt, and that doubt clearly led to the Commission’s attempt to obtain the unredaeted agreement.
Finally, as a further aggravator, we conclude that respondent’s effort to maintain the secrecy of a prohibited business arrangement by shielding it under a confidentiality claim was, of itself, improper behavior. The Commentary to Canon 2A is instructive:
Public confidence in the judiciary is eroded by irresponsible or improper conduct by judges. A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny. A judge must therefore accept restrictions on the judge’s conduct that might be viewed as burden some by the ordinary citizen and should do so freely and willingly.
Rule 81, Ariz. R. Sup.Ct., Canon 2A cmt. (emphasis added). That a judge must be the subject of constant public scrutiny clearly indicates that to insist on contractual secrecy in these circumstances constitutes added impropriety.
B. MITIGATION
We note the Commission’s findings that respondent provided long and valuable service to the court, that respondent’s involvement with AEI may not have affected negatively his performance as a judge, and that respondent completed most of his consulting work “on his own time.” Such factors redound to the judge’s credit, and we take them into account. Yet we are constrained to state, notwithstanding the mitigating factors, that judges must adhere continuously to the highest standards of performance, including compliance with all professional and ethical standards. Fortunately, the vast majority of judges do so admirably. Acceptable judicial performance by a judge, however, does not excuse or mitigate blatant violations of the Code.
The fac- that respondent sought advice from his presiding judge is, of itself, positive, but the further fact that he was aware of and chose to ignore the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, the very body authorized to respond to these inquiries, removes any value that may have come from the conversation with the presiding judge and finally discredits respondent in his handling of the matter.
C. DISPOSITION
Because respondent has officially resigned from office, the question of suspension or removal has been rendered moot. We are reminded of Justice Moeller’s observation in a case in which removal was mooted by the judge’s pending retirement: “Persuasive, perhaps ultimately compelling, arguments can be made that the appropriate sanction for the type of conduct involved in this ease is removal____” In re Goodfarb, 179 Ariz. 400, 403, 880 P.2d 620, 623 (1994) (Moeller, V.C.J., specially concurring). Similarly, because of mootness in the instant case, we need not reach the question of removal or suspension, even though a compelling argument for such action can be made. We do conclude, however, that while public censure may not be adequate, it is nevertheless the sanction left to us under the circumstances. See In re Lehman, 168 Ariz. 174, 176, 812 P.2d 992, 994 (1991) (court formally and publicly censured respondent who no longer held office although his conduct would have warranted removal or at least significant suspension without pay); In re Lockwood, 167 Ariz. 9, 14, 804 P.2d 738, 743 (1990) (censuring not intended to minimize seriousness of misconduct by respondent who was not renominated in primary election).
The court is now benefited by the full record, including the unredacted agreement that the Commission correctly sought to obtain and respondent’s compensation records for 1994, 1995, and 1996. The Commission did not have access to paragraph 6 of the consulting agreement, indicating that the relationship between AEI and respondent was of unspecified duration with compensation payable to respondent until death and providing for payments after death to his estate. In addition, paragraph 3(a), also withheld from the Commission, defines respondent’s compensation over the term of the consulting agreement and indicates that the total compensation is likely to be substantially greater than the Commission was able to conclude from respondent’s testimony.
Accordingly, because respondent has voluntarily resigned from office and has committed never to seek judicial office hereafter, we impose on respondent the sanction of public censure, and we do so in terms as firm and clear as the court can express.
CONCLUSION
We issue this opinion not only to conclude proceedings against respondent but also to provide guidance to other judges and to avoid future confusion. When a judge acts as a negotiator for or representative of a person or entity and advises that person or entity regarding a contractual relationship, he or she is practicing law in violation of Canon 4G.
When a judge gives business advice to a person or entity other than one closely held by the judge or members of the judge’s family, he or she serves as an advisor in violation of Canon 4D(3), even when the advice is limited to one contract.
When a judge receives compensation or reimbursement for expenses for extra-judicial activities that are prohibited by the Code of Judicial Conduct, he or she has violated Canon 4H(1), regardless of the amount of compensation.
When a judge is charged with violation of the Code, complete disclosure and cooperation with the Commission will be absolutely required in order to preserve the integrity of the judicial system.
Further, the business community and citizens in general should be aware that public disclosure is a likely consequence if a judge becomes involved in business activity on their behalf. As holders of the public trust, judges must avoid the appearance of impropriety and thus must not enter secret agreements that may undermine public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.
Accordingly, judges must be prepared to make public disclosure of any relationship or financial dealing that may affect their ability to judge fairly. Plainly, a relationship that involves a judge practicing law or advising a business may not be kept confidential. The very fact of confidentiality or secrecy suggests impropriety. When the public interest, which judges are sworn to uphold, is balanced, as here, against a private confidentiality clause in a personal services contract, the public interest must prevail. On this principle, there can be no equivocation.
Respondent is ordered to pay attorneys’ fees and all assessable costs expended in connection with this proceeding, including the hearing before the Commission.
MOELLER, J., and THOMAS J. KLEINSCHMIDT, NOEL FIDEL and PHILIP E. TOCI, Judges, Court of Appeals, concur.
NOTE: ZLAKET, FELDMAN and MAR-TONE, JJ., recused themselves in this matter. Pursuant to Article 6, Section 3, of the Arizona Constitution, THOMAS A. KLEINSCHMIDT, NOEL FIDEL, and PHILIP E. TOCI, Judges, Court of Appeals, Division One, have been appointed to sit in their stead.
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OPINION
VOSS, Judge.
David M. Schwartz (defendant) appeals from his convictions and sentences on one count of illegally conducting an enterprise, one count of keeping a house of prostitution, and two counts of enticement of a person for the purposes of prostitution. We affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
In early 1994, defendant rented a house and a building behind the house at 1040 East Indian School Road in Phoenix. Defendant was the sole proprietor of several companies operating from that address, including “D and D Swingers,” “D and D Publishing,” “Dream Girls Modeling and Casting,” and “The Unknown.”
Defendant generated revenue at the location from two distinct activities, both of which he advertised in newspapers. During the day, the business arranged photograph and videotape “sessions” with customers and defendant’s employees. These “sessions” required defendant’s employees to engage in a range of activities with a varying price for the customer. Depending on the customer, such activities included modeling in the nude, acts of masturbation, sexual acts with other employees, and engaging in sexual acts, including sexual intercourse, with the customer. Defendant set the price range at $100 to $300 per hour, depending on the type of activity the patron desired.
Defendant’s “swingers’” parties were the second source of income from his business. Defendant charged men $35, couples $25, and women were admitted free of charge if they wore lingerie. At these parties, customers watched defendant’s pornographic videos, obtained drinks from defendant’s bartender, and could engage in sexual acts with other customers or defendant’s employees. Testimony revealed that defendant would pay women to attend the parties, would “set up” customers with his employees, and would personally collect the fee from the customer for the sexual acts performed by defendant’s employees.
Defendant had several employees that served roles vital to the businesses’ operation. Receptionists arranged the photo/video shoots, worked the door at the “swingers’ ” parties, and collected the requisite fees. The bartender served drinks to patrons and the security guards patrolled the parking lot to insure safety. Debbie Lauhoff, defendant’s girlfriend, assisted defendant in managing the affairs of the house and supervised the cash intake. Other employees were asked to partake in the photo/video “sessions” and have sex with the customers. Further, defendant encouraged his employees to recruit more women for defendant’s businesses, promising payment to successful recruiters.
Defendant testified that he used the proceeds from both the photo/video “sessions” and the “swingers’ ” parties to pay rent and utilities. Further, defendant acknowledged that he used these proceeds to pay his employees, either directly or through room and board.
In April 1994, the Phoenix Police Department received an anonymous tip about defendant’s activities, whereupon the department engaged in a five month investigation. Undercover Detective Steffani McMiehael was the primary investigator on the case and met defendant for the first time on April 20, 1994. Defendant explained the “swingers’ ” parties to her and offered to pay her $100 a night to attend. After Detective McMiehael told de fendant that she was in the escort business, defendant searched McMichael for a wire and made the first of many “business” propositions to the detective. Defendant told McMichael that he could send her and her friend (Detective Michelle Anderson) to Las Vegas, where he would arrange that they have sex for money. In this pursuit, defendant had McMichael speak on the telephone with a man defendant purported to be his Las Vegas connection.
McMichael visited defendant’s establishment on at least five more occasions and was greeted with yet more propositions. First, defendant informed McMichael that he received forty to fifty “outcalls,” where individuals wanted escorts to come to them, and asked McMichael if she would be interested in taking the calls for a fee. Alternatively, defendant suggested that McMichael operate her escort service out of his house, stating that her escorts could “hang out and hit men up for whatever.” For this, defendant recommended two types of payment methods. First, defendant suggested that McMichael and her escorts pay him $35 for every customer brought to the house, and McMichael could keep the “tips.” Later, however, to avoid any prostitution problem, defendant suggested that McMichael have sex with defendant periodically as payment.
Other undercover officers were involved in the operation and testified about the activities of the house at trial. Officers Sterling and Seehez reported that defendant’s models engaged in acts of masturbation and sexual acts with each other for payment. Detective Lundberg was offered beer by defendant’s employees, was explained the purposes of the rooms, and witnessed individuals engaging in sexual intercourse.
Finally, Erie Reed, defendant’s employee and patron, testified that he paid for sex at least five times at defendant’s house. Further, Reed testified that defendant arranged several of those encounters.
On September 12, 1994, the Maricopa County Grand Jury indicted defendant on one count of illegally controlling an enterprise; one count of keeping a house of prostitution; four counts of pandering; and four counts of enticement of a person for purposes of prostitution. Because the state was unable to locate two witnesses, the state dismissed one count of pandering and one count of enticement of a person for purposes of prostitution. Before trial, the state moved to amend the indictment to charge defendant with one count of illegally conducting an enterprise, alleging that it was a lesser-included offense of illegally controlling an enterprise. Defendant did not object and the trial court granted the state’s motion.
Defendant stipulated to a bench trial. At the conclusion of the testimony, the trial court found defendant guilty of one count of illegally conducting an enterprise, one count of keeping a house of prostitution, and two counts of enticement of a person for purposes of prostitution.
On January 22, 1996, the trial court sentenced defendant to a mitigated term of 2 years imprisonment for illegally conducting an enterprise, .5 year imprisonment for keeping a house of prostitution, and .33 year for each conviction of enticement of a person for prostitution purposes, the sentences to run concurrently.
DISCUSSION
Defendant timely appealed from his convictions and sentences, raising three issues. Fust, defendant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for directed verdicts of acquittal. To support this, defendant argues that the state did not prove essential elements and did not present substantial evidence for convictions. Second, defendant argues that the state’s amendment to the original indictment was prejudicial. Finally, defendant challenges the constitutionality of the statutes under which he was convicted.
I. DENIAL OF JUDGMENTS OF ACQUITTAL
A judgment of acquittal is appropriate when no substantial evidence exists to support a conviction. State v. Spencer, 176 Ariz. 36, 41, 859 P.2d 146,151 (1993); State v. Walker, 181 Ariz. 475, 478, 891 P.2d 942, 945 (App.1995). “Substantial evidence is more than a mere scintilla” of evidence; it is evidence that reasonable persons could find adequate to sustain a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt. Walker, 181 Ariz. at 478, 891 P.2d at 945 (citing State v. Jones, 125 Ariz. 417, 419, 610 P.2d 51, 53 (1980)). In applying this standard, the court views the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdicts, resolving all reasonable inferences against the defendant. Spencer, 176 Ariz. at 41, 859 P.2d at 151. Accordingly, this court will not reverse a conviction if substantial evidence exists in support of it. Id.
A. Illegally Conducting an Enterprise
Defendant first argues that the prosecution failed to prove the elements essential to illegally conducting an enterprise. More to the point, defendant asserts that since he was the sole proprietor of the operation, no enterprise existed and thus the trial court erred as a matter of law in failing to direct a verdict of acquittal.
Arizona Revised Statutes section (A.R.S. § ) 13-2312(B) provides:
A person commits illegally conducting an enterprise if such person is employed by or associated with any enterprise and conducts such enterprise’s affairs through racketeering or participates directly or indirectly in the conduct of any enterprise that the person knows is being conducted through racketeering.
Hence, the state must allege and prove the existence of an enterprise in order to establish a violation of A.R.S. § 13-2312(B). See Baines v. Superior Court, 142 Ariz. 145, 148, 688 P.2d 1037, 1040 (App.1984). An “enterprise” is defined as:
any corporation, partnership, association, labor union, or other legal entity or any group of persons associated in fact although not a legal entity.
A.R.S. § 13-2301(D)(2).
This court has expressly held that a legal entity must be distinct from the defendant for the entity to constitute an enterprise for the purposes of A.R.S. 13-2312(B). State v. Ivanhoe, 165 Ariz. 272, 798 P.2d 410 (App. 1990). Therefore, a sole proprietorship standing alone cannot constitute an enterprise. Id. at 273-74, 798 P.2d at 411-12. However, in Ivanhoe, we did not address whether the same person can be the defendant and one of a group of individuals associated in fact to form an enterprise. Id. at 275, 798 P.2d at 413.
Because this question is one of first impression in Arizona and because Arizona adapted its racketeering act from the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961 through 1968 (RICO), we “look to federal decisional law for guidance in construing and applying the Arizona statute.” Baines, 142 Ariz. at 148, 688 P.2d at 1040.
The Supreme Court held that a group of individuals associated in fact for “wholly unlawful” purposes could constitute an enterprise within the plain meaning of RICO. United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576, 580, 101 S.Ct. 2524, 2527, 69 L.Ed.2d 246 (1981). According to the Court, an associated-in-fact enterprise exists where the organization is ongoing and the various associates function as a continuing unit. Id. at 583, 101 S.Ct. at 2528.
In applying this holding, we recognize a split of authority among the circuits. Compare United States v. Benny, 786 F.2d 1410 (9th Cir.) (sole proprietor defendant may associate with others to create association-in-fact), cert, denied, 479 U.S. 1017, 107 S.Ct. 668, 93 L.Ed.2d 720 (1986), with Entre Computer Centers v. FMG of Kansas City, Inc., 819 F.2d 1279 (4th Cir.1987), overruled on other grounds, Busby v. Crown Supply, 896 F.2d 833 (4th Cir.1990). The Fourth Circuit applied a bright line rule prohibiting the defendant from combining with others to form an enterprise. Entre, 819 F.2d at 1287; see also United States v. Computer Sciences Corp., 689 F.2d 1181 (4th Cir.1982) (holding that corporation cannot be both the enterprise and the defendant), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1105, 103 S.Ct. 729, 74 L.Ed.2d 953 (1983); Bennett v. United States Trust Co., 770 F.2d 308, 314-15 (2d Cir.1985) (same), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1058, 106 S.Ct. 800, 88 L.Ed.2d 776 (1986). These cases require that the enterprise be separate and distinct from the defendant even in association-in-fact cases, expressing that the defendant cannot associate with himself. Entre, 819 F.2d at 1287.
However, a majority of the federal circuits have departed from the Fourth Circuit’s reasoning, concluding that the same person could be the defendant and associate with other individuals to create an enterprise for purposes of RICO. See Davis v. Mutual Life Insurance Company, 6 F.3d 367, 378 (6th Cir.1993) (RICO contains no requirement that defendant be removed from corporation), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1193, 114 S.Ct. 1298, 127 L.Ed.2d 650 (1994); United States v. Perholtz, 842 F.2d 343 (D.C.Cir.) (individuals within a corporation may associate in fact), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 821, 109 S.Ct. 65, 102 L.Ed.2d 42 (1988); Benny, 786 F.2d at 1414-16; Schofield v. First Commodity Corporation of Boston, 793 F.2d 28, 29 (1st Cir.1986) (under RICO, employees in corporation may associate in fact); McCullough v. Suter, 757 F.2d 142 (7th Cir.1985) (sole proprietorship and employees constitute assoeiation-in-fact); United States v. Thevis, 665 F.2d 616, 625-26 (5th Cir.) (any group of individuals may constitute an association-in-fact), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 1008, 102 S.Ct. 2300, 73 L.Ed.2d 1303 (1982). These courts recognized that the enterprise — not the business entity is the association among the individuals. Perholtz, 842 F.2d at 353. Therefore, it follows that if through various actions the sole proprietor associates with others in furtherance of common objectives, association-in-fact exists for purposes of an enterprise under RICO. Id. This is true regardless whether the “person” is separate and distinct from the sole proprietorship because the separateness requirement is not implicated when the prosecution alleges association-in-fact. Id. The only relevant factors under these circumstances are the actual activities of the participants — the very definition of associaiiow-in-fact. Id.
We find this latter approach persuasive. We agree that the relationship whereby individuals, including sole proprietors, associate with one another to further common objectives of illegality is precisely what RICO, and its Arizona counterpart, were developed to attack. Accordingly, we adopt the approach adopted by the majority of the federal circuits, finding that a sole proprietor can associate with other individuals to create an enterprise for purposes of A.R.S. § 13-2312.
Here, defendant associated with Debbie Lauhoff, Randi Marshall, Tina Buffett, a bartender, security personnel, Eric Reed, and unidentified others, each performing an assigned role in furtherance of a common objective — money for sex. Defendant provided the house from which the operation ran and arranged for his employees to have sex with customers for the requisite fee, which defendant set. Tina made appointments for photo/video “sessions,” where Debbie, Randi, and others engaged in illegal sexual acts for a fee. The receptionist collected the entrance fees for the “swingers’ ” parties, while defendant and Debbie were responsible for taking larger payments. Defendant also recruited and offered to pay women to attend the parties. The proceeds from these illicit acts went to pay the operation’s overhead and pay the employees. Further, defendant associated with these individuals for a continuous period, which was only disturbed when authorities discovered the operation.
Ivanhoe makes clear that defendant’s businesses cannot alone constitute an enterprise. 165 Ariz. at 275, 798 P.2d at 413. However, as discussed above, defendant’s association with others in furtherance of a common objective can and does constitute an enterprise for purposes of A.R.S. § 13-2312(B). Because there is substantial evidence that defendant associated with others in an organized and continuous manner, and the enterprise conducted its affairs through racketeering, the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal.
B. Maintaining a House of Prostitution
Defendant next argues that the evidence was insufficient to convict him under A.R.S. § 13-3208(B), which provides: “A person who knowingly operates or maintains a house of prostitution or prostitution enterprise is guilty of a class 5 felony.”
Several witnesses testified that they observed what amounted to acts of prostitution in defendant’s house and that defendant managed the operation. Tina testified that defendant asked her to have sex with customers in exchange for money. Further, she witnessed defendant collecting money for such acts performed by other employees. Randi, another of defendant’s employees, testified that she had sexual intercourse with a customer and that she engaged in sexual acts with other employees, all for money that was paid to defendant. Erie testified that on at least five occasions, he paid to have sex with women at defendant’s house. Detective McMichael testified that defendant encouraged her to operate an escort service from defendant’s house, where the women could “hit men up for whatever.”
Although defendant argues that the state’s witnesses were not credible, we must view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the conviction. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993). With this in mind, we conclude that substantial evidence existed that defendant maintained a house of prostitution. Accordingly, the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion.
C. Enticement for Purposes of Prostitution
Defendant contends that substantial evidence does not support his convictions for enticing Tina Buffet and Detective McMichael into a house of prostitution. We disagree.
The offense of enticement requires proof that defendant knowingly entices another into a house of prostitution for the purpose of prostitution. A.R.S. § 13-3201. In State v. Cook, we defined “entice” as meaning to tempt or to lure. 139 Ariz. 406, 408, 678 P.2d 987, 989 (App.1984). Like solicitation, enticement does not require that the victim engage in what the enticer intends. A.R.S. § 13-3201; see State v. Tellez, 165 Ariz. 381, 383, 799 P.2d 1, 3 (App.1990); see also State v. Jannamon, 169 Ariz. 435, 438, 819 P.2d 1021, 1024 (App.1991) (violation of statute does not always require resultant effect on victim).
Here, defendant enticed both Tina and Detective McMichael into his house of prostitution for purposes of prostitution. With respect to Tina, defendant placed a “modeling” advertisement in the newspaper, attracting Tina to his establishment. Within one week of her work as a receptionist, defendant began asking Tina to have sex with customers. Upon her refusal, defendant persisted in his requests until Tina voluntarily terminated her employment. Defendant engaged in similar conduct with Detective McMichael by encouraging her to operate her escort business from the house in exchange for sex and/or money, offering her $100 a night to attend the parties, and offering to fly her and her friend to Las Vegas to exchange sex for money.
Defendant contends that because Tina and McMichael never engaged in prostitution, the state failed to prove enticement. Further, defendant asserts that the state failed to show that prostitution was his dominant motive in recruiting the two. We reject defendant’s arguments. As discussed above, A.R.S. § 13-3201 does not require that the victims engage in the activity defendant prescribes. See Tellez, 165 Ariz. at 383, 799 P.2d at 3. In properly turning our focus to defendant’s intent, we conclude that substantial evidence existed to find that defendant knowingly enticed both Tina and McMichael into a house of prostitution for the purpose of prostitution. Thus, the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion.
II. Amended Indictment
Defendant next argues that the amended indictment, with respect to Count I (illegally conducting an enterprise), was prejudicial and should have been dismissed. Defendant claims that the amendment was improper without his consent and deprived him of the proper notice.
The purpose of an indictment or information is to give notice of the offense charged so that the accused may prepare a defense. State v. West, 176 Ariz. 432, 442-43, 862 P.2d 192, 202-03 (1993). Although a person cannot be convicted of an offense not charged against him through indictment or information, the trial court can amend an indictment upon an oral motion by the state if the defendant does not object. State v. Sanders, 115 Ariz. 289, 564 P.2d 1256 (App. 1977). Further, the indictment need only contain a notice of the charges — not the prosecution’s theory under which it will proceed at trial. West, 176 Ariz. at 443, 862 P.2d at 203.
In this case, prior to the presentation of evidence, the state moved to amend the indictment to charge defendant with violating A.R.S. § 13-2312(B) instead of A.R.S. § 13-2312(A). After the court inquired, defendant’s counsel did not object to the amendment, thus waiving any argument that such amendment deprived defendant of notice.
III. Constitutionality
Finally, defendant argues for the first time on appeal that the statutes under which he was convicted are overbroad, in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. As defendant did not present these arguments to the trial court, we decline to address them on appeal. State v. Takacs, 169 Ariz. 392, 399, 819 P.2d 978, 985 (App.1991).
CONCLUSION
For the aforementioned reasons, we affirm the convictions and sentences imposed below. We have not reviewed the record for fundamental error. State v. Smith, 184 Ariz. 456, 459, 910 P.2d 1, 4 (1996).
SULT, P.J., and EHRLICH, J., concur.
. Although testimony indicated that defendant did not personally accept the customers’ money for his employees’ sexual acts, the record does reveal that defendant instructed his employees to procure “tips” directly from the customers and pass them along to defendant.
. In July 1994, one such employee, Tina Buffet, responded to an advertisement in the paper looking for models. At the outset, defendant hired Tina to answer the phones and make appointments, promising prompt advancement in her modeling career. One week after Tina started, defendant asked Tina to have sex with customers for money, forwarding a percentage of the proceeds to defendant. Although Tina declined to engage in such activity, defendant continued to persist until Tina left defendant’s employ.
. Notably, however, both the original and amended indictment contain the language from which defendant claims surprise. Both A.R.S. § 13-2312(A) and A.R.S. § 13-2312(B) refer to an "enterprise,” which can be proven as a legal entity or am association-in-fact. See A.R.S. § 13-2301(D)(2).
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OPINION
JONES, Vice Chief Justice.
We are asked by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona to decide a question of Arizona law under certification procedures pursuant to Rule 27, Arizona Rules of the Supreme Court. This court has jurisdiction under Arizona Constitution article VI, section 5(6), Arizona Revised Statutes section 12-1861, and Rule 27.
The certified question was stated as follows:
In 1987, the Arizona Legislature enacted A.R.S. § 12-2506, which abolished joint and several liability in actions for personal injury, property damage or wrongful death. The statute contains two exceptions in Section D of A.R.S. § 12-2506. The exception at issue here is A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)(2), which states: “Nothing in this section prohibits the imposition of joint and several liability in a cause of action relating to hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites.” A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)(2).
Does this exception preserve joint and several liability in tort actions for personal injury, wrongful death and requests for medical monitoring arising from the contamination of drinking water with hazardous wastes or substances? Or, does the exception merely allow the Legislature to impose joint and several liability through other statutes relating solely to environmental cleanup costs?
After consideration, we respond that A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)(2) leaves undisturbed the common law remedy of joint and several liability in tort actions for injury or wrongful death and requests for medical monitoring that arise from the contamination of drinking water by hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In 1981, groundwater wells located near Tucson International Airport were closed when testing revealed impermissibly high levels of benzene, trichloroethylene (TCE), and other hazardous substances. The United States Environmental Protection Agency found that a government-owned facility operated by Hughes Aircraft Company (Hughes) was a primary source of the contamination. In 1991, Hughes settled claims of approximately 2400 Tucson residents for injuries allegedly caused by the groundwater contamination. After the settlement, the two lawsuits involved in this certified question were filed. Yslava v. Hughes Aircraft Co., CIV-91-525-TUC-ROS, consolidates approximately 500 personal injury and wrongful death claims, while Lanier v. Hughes Aircraft Co., CIV-92-564-TUC-ROS, is a class action comprised of Tucson residents requesting medical monitoring.
Hughes has filed claims for third-party contribution against the City of Tucson, the Tucson Airport Authority, General Dynamics Corporation, and McDonnell Douglas Corporation (defendants). The City of Tucson owns the property on which the Tucson In ternational Airport is located. The Tucson Airport Authority has leased the property from the City since 1948, while General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas or their predecessors conducted operations on the property for limited periods during the 1940s and 1950s. Defendants have urged the federal district court to find that joint and several liability among multiple defendants was abolished in Arizona by the enactment of A.R.S. § 12-2506(A) and that the exception in A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)(2) does not preserve such liability in the instant case. Accordingly, the district court certified the question.
DISCUSSION
At common law, prior to the adoption of A.R.S. § 12-2506, liability was said to be joint and several when the claimant could bring suit to enforce his entire claim against one or more joint tortfeasors separately, or against all of them together. Thus, two or more defendants found responsible for tortious conduct causing indivisible injury were subject to both joint and several liability. Holtz v. Holder, 101 Ariz. 247, 251, 418 P.2d 584, 588 (1966).
In 1984, the Arizona Legislature adopted a version of the Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act (UCATA). A.R.S. §§ 12-2501 to -2509. One purpose of UCATA is to ensure that a joint tortfeasor paying more than its proportional share of the “common liability for the same injury” will have a right of contribution from other joint tortfeasors. Cella Barr Assocs., Inc. v. Cohen, 177 Ariz. 480, 483, 868 P.2d 1063, 1066 (App.1994) (environmental auditor that settled purchasers’ suit for professional malpractice precluded from maintaining action against purchaser’s counsel for contribution and indemnification as not relating to hazardous wastes); see also Dietz v. General Elec. Co., 169 Ariz. 505, 510, 821 P.2d 166, 171 (1991) (nonemployer defendants allegedly contributing to plaintiffs work-related injuries permitted to name plaintiffs employer as nonparty at fault in personal injury action).
In 1987, the legislature enacted A.R.S. § 12-2506 to abolish common law joint liability, subject to certain exceptions, and to preserve several liability in claims brought against multiple tortfeasors.
Section 12-2506(A) (section (A)) states in part:
In an action for personal injury, property damage or wrongful death, the liability of each defendant for damages is several only and is not joint, except as otherwise provided in this section.
(Emphasis supplied.) We accord the phrase “except as otherwise provided in this section” its plain meaning and conclude that the phrase is of critical importance in answering the district court’s question because of its placement in the same sentence that abolishes joint liability. The language sends a clear message that the legislature did not intend to create a blanket abolition of all forms of joint liability in tort actions and did intend to define exceptions to the rule. The legislature indeed crafted two exceptions, placing both in section (D) of the statute. The exception relevant to the present case is set forth in section 12-2506(D)(2) (section (D)(2)):
D. The liability of each defendant is several only and is not joint, except that:
2. Nothing in this section prohibits the imposition of joint and several liability in a cause of action relating to hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites.
(Emphasis added.)
This language is equally plain. It acknowledges the clause in section (A) as precluding application of the statute to excepted causes, and then describes with particularity the very actions that are excepted. Plaintiffs thus argue that the alleged contamination of groundwater by Hughes and the defendants falls squarely within section (D)(2) and that the phrase in section (A), “except as otherwise provided in this section,” completes a concise statutory equation for the non-disturbance of common law joint liability in cases, as here, “relating to hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites.”
Defendants assert that the statute effectively abolishes joint and several liability in all tort actions, including this one, and that to invoke joint liability in any action alleging hazardous waste requires formal “reinstatement” of the doctrine by the enactment of new and separate legislation. Defendants cite the language “imposition ... of liability” in section (D)(2) and suggest that in hazardous waste actions against joint tortfeasors there can be no joint liability unless the legislature has revived by separate enactment the joint and several principle. Defendants point out that the legislature has enacted no such separate legislation.
As an example, defendants cite the narrow class of statutory claims arising under A.R.S. § 49-285(A) regarding the Arizona Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund (WQARF). However, because the instant case raises the more fundamental question whether a traditional common law principle was or was not altered by the legislature, defendants’ analogy to statutory claims created and maintainable exclusively under WQARF is unpersuasive. Our inquiry, in the most basic terms, is centered not on whether a statutory claim has been created, but on whether an established common law principle has been abolished.
In further support of their position, defendants argue that section (D)(2) contains two ambiguities: first, that the reference to “the imposition of joint and several liability” does not specify who or what entity does the imposing; and second, that the phrase “relating to hazardous wastes ...,” also in section (D)(2), is susceptible to a range of interpretations. Defendants then search for indications of intent in the legislative history and in the statute’s use of terms of art.
We have considered these arguments and find them strained, with a clear tendency to distort plain meaning. Instead, we reach what we believe is a more sensible and logical conclusion — that the term imposition of joint and several liability in section (D)(2) was intended by the legislature to include, at the very least, liability imposed by a court in dispensing justice for or against joint tortfeasors, and that the term relating to, in the context of the statute as a whole, means based upon or predicated upon “hazardous wastes____” Courts dispense justice by determining either to impose or not impose liability on a party, and if liability is imposed, to fix an appropriate measure of damage. Moreover, this is a negligence claim predicated on the release of hazardous wastes into the underground water supply. It is thus related to or predicated upon the very cause of action defined in section (D)(2) and, in our view, there is no other rational way to read the provision. Accordingly, we conclude that the ambiguities urged by defendants in reality do not exist.
Defendants further argue that “the hazardous wastes exception is subject to various constructions ... [and that] [o]ne can read the exception as permitting only the legislature to ‘impose’ joint and several liability when using ... statutorily created terms of art----” Thus, where a statute defines such terms as “hazardous waste,” “hazardous substance,” and “solid waste,” defendants contend that the legislature intends joint liability to attach only in claims arising under the defining statute. Moreover, defendants claim that the judiciary would have difficulty defining these terms accurately and consistently and that the use of statutory terms of art in section (D)(2) indicates legislative intent that joint and several liability can exist only by specific statutory authorization. As examples, defendants point to cases arising under WQARF or similar environmental regulations rather than under the common law.
Because of the clearly worded statute at issue here, we must decline defendants’ invitation to adopt so narrow an interpretation. Moreover, our extensive search has produced nothing in the statute’s legislative history to support the attenuated interpretation urged by defendants. See Church v. Rawson Drug & Sundry Co., 173 Ariz. 342, 351, 842 P.2d 1355, 1364 (App.1992) (“[t]here is no legislative history relating to [the section 12-2506(D) ] exceptions----”).
In its certification, the district court suggests that to support defendants’ position, section (D)(2) would need to be rewritten: “Nothing in this section prohibits the imposition of joint and several liability in a [statutory] cause of action relating to [the cleanup of] hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites.” We agree. To have crafted the statute in that manner would have altered its meaning by confining the exception strictly to statutory actions for cleanup of hazardous wastes, thereby eliminating common law tort actions. The legislature could have written the statute in this manner, but did not do so.
Finally, defendants argue that the phrase in section (D)(2) “relating to hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites” can be applied only to claims arising under environmental cleanup statutes, and that to interpret it otherwise would thwart the goal of tort reform in Arizona. As examples of claims that might arise unless the scope of the exception is thus restricted, defendants suggest medical malpractice alleging the improper use of radiation therapy, negligent application of termite treatment, negligent automobile painting, or a battery committed using a bottle of bleach. A simple reading of the relevant statutory language, coupled with common reason, indicates we need not fear such parade of horribles. We are confident that the courts are alert to the meaning of the language of the statutory exception and thus will be able to confine the statutes to the parameters intended by the legislature. For example, Celia Barr interpreted section (D)(2), consistent with our reasoning in this case, to exclude from its scope a professional malpractice claim where an environmental audit failed to discover hazardous wastes on the plaintiffs property. The court of appeals properly distinguished the case, finding that the audit firm’s liability “related to the quality of its professional services ... [,] not to hazardous wastes or substances.” 177 Ariz. at 485, 868 P.2d at 1068.
We note that defendants have cited Celia Barr in support of their more restricted reading of section (D)(2). Celia Barr does not help defendants’ argument. In fact, the claim in that case, as indicated, did not arise as a hazardous waste claim but was instead an allegation of malpractice and professional negligence, precisely the sort of claim plaintiffs would probably agree is outside the reach of the exception in section (D)(2). Id. at 482, 868 P.2d at 1065. We agree with Celia Barr but reject defendants’ argument that because the case interpreted section (D)(2) to exclude professional malpractice, the section must also exclude tort claims for negligent release of hazardous waste. This argument would require the court to make an unjustified quantum leap from the plain meaning of section (D)(2), which on its face leaves joint liability undisturbed in hazardous waste tort actions, to the notion that separate legislation imposing joint liability is required in order to reach the very result that section (D)(2) on its face already provides. The language of the existing statute simply does not support defendants’ contention.
Defendants’ central argument is that the general purpose of the statute as a whole is to abolish joint and several liability in actions against joint tortfeasors, and thus the exceptions established in section (D)(2) must be construed as narrowly as possible. We might agree with that proposition if the statute were indeed ambiguous or unclear, because we agree generally that courts should interpret ambiguous and unclear statutes to conform with general goals expressed in the legislative history. Dietz, 169 Ariz. at 510, 821 P.2d at 171. We conclude, however, that this statute is neither ambiguous nor unclear and that defendants’ arguments do not conform to the general goals underlying this legislation. Defendants’ approach ignores the fact that an exception is inherently contrary to the rule. See State v. Cassius, 110 Ariz. 485, 487, 520 P.2d 1109, 1111 (1974) (‘Where a statute first expresses a general intent, and later an inconsistent particular intent, such particular intent will be taken as an exception to the general intent, and both will stand.”), cert. dismissed, 420 U.S. 514, 95 S.Ct. 1345, 43 L.Ed.2d 362 (1975).
Defendants’ arguments, including the briefs of amici curiae, do not embrace the critical issue before the court as to the function and meaning of the section (D)(2) exception to the general rule. We find the arguments to be thinly stretched beyond what is otherwise a clear interpretation of the existing statutory language.
Thus, while the abolition of joint liability in section (A) is clear, it is equally certain that in the process of abolition, the legislature carved out a particularized exception to the general rule, and in so doing, issued a clear mandate that the common law doctrine of joint liability among tortfeasors, as it pertains to actions covered by section (D)(2), is to be left undisturbed.
DISPOSITION
The statutory exception in A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)(2) preserves the common law principle of joint liability as the applicable law in “cause[s] of action relating to hazardous wastes or substances or solid waste disposal sites.” We cannot and should not attempt to modify legislative policy evidenced by statutory language that is clear on its face.
ZLAKET, C. J., and FELDMAN, MOELLER and MARTONE, JJ., concur.
. For purposes of simplicity, the term "defendants” includes all third-party defendants named by defendant Hughes in its third-party complaint.
. The WQARF, a state counterpart to the federal Superfund program, imposed joint and several liability on responsible parties for the recovery of the cost of state-approved remedial action to clean up hazardous substances. Section 49-285 has been repealed, effective August 1, 1997.
. The court is aware of Senate Bill 1450 enacted during the first regular session of the 1997 Arizona State Legislature. Senate Bill 1450, if signed by the Governor, will repeal A.R.S. § 12-2506(D)(2). Repeal will raise new and different issues fully outside the scope of the question certified to us by the district court.
|
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OPINION
FELDMAN, Justice.
Andrew Leavy sought review of a court of appeals’ decision affirming the trial court’s order denying his motions for new trial. See Leavy v. Parsell, No. 1 CA-CV 95-0234, filed March 12, 1996 (Memorandum Decision). We granted review to determine whether the trial judge abused her discretion in failing to grant Leavy’s motions for new trial on grounds that defense counsel engaged in deliberate, serious misconduct. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3), Ariz. R. Civ.App. P. 23, and A.R.S. § 12-120.24.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On May 23, 1992, Plaintiff Andrew Leavy (“Leavy”) and Defendant Gary Parsell (“Par-sell”) were involved in an automobile collision at the intersection of 90th Street and Cactus Road in Scottsdale. At the time of the accident, Parsell was driving a company vehicle and was performing his duties as an employee of Defendant Schendel Pest Control of Arizona. Leavy brought a personal injury action against Parsell and Schendel, seeking damages based on negligence and respondeat superior theories.
Prior to trial, Leavy filed motions in limine seeking among other things to preclude Par-sell from raising the seat belt defense and from introducing opinion testimony by Par-sell’s expert, Michael Broughton, regarding the credibility of certain accident witnesses, especially Denise Ott-McLarty, on whose observations Broughton relied in reaching his conclusions. The judge granted these motions, stating:
IT IS ORDERED Mr. Broughton cannot testify regarding the credibility of witnesses, but he can indicate which witnesses’ statements and testimony he relied on as the facts upon which his opinion is based. ‡ ‡ 9¡c $ $
IT IS ORDERED precluding the defendants from “raising” the seatbelt defense.
Leavy admitted prior to trial that a bottle of whiskey found near the accident site was his, but there was no evidence that Leavy used any alcohol prior to the accident or was impaired to any extent. We cannot tell from the record before us whether the judge ordered that the issue of alcohol use not be raised or whether counsel agreed not to raise it, but it is clear it was not an issue to be tried.
During his opening statement, defense counsel twice violated the judge’s orders by telling the jury that: (1) the emergency room records stated Leavy was “a probable unrestrained driver,” and (2) Ott-McLarty was described by an accident reconstruction expert as one of the best witnesses he had ever seen in sixteen years. Later the same day, during cross-examination of another witness, counsel asked if Leavy was wearing a seat belt when found in the vehicle immediately after the accident. Leavy’s counsel timely objected to the three improper comments and the objections were sustained. Believing the “bell had been rung” and not wishing to emphasize the matter, Leavy’s counsel did not request the judge to instruct the jury to disregard defense counsel’s statements. Instead, at the start of the second day of trial, Leavy moved for a mistrial based on defense counsel’s violation of the judge’s orders. The judge denied the motion because she could not recall the comments made during opening statement.
The parties presented conflicting evidence about how the accident occurred. Oddly, both drivers had been driving nearly identical, white, foreign-made, pickup trucks. According to Leavy, he was traveling westbound on Cactus Road, and Parsell was driving southbound on 90th Street and ran the stop sign, causing the accident. Parsell had retrograde amnesia, but the version from the defense eye-witnesses, especially Ott-McLarty, was that Parsell was driving eastbound on Cactus Road and it was Leavy, traveling southbound on 90th Street, who ran the stop sign and caused the collision.
The jury returned a unanimous defense verdict. Leavy timely filed a motion for new trial, arguing that defense counsel’s improper references to Leavy’s use or non-use of a seat belt and vouching for OtL-MeLarty’s credibility denied him a fair trial. At the hearing on the motion, the judge stated that defense counsel “clearly violated the motion in limini [sic],” and that he did so “with malice aforethought.” According to Leavy’s counsel, jurors commented that they “saw the case as one that was 50/50” and “[ejxactly even.” The judge agreed with this assessment, adding, however, that she did not “see how anybody could get that extra 1 percent that’s necessary” to tip the balance in favor of one party over the other.
Leavy then amended his' motion to include defense counsel’s repeated references to alcohol: by our count, counsel mentioned the whiskey bottle or Leavy’s possible use of alcohol prior to the accident on at least eleven occasions. The judge nevertheless denied both motions, noting in her order that there was no testimony about Leavy’s use of a seat belt because all objections to those questions were sustained. She agreed that defense counsel improperly asked many questions about Leavy’s use of alcohol and mentioned in his opening statement and during examination matters excluded by pretrial orders. She concluded, however, that
the misconduct violated the spirit and intent of the orders. The issue is whether the misconduct materially affected the plaintiffs rights.... The court is unable to find that the misconduct materially affected plaintiffs rights.
The court of appeals affirmed, holding that although defense counsel’s statements “cer tainly had the potential to deprive Leavy of a fair trial,” the trial judge did not abuse her discretion in denying the motions for new trial. Leavy, mem. dec. at 9-10. We conclude the potential was realized and defense counsel’s misconduct deprived Leavy of a fair trial.
DISCUSSION
A. Grant v. Arizona Public Service Co.
The grant or denial of a motion for new trial on grounds of misconduct is a matter within the trial judge’s discretion. In exercising that discretion, the judge must decide whether the misconduct materially affected the rights of the aggrieved party. Grant v. Arizona Public Service Co., 133 Ariz. 434, 454, 652 P.2d 507, 527 (1982). Reversal will be required only when it appears probable that the misconduct “actually influenced the verdict.” Id. (quoting Sanchez v. Stremel, 95 Ariz. 392, 395, 391 P.2d 557, 559 (1964)). Because this is a factual determination, no presumption of prejudice or lack of prejudice should be applied. If the misconduct is serious, however, the judge should resolve any doubt in favor of the party aggrieved. Id. at 455, 652 P.2d at 528 (citing Sadler v. Arizona Flour Mills Co., 58 Ariz. 486, 121 P.2d 412 (1942)).
The judge did not do so in this ease, denying the motions for new trial even though she recognized that the ease was very close. She must also have recognized that under the peculiar facts of this case, the credibility and accuracy of the witnesses for each side were the keys to the jury’s verdict. We are mindful that in Grant we said:
We are left here with a case in which the record could justify either a conclusion of prejudice or no prejudice____ Thus, ... if the trial court had granted a new trial, we would have no hesitancy in affirming. On the other hand, since the record also supports the contrary finding, we must affirm the order denying a new trial, unless some reason exists for departing from the usual rule.
Id. at 456-57, 652 P.2d at 529-30 (emphasis added).
In Grant, a wrongful death case, during final argument plaintiffs counsel drew improper inferences from the admitted evidence. These comments were made primarily to support plaintiffs claim for punitive damages. Counsel also speculated on facts that were not only irrelevant but not in evidence, suggesting that the victim’s widow was not dating and had no plans to remarry. Counsel also peppered his closing remarks with improper personal views and comments. We found that the trial judge had not erred in denying the motions for mistrial and for a new trial.
Various factors distinguish this case from Grant. First, the misconduct in this case was much more egregious than in Grant. Counsel deliberately and knowingly did what the judge expressly ordered him not to do. This was not a case of a lawyer getting carried away and injecting improper issues or comments in final argument. Such misconduct occurs, improper though it may be. Instead, with what the judge accurately called “malice aforethought,” counsel deliberately and knowingly violated the judge’s orders on the motions in limine. Second, one of the improper remarks was directly relevant to the issue of witness credibility, the essential issue in this case of diametrically conflicting stories. In Grant, on the other hand, the main purpose of counsel’s improper argument was to procure punitive damages. If the jury had awarded punitive damages, “we would have no hesitation in concluding that the misconduct probably influenced the jury.” Id. at 453, 652 P.2d at 526.
In the present case,. defense counsel sought to tip the scales in his client’s favor by implying Leavy was negligent by failing to use his seat belt and by possessing or using alcohol; counsel also sought to bolster the credibility of a key defense witness on the issue of liability. We believe that because the evidence was quite evenly divided between the parties, defense counsel’s deliberate and knowing acts of misconduct throughout the trial, some of which violated explicit, unambiguous court orders, may well have produced the very result sought.
How, then, should a trial judge resolve a close question of prejudice in deciding whether counsel’s acts probably influenced the jury?
B. Prejudice
If the law in civil cases requires that a litigant subjected to misconduct of the type presented in this case make an explicit showing of probable influence, then the rule is self-defeating. As we have recently recognized in other, similar contexts, it is impossible for a party to carry the burden of proving prejudice when the misconduct or error prevents the court from determining the exact extent of prejudice. See Perez v. Community Hospital of Chandler, 929 P.2d 1303, 234 Ariz.Adv.Rep. 3 (1997) (bailiff misconduct in misleading the jurors by giving incorrect answers to their questions without relaying the questions to the trial judge); State v. Rich, 184 Ariz. 179, 907 P.2d 1382 (1995) (trial judge failed to notify counsel that jury returned inconsistent guilty verdict on lesser included offense). In these cases, we held that prejudice will be found when there has been significant misconduct affecting the essential rights of a litigant and when the very nature of the misconduct makes it impossible to determine the extent of prejudice. 929 P.2d 1303, 234 Ariz.Adv.Rep. at 5-6; Rich, 184 Ariz. at 181, 907 P.2d at 1384; see also State v. Dickens, 187 Ariz. 1, 15, 926 P.2d 468, 482 (1996) (jurors cannot be interrogated to inquire into their mental processes).
We adopt that rule for this situation. Any other result would encourage deliberate, unethical conduct by giving lawyers carte blanche to violate professional standards and court orders with relative impunity. We preserve the rules that misconduct alone will not warrant a new trial and that the grant or denial of a new trial based on misconduct is within the judge’s discretion. Grant, 133 Ariz. at 454, 652 P.2d at 527; see also Zugsmith v. Mullins, 86 Ariz. 236, 238, 344 P.2d 739, 741 (1959). But the trial judge should find prejudice when, as in the present case, (1) the misconduct is significant, especially if the record establishes knowing, deliberate violations of rules or court orders that a litigant may confidently expect to be observed by his or her adversary; (2) the misconduct is prejudicial in nature because it involves essential and important issues, but the extent is impossible to determine in a close case; and (3) the misconduct is apparently successful in achieving its goals. In cases in which these factors are present, prejudice should be inferred, absent an affirmative showing to the contrary by the guilty party.
The court of appeals believed that any possibility of prejudice was overcome because the trial judge sustained Leaves objections and instructed the jurors that counsel’s arguments and questions were not evidence. We disagree with this reasoning. Although the judge’s rulings on Leav/s objections prevented an extended discussion of the issues or answers to improper questions, the comments in opening statement and the later improper questions raised issues that were legally irrelevant but might have been considered important by the jurors. Further, we cannot adopt a rule that essentially allows lawyers freedom to knowingly and deliberately raise inadmissible and inflammatory matters during opening statements on the bare assumption that any harm will be cured by a later stock instruction that arguments and questions are not evidence. This result is neither desirable nor, we believe, pragmatically correct. We cannot presume that stock instructions will cure the introduction of excluded issues such as alcohol use, seat belt use, and one witness’ opinion of another.
C. Unprofessional Conduct
We make no finding of unethical conduct. Lawyers are “entitled to be heard before being branded as unethical practitioners.” Grant, 133 Ariz. at 457, 652 P.2d at 530. But certainly our courts can recognize and take action when unprofessional conduct occurs in the course of litigation. Judges need not and should not permit unseemly conduct simply because it may not go far enough to warrant imposition of disciplinary sanctions. To be silent in the face of unprofessional conduct is ultimately to encourage it. It is our experience that judges get what they demand from lawyers, and our courts have an obligation to demand and thus promote proper conduct by the bar. This court has been disturbed by a growing trend in unprofessional conduct in and out of the courtroom. Many distinguished and reputable members of the bar share this feeling. All of us, judges, lawyers, and their several associations, must work together to promote professionalism.
We hope this opinion, like those in State v. Killean, 185 Ariz. 270, 915 P.2d 1225 (1996) (preclusion of evidence appropriate sanction for defense counsel’s willful misconduct in failing to disclose that evidence), and Pool v. Superior Court, 139 Ariz. 98, 677 P.2d 261 (1984) (jeopardy attached and retrial barred because prosecutor engaged in intentional, egregious, and improper conduct), is one more step in informing the public and the bar that this court will not tolerate unprofessional behavior.
Given the circumstances and facts set forth in this opinion and the trial judge’s conclusion, supported by ample evidence, that counsel’s conduct was both deliberate and knowing, we believe at least a prima facie case of unprofessional conduct exists. Our trial judges should not tolerate deliberate professional misconduct. At the hearing on the motion for new trial in this case, the judge said that if defense counsel ever again violated one of her orders, either in fact or in spirit, she would “take it out of his pocketbook.” But when faced with counsel’s deliberate, knowing misconduct, a trial judge should not wait until the next time. Prompt action may prevent misconduct the next time.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the court of appeals’ memorandum decision and the trial judge’s order and remand this case to the superior court with instructions to grant a new trial. The clerk of this court is also instructed to forward a copy of this opinion to the disciplinary department of the State Bar of Arizona.
ZLAKET, C.J., JONES, Vice Chief Justice and MOELLER and MARTONE, JJ., concur. .
. We believe the judge’s pretrial orders were quite clear, despite appellate counsel’s statement, during argument to this court, that they were ambiguous. We agree with the judge’s finding that trial counsel's conduct was knowing and intentional.
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OPINION
FELDMAN, Justice.
Timothy Roosevelt Boles (Defendant) appealed his convictions for eighteen felonies arising out of various sexual offenses. On review, a majority of the court of appeals found that although the trial judge properly admitted evidence that Defendant’s DNA autoradiogram matched that of the samples recovered from two of the victims, he committed fundamental error by allowing the state’s experts to express opinions that implied the autorad match positively identified Defendant. Because the majority found error that tainted all the jury’s verdicts, the court of appeals reversed Defendant’s convictions and remanded for retrial. State v. Boles, 183 Ariz. 563, 905 P.2d 572 (1995).
We granted the state’s petition for review pursuant to Rule 31.19, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure. We have jurisdiction under the Arizona Constitution, art. VI, § 5(3).
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The charges against Defendant arose out of a series of similar sexual assaults committed over three years at apartment complexes in the vicinity of 15th Avenue and Glendale in Phoenix. After the first attack on a thirteen-year-old girl who was kidnaped from her apartment and raped, Defendant was stopped by police as he ran in the alley behind the apartments. The victim’s description of her attacker matched Defendant. He was released, however, because initial reports said the attacker was white. Eighteen months later, a twelve-year-old girl was kidnaped as she, walked from the laundry room to her apartment. Within two months a twenty-year old woman was also raped. Another two months passed and a ten year-old girl was taken from her apartment and sexually assaulted. During the period between the last three rapes, a black male matching Defendant’s description was observed peering into apartment windows by a paper boy and a police surveillance team in the vicinity of the rapes. He was arrested for trespassing at the same apartment complex where the first victim had lived. After his arrest, Defendant exhibited unusual knowledge of the crimes. A search of his residence uncovered several pieces of clothing like that described by the victims.
Sperm samples were obtained from the second and third victims’ clothing and were analyzed by the Department of Public Safety (DPS) laboratory. DPS ran five probes in each case. The DNA sample from Defendant matched at four probes but was inconclusive at the fifth because of difficulty sizing the lower bands. These problems, however, did not exclude a match.
Before trial, a Frye hearing was held on the admissibility of statistical evidence of the probability of a random match. The trial judge found the methods used were inadmissible because they were not generally accepted in the scientific community. However, the judge permitted opinion testimony based on the DNA experts’ interpretation of the DNA test results. The DPS analyst and a University of Arizona professor reviewed the autoradiograms and concluded that the semen found on the two victims’ clothing matched Defendant’s DNA. Both experts testified that they had never seen or heard of two unrelated people having DNA that matched over four or five probes, although it was theoretically possible. Likewise, Defendant’s expert, Dr. Action, testified that except for a small Indian tribe in South America, where there was evidence of inbreeding, he had not heard of DNA from two individuals matching at four or five probes. He also conceded that while there is not enough DNA data to establish that two individuals’ DNA could not match at four or five probes, in 5,000 paternity eases he had not seen a four-probe match between two unrelated individuals.
Other physical evidence, including hair comparisons, serological evidence, and shoe prints, linked Defendant with the other two victims. Defendant was found guilty of eighteen felony counts, including four counts of burglary, four counts of kidnaping, one count of aggravated assault, three counts of sexual abuse, two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of molestation of a child, and two counts of sexual assault.
DISCUSSION
Following its opinion in State v. Hummert, 183 Ariz. 484, 905 P.2d 493 (1995), the court of appeals found that the expert testimony should not have been admitted because it necessarily assumed the validity of the inadmissible probability statistics. Boles, 183 Ariz. at 571, 905 P.2d at 580. The court stated that in the absence of a generally accepted method of determining random match probability estimates, experts can only testify that the DNA match fails to exclude the defendant. Dissenting, however, Judge Ehrlich believed that the majority erred in concluding that the state’s experts implicitly relied on probability statistics. In her view, limiting experts to testifying that a match merely fails to exclude the defendant unreasonably divests the DNA evidence of its compelling nature. Id. at 577, 905 P.2d at 586.
The issues at hand have been fully discussed in State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 858 P.2d 1152 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994); State v. Johnson, 186 Ariz. 329, 922 P.2d 294 (1996); and Hummert. In Bible we allowed the admission of evidence of a match of two DNA samples, stating that when DNA samples profiled using the RFLP method match, “the conclusion is that they may be from the same individual.” 175 Ariz. at 590, 858 P.2d at 1193. Although we rejected Cellmark laboratory’s method for determining population frequency statistics as flawed and thus not generally accepted by the relevant scientific community, we “expressly [did] not decide whether the inadmissibility of the random match probability calculations means that other DNA evidence such as evidence of a match is inadmissible.... ” Id.
In Johnson we held that the modified ceiling method, developed by the National Research Council (NRC) to make DNA analysis useful for forensic use, ensures that the random match probabilities calculated are very conservative and thus protect a defendant’s rights. 186 Ariz. at 333, 922 P.2d at 298. This method had been generally accepted by the relevant scientific community; thus, DNA probability calculations computed using the modified ceiling method are admissible under Frye. Id. at 334, 922 P.2d at 300. Subsequently, in its 1996 final revision, the NRC concluded the modified ceiling method is too conservative and suggested the use of random match probability statistics calculated by using the product rule, with certain modifications made to compensate for subpopulations, isolated populations, and related individuals. National Research Council, The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence 5-32 (1996) (pre-publication copy) (1996 Report).
The court of appeals was concerned that without statistical or numerical interpretation of the probability of a random match, the evidence of a match was too prejudicial and thus inadmissible. But in this case, as in Hummert, the experts instead testified to both their personal experience with random matches and the significance of a match at several loci. The court of appeals held that this type of evidence was also inadmissible. However, our understanding of the pertinent scientific literature, particularly the NRC’s 1996 revision, makes no specific requirements for the form of testimony expressing the significance of a match. The Report states:
Scientifically valid testimony about matching DNA can take many forms. The conceivable alternatives include statements of the posterior probability that the defendant is the source of the evidence DNA, qualitative characterizations of this probability, computations of the likelihood ratio for the hypothesis that the defendant is the source, qualitative statements of this measure of the strength of the evidence, the currently dominant estimates of profile frequencies or random-match probabilities, and unadorned reports of a match. Courts or legislatures must decide which of these alternatives best meet the needs of the criminal justice system.
1996 Report, at ES-7 (emphasis deleted).
Thus, we held in Hummert that not only are various methods allowable for expressing the significance of a match of two DNA profiles, but that Arizona Rules of Evidence 702 and 703 permit opinion evidence by an expert on the rarity of the profiles of two unrelated persons matching when experts testify concerning their own experimentation and observation. State v. Hummert, 188 Ariz. 119, 933 P.2d 1187 (1997). This is because the weight of the experts’ opinions about their personal experience with random matches did not rely on accuracy of an applied principle of science but on each expert’s personal credibility, experience, and interpretations. Hummert, 124, 933 P.2d at 1192; see also State v. Roscoe, 145 Ariz. 212, 220, 700 P.2d 1312, 1320 (1984).
CONCLUSION
Because evidence of a match, even without statistical interpretations of its significance, is admissible, and expert opinion based on personal experience on the likelihood of a random match is admissible, the trial judge did not err in allowing the two experts to testify about either the match or their experience with the possibility of a random match. Therefore, we vacate the court of appeals’ opinion and affirm the trial judge’s rulings and Defendant’s convictions.
THOMAS A. ZLAKET, C. J., and MOELLER and MARTONE, JJ., and EINO M. JACOBSON, Judge (Retired), concur.
ROBERT J. CORCORCAN, J. did not participate in the determination of this matter; pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. VI, § 3, the Honorable EINO M. JACOBSON, Judge (Retired) of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, was designated to sit in his stead.
. We recently vacated the court of appeals’ opinion in Hummert. See State v. Hummert, 188 Ariz. 119, 933 P.2d 1187 (1997).
. See National Research Council, The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence (1992).
. Neither this revision nor our opinions in Johnson and Hummert were available to the court of appeals at the time it decided the present case.
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OPINION
GERBER, Judge.
Appellant Anthony Gaines (Gaines) appeals from his conviction and sentence for second degree burglary. We hold that the trial court erred in permitting the state to cross-examine Gaines regarding his physical characteristics. Because we find that this ruling constituted prejudicial error, we reverse the conviction and remand for re-trial.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Mark O’Leary (O’Leary) saw two men enter a neighbor’s garage. O’Leary told his step-father, Dennis Plummer (Plummer), what he had seen. Plummer and O’Leary saw the men exit the garage with the neighbor’s children’s bikes. Plummer, O’Leary and a relative staying at the neighbor’s house got into a truck and followed the thieves, who had ridden away on the bikes. They caught up to the men on the bikes near a cotton field where the thieves dropped the bikes and ran. O’Leary, Plummer and the relative then retrieved the bikes and drove them back to the neighbor’s house.
Plummer and O’Leary picked up a hand gun and returned to the cotton field to again look for the thieves. Plummer fired a shot into the air and two men came out from the field. Plummer briefly conversed with the two men, who then walked away. Police soon arrived and eventually found Gaines and a companion in the field. When an officer drove Plummer and O’Leary to the area where Gaines and the other suspect were detained, they identified Gaines and the other man as the thieves. However, neither Plummer nor O’Leary could identify Gaines’ photograph in a photographic lineup three months after the incident.
The trial defense was misidentification. Gaines’ counsel argued that Gaines and his brother had been jogging by the cotton field, that they had been accosted by Plummer at gunpoint, and that they were not the men who had stolen the bikes. Both Plummer and O’Leary identified Gaines at trial as one of the two men they had seen steal the bikes. Plummer testified that Gaines had distinctive eyebrows that helped Plummer identify Gaines at the show-up as the man he had confronted in the cotton field.
Gaines did not offer any witnesses. However, at the close of the state’s case, Gaines’ counsel asked the court if Gaines could closely approach the jury box so that the jurors could observe his face and eyebrows. Gaines apparently wanted to show the jury that his eyebrows were not unusual and thereby east doubt on Plummer’s identification of him. The state argued that, if Gaines made such a display to the jury, the state should be entitled to cross-examine him. Defense counsel replied that cross-examination of physical characteristics was inappropriate and that, instead, the jury could simply compare Gaines’ trial appearance with his photograph from the lineup.
The trial court ruled that Gaines could approach the jury but that the state would be allowed to cross-examine him regarding his physical characteristics. Gaines then stood in front of the jury box. Thereafter he was sworn and the state questioned him regarding his physical appearance. Defense counsel asked no questions.
The jury found Gaines guilty of second degree burglary. The trial court imposed a presumptive prison term of six and one-half years. Over Gaines’ objection, the court ordered that he pay restitution in the amount of $477.72 for lost wages for the victim’s time spent in court waiting to testify. Gaines timely filed this appeal.
ISSUES
Gaines raises the following issues on appeal:
1. Whether the trial court improperly permitted the state to cross-examine Gaines on a limited basis after Gaines stood before the jury;
2. Whether the trial court properly ordered Gaines to pay the victim restitution for lost wages incurred while attending the trial.
Because we reverse Gaines’ conviction on the first issue, we need not reach the issue regarding restitution.
DISCUSSION
Gaines argues that the trial court’s requirement that he submit to limited cross-examination by the state as a condition to displaying his physical appearance to the jury violated his privilege against self-incrimination.
The Fifth Amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination prevents a defendant from being compelled to testify against himself. U.S. Const, amend. V. This privilege applies to the states by its incorporation into the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 8, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1493-94, 12 L.Ed.2d 653 (1964).
Of course the privilege against self-incrimination may be waived. For instance a defendant who voluntarily takes the stand waives his Fifth Amendment privilege and may be cross-examined. State v. Woody, 108 Ariz. 284, 287, 496 P.2d 584, 587 (1972). Therefore, the trial court’s ruling that Gaines could be cross-examined was proper if the display of his physical appearance before the jury constituted a waiver of the privilege against self-incrimination. The answer to this question depends on whether his demonstration constituted testimony under the Fifth Amendment.
If a defendant’s exhibition of a physical characteristic were testimonial, the state would be prohibited by the Fifth Amendment from compelling such a display. In addition, any such voluntary demonstration by the defendant would waive his privilege against self-incrimination and properly expose him to cross-examination. However, if such a physical display were not “testimony” but merely demonstrative evidence, Fifth Amendment considerations would not arise. In that event, the state would be permitted to compel a defendant to make such a display without violating the defendant’s privilege against self-incrimination, and, for his part, the defendant could voluntarily offer such a display without submitting to cross-examination. See State v. Martin, 519 So.2d 87, 90 (La. 1988).
The United States Supreme Court has reached the latter conclusion. It has found no Fifth Amendment violation when the state compels the defendant merely to display physical characteristics. See Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757, 764, 86 S.Ct. 1826, 1832, 16 L.Ed.2d 908 (1966) (distinguishing between an accused’s communications, which are protected by the privilege against self-incrimination, and the accused’s physical characteristics, which are not protected); see also State v. Lee, 184 Ariz. 230, 233, 908 P.2d 44, 47 (App.1995) (Fifth Amendment does not protect an accused from being compelled to produce “real or physical evidence” as opposed to testimonial or communicative evidence). Federal and state courts alike have held that the self-incrimination clause of the Fifth Amendment “offers no protection against compulsion to submit to fingerprinting, photographing, or measurements, to write or speak for identification, to appear in court, to stand, to assume a stance, to walk, or to make a particular gesture.” Schmerber, 384 U.S. at 764, 86 S.Ct. at 1832.
In light of this jurisprudence, the state had the right, if it so chose, to compel Gaines to display his physical characteristics to the jury. Such a demonstration would not have been testimony nor would it have violated Games’ Fifth Amendment rights. Should a defendant’s display of the same physical characteristics be treated differently when the defendant rather than the state desires the physical demonstration?
Most of the cases that have considered this narrow issue conclude that a physical display offered by the defendant should be treated exactly like such a display offered by the state. See John B. Spitzer, Annotation, Display of Physical Appearance of Defendant for Purpose of Challenging Prosecution Evidence as “Testimony” Resulting in Waiver of Defendant’s Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 81 A.L.R. Fed. 892 (1987).
Only one recent federal case is closely on point. In United States v. Bay, 762 F.2d 1314 (9th Cir.1984), defense counsel asked to have the defendant show the jury tattoos on the backs of his hands. Counsel wished to argue that the failure of eyewitnesses to mention the tattoos in their testimony raised a doubt about their identifications of the defendant. As happened here, the trial court in Bay ruled that such an exhibition would require the defendant to submit to cross-examination. Bay then did not take the stand or exhibit the tattoos. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the trial court’s ruling was error because a mere display of physical evidence such as hands is non-testimonial. The court noted that the government could have compelled the defendant to show his hands to the jury. Id. at 1315. Physical characteristics relevant to eyewitness identifications could be displayed to the jury and mentioned in argument without a defendant having to take the stand for cross-examination or impeachment. Id. at 1315-16.
The state relies on United States v. Esdaille, 769 F.2d 104 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 923, 106 S.Ct. 258, 88 L.Ed.2d 264 (1985), and argues that, because a person’s eyebrows can be easily altered, there was no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s ruling permitting limited cross-examination on Gaines’ appearance. In Esdaille, the defendant desired to refute a police identification by demonstrating to the jury, without submitting to cross-examination, that he had a heavy Caribbean accent. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to allow the voice exemplar. The refusal was not error because the exemplar had limited probative value given the ease with which an accent can be feigned. 769 F.2d at 107. In distinguishing Bay, the appellate court noted that the issue in Esdaille was not whether an act was testimonial such that Fifth Amendment rights would be waived but whether the voice exemplar was reliable evidence.. Id. Unlike in Esdaille, the state here never argued before the trial court that Games’ display of his physical appearance was unreliable.
We agree with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bay. Gaines’ display of his physical characteristics before the jury was non-testimonial. The display was simply a closer showing of the same physical characteristics already plainly apparent as Gaines sat in the courtroom next to his attorney. The trial court therefore erred in requiring him to submit to cross-examination.
In explaining his ruling, the trial judge acknowledged that Gaines did not wish to take the stand and that, by presenting himself to the jury, he was not testifying within the normal meaning of that word. The trial court denied the state’s request to fully cross-examine Gaines if he made the display. However, the judge stated that, because identification was an important issue, an appropriate compromise would be to allow Gaines to be cross-examined about his physical characteristics only.
This compromise was error. Because Gaines’ display was not testimonial, he did not waive his privilege against self-incrimination. Without a voluntary waiver, he should not have been subjected to any cross-examination by the state, limited or otherwise. See State v. Martin, 519 So.2d 87, 92 (La. 1988) (where defendant desired to display his tattoos to the jury, trial judge’s proposal to allow cross-examination limited to questions involving the tattoos was error).
Gaines argues that the trial court’s error in requiring him to submit to cross-examination after his display constitutes structural error requiring reversal. Structural errors “affec[t] the framework within which the trial proceeds” and cannot be reviewed to determine if they are harmless. State v. Fullem, 185 Ariz. 134, 138, 912 P.2d 1363, 1367 (App.1995). Absent such structural defects, this court will not reverse a criminal conviction based on an erroneous ruling by the trial court, constitutional or otherwise, if we can say, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the error did not affect the verdict. State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 588, 858 P.2d 1152, 1191 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994).
The United States Supreme Court has noted that structural defects include such matters as total deprivation of counsel, a judge lacking impartiality, unlawful exclusion of jurors of the defendant’s race, denial of the right to self-representation and denial of the right to a public trial. Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 309-10, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1264-65, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991). Other courts have held that an error by the trial court in requiring cross-examination as a condition to a defendant’s display of a physical characteristic may be harmless. See Bay, 762 F.2d at 1316; Martin, 519 So.2d at 93. We consider it appropriate to apply harmless error analysis to determine if the trial court’s error requires reversal.
The state argues on appeal that any error by the trial court in permitting limited cross-examination of Gaines was harmless because Gaines failed to offer any foundation for a close-up view of his physical characteristics. The state argues that such limited cross-examination was merely an attempt to remedy the lack of foundation. However, although the state asked Gaines during cross-examination whether he had changed since the day of the incident, the state never seriously contended during the cross-examination or closing argument that Gaines had altered his eyebrows prior to trial.
In addition the state failed to object at trial to Gaines’ request on this now-asserted lack of foundation. The state merely argued that the display constituted testimony and asked that it be permitted to cross-examine Gaines. The state may not raise the objection of lack of foundation for the first time on appeal. In any event, when Gaines asked to make the display, the state’s witness Plummer had already testified both that Gaines’ distinctive eyebrows had helped him identify Gaines and that Gaines looked the same at trial as he did when Plummer saw him on the day the bikes were stolen. This testimony established the relevancy of Games’ display.
Our research reveals only one other case like the present one in which (1) a defendant wished to display a physical characteristic, (2) the trial court ruled that such a display would require the defendant to take the stand, and (3) the defendant elected to make the display. See People v. Shields, 81 A.D.2d 870, 438 N.Y.S.2d 885 (1981). In Shields, a defendant on trial for rape desired to display an abdominal scar. The victim had testified that she did not notice any scars on the rapist. The trial court stated that it would grant the defendant’s request if the defendant took the stand to indicate whether the scar existed on the night of the rape. The trial court also ruled that the prosecutor could question the defendant about prior convictions. The defendant then offered to present testimony from his sister and hospital records to prove that the scar pre-existed the rape. The court adhered to its prior ruling. Thereafter, the defendant took the stand, exhibited his scar and testified that he had the scar prior to the crime. The defendant was then impeached with his prior convictions. Id., 438 N.Y.S.2d at 886.
The appellate court in Shields held that the trial court erred in refusing to allow the defendant to offer foundation other than by taking the stand. The court also ruled that the defendant was prejudiced by the impeachment and, given that proof of the defendant’s guilt was not overwhelming, the trial court’s error was reversible. Id. at 887.
Although Gaines’ cross-examination was limited to questions regarding his physical appearance and did not involve impeachment by prior convictions, we nonetheless hold that, as in Shields, the trial court’s ruling that Gaines could be cross-examined, even on a limited basis, constitutes reversible error. The limited cross-examination forced Gaines to expose his responsiveness, mannerisms, personality and credibility to the jury. In addition, the court’s ruling highlighted for the jury the fact that he was not testifying about other aspects of the case, thereby raising unavoidable incriminating implications about his selective silence. The trial court’s instruction that the jury must not find guilt based on the defendant’s refusal to testify did not cure these implications' where the jury was aware that Gaines did testify about some limited matters.
In presenting its case against Gaines, the state did not offer any physical evidence such as fingerprints. Rather, its entire case against Gaines rested on the eyewitness identifications which Gaines attempted to partially discredit by the display of his eyebrows. Given the lack of overwhelming proof of guilt, we cannot say beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial court’s error in allowing the state to cross-examine Gaines was harmless.
CONCLUSION
The trial court committed reversible error when it required Gaines to submit to cross-examination after he displayed his physical characteristics to the jury. We therefore reverse the conviction and sentence and remand the case for a new trial.
NOYES, P.J., and EHRLICH, J., concur.
. Gaines admitted a prior felony conviction for attempted possession of a narcotic drug and that he was on parole for this crime at the time of his arrest for the theft of the bikes.
. The Arizona Constitution provides that "[n]o person shall be compelled in any criminal case to give evidence against himself....” Ariz. Const, art. II, § 10. The federal and Arizona privileges against self-incrimination are substantively identical. State v. Adams, 181 Ariz. 383, 385, 891 P.2d 251, 253 (App.1995).
. Much of the discussion between counsel and the trial judge regarding Gaines’ desire to present himself to the jury without taking the stand and the state’s desire to cross-examine took place off the record. However, it is apparent from the record that Gaines desired to make his display without testifying and that his counsel did object to the cross-examination.
|
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OPINION
KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.
The State of Arizona appeals the dismissal of an indictment against Howard Chan and Mary Wong, who were charged with conspiracy to commit theft and attempted trafficking in stolen property. The trial judge found that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the Defendants were never in Arizona. The court found that the acts which were committed in Arizona by the co-conspirator, David Cho, could not be imputed to the Defendants because Cho was an agent of the police. We find that Cho’s acts can be imputed to the Defendants, and this subjects the Defendants to prosecution in Arizona. We reverse and remand for trial.
This case arises from an investigation by the Chandler Police Department into the theft of computer chips from the Intel Corporation in Arizona. Detectives learned that a man named David Cho was interested in purchasing stolen chips. Posing as corrupt Intel employees, on two occasions they sold Cho what they told him were stolen chips. The detectives arrested Cho after the second sale, and Cho subsequently agreed to work with the detectives in apprehending “bigger fish” who trafficked in stolen chips.
The Defendants lived in California. Cho, while he was in California, telephoned Wong and told her that he had computer chips for sale. Wong inferred from the low price that the chips were stolen. Wong said that she and Howard Chan would buy some chips and she asked Cho when he was going to get some. Wong also said she could get the necessary money by “Monday” if Cho would have the chips by that time. Cho suggested that the transaction take place in Arizona, but the Defendants declined. Cho then arranged for the sale to take place in Laughlin, Nevada.
The police took some computer chips to Bullhead City, Arizona, across the Colorado River from Laughlin.' Cho met with the Defendants in Laughlin. They gave him $126,000 in cash and let him drive their ear to Bullhead City for the purpose of picking up the chips. The Chandler police took the cash and placed 500 computer chips in the Defendants’ car. Cho then returned the car, with the computer chips in the trunk, to the Defendants at a hotel in Laughlin. The Defendants were arrested in their car in the hotel parking lot.
Chan filed a motion to dismiss the indictment in which Wong joined. They argued that Arizona had no jurisdiction over the offenses because they never entered Arizona and because neither they, nor anyone for whom they were legally accountable, committed any crime or act in furtherance of a crime in Arizona. They argued that under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 13-108, the State lacked jurisdiction to prosecute them. That statute provides:
A. This state has jurisdiction over an offense that a person commits by his own conduct or the conduct of another for which such person is legally accountable if:
1. Conduct constituting any element of the offense or a result of such conduct occurs within this state; or
2. The conduct outside this state constitutes an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense within this state and an act in furtherance of the attempt or conspiracy occurs within this state; ____
The trial court found a lack of jurisdiction, saying:
Criminal jurisdiction of Arizona State Courts is governed by A.R.S. § 13-108. It is conceded by the State that neither Howard Chan nor Mary Wong were ever in the State of Arizona. They may still be prosecuted in the State of Arizona if there were any evidence to indicate that they conspired with others to commit offenses in the State of Arizona, or committed acts in furtherance of a conspiracy in Arizona. There is no evidence that either Defendant Chan or Defendant Wong participated in or planned in advance a conspiracy with David Cho prior to 7/27/95 [sic]. After that date, Cho was acting as a police agent and thus, cannot be a co-conspirator with the Defendants. The acts which Cho committed in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy after 7/27/95 [sic] were not illegal acts. There were no thefts or transfers of any stolen CPUs. None of the actions outside of Arizona by Defendant Chan or Defendant Wong caused crimes to occur in the State of Arizona.
Relying on our decision in State v. Miller, 157 Ariz. 129, 755 P.2d 434 (App.1988), the trial court dismissed the indictments against the Defendants.
THE TRIAL COURT HAS JURISDICTION OVER THE CONSPIRACY CHARGE PURSUANT TO A.RS. SECTION 13-108(A)(2)
A person commits theft if he “knowingly ... [c]ontrols property of another knowing or having reason to know that the property was stolen.” A.R.S. § 13-1802(A)(5). A person is guilty of conspiracy if he “agrees with one or more persons that at least one of them or another person will engage in conduct constituting the offense and one of the parties commits an overt act in furtherance of the offense.... ” A.R.S. § 13-1003(A). For Arizona to have jurisdiction, an overt act must be committed within the state. A.R.S. § 13-108(A)(2). A person may be guilty of conspiracy even if the other person in the plot is a police agent who has no real intention of committing a criminal act. State v. Felkins, 156 Ariz. 37, 749 P.2d 946 (App.1988).
The State, relying on Felkins, contends that Cho’s actions committed in Arizona can be imputed to the Defendants, thereby giving Arizona jurisdiction in this case. Felkins, however, involved no question of jurisdiction. Moreover, in that case the state did not have to rely on the government agent’s overt acts to support the conspiracy charge because the defendant also committed overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy. Id. at 38, 749 P.2d at 947. Because Cho was the only party to commit overt acts in Arizona, we must decide whether Felkins extends to situations like this one.
Generally, the acts of a co-conspirator are attributable to all members of a conspiracy. State v. Olea, 139 Ariz. 280, 678 P.2d 465 (App.1983). The recognition of a unilateral theory of conspiracy should not mean that a police informant who only feigns participation in a crime ceases to serve the role of a co-conspirator in every respect. After all, the other parties to the conspiracy remain committed to the commission of the crime and, in most instances, are encouraging the informant to do the very acts that they believe will further the success of the scheme. In our opinion, such an informant’s acts may be imputed to the other conspirators. If the informant commits an overt act in Arizona in purported furtherance of the conspiracy, that act is a sufficient nexus to this state to confer jurisdiction of the offense on this state.
Several cases from other jurisdictions support this conclusion. See Vaden v. State, 768 P.2d 1102 (Aaska), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1109, 109 S.Ct. 3162, 104 L.Ed.2d 1025 (1989) (undercover agent’s commission of a crime for which agent has a defense of justification supports verdict of guilt as accomplice against defendant); State v. Pacheco, 70 Wash.App. 27, 851 P.2d 734 (1993) (undercover agent who manufactured drug without criminal intent nonetheless “committed the crime” for purpose of defendant’s accomplice liability to crime of delivery of controlled substance); see also State v. Adams, 462 S.E.2d 308 (S.C.App.1995) (evidence of purchase of cocaine by co-defendant who turned informant after conspiracy began admissible to prove conspiracy despite claim that co-defendant’s acts after turning informant could not be imputed to defendant). Cases which reach a contrary conclusion do not reckon with a statute like A.R.S. section 13-1006 which precludes the defense that the person whom the defendant abetted could not be guilty of the crime. See United States v. Walls, 577 F.Supp. 772 (N.D.Ga.1984); Tate v. State, 793 S.W.2d 760 (Tex.App.1990).
We do acknowledge that a rule which imputes the actions of an informant to the other conspirators can be problematical because it may sometimes place in the hands of the police agent the exclusive power to complete the crime. This enhances the danger of entrapment and/or the danger of a denial of due process which occurs when the government is involved to an intolerable degree in actual criminal or other outrageous conduct. See Thomas Hagen, Preparatory, Homicide and Assault Crimes of Arizona’s New Criminal Code: Some Potential Issues, 20 Ariz. L.Rev. 643, 651-56 (1978); State v. Hohensee, 650 S.W.2d 268 (Mo.App.1982). As a prefatory matter, we note that the case before us does not appear to present a particular danger of either entrapment or a denial of due process through outrageous governmental conduct. There is some evidence of a predisposition on the part of the Defendants to commit the crime, and indeed the Defendants themselves, in traveling to Nevada to take delivery of the chips, engaged in overt acts in furtherance of the conspiracy, albeit not in Arizona. These observations aside, while the problematical factors Hagen discusses may give rise to a complete defense in particular cases, we do not believe that such a possibility should defeat the jurisdiction of this state over crimes like this one.
The Defendants contend that our decision in Miller, 157 Ariz. 129, 755 P.2d 434, is directly on point and supports the trial judge’s dismissal. In Miller, two individuals stole several diamond rings from a J.C. Penney store in Flagstaff, Arizona. They travelled to Durango, Colorado, where they met the defendant for the first time. They told the defendant about the stolen rings, and the defendant agreed to help dispose of the rings in Las Vegas, Nevada. The defendant was subsequently arrested, extradited to Arizona, and charged with theft. The state argued that Arizona had jurisdiction because the defendant was a conspirator to a crime in Arizona. Id. at 130, 755 P.2d at 435. We held that Arizona did not have jurisdiction because the theft was complete before the defendant even learned about the stolen diamonds. We stated, “[I]t cannot be said that his agreement to possess and sell the jewelry was pre-planned as a part of a crime to be committed in Arizona.” Id. at 135, 755 P.2d at 440. We then discussed the case of United States v. Columba-Colella, 604 F.2d 356 (5th Cir.1979), in which the defendant, who resided in Mexico, bought a car in Mexico which he knew had been stolen in the United States. His conviction in the United States for receiving a stolen motor vehicle was overturned for lack of jurisdiction. In so ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit relied heavily on the fact that the car was stolen and in Mexico before the defendant had anything to do with it. But for that fact, the courts of the United States would have had jurisdiction over the crime.
Here, the Defendants, believing that Cho was committing theft by possessing computer chips in Arizona that had been stolen, and knowing that the chips would be transported out of the state, traveled to the border of Arizona to receive them. Once there, they gave their co-conspirator their car to enter Arizona to get the chips and transport them out of state. Thus, they engaged in conduct outside Arizona which constituted a conspiracy to commit an offense within Arizona and an act in furtherance of that conspiracy occurred within this state. This meets the requirements of A.R.S. section 13-108(A)(2).
THE TRIAL COURT HAS JURISDICTION OVER THE ATTEMPTED TRAFFICKING CHARGE PURSUANT TO A.R.S. SECTION 13-108(A)(1)
The State contends that Arizona also has jurisdiction over the attempted trafficking charge pursuant to section 13-108(A)(1), among other subsections. Subsection (1) provides:
A. This state has jurisdiction over an offense that a person commits by his own conduct or the conduct of another for which such person is legally accountable if: 1. Conduct constituting any element of the offense or a result of such conduct occurs within this state....
A.R.S. § 13-108(A)(1).
A person is guilty of trafficking in stolen property if he “knowingly initiates, organizes, plans, finances, directs, manages or supervises the theft and trafficking in the property of another that has been stolen____” A.R.S. § 13-2307(B). Because we have concluded that Cho’s actions in Arizona can be imputed to the Defendants, we find that the State presented sufficient evidence of the Defendants’ overt acts in Arizona constituting elements of trafficking in stolen property. Cho drove into Arizona with the Defendants’ money and car and participated in the actual “sale” in Arizona. This was sufficient to give Arizona jurisdiction over the attempted trafficking charge.
We reverse the trial judge’s order dismissing the indictments with orders to reinstate the indictments against the Defendants.
SULT, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
|
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GARBARINO, Judge.
This is an appeal from a grant of summary judgment. The trial court determined that an employer’s liability policy does not provide coverage for an employee’s vehicle not driven in the course of employment even though the vehicle was listed on the schedule of insured vehicles attached to the policy.
We agree and affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
J.M. Steel Erecting, Inc. (J.M.) owned a fleet of vehicles that included a 1979 Chevrolet truck. In late 1989, J.M. sold the truck to an employee, Joseph Lichman (Lichman), who took possession and used it for personal transportation, including driving to and from work. He did not use it on the job.
Despite Lichman’s purchase, possession and use of the truck, title was not immediately transferred to him. Roger Morgan, J.M. Vice President, told Lichman that J.M. would continue to insure the truck until Lichman could get his own insurance.
In February 1990, appellee United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company (USF&G) issued a master insurance policy to J.M. that included business auto coverage with a liability limit of $1,000,000. J.M. was the named insured, and the policy was effective from February 25, 1990 to February 25, 1991. The vehicle schedule in the business auto coverage portion of the policy listed the truck as a “covered auto.”
The policy specifically excluded coverage to the insured referred to as “you” and “your” in the policy, as follows:
Your employee if the covered “auto” is owned by that employee or a member of his or her household.
In March 1990, Lichman personally paid the annual registration fee for the truck. However, he registered it in the name of J.M. and signed the insurance verification, certifying that the vehicle was in compliance with financial responsibility laws.
On or about September 7, 1990, Jay Soyko (Soyko), for J.M., signed over the title to the truck to Lichman. However, Lichman did not register the truck in his name or apply for a new title.
While driving the truck on November 3, 1990, Lichman turned in front of a motorcycle driven by Dean Zeller. Dean Zeller was killed, and his passenger, appellant Lori Ogden (Ogden), was seriously injured. Lichman was not acting in the course and scope of his employment with J.M. at the time of the accident.
On January 29, 1992, Ogden filed a tort action against Lichman, J.M., and the Soykos in Maricopa County alleging that Lichman negligently caused the accident and that J.M. and Soyko negligently entrusted the truck to Lichman. The survivors of Dean Zeller, appellants Cherrie Perry, as guardian for his daughter Tasha Ann Zeller (Perry), and his parents, Peggy Klatt (Klatt) and William Zel ler (Zeller), intervened as additional plaintiffs in the tort action.
In February 1992, Perry, Klatt and Zeller filed a declaratory judgment action against USF&G, Lichman, J.M., and the Soykos in Pinal County seeking to establish that the USF&G policy issued to J.M. provided liability coverage for the truck and for Lichman, J.M., and the Soykos. Ogden intervened in the declaratory judgment action. USF&G acknowledged by letter that its policy provided coverage to J.M. and the Soykos, and it advised that it was defending those parties unconditionally.
Appellants moved for summary judgment, contending that USF&G’s unconditional defense and admission of coverage for J.M. and the Soykos mandated a determination that the policy covered their claims against J.M. and the Soykos. They also asserted that coverage for Lichman was required by the provisions and purposes of Arizona’s Financial Responsibility Act. USF&G responded and filed a cross-motion for summary judgment. In its motion, USF&G conceded coverage to J.M. and the Soykos to the extent coverage was granted by the policy. USF&G took the position that the policy provided no coverage for Lichman, and that the Soykos were insured for the negligent entrustment claim only if there was a determination that Lichman was also covered.
The declaratory judgment action was transferred to Maricopa County and consolidated with the tort action. The court denied both the pending motion for summary judgment and the cross-motion.
Lichman entered into a Damron agreement with appellants in which he agreed to stipulate to a judgment in the tort action against him in favor of appellants with a total award of $2.9 million. In the agreement, Lichman assigned his rights under the USF&G policy to appellants in exchange for their covenant to execute only against USF&G.
In June 1994, the ease was reassigned to another judge, and USF&G reurged its motion for summary judgment in the declaratory judgment action. USF&G argued that Lichman was not covered, but that it would provide coverage to the extent J.M. might be liable to appellants for negligent entrustment. Appellants filed a cross-motion for summary judgment conceding, for purposes of the motion, that J.M. had sold the truck to Lichman. In addition to their previous arguments, they asserted that Soyko and Lichman had reasonable expectations of coverage under the USF&G policy.
The trial court denied USF&G’s motion and granted appellants’ motion. USF&G moved for reconsideration, which the court granted allowing responsive and reply memoranda from the parties.
The trial court reversed its earlier ruling, granting summary judgment in favor of USF&G. The court found that Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (A.R.S.) section 28-1101 et seq. was inapplicable because Lichman was not an insured under USF&G’s policy once he became the owner of the truck. Judgment was entered in the declaratory judgment action denying appellants’ motion for summary judgment, granting USFG’s cross-motion, dismissing the declaratory judgment complaint with prejudice, and determining that the policy did not provide liability coverage for Lichman. Appellants filed a timely notice of appeal from the judgment.
DISCUSSION
I. Declaratory Judgment Action as to J.M. and the Soykos
Appellants argue that the trial court should not have dismissed the declaratory judgment action as to J.M. and the Soykos because USF&G had admitted that its policy covered J.M. and the Soykos for the tort claim against them and had undertaken their defense unconditionally. They seek a declaration of coverage of J.M. and the Soykos based on USF&G’s admission that the policy covered them.
USF&G takes the position that once it provided an unconditional defense for the negligent entrustment claim against J.M. and the Soykos, no justiciable controversy exist ed. In addition, USF&G argues that appellants are without standing to assert that USFG must cover J.M. and the Soykos for a promise they allegedly made to Lichman to procure insurance for his vehicle.
An insurer with a potential coverage defense loses its right to later litigate coverage if it defends its insured without a properly communicated reservation of rights. United, Services Auto. Ass’n v. Morris, 154 Ariz. 113, 116, 741 P.2d 246, 249 (1987). By unconditionally defending its insured, the insurer waives the right to deny coverage.- Id.; Anderson v. Martinez, 158 Ariz. 358, 362, 762 P.2d 645, 649 (App.1988).
USF&G admitted coverage for the negligent entrustment claim against J.M. and the Soykos and represented that it would unconditionally defend them against that claim. USF&G waived its right to deny coverage of J.M. and the Soykos for the negligent entrustment claim and can no longer oppose appellants’ assertion that USF&G provided coverage for the claim. “For a court to grant declaratory judgment, the party seeking relief must assert ‘a legal relationship, status or right’ in which the party has a definite interest and ‘the denial of it by the other party.’ ” Original Apartment Movers, Inc. v. Waddell, 179 Ariz. 419, 420, 880 P.2d 639, 640 (App.1993) (quoting Morris v. Fleming, 128 Ariz. 271, 273, 625 P.2d 334, 336 (App.1980)). “That assertion provides the necessary ‘justiciable controversy’ on which to base the declaratory judgment.” Waddell, 179 Ariz. at 420, 880 P.2d at 640.
Once USF&G withdrew its denial of coverage, there was no longer a justiciable controversy between the insurer and the insured upon which to base a declaratory judgment. Clearly, having represented to the court that it covered J.M. and the Soykos for the negligent entrustment claim, USF&G waived any denial of coverage for the claim and is es-topped from changing its position. Therefore, a declaratory judgment on this point was unnecessary, and the trial court did not err in dismissing the complaint as to this assertion.
Appellants now seek to recover the expenses they incurred in forcing USF&G’s concessions. At the time appellants filed their complaint, a justiciable controversy existed. After some dispute, USF&G conceded the coverage and defense. Even though appellants did not receive a formal judgment settling the controversy, we believe they can be treated as the successful parties for the purpose of requesting attorneys’ fees and costs for this portion of their declaratory judgment action. See A.R.S. § 12-341.01(A) (“In any contested action arising out of a contract, express or implied, the court may award the successful party reasonable attorney’s fees.”); Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hosp., 147 Ariz. 370, 392, 710 P.2d 1025, 1047 (1985) (“A.R.S. § 12-341.01 makes no reference to adjudication on the merits as a prerequisite to recovering attorney’s fees as a successful party.”). Therefore, when the remainder of this action resumes in the trial court, appellants may request an award of fees and costs, if they wish to do so.
We decline to rule on USF&G’s claim that the policy does not provide coverage for the liability of J.M. and the Soykos arising from their failure to procure insurance for Lichman. Because appellants made no such claim, there is no justiciable controversy. This Court will not render declaratory judgments that are advisory in nature. Thomas v. City of Phoenix, 171 Ariz. 69, 74, 828 P.2d 1210, 1215 (App.1991).
II. Does the Policy Cover Lichman’s Liability to Appellants?
Appellants advance three arguments to support their position that USF&G’s policy covers Lichman’s liability. They first argue that the purposes and policies underlying Arizona’s Financial Responsibility Act, A.R.S section 28-1101 et seq., require coverage. Second, appellants argue that the policy terms which exclude Lichman as an “insured” violate A.R.S. section 28-1170(B)(2), that the policy’s coverage for “ANY AUTO” means that the policy covered the truck regardless of its ownership status, and that the purported exclusion of Lichman as an insured is unenforceable under the reasonable expectations doctrine. Appellants last argue that A.R.S. section 28-1170(F)(1) precludes USF&G from denying coverage for Lichman once the accident occurred.
A. Policy Language
We address the second argument first. Because there is no dispute that the truck was a scheduled, covered auto under the policy, and because the policy afforded liability coverage for “ANY AUTO” rather than for owned or otherwise described vehicles, appellants contend the policy covered the truck regardless of ownership. They argue that the policy provisions violate A.R.S. section 28-1170(B)(2) by restricting coverage for permissive users whether by restricting the coverage to only autos owned by J.M. or by excluding from coverage covered autos that are owned by J.M.’s employees. Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated section 28-1170(B)(2) extends coverage to any permissive user of the vehicle insured.
In examining the policy language, we note that on its face the coverage section of the policy excludes Lichman from coverage. The parties agree that the truck was sold to Lichman prior to the accident. There are several reasons why Lichman, although the owner of the truck, was not an insured under the policy. He would be an insured if he had used, with J.M.’s permission, a covered auto J.M. owned, hired, or borrowed. Here, even though the truck was listed as a covered auto, J.M. did not own, hire, or borrow it. Lichman owned the covered vehicle and not J.M. The policy definitions specifically exclude coverage for vehicles “covered” but owned by the employee. As appellants note, the exceptions that preclude coverage for Lichman seem to conflict with item two on the Schedule of Coverages and Covered Autos, which shows that the $1,000,000 policy limit for liability for covered autos applies to “ANY AUTO.”
We believe the “ANY AUTO” liability limit designation means that if a vehicle not owned by J.M. is being used in the course and scope of its business, the policy would provide coverage. If the liability coverage had been for “OWNED AUTOS ONLY,” a vehicle not owned by J.M. but used in J.M.’s business would not have been covered. The “ANY AUTO” designation does not conflict with the exclusion that applies to Lichman. See Morris v. Weiss, 414 N.W.2d 485, 489 (Minn.App. 1987) (question of who is an insured is entirely different from question of what is covered; policy that excluded employee from coverage even though he owned all vehicles used by employer not meaningless because it protected employer from vicarious liability).
B. Applicability of A.R.S. Section 28-1170(B)(2)
The next issue is whether A.R.S. section 28-1170(B)(2), known as the “omnibus clause,” applies to this situation. Because the introductory sentence in 28-1170(B) refers to the owner’s policy of liability insurance, we conclude that “owner” must refer to the owner of the motor vehicle. J.M. was not the owner of the truck; therefore, we question whether the clause even applies to Lichman’s truck. In any event, section 28-1170(B)(2) requires liability coverage for permissive users of those vehicles “designate[d] by explicit description or by appropriate reference” as covered vehicles. Even though the truck is designated as a covered vehicle, Lichman was using the truck as his personal vehicle and not for or on behalf of J.M. or with the express or implied permission of J.M.
J.M. did not exercise control over the truck or have authority to give Lichman or anyone else permission to use the truck. The truck belonged to Lichman. The court in Wallace v. Employers Casualty Company, 418 F.2d 1323, 1328 (9th Cir.1969), explained this concept as follows:
[U]nder the applicable Arizona law, ownership for all purposes passed upon sale ... and subsequent delivery of the Chevrolet to [the buyer’s agent]. From that moment on, [the seller] was not the owner of the car; it had no interest therein; it had no dominion whatsoever over it, nor any control over who was driving it, or where. It was not being driven with either the express or implied authority of [the seller], because with the transfer of ownership all authority over the vehicle and its operation ceased and [the seller] had no further rights in, to or over the subsequent use and operation thereof.
Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated section 28-1170(B)(2) does not extend insurance coverage to Lichman’s truck.
Appellants argue that the underlying policy of the statute is to bar insurers from using policy exclusions to avoid liability to innocent accident victims.
Arizona courts have invalidated exclusions from omnibus coverage that would violate A.R.S. section 28-1170(B)(2). See Principal Casualty, 172 Ariz. at 547, 838 P.2d at 1308 (and cases cited therein). In Principal Casualty, the court invalidated a policy provision that excluded liability coverage for unlicensed drivers because the exclusion would leave the public unprotected. Id. at 549, 838 P.2d at 1310.
In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Transport Indemnity, 109 Ariz. 56, 58-59, 505 P.2d 227, 229-30 (1973), the court concluded that a provision excluding bodily injury claims of permissive users by excluding claims for bodily injury to those designated as insureds and including permissive users within the definition of “insureds” was contrary to the public policy of this state and therefore invalid.
The court in National Union Fire Insurance Company v. Truck Insurance Exchange, 107 Ariz. 291, 294, 486 P.2d 773, 776 (1971), struck down a provision that excluded the coverage of a lessee of a rental vehicle for injuries sustained by a passenger as violative of A.R.S. section 28-1170(B) and contrary to the public policy of this state.
In Rocky Mountain Fire & Casualty Company v. Allstate Insurance Company, 107 Ariz. 227, 230, 485 P.2d 552, 555 (1971), the court struck down a provision excluding from liability coverage individuals using a garage’s loaner vehicles when other insurance was available to the drivers. The court concluded that this exclusion from omnibus coverage constituted a clear violation of the public policy underlying the Arizona Financial Responsibility Act. Id.
These cases are distinguishable from this case. Appellants cite cases involving exclusions affecting permissive users, the people the omnibus coverage provision was meant to protect. Lichman was the owner of the truck, not a permissive user of the truck. The USF&G policy excluded coverage for scheduled vehicles owned by one other than the insured. Lichman cannot be a permissive user of his own vehicle. Neither the language of the omnibus clause nor the public policy embraced within it are violated by the relevant exclusions in the USF&G policy.
C. Reasonable Expectations
Appellants next argue that the policy provisions that exclude Lichman as an insured are invalid under the reasonable expectations doctrine. “It is well-established [in Arizona] that a contracting party’s reasonable expectations may affect the enforceability of non-negotiated terms in a standardized agreement.” Averett v. Farmers Ins., 177 Ariz. 531, 532, 869 P.2d 505, 506 (1994).
The doctrine of reasonable expectations cannot be applied to the facts of this case. Although Lichman expected J.M. to provide insurance for the truck, Lichman’s expectations have little effect upon the enforceability of a contract of insurance issued by USF&G. Lichman was not a party to the insurance contract.
In addition, we find that the exclusionary provision in the policy is obvious in the document and can be understood by a reasonably intelligent consumer. Although Soyko apparently did not request an explanation of the provision describing insureds, there is no indication in the record that he gave USF&G or its agent any reason to believe that an explanation was necessary. We do not believe it unusual or unexpected that a business policy would not cover an employee’s personal use of his own vehicle on his own time.
D. Applicability of A.R.S. Section Z81170(F)(1)
Appellants argue that A.R.S. section 28-1170(F)(l) precludes USF&G from denying coverage for Lichman once the accident occurred. This statute provides:
F. Every motor vehicle liability policy is subject to the following provisions which need not be contained in the policy:
1. The liability of the insurance carrier with respect to the insurance required by this chapter shall become absolute when injury or damage covered by the motor vehicle liability policy occurs____
A.R.S. § 28-1170(F) (Supp.1995). Every vehicle liability policy is subject to A.R.S. section 28-1170(F)(l). See Sandoval v. Chenoweth, 102 Ariz. 241, 244, 428 P.2d 98, 101 (1967).
Section 28-1170(F)(l) “broadly mandates that an insurer’s obligation to provide coverage ‘shall become absolute’ whenever injury occurs.” Midland Risk Management Co. v. Watford, 179 Ariz. 168, 171, 876 P.2d 1203, 1206 (App.1994). It is typically used to mandate coverage after an injury or damage occurs that is covered by the policy, but in circumstances where the policy was obtained by fraudulent representations. See Farmers Ins. Exchange v. Rose, 411 F.2d 270, 273 (9th Cir.1969); Allstate Ins. v. Dorr, 411 F.2d 198, 201 (9th Cir.1969).
We conclude that section 28-1170(F)(l) does not apply where coverage never existed. In the cases cited by appellants, although coverage was provided, the fraudulent activities of the insureds or their failure to cooperate with the insurer after the accident resulted in an attempt by the insurers to cancel coverage. Lichman was never an insured, and section 28-1170(F)(l) does not apply.
We affirm.
PATTERSON, P.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. Damron v. Sledge, 105 Ariz. 151, 460 P.2d 997 (1969).
. Section 28-1170(B) provides in relevant part:
B. The owner’s policy of liability insurance must comply with the following requirements:
1. It shall designate by explicit description or by appropriate reference all motor vehicles with respect to which coverage is thereby to be granted....
2. It shall insure the person named in the policy as the insured and any other person, as insured, using the motor vehicle or motor vehicles with the express or implied permission of the named insured against loss from the liability imposed by law for damages arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the motor vehicle or motor vehicles....
. This stipulation of ownership is consistent with Arizona case law that holds that ownership of a vehicle does not depend on prior compliance with statutory transfer of title provisions. See, e.g., Wallace v. Employers Casualty Co., 418 F.2d 1323, 1325 (9th Cir.1969); Price v. Universal C.I.T. Credit Corp., 102 Ariz. 227, 232, 427 P.2d 919, 924(1967).
. The omnibus coverage provision of A.R.S. section 28-1170(B)(2) is read by law into every motor vehicle liability policy in Arizona. Jenkins v. Mayflower Ins. Exchange, 93 Ariz. 287, 291, 380 P.2d 145, 148 (1963); Principal Casualty Ins. v. Progressive Casualty Ins., 172 Ariz. 545, 547, 838 P.2d 1306, 1308 (App.1992).
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OPINION
EHRLICH, Judge.
In this consolidated proceeding, James Morgan Corona (“defendant”) appeals his convictions for threatening and intimidating two people, class 4 felonies, and the subsequent revocation of his probation. We agree with the defendant that the trial court committed reversible error by denying his request for an instruction on threatening and intimidating as a class 1 misdemeanor. Accordingly, in 1 CA-CR 95-0701, we reverse his convictions and remand this case to the court for further proceedings. In 1 CA-CR 96-0250, we vacate the court’s revocation of probation since it was based solely on the convictions reversed in 1 CA-CR 95-0701.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On October 30, 1994, the defendant confronted A.L., a female friend, outside her Phoenix home. He claimed that T.C., A.L.’s boyfriend, had just fired shots at the defendant’s house and he demanded that A.L. tell him T.C.’s address. When A.L. refused, the defendant told her that, if she did not reveal the address, she would “take the blame” for T.C. The defendant also told A.L. that she had to choose sides and that, if she chose T.C.’s side, she would have to “watch her back.” She told investigating Phoenix Police Detective Christopher Luebkin that the defendant specifically told her to choose between her loyalty to T.C. and “disrespecting ... Hollywood,” his street gang.
A.L.’s aunt, B.L., went outside the house she and A.L. shared when she heard the defendant yelling and she overheard the defendant’s threat to A.L. B.L. told the defendant to stop shouting, addressing him as “boy.” According to A.L., the defendant responded: “I will show you what a boy could do” and left. Approximately one hour later, two gunshots were fired into the house.
When questioned about the incident, the defendant admitted that he talked to A.L. after T.C. fired shots at the defendant’s house. According to Luebkin, the defendant told A.L. that he wanted to “retaliate” against T.C. but wanted to do so lawfully by involving the police. The defendant also told Luebkin that he had demanded only that A.L. “choose” between him, as her former boyfriend, and T.C. He denied threatening A.L. or B.L.
At trial, the defendant testified that he was scared because T.C. had shot at his house and that he had demanded that A.L. reveal T.C.’s address so that he could contact the police. The defendant admitted that he told A.L. to choose between him and T.C. However, he denied that he told A.L. that she was “disrespecting Hollywood,” adding that the allegation that he threatened to involve the Hollywood gang in retaliation was implausible because B.L.’s family was a “main family in the Hollywood gang.” A.L. no longer recalled whether the defendant invoked “Hollywood.”
The jury found the defendant guilty of threatening and intimidating A.L. and B.L., class 4 felonies. The trial court placed the defendant on three years of probation. The defendant appealed. In February 1996, a petition to revoke the defendant’s probation was filed. Following a violation hearing, the trial court revoked the defendant’s probation and sentenced him to concurrent, presumptive terms of 2.5 years imprisonment. He appealed and we consolidated both of his appeals.
The defendant raises the following issues on appeal:
1. Whether the trial court erred in denying his request for an instruction on threatening and intimidating as a class 1 misdemeanor;
2. Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument by commenting on the defendant’s failure to call an expert witness on gangs;
3. Whether the court committed fundamental error by instructing the jury on the defendant’s flight and on consideration of evidence of prior bad acts;
4. Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct, amounting to fundamental error, by vouching for witnesses and in misdefining “reasonable doubt” during closing argument;
5. Whether the court erred in denying his motion for a mistrial based on evidence of his prior arrests;
6. Whether fundamental error occurred when the state’s gang expert delivered an improper opinion;
7. Whether the jury’s verdicts were the product of undue pressure; and
8. Whether the court erred when it received the verdicts in the defendant’s absence.
In the appeal from the revocation of his probation, defense counsel filed a brief in compliance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967), and State v. Leon, 104 Ariz. 297, 451 P.2d 878 (1969), asking that we review the record for reversible error. The defendant was permitted to file a supplemental brief in propria persona but he did not do so.
DISCUSSION
A. Denial of Lesser-induded-offense Instruction
The defendant argues that the trial court erred in denying his requested jury instruction on threatening and intimidating as a class 1 misdemeanor under ARIZ. REV. STAT. ANN. (“A.R.S.”) section 13-1202(A)(1) and (B), a lesser-included offense of the class 4 felony under section 13-1202(A)(3) and (B). To decide if the defendant was entitled to the instruction, we first determine whether the misdemeanor was a lesser-included offense of the felony. According to State v. Gooch, 139 Ariz. 365, 366, 678 P.2d 946, 947 (1984), such an instruction is warranted if (1) the included offense is always a constituent part of the greater offense or (2) if the charging document described the lesser offense even though it would not always form a constituent part of the greater offense. See also State v. Magana, 178 Ariz. 416, 418, 874 P.2d 973, 975 (App.1994).
The state argues that misdemeanor threatening and intimidating is not.always a lesser-included offense because it may be committed by a threat to cause “serious” damage. It continues that, because a threat to cause “serious” damage is not required under section 13-1202(A)(3), the alleged lesser offense contains an element not contained in the greater. The state ignores, however, the second part of the Gooch test: whether “the charging document described the lesser offense.” 139 Ariz. at 366, 678 P.2d at 947. In this case, the information charged the separate offenses against A.L. and B.L. in identical terms:
JAMES M. CORONA, on or about the 30th day of October, 1994, threatened, or intimidated by word or conduct to cause physical injury to [victim], in order to promote, further or assist in the interests of or to cause, induce, or solicit another person to participate in a criminal street gang, a criminal syndicate or a racketeering enterprise, in violation of A.R.S. §§ 13-1202,13-702,13-702, [sic] and 13-801.
(Emphasis added.) Thus the information clearly described the misdemeanor.
Further, a lesser-included offense instruction is required if the jury could rationally find that the state failed to prove the element of the greater offense that distinguished it from the lesser offense. State v. Kinkade, 147 Ariz. 250, 253, 709 P.2d 884, 887 (1985). The jury in this case could have made that distinction. Although the defendant denied at trial that he had threatened A. L. and B.L., other evidence, such as his testimony that retaliating against a Hollywood “gang family” was impossible, supported the contention that any threats which he made stemmed from personal, not gang-related, animus toward T.C. As a result, the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to instruct the jury on misdemeanor threatening and intimidating. See Magana, 178 Ariz. at 418, 874 P.2d at 975.
B. Remaining Issues
We will address such of the remaining issues as warrant comment given that further proceedings are necessary.
1. Comment on Failure to Call Expert Witness
During the prosecutor’s rebuttal closing argument, the following exchange occurred:
MISS DAIZA [PROSECUTOR]: The State provided you with a gang expert who testified about the subculture of gangs. What motivates them. How they’re composed. The activities that they do. They thrive on violence.
The defense did not provide you with any expert who testified.
MR. AGAN [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, I’ll object to that. Improper evidence. We have no burden.
MS. DAIZA: Your honor, there’s case law that allows the State to argue that the defense did not provide an expert.
THE COURT: You may proceed.
MS. DAIZA: They did not provide you with an expert witness to counter what Detective Luebkin said. So you will decide how much weight to give to Detective Luebkin’s testimony as far as his experience in the area of gangs, his credentials, his contacts with gang members, his investigation of gang-motivated crimes.
On appeal, the defendant complains that the trial court erred in failing to sustain his objection to the prosecutor’s comment on his failure to call an expert witness. The state responds that, under State ex rel. McDougall v. Corcoran (Keen), 153 Ariz. 157, 160, 735 P.2d 767, 770 (1987), the prosecutor was permitted to comment on the defendant’s failure to present exculpatory evidence.
In Keen, the supreme court held that the state could properly comment on a defendant’s failure to introduce the results of testing a breath sample he had received after his arrest for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. Id. The court found that “[s]uch comment is permitted by the well recognized principle that the nonproduction of evidence may give rise to the inference that it would have been adverse to the party who could have produced it.” Id. However, in Gordon v. Liguori, 182 Ariz. 232, 236, 895 P.2d 523, 527 (App.1995), a medical malpractice case, this court held that the trial court did not err in precluding comment by the plaintiffs on the defendants’ failure to call experts. One reason that the restriction on such comment was proper was “because defendants did not call the subject experts, the jury knew nothing about them and there was no need to explain why they did not testify.” See also Spraker v. Lankin, 218 Kan. 609, 545 P.2d 352, 357 (1976) (court committed reversible error when it permitted defense counsel, in closing arguments, to comment on plaintiffs failure to call an expert who had been consulted, but who was not named as a witness and whose existence was not disclosed by the evidence at trial). This accords with the general rule that closing arguments must be based on facts that the jury is entitled to find from the evidence and not on extraneous matters not received in evidence. State v. Dumaine, 162 Ariz. 392, 402, 783 P.2d 1184, 1194 (1989). Because there was no mention during the trial that the defendant had retained or even consulted an expert witness on gangs, unlike Keen in which the defendant had received a sample for the very purpose of independent consultation, the prosecutor’s comment was improper and the defendant’s objection should have been sustained.
2. Flight or concealment instructions
Neither the instruction on flight nor the one on concealment should have been given, although the defendant failed to object. The only evidence regarding the defendant’s exit was his testimony that, after talking to A.L. and B.L., he got on his bicycle and left. This evidence was insufficient to support an inference of flight at all, let alone a “reasonable inference that the flight or attempted flight was open, such as the result of an immediate pursuit.” State v. Smith, 113 Ariz. 298, 300, 552 P.2d 1192, 1194 (1976). There was no evidence at all of concealment.
3. Instruction on consideration of prior bad acts
The defendant also complains about the following instruction, Recommended Arizona Jury Instruction — Criminal (“RAJI”) 26:
Evidence of other bad acts of the Defendant has been admitted into evidence in this case. Such evidence is not to be considered by you to prove the character of the Defendant or to show that he committed the offense charged. It may, however, be considered by you regarding the defendant’s motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.
He argues that giving the instruction amounted to fundamental error because the instruction’s reference to “other bad acts” rather than simply “other acts” constituted an unsuitable comment on the evidence. See Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 27.
The instruction closely parallels Rule 404(b), Ariz. R. Evid., and seeks to prevent the jury from improperly considering other acts unrelated to the crime(s) for which the defendant is being tried. Significantly, however, Rule 404(b) does not, in fact, include the word “bad” in modifying the word “acts,” thereby distinguishing “acts” from “crimes” or “wrongs,” which two words implicitly convey malfeasance. Indeed, the “act” in question need not be criminal or wrongful. See State v. Castaneda, 150 Ariz. 382, 390, 724 P.2d 1, 9 (1986); State v. Passarelli, 130 Ariz. 360, 363-64, 636 P.2d 138, 141-42 (App.1981); see also Ariz. R.Crim. P. 15.1(a)(6). To then add “bad” to “acts” in the instruction thus constitutes a judicial comment on the evidence because, after prosecution evidence of those prior acts has been admitted, the defense has the opportunity to rebut or explain the earlier conduct, i.e., whether it was “bad.” The supreme court has advised against instructions which “might cause jurors to view the evidence ‘in accordance with what they believe to be the court’s judgment as to its weight rather than their own.’ ” Rosen v. Knaub, 175 Ariz. 329, 331, 857 P.2d 381, 383 (1993) (quoting Security Benefit Ass’n v. Small, 34 Ariz. 458, 468, 272 P. 647, 651 (1928)). By including the word “bad,” the instruction becomes an improper judgment about conflicting evidence, although in most eases, as in this one, the error will not be fundamental given the nature of the acts admitted in evidence and the context of the case.
4. Closing Argument
The defendant claims that the prosecutor committed misconduct in two statements which she made to the jury during closing argument. Again, no objections were raised at trial.
a. Argument regarding reasonable doubt
During her rebuttal closing argument, the prosecutor stated that “the State submits to you that if you find the Defendant not guilty you need to have a reason in order to find reasonable doubt.” The defendant argues that this remark shifted the burden of proof to him.
In saying that to “find the Defendant not guilty you need to have a reason,” the - prosecutor erroneously suggested that the jurors had to have a justification to find the defendant not guilty. On the contrary, in order to find the defendant not guilty, jurors simply needed to possess a doubt that the defendant was guilty and that doubt must have been based upon reason. The requirement that a doubt possessed by jurors be “reasonable” does not mandate that the jurors find an affirmative reason to support their finding of not guilty; rather, the doubt must not conflict with reason or sound judgment. To say that the jurors must have a “reason in order to find reasonable doubt” adds an extra stratum to the jury’s analysis, one that is neither necessary nor permissible.
b. Prosecutorial vouching
The defendant claims that the prosecutor impermissibly vouched for the state’s witnesses when she asserted that the victims and police officers testified “truthfully.” The supreme court has recognized two forms of impermissible prosecutorial vouching: “(1) when the prosecutor places the prestige of the government behind its witness, and (2) where the prosecutor suggests that information not presented to the jury supports the witness’s testimony.” Dumaine, 162 Ariz. at 401, 783 P.2d at 1193 (1989). Out of context, the prosecutor’s comment could be interpreted to have improperly placed “the prestige of the government” in support of the credibility of the victims and the police officers. In context, however, the prosecutor made clear that it was for the jury to “determine the credibility of’ the witnesses and her characterization of the witnesses as truthful was sufficiently linked to the evidence.
5. Denial of Mistrial Motion
Prior to trial, the court granted the state’s motion in limine to permit the introduction of evidence that, prior to the offenses, the defendant acknowledged membership in the Hollywood gang. During direct examination by the state, Phoenix Police Officer Michael Adams testified that the defendant had admitted that he was a gang member. On cross-examination, when defense counsel inquired why the officer’s arrest report did not reflect that conversation, Adams responded that the defendant’s gang affiliation was not material to the offense. On redirect examination, the prosecutor elicited the fact that the defendant had been arrested for trespassing and inhaling toxic vapors.
A similar exchange occurred after Phoenix Police Officer Philip Lanoue testified that the defendant had admitted gang membership to him. On cross-examination, defense counsel established that this conversation with the defendant was not recorded on the field interrogation card. On redirect examination, without objection, Lanoue testified that he believed that the information on the card was accurate because the defendant had admitted gang membership during “previous contacts on different incidences [sic] at his house and previous arrests.”
The defendant subsequently moved for a mistrial, arguing that the officers’ testimony regarding his prior arrests exceeded the limits of the trial court’s ruling regarding his gang membership. The prosecutor responded that her questions on redirect examination were proper given counsel’s attempts to impeach the witnesses. The court denied the motion. However, without defense objection, it then cautioned the jury:
Now, you are not to consider any reference to the defendant having been previously arrested and you are to disregard any of the previous witnesses [sic] testimony wherein the witness referred to a previous arrest of the defendant.
The court delivered a substantially similar admonition during final instructions to the jury. On appeal, the defendant contends that the court erred in denying his motion.
The officers’ references to the defendant’s arrests were admissible to rebut the suggestion that they had improperly recorded his admissions of gang membership. Moreover, the trial court twice cautioned the jury to disregard the testimony about the arrests. These instructions adequately remedied any unfair prejudice from the testimony.
We also reject the argument that the reference to the defendant’s arrests as a juvenile violated his right to privacy on juvenile matters safeguarded by A.R.S. section 8-207(C) and by Rulé 609(d), Ariz. R. Evid. Reference to the circumstances of the defendant’s arrests did not implicate section 8-207(C), which precludes only the use of juvenile court dispositions. Matter of Estate of R.C., 167 Ariz. 246, 248, 805 P.2d 1067, 1069 (App.1990). Rule 609(d) is inapplicable because this case did not involve the use of a “juvenile adjudication” to impeach the defendant.
6. Admission of Expert Opinion
During the state’s redirect examination of Luebkin, the following exchange occurred:
[PROSECUTOR]: Can a gang member promote his or her gang by merely stating the name of the gang in making the threats?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you explain to us how that occurs?
A: Basically, in promoting the gang, one gang member, especially in the loosely-knit gangs — when I say “loosely knit,” loosely organized. They do tend to be tightly organized, but they are loosely knit. One member, for lack of a better word, would have the authority to make a threat on behalf of that gang and, in doing so, can promote his status in the gang or the status of the gang within the community or neighborhoods.
Q: Does a gang member — when making threats and in using the name of the gang, is that used to further intimidate the witness or a victim?
A: Yes. In fact, that would be, in my opinion, the sole reason to use the gang name.
Although the defendant did not object to this testimony, he argues on appeal that it constituted “advice to the jury on how to decide the case.” See State v. Moran, 151 Ariz. 378, 383, 728 P.2d 248, 253 (1986). We find no error. The principal issues in the case were whether the defendant made any threat, whether he invoked the name of the Hollywood gang at all and, if so, for what purpose. The testimony was relevant expertise.
We need not reach the arguments alleging the coercion of the jury verdict and the voluntariness of the defendant’s absence at the return of the verdict. These issues are not likely to reoccur.
Due to our disposition of the appeal of the defendant’s convictions, we also need not address the issues raised in the defendant’s supplemental brief concerning the revocation of his probation.
CONCLUSION
In 1 CA-CR 95-701, the defendant’s convictions are reversed. The matter is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this decision. In 1 CA-CR 96-0250, the defendant’s revocation of probation is vacated.
SULT, P.J., and VOSS, J., concur.
. The facts and inferences therefrom are given in the light most favorable to upholding the verdicts. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993). The victims’ initials are used to protect their privacy.
. A.R.S. section 13-1202 provides, in pertinent part:
A. A person commits threatening or intimidating if such person threatens or intimidates by word or conduct:
1. To cause physical injury to another person or serious damage to the property of another; or * * *
3. To cause physical injury to another person or damage to the property of another in order to promote, further or assist in the interests of or to cause, induce or solicit another person to participate in a criminal street gang....
B. Threatening or intimidating pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 1 ... is a class 1 misdemeanor. Threatening or intimidating pursuant to subsection A, paragraph 3 is a class 4 felony.
. Although the jury instruction tendered by the defendant included a reference to a threat "to cause serious damage to the property of another,” defense counsel conceded that that language should be deleted.
. Analogous support for this conclusion also comes from Rule 15.3(c), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, which states:
Failure To Call a Witness or Raise a Defense. The fact that a witness’ name is on a list furnished under this rule, or that a matter contained in a notice of defenses is not raised, shall not be commented upon at the trial, unless the court on motion of a party, allows such comment after finding that the inclusion of the witness’ name or defense constituted an abuse of the applicable disclosure rule.
Although the rule was inapplicable in this case because no expert was disclosed by defendant, there appears to be no sound policy reason to allow comment on failure to produce an undisclosed expert when comment on a disclosed expert is presumptively improper.
. Rule 404(b) provides: "Other crimes, wrongs, or acts. Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.”
. The prosecutor argued:
In determining a witness’s statement, when they [sic] testified, you must determine the credibility of that witness. And while you ladies and gentlemen will determine who is telling the truth, the State will also ask you to determine who has a reason to lie when they get up and they testify.
The officers have absolutely no personal interest in making any misrepresentations to you. They testified truthfully about what was said between them and the Defendant. And they have no motive to lie.
The victims testified, and they also truthfully told you what they recall. When they felt that information was omitted from the report they told you that.' They also told you that their memories were a lot better in October of 1994 and in November of 1994 when the police officers went to their house and spoke to them as opposed to today. And that would be something that your common sense would tell you that’s reasonable.
. The provision states:
C. The disposition of a child in the juvenile court may not be used against the child in any case or proceeding in any court other than a juvenile court, whether before or after reaching majority, except as provided by § 28-444.
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OPINION
DRUKE, Chief Judge.
Appellant Miguel Baldenegro appeals from his convictions of three counts of drive-by shooting (counts one, two, and three; A.R.S. § 13-1209(A),(B)), three counts of aggravated assault (counts four, five, and six; § 13-1204(A)(2), (B)), and one count each of assisting a criminal syndicate (count seven; § 13-2308(C),(F),(H)), and participating in a criminal street gang (count seventeen; § 13-2308(A)(2),(G),(H)). The jury also found the drive-by shooting and aggravated assault offenses were of a dangerous nature. The trial court sentenced Baldenegro to concurrent, mitigated prison terms, the longest being seven years. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
BACKGROUND
We view the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdicts. State v. Zmich, 160 Ariz. 108, 770 P.2d 776 (1989). In late 1994, Cesar Valdez, the leader of a gang known as “Carson 13,” was shot to death. Gang members blamed Lizette Parra for facilitating the murder. One day in early 1995, Baldenegro and Israel Gamez, both Carson 13 members, stopped to buy a hammer at a Tucson store, where they saw Parra standing outside. According to Baldenegro, he did not recognize Parra until Gamez pointed her out as “the girl that set up Cesar Valdez.” Baldenegro, Parra testified, came right up to her and, in gang parlance, “mad-dogged” her, or stared at her intently, which Parra said intimidated her because she recognized a Carson 13 tattoo on Baldenegro’s shaved head and knew the gang’s opinion of her. Baldenegro agreed his tattoo had been clearly visible to Parra, but he denied having stared at her. He said he looked at her as he walked into the store, and did not come within 15 feet of her.
While Baldenegro was in the store, Parra left with her Mends Peter Olguin and Joseph Flowers in the latter’s car. Baldenegro stated he paid for the hammer, went outside to where Gamez had been waiting, and they left in Gamez’s car, with Gamez driving. Baldenegro said that when he and Gamez realized they were following Flowers’s car, Gamez pulled the car up to Flowers’s, rolled down his window, stared at Parra, then slowed the car down. He stated that Gamez then pulled up to Flowers’s car again, suddenly yanked out a handgun, pointed it at Flowers’s car, and fired several shots.
Parra testified that Gamez’s car twice came up alongside her, but that Baldenegro, not Gamez, was driving. While Parra agreed she did not actually see who fired the shots, she said she saw something “like a flame” come from the driver’s side of Gamez’s car and heard gunfire. She also said that, when the shooting began, Flowers slammed on the brakes so hard that he, Olguin, and Parra were thrown to the floor.
A witness to the shooting, Joel Valdez, identified Gamez as the driver and shooter, and Baldenegro as the passenger. Valdez said Baldenegro appeared surprised by the shooting.
Several weeks after the shooting, a grand jury indicted Baldenegro, Gamez, and two other Carson 13 members for a series of gang-related acts, including the offenses in this appeal. The trial court granted Baldenegro’s motion to sever his trial from the others’.
DISCUSSION
a. Accomplice liability instruction
Baldenegro first contends the trial court improperly instructed the jury on accomplice liability. An accomplice instruction should be given only if reasonably supported by the evidence. State v. Marlow, 163 Ariz. 65, 786 P.2d 395 (1989). Here, even if the jurors believed that Baldenegro drove the car and Gamez fired the shots, they could have reasonably concluded from the way Baldenegro drove the car that he “agree[d] to aid or attempt[ed] to aid” Gamez commit the offenses and was guilty as an accomplice. A.R.S. § 13-301(2). We thus conclude the jury was properly instructed.
b. Absence of witness’s testimony
The trial court denied Baldenegro’s motion for a directed verdict of acquittal on count's four and five, which charged aggravated assaults against Flowers and Olguin, respectively. Baldenegro contends the ruling was error, arguing a lack of evidence. Flowers and Olguin did not testify at trial and their statements to police were not introduced.
A judgment of acquittal, made pursuant to Rule 20, Ariz. R.Crim. P., 17 A.R.S., is appropriate when no substantial evidence supports a conviction. State v. Nunez, 167 Ariz. 272, 806 P.2d 861 (1991).
To be guilty of aggravated assault, “the defendant need only intentionally act using a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument so that the victim is placed in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury.” Either direct or circumstantial evidence may prove the victim’s apprehension. There is no requirement that the victim testify to actual fright.
State v. Wood, 180 Ariz. 53, 66, 881 P.2d 1158, 1171 (1994), quoting State v. Valdez, 160 Ariz. 9, 11, 770 P.2d 313, 315 (1989). Here, ample evidence supports the conclusion that Flowers was apprehensive or in fear of imminent injury. Parra and Valdez each testified that, when the shooting began, Flowers braked his car so abruptly that he and his passengers pitched forward to the floor. From this, a jury could reasonably infer that Flowers acted out of fear or apprehension to the shooting. We therefore affirm eount four.
We reach a different conclusion, however, regarding eount five because the record is devoid of evidence from which the jury could conclude Olguin was “placed in reasonable apprehension of imminent physical injury.” No evidence was presented that Olguin saw a gun pointed at him or at the car before the shooting. Moreover, the evidence does not suggest that Olguin, like Parra, saw bursts of flame from the driver’s side of Gamez’s ear. Further, the evidence failed to show that Olguin, unlike Flowers, reacted to the shooting, either by trying to maneuver to avoid getting shot or by crying out. We reject the state’s contention that Olguin’s mere presence in a car at which someone fired shots is sufficient circumstantial evidence of his apprehension or fear. We conclude therefore that the trial court erred by refusing to direct a judgment of acquittal on count five and reverse Baldenegro’s conviction on that count.
c. Confrontation
Baldenegro also argues that his right of confrontation guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment was violated because Flowers and Olguin did not testify. Baldenegro has waived this argument because he failed to raise it below. See State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 858 P.2d 1152 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994).
d. Gang statute
Baldenegro next argues that A.R.S. §§ 13-105(7) and (8) are unconstitutional. The statutes provide as follows:
§ 13-105. Definitions £ ‡ ❖ Hí ❖ H*
7. “Criminal street gang” means an ongoing formal or informal association of persons whose members or associates individually or collectively engage in the commission, attempted commission, facilitation or solicitation of any felony act and who has at least one individual who is a criminal street gang member.
8. “Criminal street gang member” means an individual to whom two of the following seven criteria that indicate criminal street gang membership apply:
(a) Self-proclamation.
(b) Witness testimony or official statement.
(c) Written or electronic correspondence.
(d) Paraphernalia or photographs.
(e) Tattoos.
(f) Clothing or colors.
(g) Any other indicia of street gang membership.
Baldenegro contends that the statutes are vague and overbroad. He argues that they “allow for anyone who is a member of any ascertainable group to be charged with participating in or assisting a criminal street gang if any member of that group has individually engaged in felonious activity.” (Emphasis in original.) The state answers that Baldenegro lacks standing to challenge these statutes, and we agree.
“A defendant whose conduct is clearly proscribed by the core of the statute has no standing to attack the statute. ‘One to whose conduct a statute clearly applies may not successfully challenge it for vagueness.’” State v. Tocco, 156 Ariz. 116, 119, 750 P.2d 874, 877 (1988), quoting Parker v. Levy, 417 U.S. 733, 756, 94 S.Ct. 2547, 2561-62, 41 L.Ed.2d 439 (1974). See also Village of Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, 455 U.S. 489, 494-95, 102 S.Ct. 1186, 1191, 71 L.Ed.2d 362 (a person “who engages in some conduct that is clearly proscribed cannot complain of the vagueness of the law as applied to the conduct of others”). Here, although these statutes do not clearly proscribe conduct, they provide definitions that must be proved to obtain convictions for other crimes. Like the defendant in Tocco, however, Baldenegro “nowhere ... claim[s] that his potentially innocent conduct is being prosecuted.” Tocco, 156 Ariz. at 119, 750 P.2d at 877. We therefore conclude that he lacks standing to contest the statutes’ constitutionality. See State v. McCoy, 187 Ariz. 223, 928 P.2d 647 (Ct.App.1996) (because statute applied to defendant’s conduct, he had no standing to complain that the statute infringed on the rights of others).
In any event, Baldenegro’s constitutional arguments fail. Contrary to his eon tentions, these statutes do not criminalize mere association with others or even gang membership. Instead, they provide definitions so that a judge or jury may determine whether the offenses of participating in or assisting a criminal syndicate were committed “to promote, further or assist any criminal conduct by the gang____” § 13-2308(F) and (G).
e. Evidence
Finally, Baldenegro argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it admitted evidence of gang activity by other members of Carson 13. We find no error.
Counts seven and seventeen alleged that Baldenegro committed the offenses of assisting and participating in a criminal syndicate for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Both allegations required the state to prove that Carson 13 was a criminal street gang, as defined by A.R.S. § 13-105(7). To do so, the state called Officer Cuestas as an expert witness.
Cuestas testified that Carson 13 was comprised of gang members, as defined by § 13-105(8), and that the gang had committed “everything from drive-by shootings, to aggravated assaults, to threats of violence, to fights, to disorderly conduct type activity and some particular narcotic behavior, narcotic activity, things of that nature.” Pursuant to a pretrial ruling, Cuestas was not permitted to mention specific names and instances unless “a foundational objection [was] made or [was] needed to answer a question on cross-examination.”
Cuestas based his opinions on personal observations and experience, the observations of other officers in the department, police reports, and conversations with other gang members. He also identified several photographs of Carson 13 members, including Baldenegro, “throwing gang signs” and otherwise displaying their affiliation with Carson 13.
Baldenegro complains that Cuestas should have been precluded from testifying about incidents in which he, Baldenegro, was not involved. He contends the trial court should have excluded the evidence under Rules 402, 403, and 404(b), Ariz. R. Evid., 17A A.R.S. Because the trial court has broad discretion in ruling on evidentiary matters, we will not reverse its ruling unless clearly erroneous. State v. Salazar, 181 Ariz. 87, 887 P.2d 617 (App.1994).
Rule 402 allows the admission of “[a]ll relevant evidence,” which Rule 401 defines as
evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
By this definition, evidence of Carson 13’s criminal activity was relevant to show it was a criminal street gang, a “fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action.”
Baldenegro nevertheless contends the trial court should have excluded the evidence pursuant to Rule 403 because “its probative value [was] substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.” He claims that by admitting the evidence, “the jury could have easily decided that regardless of whether [he] committed the charges brought in the present case, he associated with a gang that had committed crimes in the past, and therefore, he should pay the price now.” We reject this claim not only because it is speculative but also because we cannot say the trial court clearly abused its discretion in balancing the evidence’s probative value against its prejudicial effect. Salazar. The evidence had substantial probative value because it provided an essential element of proof that Carson 13 was a criminal street gang, and the trial court limited its prejudicial effect by excluding testimony of specific names and instances of criminal conduct by Carson 13’s members.
Baldenegro alternatively argues the evidence should have been excluded based on Rule 404(b). We disagree. As the Advisory Committee Notes to the equivalent federal rule point out, Rule 404(b) “does not extend to evidence of acts which are ‘intrinsic’ to the charged offense.” Fed.R.Evid. 404 advisory committee’s note. “ ‘Other act’ evidence is ‘intrinsic’ when the evidence of the other act and evidence of the crime charged are ‘inextricably intertwined’ or both acts are part of a ‘single criminal episode’ or the other acts were ‘necessary preliminaries’ to the crime charged.” United States v. Williams, 900 F.2d 828, 825 (5th Cir.1990). See also United States v. Coleman, 78 F.3d 154 (5th Cir.1996), petition for cert. filed June 13, 1996 (No. 96-5304); United States v. Swinton, 75 F.3d 374 (8th Cir.1996). Here, the other acts evidence is intrinsic because it is “inextricably intertwined,” as noted above, with the crimes charged in counts seven and seventeen, assisting and participating in a criminal syndicate for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
Baldenegro finally argues that A.R.S. § 13-105(7) limits the other act evidence to felony acts committed by the gang and, therefore, he was prejudiced by Cuestas’s testimony regarding its possible misdemeanor activity. However, Baldenegro failed to object to this testimony in the trial court and has therefore waived the issue on appeal. See State v. Gonzales, 181 Ariz. 502, 892 P.2d 838 (1995).
In reviewing this appeal, we found no fundamental error. Baldenegro’s conviction on count five is reversed; the remaining convictions are affirmed.
ESPINOSA, P.J., and HATHAWAY, J., concur.
. We note, however, that the evidence is sufficient to sustain count two, the drive-by shooting conviction. That crime requires no proof of the victim's apprehension or fear.
. Baldenegro included this argument in a pretrial motion that addressed admissibility of evidence. We can infer from the trial court's admission of the evidence that it rejected the constitutional argument.
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GRANT, Judge.
In this appeal, we must decide whether the extension, renewal or refinancing of a purchase-money loan transformed the renewed or new loan into a non-purchase-money obligation. We hold that under the facts of this case, the trial court correctly held that the renewed or new loan retained its character as a purchase-money note.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In 1988, appellees Edward R. and Mary Ellen Beauvais (“the Beauvais”) obtained a $75,000 loan (“the 1988 loan”) from appellant Bank One (“the Bank”). The loan proceeds were used to exercise options on 30,000 shares of America West Airlines stock. The 30,000 shares were pledged as collateral for the 1988 loan.
In 1989, the Beauvais applied to the Bank for a loan needed for the purchase of their new home. The Bank agreed to loan the Beauvais $240,000. On March 29, 1989, the 1988 loan and the $240,000 loan were consolidated into a single promissory note of $315,-000 (“the consolidated loan”). The Bank records show that $75,000 of the consolidated loan was used to pay off the 1988 loan and $240,000 was used to purchase the Beauvais’ residence. The consolidated loan was secured by the 30,000 shares of America West stock and a second-position deed of trust on the Beauvais’ new residence.
The Beauvais made principal payments of about $125,000 on the consolidated loan. However, they were unable to pay off the remaining $190,000 in March 1992, as called for in the note. The Beauvais executed a promissory note dated June 1, 1992, in the amount of $190,000 (“the workout note”); they describe this note as an extension of the 1989 consolidated loan. Both in correspondence when the workout note was executed, and at a later deposition, bank officials characterized the note as a “subsequent renewal” of the $315,000 note, and as a note to “extend” the 1988 loan. Bank records, however, show the $190,000 remainder of the consolidated loan as being paid off with the workout loan proceeds. In this ease, the Bank takes the position that the workout note was for a workout loan. The 1992 workout note lists additional stock and the deed of trust dated March 29, 1989, which was a second-position lien on the Beauvais’ residence, as the security for the note.
The Beauvais made monthly principal payments of $3,000 in July, August, and September of 1992. At the Beauvais’ request, in October 1992, the parties entered into a modification agreement by which the Bank agreed to waive the $3,000 principal payments to be made in November and December of 1992, and January of 1993, in exchange for a $32,676.24 principal reduction to be made by October 8, 1992. The parties agreed that the proceeds for the principal reduction payment came from a sale of the America West stock which was part of the security for the workout note.
The Beauvais failed to make any further monthly payments required by the workout note. In December 1993, the Bank sued the Beauvais on the consolidated loan. It alleged that a principal balance of more than $144,-000 was owed on the note. However, the Bank sought only the principal amount of $75,000 plus interest, which it characterized as the non-purchase-money portion of the note.
The Bank filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing that it was entitled to payment of the $75,000 because it was a non-purchase-money loan and thus was not affected by the antideficiency provision of Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section SS-^A). The trial court found that there was no support in the loan documents, statutes, or ease law for the Bank’s request to bifurcate the 1989 consolidated loan into purchase-money and non-purchase-money components. The trial court also noted that the Bank’s representative had testified that there was no manner for either the bifurcation of the loan or the apportionment of the proceeds to occur. Pointing out that the Bank had raised arguments concerning the workout note, although it had not sued on that note, the court denied the Bank’s Motion for Summary Judgment and allowed it to amend its complaint to sue on the workout note and to specifically allege entitlement to relief under the workout loan.
After the Bank filed its Amended Complaint, the Beauvais filed a counterclaim alleging that if the remainder of the 1989 consolidated loan had been paid off by the workout loan, as the Bank alleged and admitted in its complaint, their security for the 1989 loan had been extinguished, and thus the Bank had wrongfully enforced its extinguished hen by forcing the sale of stock and had thereby wrongfully converted proceeds from the liquidated stock. The Beauvais sought damages for the loss of the stock and for loss of their house to foreclosure under the first deed of trust. The Beauvais alleged that the foreclosure occurred because the Bank would not release its hen so that the Beauvais could sell the house before it was sold through foreclosure.
The Bank again moved for summary judgment. It argued that the workout note was not a purchase-money obhgation because the note evidenced a new loan made three years after the Beauvais purchased them home, and it was used to pay off existing obligations, rather than to purchase a residence that would fall within the scope of the anti-deficiency statute. Alternatively, the Bank argued that it was entitled to be paid $31,-643.45, plus interest, which represented the pro rata portion of the amount owing under the workout note attributed to the non-purchase-money part of the loan. The Bank also moved for summary judgment in its favor on the counterclaim, arguing that the Beauvais acknowledged the validity of the existing liens in the modification agreement, and they provided a full release to the Bank of any existing claims.
The trial court found that the workout loan was an extension of the 1989 consolidated loan and thus that it was a purchase-money, non-recourse note and that the Bank had no cognizable action under AR.S. section 33-814(E). The court renewed its prior finding that the evidence in the record did not provide a method by which the workout loan could be apportioned between purchase-money and non-purchase-money components. Therefore, the court denied the Bank’s Motion for Summary Judgment on its complaint and granted its Motion for Summary Judgment on the counterclaim.
Based on the trial court’s ruling, the Beauvais moved for summary judgment on the complaint. The trial court granted the Beauvais’ motion and entered judgment dismissing the complaint and counterclaim. The Bank timely appealed from the judgment, and the Beauvais filed a cross-appeal from the dismissal of their counterclaim. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-120.21(A)(1).
ISSUES
The issues in this appeal are:
I. Whether, under the facts of this ease, Arizona’s anti-deficiency protections apply to prevent the Bank from enforcing its right to obtain payment under a workout loan note secured by a second-position lien on the same residence owned by the debt- or which had secured the initial note and by other collateral security.
II. Whether the trial court properly denied the Beauvais’ counterclaim against the Bank for conversion.
DISCUSSION
A. Does the Anti-Deficiency Statute Apply to the Workout Note?
On appeal, the Bank argues that the workout note evidenced a new loan that was not an obligation incurred in connection with the purchase of the residence. It contends that the workout note was motivated by the Beauvais’ desire to ease the terms of their 1989 consolidated loan and that the note evidencing the 1989 loan was extinguished by the workout loan. The Bank thus concludes that the workout note is a new and independent obligation separate and distinct from the initial purchase-money loan such that the workout note must be considered a non-purchase money obligation.
The Beauvais respond that the facts show that the workout note was an extension of the 1989 consolidated note. Accordingly, they argue that the loan continued as a purchase-money obligation protected by the Anti-Deficiency Statutes. In any event, they contend it is contrary to the intent of the Anti-Deficiency Statutes to subject homeowners who refinance their mortgages to deficiency judgments.
We first note that the parties’ arguments show that there is a fact dispute concerning whether the workout loan was either an extension or renewal of the 1989 loan, or was a new loan. The record contains evidence to support both theories. Thus, the trial court’s decision on summary judgment concerning the nature of the workout loan involves disputed facts that render the question a matter for a trier of fact. Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c). However, because we conclude that the ultimate legal result is the same whether the workout note is an extension, renewal, or new obligation, we are deciding the question of law that will resolve this case, rather than remanding for a trier-of-fact decision on the nature of the workout transaction.
The legal question we consider is whether, under the facts of this case, the workout note was a non-purchase-money note under which the Bank could waive the security, sue on the note, obtain a judgment and then attempt to satisfy the judgment from assets of the Beauvais other than the property which is subject to the deed of trust. This question is one of first impression in Arizona, but we are guided by the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision in Baker v. Gardner, 160 Ariz. 98, 770 P.2d 766 (1988).
In Baker, the court considered the interplay of Arizona’s Anti-Deficiency and Election of Remedies Statutes, A.R.S. section 33-729(A), which concerns purchase-money mortgages; A.R.S. section 33-814(E) (now A.R.S. section 33-814(G)), concerning deeds of trust; and A.R.S. section 33-722, which allows creditors to elect remedies. The Baker court concluded that when a deed of trust is involved, and A.R.S. section 33-814(G) applies, the anti-deficiency provision prevents a creditor from waiving the security and bringing an action on the note. 160 Ariz. at 104, 770 P.2d at 772.
In a supplemental opinion, the Baker court clarified its initial holding. 160 Ariz. at 105-07, 770 P.2d at 773-75. It addressed the question of whether, under Baker, creditors who made non-purchase-money loans secured by deeds of trust were prohibited from waiving the security and suing on the note pursuant to A.R.S. section 33-722. The court noted that the mortgage Anti-Deficiency Statute, A.R.S. section 33-729(A), only applies to purchase-money mortgages, but the deed of trust Anti-Deficiency Statute, AR.S. section 33-814(G), is not limited to purchase-money collateral. 160 Ariz. at 106, 770 P.2d at 774. However, the Baker court concluded that if a deed of trust beneficiary chooses to foreclose judicially, as is done with a mortgage, the creditor can elect to waive the security under A.R.S. section 33-722 and sue on the note. Id. at 107, 770 P.2d at 775. Accordingly, stated the court, “[b]y choosing judicial foreclosure, the creditor can obtain a deficiency judgment in all cases except those dealing with purchase-money collateral on the residential property described in A.R.S. § 33-729(A).” Id.; Citibank v. Bhandhusavee, 188 Ariz. 434, 937 P.2d 356 (App.1996) (A creditor’s failure to comply with the requirements of A.R.S. section 33-814 does not bar enforcement of a judgment by garnishment against the debt- or’s nonexempt earnings.).
In Resolution Trust Corp. v. Segel, 173 Ariz. 42, 839 P.2d 462 (App.1992), we examined the impact of the Baker holding on non-purchase-money loans that were secured by second-position deeds of trust on residential property of less than two and one-half acres with a one- or two-family residence. In Se-gel, the court held that because the lender did not institute trustee’s sale proceedings and the deeds of trust secured non-purchase-money obligations, the lender was entitled to waive its security and sue directly on the notes under A.R.S. section 33-722. Id. at 44-45, 839 P.2d at 464-65.
As can be seen from Baker and Segel, a decisive question in determining the rights of a creditor when a deed of trust is involved is whether the collateral secures a purchase-money or non-purchase-money obligation. Therefore, in this case, the characterization of the workout note as purchase-money or non-purchase-money is the key to determining whether the Bank may maintain its action on the note.
To aid in our assessment of the note, we look to the public policy pronouncements of the Arizona Supreme Court in Baker. In examining the legislative objectives behind the Anti-Deficiency Statutes, the Baker court noted that the statutes created the “direct benefit of ... the elimination of hardships resulting to consumers who, when purchasing a home, fail to realize the extent to which they are subjecting assets besides the home to legal process.” 160 Ariz. at 101, 770 P.2d at 769 (quoting Boyd & Balentine, Arizona’s Consumer Legislation: Winning the Battle but ..., 14 Ariz. L. Rev. 627, 654 (1972)). The court read both A.R.S. sections 33-729(A) and 33-814(G), “as evincing the legislature’s desire to protect certain homeowners from the financial disaster of losing their homes to foreclosure plus all their other nonexempt property on execution of a judgment for the balance of the purchase price.” Baker, 160 Ariz. at 101, 770 P.2d at 769. In reaching its holding, the court concluded that the legislature’s objective in enacting the Anti-Deficiency Statute was to abolish the personal liability of persons who give trust deeds encumbering properties that fit within the statutory definition. Id. at 104, 770 P.2d at 772.
Given these strong statements concerning the legislature’s consumer protection objec tive, we believe the legislature did not intend that a loan would lose its character as a purchase-money obligation when, as here, it is extended, renewed, or the remaining portion of the original loan is refinanced and the deed of trust on the property that was bought with the original loan continues or is renewed. Given the realities of the marketplace, to believe otherwise would put many homeowners, unable to make mortgage payments, at the peril of facing personal liability as well as the loss.of their homes — a result the legislature intended to avoid through the Anti-Deficiency Statutes.
Here, the majority of the original loan was used as part of the purchase price for residential property of less than two and one-half acres used for a single-family dwelling. A deed of trust on the property secured the loan. Although a portion of the 1989 consolidated loan was non-purchase-money, the Bank no longer argues that the loan can be bifurcated; thus, we consider the entire loan to be a purchase-money obligation. The workout note was for the balance remaining at that time on the purchase-money note; no additional funds were added to the loan. The note continued to be secured by the deed of trust on the property. Accordingly, we conclude that the workout note retained its character as a purchase-money note.
The Bank cites cases from California and North Carolina to support its argument that the workout note became a non-purchase-money note. Cases from these states may be helpful to us because in reaching its decision, the Baker court cited cases from California and North Carolina, noting that their Anti-Deficiency Statutes are similar to Arizona’s. 160 Ariz. at 103-04, 770 P.2d at 771-72. Contrary to the Bank’s contentions, however, we believe that the case law from those states supports our holding here.
The Bank cites Bigley v. Lombardo, 90 N.C.App. 79, 367 S.E.2d 389 (1988), in which the court held that the Anti-Deficiency Statute did not apply to a promissory note which had replaced a purchase-money security deed and was secured by an automobile. However, the facts of Bigley are distinguishable from the facts before us. There, the original loan was for the purchase of a business, including the real property on which the business was located. Id. at 80, 367 S.E.2d at 390. Under North Carolina law, the buyers executed a purchase-money promissory note secured by a deed of trust on the property. Id. The sellers subsequently agreed to cancel the purchase-money promissory note and deed of trust so that one of the buyers could borrow money on the business and real property and buy out the other owners. Id. That buyer executed a new promissory note to the sellers that was secured by his automobile. Id. The first note was marked “paid in full and satisfied,” and the record of the deed of trust was canceled. Id.
The Bigley court held that because the new security agreement did not secure any portion of the original purchase of real property and the purchase-money deed of trust was canceled, the second note was not a purchase-money note, and therefore the statutory anti-deficiency protection did not apply. 90 N.C.App. at 84, 367 S.E.2d at 392. The court, however, noted that “so long as the debt of the purchaser of property is secured by a deed of trust on the property or part of it given by the purchaser to secure payment of the purchase price the deed of trust is a purchase-money deed of trust.” Id. (emphasis added in Bigley) (quoting Burnette Indus., Inc. v. Danbar of Winston-Salem, Inc., 80 N.C.App. 318, 321, 341 S.E.2d 754, 756 (1986)).
The Bank also cites Union Bank v. Wendland, 54 Cal.App.3d 393, 126 Cal.Rptr. 549 (1976). There, Wendland had purchased a residence in 1966 for the sum of $26,500 and borrowed the money from a savings and loan. Id. at 396, 126 Cal.Rptr. at 552. In 1967, he borrowed $28,000 from Union Bank’s predecessor to pay off the original loan. Id. The bank loan was secured by a first position deed of trust. Id. The Wendland court held that under this scenario, the bank loan was not a purchase-money loan and the purchase-money protections afforded by section 580b of the California Code of Civil Procedure did not apply. Id. at 400, 126 Cal.Rptr. at 554.
Although on its face Wendland appears to support the Bank’s argument, a close reading shows that it is distinguishable. Section 580b prohibited deficiency judgments after a sale of real property under a deed of trust given to the property seller to secure payment of the purchase price of the property. 54 Cal.App.3d at 398,126 Cal.Rptr. at 553, n. 2. The Wendland court found that section 580b was inapplicable because the first deed of trust was not given as security for the purchase money within the meaning of section 580b. Id. at 398, 126 Cal.Rptr. at 553. That was so because a loan transaction with a bank was a transaction that did not come within the purpose of section 580b, which was to protect purchasers under purchase-money mortgage transactions in which the seller of real property retained an interest in the land sold to secure payment of part of the purchase price. Id. The court then analyzed the case under section 580d, the more general Anti-Deficiency Statute, and, based on a merger theory, reversed the judgment for the bank. Id. at 405, 126 Cal.Rptr. at 558.
Two California eases more recent than Wendland refute the Bank’s argument. The issue in Palm v. Schilling, 199 Cal.App.3d 63, 244 Cal.Rptr. 600 (1988), was whether the prohibition against deficiency judgments could be contractually waived as a condition of renegotiation of the obligation. In holding that it could not be waived in the circumstances presented, the Palm court stated:
As the Supreme Court observed decades ago, “[w]ith purchase money trust deeds, [ ][sic] the character of the transaction must necessarily be determined at the time the trust deed is executed. Its nature is then fixed for all time and as so fixed no deficiency judgment may be obtained regardless of whether the security later becomes valueless.” ... Renegotiation of a purchase money note, whether viewed as a renewal or a new transaction, will not support a waiver because section 580b prohibits a waiver in advance of or at the time of the creation of a purchase money mortgage.
The explicit language of section 580b brooks no interpretation other than that deficiency judgments are prohibited by a purchase money mortgagee so long as a purchase money mortgage or deed of trust is in effect on the original real property. (Citation omitted.)
Id. at 75-76, 244 Cal.Rptr. at 609. Similarly, the court in Ziegler v. Barnes, 200 Cal. App.3d 224, 246 Cal.Rptr. 69 (1988), concluded that a new $95,000 promissory note that replaced a $185,000 purchase-money note was merely a substitute for the original note, even though it was for a lower amount that reflected payments made, and thus that the character of the money due had not changed. Id. at 230-31, 246 Cal.Rptr. at 72-73. The fact that the note added payees also did not change its character. Id. at 230, 246 Cal. Rptr. at 72. Therefore, the court held that the creditor was not entitled to a deficiency judgment. Id.
In summary, we hold that regardless of whether the workout note was an extension, renewal, or refinancing of the 1989 consolidated loan, it retained its character as a purchase-money note. See Lucky Invs., Inc. v. Adams, 183 Cal.App.2d 462, 7 Cal. Rptr. 57 (1960) (Cancellation and replacement with new notes, secured by the same property, transfers purchase-money status to new notes.). Accordingly, the Bank is prohibited from waiving the security under the deed of trust and suing on the note. We affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the Bank’s complaint.
B. Dismissal of the Counterclaim
The Beauvais’ counterclaim can be maintained only if there is a finding that the security for the 1989 consolidated loan did not continue for the workout note. Our disposition of the primary question in this appeal leaves no basis for the counterclaim. Therefore, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the counterclaim.
C. Attorneys’ Fees
The Beauvais request an award of their attorneys’ fees incurred on appeal. However, they cite no basis for their request. Therefore, we deny the request. See Ariz. R. Civ.App. P. 21(c); City of Phoenix v. Maricopa County Superior Court, 144 Ariz. 172, 177, 696 P.2d 724, 729 (App.1985) (denying request for attorneys’ fees where no authority for such award cited).
THOMPSON, P.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. A "purchase money mortgage” for purposes of Arizona’s antideficiency statutes is one that encumbers the property being sold. Cely v. DeConcini, McDonald, Brammer, Yetwin & Lacy, P.C., 166 Ariz. 500, 505, 803 P.2d 911, 916 (App. 1990).
. The Bank has made no argument on appeal concerning bifurcation of the 1992 note and collection of the non-purchase money portion of the note. Therefore, we do not consider this issue that was raised in the trial court. But see Nestle Ice Cream Co. v. Fuller, 186 Ariz. 521, 924 P.2d 1040 (App.1996) (In a foreclosure on real properly to pay a promissory note, if the creditor obtained assets of the debtor through involuntary means, the creditor must apply liquidation amounts ratably to the secured indebtedness.).
. A.R.S. section 33-729(A) provides in relevant part:
[I]f a mortgage is given to secure the payment of the balance of the purchase price, or to secure a loan to pay all or part of the purchase price, of a parcel of real property of two and one-half acres or less which is limited to and utilized for either a single one-family or single two-family dwelling, the lien of judgment in an action to foreclose such mortgage shall not extend to any other property of the judgment debtor, nor may general execution be issued against the judgment debtor to enforce such judgment, and if the proceeds of the mortgaged real property sold under special execution are insufficient to satisfy the judgment, the judgment may not otherwise be satisfied out of other property of the judgment debtor, notwithstanding any agreement to the contrary.
A.R.S. section 33-814(G) provides:
If trust property of two and one-half acres or less which is limited to and utilized for either a single one-family or single two-family dwelling is sold pursuant to the trustee’s power of sale, no action may be maintained to recover any difference between the amount obtained by sale and the amount of the indebtedness and any interest, costs and expenses.
A.R.S. section 33-722 reads:
If separate actions are brought on the debt and to foreclose the mortgage given to secure it, the plaintiff shall elect which to prosecute and the other shall be dismissed.
. The Arizona Supreme Court acknowledged in Baker v. Gardner that Arizona’s Anti-Deficiency Statutes are similar to California’s Anti-Deficiency Statutes set forth in section 580 of the California Code of Civil Procedure. 160 Ariz. at 102, 770 P.2d at 770.
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OPINION
LANKFORD, Judge.
Dole Food Company (“Dole”) appeals the entry of summary judgment in favor of North Carolina Foam Industries (“NCFI”). We reverse the judgment.
The appeal involves the adequacy of NCFI’s product warnings. Dole filed this product liability action after a welding spark ignited polyurethane foam insulation and caused a fire that substantially damaged a Dole facility. Dole alleged that NCFI, which had supplied the foam, failed to provide adequate warnings. The trial court entered summary judgment on the ground that the warnings were adequate as a matter of law. We reverse because there are disputed issues of fact.
NCFI supplied the foam for Dole’s building. Dole had hired a construction company to build an addition to its Yuma vegetable packing and processing plant. Yal Lowder, who worked for a subcontractor, Mountain States Foaming, installed the polyurethane foam insulation. NCFI supplied the polyurethane foam to Lowder.
NCFI provides product warnings in the following manner. It sends a First Order Letter to all new customers who order NCFI foam. The letter cautions that the information it provides “should be understood thor- ' oughly by you and your personnel before applying spray-in-place urethane chemicals.” It also includes the following articles: (1) Urethane Foam Contractors Association (UFCA) Position Statement on “Sprayed Urethane Foam and Fire Safety”; (2) Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) “Fire Safety Guidelines for the Use of Rigid Urethane Foam Insulation in Building Construction”; (3) SPI “Guide for the Safe Handling and Use of Urethane Foam Systems”; and (4) NCFI Material Safety Data Sheeb-NCFI Gun Cleaner.
NCFI did not provide this information to Lowder for the Dole job, however, because Lowder was not a new customer: He had received this information earlier that year when he had ordered polyurethane foam from NCFI for a different job. Lowder provided the general contractor with some, but not all, of the NCFI warnings.
Lowder applied NCFI foam to the walls and under the roof of the Dole addition. No thermal barrier was placed in direct contact with the NCFI foam. Wood-framed interior walls were constructed from one-half inch plywood covered with fiberglass, and there was an eight to twelve inch space between the plywood and the foam insulation.
During construction, a spark from a welding torch ignited a fire inside the wall. The gap between the foam and the plywood wall created a “chimney effect,” spreading the fire quickly and causing substantial damage.
Dole’s complaint claimed that NCFI failed to adequately warn of product hazards. Dole contended that NCFI did not warn that a thermal barrier must be in close contact with the polyurethane foam and did not warn that plywood is not an acceptable thermal barrier. Dole’s claims included breach of warranty, negligence, and strict liability.
NCFI filed a motion for summary judgment based on three theories. It alleged that (1) its warnings were adequate, (2) it is relieved of liability by providing adequate warnings to a “sophisticated user” such as Lowder, and (3) Dole could not prove proximate cause. The court granted summary judgment in favor of NCFI without reaching the causation issue. It concluded that the warnings were adequate and NCFI satisfied its duty to warn by warning Lowder. Dole appeals the entry of summary judgment except that it does not appeal the adverse judgment on its breach of warranty claim.
Dole raises three issues on appeal: (1) Did a question of fact exist as to the adequacy of NCFI’s warnings? (2) Did NCFI satisfy its duty to warn by providing warnings to the subcontractor who installed the polyurethane foam? (3) Did Dole present sufficient evidence that NCFI’s allegedly inadequate warnings proximately caused Dole’s damages?
We review de novo an entry of summary judgment. Gonzalez v. Satrustegui, 178 Ariz. 92, 97, 870 P.2d 1188, 1193 (App.1993). Summary judgment is appropriate if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Orme School v. Reeves, 166 Ariz. 301, 305, 802 P.2d 1000, 1004 (1990). However, we must reverse and remand for a trial on the merits if reasonable inferences concerning material facts could be resolved in favor of either party. United Bank of Arizona v. Align, 167 Ariz. 191, 195, 805 P.2d 1012,1016 (App.1990).
I.
Dole argues that NCFI failed to warn that a thermal barrier must be in close contact with the foam and that plywood is an inadequate thermal barrier. “[B]oth negligence and strict liability standards impose a duty to produce products with appropriate warning instructions____” Anguiano v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 808 F.Supp. 719, 722 (D.Ariz.1992), aff'd, 44 F.3d 806 (9th Cir.1995).
To establish a prima facie case of strict liability, the plaintiff must show “(1) the product is defective and unreasonably dangerous, (2) the defective condition existed at the time the product left the defendant’s control, and (3) the defective condition is the proximate cause of the plaintiffs injuries.” Piper v. Bear Medical Systems, Inc., 180 Ariz. 170, 173, 883 P.2d 407, 410 (App.1993); accord Gosewisch v. American Honda Motor Co., 153 Ariz. 400, 403, 737 P.2d 376, 379 (1987); Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A (1965). A product may be unreasonably dangerous in the absence of adequate warnings. Piper, 180 Ariz. at 173-74, 883 P.2d at 410-11.
“Determining whether a warning is adequate to apprise users of dangers in the product is ordinarily a question for the trier of fact.” Id. at 177, 883 P.2d at 414. Based on the record, we cannot say as a matter of law that the warnings adequately conveyed the dangers posed by a space between the foam and the thermal barrier and the use of plywood as a thermal barrier. Dole’s expert, Joseph Zicherman, testified that warnings should state the need for “a proper thermal barrier over the foam” and there should not be “gaps and large air spaces between the barrier and the foam.” However, Zicherman admitted that in some instances plywood would be an appropriate barrier.
NCFI argues that its warnings adequately conveyed the need for the barrier to be in close contact with the foam. NCFI relied on its warnings of the need to “cover” the foam with a barrier and to “always use a protective coating when applying sprayed urethane foam to the interior or exterior of a building.” NCFI claims this language “obviously” indicates a need for direct application. However, there is evidence to support the opposite inference: NCFI employee Ray Mackey testified that the NCFI literature does not address whether there can be a distance between the thermal barrier and the foam. If NCFI’s own employees fail to glean this information from the literature, then it is not obvious. In addition, the warnings do not directly address the use of plywood as a barrier.
A reasonable jury could find that the warnings failed to adequately convey the dangers of using plywood as a thermal barrier and of leaving a space between the foam and the thermal barrier. Accordingly, summary judgment in favor of Dole is reversed.
II.
NCFI also contends that its duty to warn was satisfied even though Dole received no warnings. NCFI argues that it was enough to provide the information to a “sophisticated user” or “learned intermediary,” such as the contractor who installed the foam. Generally, warnings must be given to the ultimate user or consumer. Frumer & Friedman, supra, § 12.07 at 12-91. However, “[u]nder the ‘learned intermediary doctrine,’ ‘the manufacturer’s duty to warn is ordinarily satisfied if a proper warning is given to the specialized class of people that may prescribe or administer the product.’ ” Davis v. Cessna Aircraft Corp., 182 Ariz. 26, 38, 893 P.2d 26, 38 (App.1994) (quoting Piper, 180 Ariz. at 178 n. 3, 883 P.2d at 415 n. 3); accord Shell Oil Co. v. Gutierrez, 119 Ariz. 426, 432-33, 581 P.2d 271, 277-78 (1978).
The Restatement describes this doctrine as follows:
Giving to the third person through whom the chattel is supplied all the information necessary to its safe use is not in all cases sufficient to relieve the supplier from liability. It is merely a means by which this information is to be conveyed to those who are to use the chattel. The question remains whether this method gives a reasonable assurance that the information will reach those whose safety depends upon their having it. All sorts of chattels may be supplied for the use of others, through all sorts of third persons under an infinite variety of circumstances. This being true, it is obviously impossible to state in advance any set of rules which will automatically determine in all cases whether one supplying a chattel for the use of others through a third person has satisfied his duty to those who are to use the chattel by informing the third person of the dangerous character of the chattel, or of the precautions which must be exercised in using it in order to make its use safe.
Restatement (Second) of Torts § 388 cmt. n (1965).
To determine whether a manufacturer has satisfied its duty by warning a sophisticated intermediary, courts should consider the following factors:
[T]he likelihood or unlikelihood that harm will occur if the vendee does not pass on the warning to the ultimate user, the trivial or substantial nature of the probable harm, the probability or improbability that the particular vendee will not pass on the warning and the ease or burden of the giving of warning by the manufacturer to the ultimate user.
Shell Oil, 119 Ariz. at 433, 581 P.2d at 278 (following Restatement (Second) of Torts § 388 cmt. n).
Whether a manufacturer has discharged his duty, considering these factors, is a question for the trier of fact. Shell Oil, 119 Ariz. at 434, 581 P.2d at 279. Considering the evidence in light of these factors, we find that a jury could conclude that NCFI’s reliance on Lowder was unreasonable. We first consider the likelihood that Lowder would pass on the warning. NCFI’s own employees thought it important that the end user know the dangers of polyurethane foam. However, NCFI made no effort to ensure that the intermediary transmitted information regarding the product’s hazards to the end user. No evidence shows that Lowder previously relayed warnings, and in fact he did not relay the warnings on this occasion.
We next consider NCFI’s burden in warning end users. NCFI argues that it cannot feasibly provide warnings to end users. NCFI generally sells to contractors who apply the foam insulation; it rarely has contact with end users.
On the other hand, NCFI’s sales staff is often on the job site. NCFI also requires that its sales staff visit jobs when new customers are using the foam for the first time. NCFI also has an inspection system in place under which it inspects before and after each application of its product to a roof. Personal contact with the ultimate consumer is thus an available avenue of communication. “[T]he burden of [warning the ultimate user] is slight ... when the chattel is to be used in the presence or vicinity of the person supplying it, so that he could easily give a personal warning to those who are to use the chattel.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 388 cmt. n. NCFI can also ask its customers to identify the end users and simply mail the information. Finally, the number of end users is relatively small. This contrasts markedly with the cases cited by NCFI — and discussed below — in which many employees or other end users were involved. Thus, it is at least debatable whether NCFI could practicably contact the end user to provide warnings. Accordingly, this is a jury question and is not susceptible to summary judgment.
NCFI cites Adams v. Union Carbide Corp., 737 F.2d 1453 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1062, 105 S.Ct. 545, 83 L.Ed.2d 432 (1984), contending that it shows NCFI fulfilled any duty by warning its customer. In Adams, plaintiff claimed that Union Carbide, which had supplied toluene diisocyanate (TDI) to General Motors (GM), did not warn GM employees of the chemical’s dangerous propensities. Union Carbide had provided the chemical in bulk to GM, where it was mixed with other chemicals. GM had exclusive control over the chemical and the GM employees who came in contact with it. The court concluded that “in light of GM[ ]’s duty to safeguard its employees’ health and in consideration of the fact that comprehensive information concerning the use of TDI was conveyed by Union Carbide to GM[ ] for the express purpose of dissemination to GM[]’s employees!,]” Union Carbide fulfilled its duty as a matter of law. Id. at 1457.
This case differs significantly. NCFI did not provide warnings to Lowder “for the express purpose of dissemination” to Dole. In fact, NCFI admits that it did not ask that warnings be forwarded to Dole. See In re Brooklyn Navy Yard Asbestos Litigation, 971 F.2d 831, 838 (2d Cir.1992) (court rejected sophisticated intermediary defense where no evidence showed that the manufacturer actually relied on the intermediary to warn end user). Furthermore, in Adams, GM remained in contact with and in control of the people who interacted with the chemical. Thus, it was reasonable for the manufacturer to rely on GM to convey warnings to its employees. Conversely, the insulation subcontractor here had no control over Dole or other contractors and their workers who came in contact -with the foam insulation. We decline to hold that NCFI’s alleged reliance on the contractor was reasonable as a matter of law.
NCFI also relies on Sara Lee Corp. v. Homasote Co., 719 F.Supp. 417, 424 (D.Md. 1989). The product in Sara Lee, expandable polystyrene beads, was sold as a raw material that was converted into an insulation board and then sold to hardware stores. Because of the change in form of the original product, the court concluded that the sophisticated purchaser of the raw material, who had transformed it into another product, was in the best position to warn the end user: The manufacturer was not in a position to identify and warn consumers and “could not feasibly place a warning” on the product that would reach the end user. Id. at 424.
Although NCFI placed warnings on the drums it sent to the contractor, it could not feasibly place warnings on the sprayed foam. However, this is only one consideration, and we cannot conclude as a matter of law that NCFI’s reliance was reasonable on this basis alone. See Shell Oil, 119 Ariz. at 434, 581 P.2d at 279 (“Lack of access to the final form in which the product reaches the user is simply one of the considerations bearing upon the existence and extent of duty.”). There are methods of conveying warnings other than placing them on the product.
Another factor in deciding whether warning an intermediary is adequate is the nature of the potential harm. While NCFI concedes that the potential damage was great, it claims that the likelihood of harm was small. The risk supposedly was minimized by NCFI’s detailed warnings to the intermediary and Dole’s reliance on the intermediary’s expertise. NCFI’s argument misconstrues the probability question. The relevant question is the potential for harm if the warnings are not conveyed to the end user. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 388 cmt. n. Moreover, the Restatement factors include both the likelihood and severity of the harm. Damage of potentially great severity but lesser likelihood of occurrence may warrant precautions equal to those taken to avoid harm of greater probability but lesser severity. See generally United States v. Carroll Towing, 159 F.2d 169 (2d Cir.1947) (Hand, J.). There is sufficient evidence for a jury to conclude that the risk of potential harm was enough to require warnings.
A reasonable jury could conclude that NCFI’s duty to warn was not discharged by warning the intermediary and this issue cannot be decided as a matter of law. See Shell Oil, 119 Ariz. at 434, 581 P.2d at 279 (“The determination as to whether the supplier’s duty measured by these considerations has been reasonably discharged comes within the function of the trier of fact.”). Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment.
III.
The final issue in this ease is whether Dole had evidence that the failure to warn caused the loss. What is required is “evidence that had a proper warning been given, he would not have used the product in the manner which resulted in his injury, or by evidence that certain precautions would have been taken that would have avoided the accident.” Gosewisch, 153 Ariz. at 403, 737 P.2d at 379 (citation omitted). Although Dole presented evidence that there was a reasonable probability that the addition could have been saved if the foam had been properly protected, Dole presented no evidence that it would have heeded adequate warnings.
Dole argues that this omission is not fatal because a rebuttable presumption arises that it would have heeded the warning. The Restatement provides: “[W]here warning is given, the seller may reasonably assume that it will be read and heeded____” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 402A cmt. j. The presumption works both ways: It works in favor of the seller when an adequate warning is given, but favors the plaintiff when an adequate warning is not given. Most jurisdictions have applied the rebuttable presumption to the benefit of plaintiffs. See, e.g., Knowlton v. Deseret Medical, Inc., 930 F.2d 116, 123 (1st Cir.1991); Plummer v. Lederle Laboratories, 819 F.2d 349, 355-56 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 898, 108 S.Ct. 232, 98 L.Ed.2d 191 (1987); Reyes v. Wyeth Laboratories, 498 F.2d 1264, 1281 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1096, 95 S.Ct. 687, 42 L.Ed.2d 688 (1974); Petty v. United States, 740 F.2d 1428, 1438-39 (8th Cir.1984); Seley v. G.D. Searle & Co., 67 Ohio St.2d 192, 423 N.E.2d 831, 838 (1981).
Arizona decisions that have addressed this presumption did not adopt it because the evidence in those cases rebutted the presumption as a matter of law. In Gosewisch, for example, the Arizona Supreme Court determined that the undisputed evidence showed that the plaintiff would have ignored any further warning, as he had with the existing warnings not to carry passengers and to always wear a helmet. The court therefore concluded that the presumption would have been rebutted as a matter of law. Gosewisch, 153 Ariz. at 404, 737 P.2d at 380.
As in Gosewisch, Dole failed to provide testimony that it would have taken precautions had an adequate warning been given. Unlike Gosewisch, however, the evidence on whether Dole ignored existing warnings is disputed. For example, the evidence shows Dole relied on the information provided by the general contractor and a Yuma building official. NCFI presented evidence calling into question Dole’s reliance on this advice. The construction plans for the prior 1990 construction project had called for application of a spray-applied one-quarter inch fire retardant barrier over the foam. Upon approval from the Ynma City Building Official, this barrier was omitted. Upon learning of this, some subcontractors voiced objections, but the objections were disregarded. The 1992 plans also omitted a spray-applied thermal coating over the NCFI foam, but the City of Yuma approved the plans without the barrier. Given official approval of the construction, it would be reasonable to find that Dole’s failure to include the barrier was justified. The evidence does not show beyond dispute that Dole would have ignored adequate warnings from NCFI.
NCFI also points to a fire during the 1990 construction project. Welding sparks ignited foam insulation not covered by a thermal barrier. However, this fire occurred while the foam was being applied and before any barrier was installed. Thus, the 1990 fire involved no inadequacies in barrier material or spacing. That fire would not necessarily notify Dole either that plywood was an inappropriate barrier or that there should be no space between the barrier and the foam. We cannot conclude as a matter of law that the evidence rebutted the presumption that Dole would have taken precautions.
Absent contrary precedent, Arizona courts follow the Restatement. Aztlan Lodge No. 1 v. Ruffner, 155 Ariz. 163, 165, 745 P.2d 611, 613 (App.1987). The courts in Gosewisch and Sheehan declined to apply the presumption because it would have been rebutted by the evidence as a matter of law. The same cannot be said in the present case. We follow the Restatement and hold that Dole is entitled to the presumption that the warning would have been read and heeded if it had been given.
The effect of the presumption is to take the case to the jury, even in the face of NCFI’s contrary evidence. This is so because a reasonable jury could still infer that Dole would have heeded adequate warnings because NCFI’s evidence did not show that Dole received clear and adequate warnings or that Dole’s conduct was clearly unreasonable. Thus, the presumption does not dissipate in the face of contrary evidence. See generally 2 McCormick on Evidence, § 344 at 462-63 (John W. Strong, ed., 4th ed.1992). Moreover, the presumption shifts the burden of proof to NCFI, and it is up to the jury to determine whether the burden has been satisfied. See id. at 460. Accordingly, this issue must be decided by the jury and is not susceptible to summary judgment.
Finally, NCFI argues that it is not liable because the fire started in an area in which the foam was manufactured by someone else, although NCFI’s foam admittedly burned in the fire. However, Dole “need only present probable facts from which a causal relationship reasonably may be inferred.” Robertson v. Sixpence Inns of America, 163 Ariz. 539, 546, 789 P.2d 1040, 1047 (1990). Dole’s expert testified that improperly protected NCFI foam contributed to the speed of the fire and degree of damage. This evidence is sufficient to prevent summary judgment and warrant a trial.
CONCLUSION
We hold that disputed issues of material fact exist regarding the adequacy of the warnings, the application of the knowledgeable intermediary defense, and causation. Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.
FIDEL, P.J., and SULT, J., concur.
APPENDIX
The UFCA Position Statement on “Sprayed Urethane Foam and Fire Safety” included the following statements:
The classification or representation of any urethane foams as self-extinguishing, non-burning, or slow-burning is not a valid statement based upon information presently available____ Potential fire hazard may exist when sprayed urethane foam surfaces remain unprotected in confined areas with limited air access. Serious flash fires result from usage of exposed and unprotected sprayed urethane foam systems____
When unprotected cured urethane is exposed to a vigorous fire source such as a welding or cutting torch or red hot metal, the foam will usually burn on the surface area____
It is essential that the applicator understand and practice proper safety precautions including:
1. Always use a protective coating when applying sprayed urethane foam to the interior or exterior of a building.
2____ Promptly apply an “ignition barrier” on interior applications. (See following note of special importance.)
3. Proper surface protection must be used whenever welding or cutting near surfaces sprayed with urethane foam, and then only under controlled conditions.
4. Flame and excessive heat should be avoided.
5. Avoid confined storage of finished sprayed urethane foam products.
9. Practice the safety guidelines of the Society of the Plastics Industry, and the Urethane Foam Contractors Association.
NOTE OF SPECIAL IMPORTANCE
When combustible material in an interi- or space becomes ignited, radiating substantial heat to the foam, auto-ignition of the foam can occur if the temperature upper limits are reached. Accordingly, where the foam is in an interior space, rated, tested and approved “ignition barriers” must be applied to that side of the foam on the habitable side of the structure as an effective deterrent against ignition of the foam resulting from a substantial heat build-up. The following cheek lists are provided as a safety guide:
Flame sources to be avoided include: 1. Welding and flame cutting, either electric or torch.... Stored or accumulated flammable materials to be avoided: ... Flammable solids, such as paper, wood....
There is presently available a variety of products that are generally acceptable as proper “ignition barriers.” These products include such generically different materials as gypsum wallboard, sprayed cementitious, certain sprayed celluloses, and Portland cement plaster. Acceptability of the “ignition barrier” should be based on approval by the building code agency. It is important that the reader realize that the degree of exposure such as degree of hazard involved in the usage of the room or building is most significant in determining the proper “ignition barrier” protection____ The generic choice of usage of these “ignition barriers” should be made judiciously, for each has its own individual merits and attributes.
All model building codes required an approved “ignition barrier,” which is referenced in the codes as a thermal barrier on the habitable side of a structure between the interior of the structure and the foam plastic insulation.
A code definition of approved “thermal barrier” is a material equal in fire resistance to one half inch gypsum board. Such “thermal barriers” are those that limit the temperature rise of the unexposed surface to not more than 250 degrees F. after 15 minutes of fire exposure complying with the ASTM E-119 standard time-temperature curve and remain in place during these test conditions.
An SPI publication entitled, “Fire Safety Guidelines for Use of Rigid Polyurethane Foam Insulation for Building Construction,” provided:
POLYURETHANE FOAM AND COMBUSTIBILITY
At the present stage of development, all organic foams, whether they contain fire retardants or not, should be considered combustible and handled accordingly. Experience demonstrates that certain precautions must be taken to minimize the fire hazard in handling, storage and use.
How polyurethane is used in a building system ultimately determines its fire safety. Exposed polyurethane foam must be protected from accidental ignition by completely covering it with aflame barrier as soon as possible after installation, preferably the same day. Sprinkler protection may also be desirable.
SAFETY DURING CONSTRUCTION
Fire is a serious concern during construction. Good practices suggest the following safety precautions: ... 2. Prohibit open flames, cutting and welding torches, electric heaters, high intensity lamps, and smoking materials, such as cigarettes, pipes and cigars, from foam storage and installation areas. If hot work must be done near exposed polyurethane, shield the foam from heat and sparks by a thermal barrier such as asbestos cement board. A fire watch is desirable. Do not weld or cut metal which is in contact with polyurethane____
SAFETY IN DESIGN
... The most important consideration is to make sure that a suitable flame barrier covers all surfaces of polyurethane foam insulation. Additionally, certain applications may require sprinkler protection. Local building code and fire code officials, insurers, and manufacturers’ specifications and installation instruction should be checked in each specific instance____
Following are some fire safety design guides for the architect and contractors based on these model codes and recommendations of the Urethane Safety Group.
For Interior Use
1. Polyurethane foam used in all interior wall and/or ceiling construction or concealed spaces should not be left exposed but should be covered with at least 1/2 inch of cement plaster or fire rated gypsum wallboard or an equivalent 15-minute thermal barrier.
2. Polyurethane foam installed above a suspended ceiling, such as in a refrigerated building requires protection by a thermal barrier above the foam, i.e., between the top side of the foam and the underside of the floor above. The result should be a thermal barrier on both sides of the foam....
5. Fire stops should be provided for large warehouse ceiling areas, between floors in multi-story buildings, in concealed spaces, and at penetrations into pipe chases and ventilation shafts.
(Emphasis in original).
The product drums contained the following warnings:
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Urethane foam produced from these chemicals is combustible.
If exposed to fire, such as welding and cutting torches, it may constitute a fire hazard. Where foam is sprayed over large areas of building interiors, especially underside of ceilings, its exposed surface should be covered with portland cement plaster or equivalent to protect from fire. For prediction of fire hazard in construction, refer to “factory mutual loss prevention date — polyurethane insulation 1-57”.
An SPI article entitled, “Guide for the Safe Handling and Use of Polyurethane and Polyisocyanurate Foam Systems,” provided the following warnings under the heading “COMBUSTIBILITY”:
Polyurethane foams used as insulation require thermal protection from fire on the interior, such as one-half inch gypsum wall board or the equivalent, unless fire testing demonstrates such thermal barriers are not needed. Consult local building codes to determine applicable restrictions. Additionally, because polyurethane foams must generally be covered on the exterior with a coating or some other weather-resistant covering, applicators should follow the fire protection measures discussed above, or those provided by the supplier of the foam or covering material.
The NCFI Material Data Sheet included the following warning on the first page:
CAUTION: Urethane foam produced from these chemicals may present a risk of fire in certain applica tions if exposed to excessive heat and oxygen, i.e. welding and cutting torches. See reverse side for prediction of fire hazard and guide for safe application.
The reverse side contained the following information:
PREDICTION OF FIRE HAZARD IN CONSTRUCTION
Where foam is sprayed over large areas of building interiors its exposed surface should be protected from fire hazard by V Portland cement plaster or gypsum board or equivalent____
. The pertinent portions of the instructions and warnings have been reprinted in the Appendix of this case.
. Another Dole expert, Brady Williamson, concluded that the warnings were inadequate to warn the end user. However, he did not specifically state how the warnings were inadequate.
Dole also claims NCFI employees established the inadequacy of the warnings. Although NCFI’s technical sales representative, Ray Mackey, admitted that NCFI literature does not address the acceptability of plywood or of a space, he did not state that this rendered the warnings inadequate. Similarly, although Clarence Tolbert and Michael DeBone admitted that plywood and gaps are unacceptable, they did not concede that the omission of this information rendered the warnings inadequate.
. Many names have been applied to this doctrine, including "knowledgeable user defense” and "bulk supplier defense.” Some courts distinguish them as separate, but they are essentially the same when applied to intermediaries between the seller and the end user. See 2 Louis R. Frumer & Melvin I. Friedman, Products Liability, § 12.07 at 12-94 (1995).
. Although this Restatement provision addresses a negligent failure to warn, the majority — and better-reasoned — view is that it applies equally to a strict liability claim. See Framer & Friedman, supra, § 12.07 at 12-101, § 12.02 at 12-9, 12-10; Higgins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 671 F.Supp. 1055, 1059-60 (D.Md.1987).
. NCFI urges this Court to reject the Restatement in favor of the "duty approach,” under which a manufacturer has no duty to warn an end user if it provides adequate warnings to a knowledgeable intermediary. This approach presumes that the intermediary will pass on the information, while the Restatement considers the reasonableness of the manufacturer’s reliance that the intermediary will do so. See O’Neal v. Celanese Corp., 10 F.3d 249, 253 n. 2 (4th Cir. 1993).
Division Two of this Court followed Restatement section 388, comment n in Shell Oil, 119 Ariz. at 433-34, 581 P.2d at 278-79. We are unpersuaded to depart from Shell Oil. NCFI’s argument that we do so consists of three assertions. First, it states that the duty rale encourages sellers to warn intermediaries. However, the Restatement rule also encourages sellers to warn intermediaries, and any greater incentive to do so offered by the duty rule is offset by its disadvantages, the principal one of which is that it drastically reduces the incentive for sellers to notify end users. An important source of product warnings is thereby virtually eliminated.
The second alleged advantage of the duty approach is that it encourages intermediaries to warn end users. However, the duty rale does not affect the intermediary’s duty. If the intermediary is itself a seller of the product, it has the duty to warn its customers under the Restatement. If the intermediary is instead an employer, its behavior is governed by the workers’ compensation scheme under both the duty and the Restatement approaches.
The third and final assertion is that the duty rule relieves sellers of the "nearly impossible and costly task” of identifying and warning end users. This argument overlooks important points. First, when notification is truly impractical, the Restatement does not impose liability. Second, notification is often not impractical. For example, an automobile manufacturer can include consumer warnings in owner’s manuals and on vehicle components when it sells vehicles to dealers.
. Likewise, Division Two declined to adopt the presumption in Sheehan v. Pima County, 135 Ariz. 235, 238, 660 P.2d 486, 489 (App.1982), because it concluded that the presumption would have been rebutted as a matter of law. The evidence showed that there was a one in five million chance of contracting contact polio from a polio vaccine, that no other vaccine was readily available, and that the vaccine was recommended by the government. Id. The court, however, indicated that the presumption might apply in a case in which the warnings describe an action that, if taken, would easily prevent the possible harm. Id.
. NCFI also argues the presumption is rebutted because it is common construction practice for the general contractor to provide warnings and instructions to the building owner at the time of occupancy. However, this argument was not presented in NCFI’s motion for summary judgment, although the testimony on which the argument is based was attached to the reply memorandum. We decline to consider a new argument on appeal. See Stewart v. Mutual of Omaha Ins. Co., 169 Ariz. 99, 108, 817 P.2d 44, 53 (App.1991).
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OPINION
VOSS, Judge.
Robert Banicki (defendant) appeals from his convictions and sentences on one count of aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor and one count of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor with one prior conviction. We affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Prior to his arrest, defendant’s Arizona driver’s license had been canceled because of an undisclosed, prior revocation of his Tennessee driver’s license. In addition to the cancellation, defendant’s Arizona driving privileges had been suspended on three separate prior occasions, the most recent being in September 1992. A law enforcement officer personally served defendant with notice of one suspension, at which time defendant signed a form acknowledging that his Arizona driving privileges could be reinstated by paying a civil sanction and providing proof of financial responsibility. The Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) mailed notices of the other two suspensions and the cancellation to defendant’s last known address. Defendant did not attempt to reinstate his driving privileges.
On December 13, 1995, Officer Neal Hamilton stopped defendant’s vehicle after observing the vehicle speeding, making rapid lane changes without signaling, and jerking back and forth on the roadway. Defendant exited his vehicle, approached Officer Hamilton and presented his Georgia driver’s license. Officer Hamilton observed that defendant smelled of alcohol, slurred his speech, was unsteady on his feet, and had bloodshot and watery eyes. Officer Hamilton then conducted six field sobriety tests. After defendant failed all six tests, Officer Hamilton arrested defendant and transported him to the Yuma County Sheriffs Office, where defendant refused to submit to any tests to determine blood alcohol concentration.
On December 21, 1995, the Yuma County Grand Jury indicted defendant on one count of aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor (count one) and one count of driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor with one prior conviction (count two).
At the conclusion of the testimony, the court reviewed the proposed jury instructions with counsel. Because neither party objected to the proposed instructions, they were given as originally proposed.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts. The trial court sentenced defendant to concurrent terms of six months imprisonment on count one and 60 days in jail on count two. The trial court also placed defendant on 36 months supervised probation and ordered him to pay a fine of $795.00. Defendant timely appeals from his convictions and sentences.
DISCUSSION
The sole issue on appeal is whether the record established that defendant no longer had the privilege to drive in Arizona at the time of his arrest. Defendant contends that the period of suspension on his Arizona driver’s license had run and the possession of his Georgia driver’s license upon arrest was a clear exercise of his nonresident driving privilege. Because defendant failed to raise this issue in the trial court, we review only for fundamental error. State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 812 P.2d 626 (1991).
A Driving Privilege
Generally, a nonresident who possesses a valid driver’s license from his home state has the privilege to drive on Arizona roadways and is exempt from Arizona licensing provisions. Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. section (A.R.S. § 28A12(A)(3)). However, A.R.S. § 28^150 provides that a nonresident who has had his Arizona driver’s license or privilege suspended may not operate a vehicle in this state under a license from another jurisdiction for the period of the suspension.
The pivotal question then turns on the definition of “suspension.” In most cases, the MVD shall not suspend or revoke a driver’s license or privilege to drive for more than one year. A.R.S. § 28-448(A). A.R.S. § 28-402(17) provides:
“Suspension” means that the driver’s license and privilege to drive a motor vehicle on the public highways are temporarily withdrawn but only during the period of the suspension and until application for reinstatement is made.
(Emphasis added.) We find this statutory definition dispositive of the question before us. It is clear that the MVD can only suspend the driving privilege for one year, and does not have the power to continue the sanction beyond that period. However, the driving privilege is not automatically reinstated. Rather, the privilege to drive is restored only after the driver applies for reinstatement. See State v. Wilkinson, 163 Ariz. 298, 787 P.2d 1094 (App.1989); see also State v. Scott, 129 Ariz. 588, 633 P.2d 397 (1981) (revocation remains in effect until former license holder acts to have the license renewed or restored).
In this case, defendant’s privilege to drive in Arizona was most recently suspended in September 1992. Subsequently, defendant moved to Georgia and obtained a Georgia driver’s license. Upon defendant’s arrest in December 1993, over one year had elapsed since his most recent suspension. However, defendant did not attempt to cure the causes for his three suspensions in Arizona, failing to appear in court, failing to attend a mandatory driver’s education course, and failing to pay a civil fine. Further, defendant never attempted to apply for reinstatement, as required by statute and MVD regulations. Accordingly, we hold that defendant’s privilege to drive in Arizona had not been restored at the time of his December 1993 arrest.
B. Jury Instruction
Defendant maintains that the trial court committed error in instructing the jury that defendant must be found guilty if, among other things, the jury determined that defendant’s Arizona driver’s license or privilege to drive was suspended or canceled. Failure to object to an instruction waives the issue on appeal in the absence of fundamental error. Rule 21.3(c), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure; Gendron, 168 Ariz. at 154, 812 P.2d at 627. “Fundamental error is ‘error going to the foundation of the case, error that takes from the defendant a right essential to his defense, and error of such magnitude that the defendant could not possibly have received a fair trial.’” State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 572, 858 P.2d 1152, 1175 (1993) (quoting State v. Hunter, 142 Ariz. 88, 90, 688 P.2d 980, 982 (1984)), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1993).
Upon the close of evidence, the judge instructed the jury:
The crime of aggravated driving under the influence of intoxicating liquor requires proof of the following three things: number 1, the defendant committed the offense of driving under the influence of intoxieating liquor; and, 2, at the time of driving, the defendant’s Arizona driver’s license or privilege to drive was suspended or can-celled; and, number 3, the defendant knew or should have known of the suspension or cancellation.
Defendant contends that the judge’s instruction renders his possession of a Georgia driver’s license meaningless, constituting fundamental error. We disagree.
The jury heard testimony concerning three different driver’s licenses that defendant possessed at different times from three different jurisdictions. The judge instructed on the only relevant inquiry for the jury: Whether defendant’s privilege to drive in Arizona was in effect at the time of the arrest. The validity of defendant’s Georgia driver’s license would have been meaningful if the jury would have determined that defendant had the privilege to drive in Arizona. Accordingly, it was not the judge’s instruction that extracted meaning from defendant’s Georgia driver’s license; rather, it was the jury’s finding that defendant’s privilege to drive in Arizona was under suspension.
We find that the trial court’s instruction was supported by the evidence and the law.
C. Request for Fundamental Error Review of Entire Record
Finally, defendant’s counsel requests this court to search the entire record for other fundamental error pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738, 87 S.Ct. 1396, 18 L.Ed.2d 493 (1967).
In Anders, the Supreme Court held that we have an obligation to review a criminal case for fundamental error when counsel is unable to advance meritorious issues. Id. Further, as this court’s obligation to conduct a fundamental error review was based on AR.S. § 13-4035, now repealed, we no longer are obliged to conduct fundamental error reviews in non -Anders eases. State v. Tay lor, 187 Ariz. 567, 571-72, 931 P.2d 1077, 1081-82 (1996); see State v. Smith, 184 Ariz. 456, 459-60, 910 P.2d 1, 4-5 (1996).
Because counsel asserted and fully briefed one issue for our consideration, defendant’s brief fails to comply with Anders. Further, because we are no longer obliged to search the record for fundamental error in non-Anders eases, we decline defendant’s request. See State v. Scott, 187 Ariz. 474, 930 P.2d 551 (1996).
CONCLUSION
We conclude that defendant’s Arizona driver’s license and nonresident privilege to drive were still under suspension at the time of his arrest. Further, we conclude that the judge’s jury instruction was appropriate. Accordingly, we affirm the convictions and sentences imposed by the trial court.
WEISBERG, P.J., and KLEINSCHMIDT, J., concur.
. We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the verdicts, resolving all reasonable inferences against defendant. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993).
. At trial, the state admitted defendant’s driving record into evidence, which included a notice defendant received, requiring him to apply to have his driving privilege reinstated after the period of suspension.
. Although the record does not reveal the exact date defendant obtained this Georgia driver’s license, it is uncontested that the Georgia license was procured after the cancellation of the Arizona license and after at least one suspension of the Arizona driving privilege.
. Erroneously relying on State v. Johnston, 152 Ariz. 273, 731 P.2d 638 (App.1987), defendant asserts that a license subsequently obtained from another jurisdiction permits an individual to drive in Arizona. Unlike the case at bar, in Johnston, the license presented upon arrest came from a state that was a signatory to the Driver’s License Compact; and Arizona never suspended Johnston’s driving privilege. Here, Georgia is not a signatory to the Compact and Arizona suspended defendant's privilege on three separate occasions.
. For our purposes, we assume that Georgia was defendant's home state at the time of arrest.
. See section A, supra.
|
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OPINION
GRANT, Judge.
KPNX Broadcasting Company (“KPNX”) appeals the trial court’s grant of declaratory judgment against it in favor of Scottsdale Unified School District, et al., and the trial court’s denial of KPNX’s counterclaim for special action. For reasons that follow, we reverse and remand with instructions.
SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURE
In October 1994, television station KPNX discovered that a substitute teacher employed by one of the Maricopa County school districts was a registered sex offender. This fact was determined by comparing the birth date of the substitute teacher with the birth date of a registered sex offender by the same name. KPNX decided to explore whether any other teachers employed by the county school districts had a criminal record. Toward that end, and pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) sections 39-121 through 39-221 (the “Public Records Law”), KPNX sent a letter to the 57 Maricopa County school districts requesting that the districts provide the names, birth dates, and current addresses of all full-time and substitute teachers. Later, KPNX amended its request to ask only that the districts provide it with names and birth dates.
The 25 school districts named in this action (collectively “the Districts”) provided KPNX with the names, work addresses, and work phone numbers of each teacher. These Districts refused, however, to provide the birth dates of all teachers on grounds of confidentiality and privacy, although they did eventually offer to provide KPNX with the birth dates of specific teachers if KPNX suspected or received a tip that a particular teacher had a criminal record. KPNX’s counsel then sent another letter to the 25 Districts threatening legal action if they did not disclose the birth dates of all teachers. In a reply letter, the Districts required that KPNX first state the “public interest” that would be served by releasing the birth dates. KPNX responded, stating it would use the birth dates to identify teachers for criminal background checks, and again requested that the Districts disclose the birth dates. The Districts again refused to comply.
The Districts filed a complaint in superior court seeking declaratory relief as to whether they were required to disclose the birth dates of thousands of teachers pursuant to the Public Records Law. The Districts argued the teachers’ birth dates constituted confidential information because they were recorded in each teacher’s personnel file and were obtained confidentially. In addition, the Districts contended that this information should not be disclosed because the birth dates are recorded in the Districts’ internal computer database, for use solely in administering health insurance, medical benefits, and retirement plans; only payroll and personnel staff have access to the information in this database.
After considering the evidence, affidavits, and other materials before it, the trial court entered judgment for the Districts. The trial court ruled the birth dates were private information that should only be disclosed voluntarily by the teachers. The trial court then weighed the teachers’ interest in privacy and confidentiality against KPNX’s need for access to the records. The trial court ruled that because the teachers’ privacy interests were not outweighed by KPNX’s speculative purpose for requesting the information, the Districts were not required to disclose the birth dates under the Public Records Law.
KPNX timely filed this appeal from the trial court’s ruling. We have jurisdiction over this appeal pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-210KB).
DISCUSSION
The issue presented by this appeal is:
Did the trial court err as a matter of law by ruling the public school districts were not required to disclose the birth dates of every full-time and substitute teacher in their employ pursuant to the Public Records Law?
I. The Presumption of Disclosure
The Public Records Law “evince[s] a clear policy favoring disclosure.” Carlson v. Pima County, 141 Ariz. 487, 490, 687 P.2d 1242, 1245 (1984). Public records are presumed open to the public for inspection. Cox Arizona Publications v. Collins, 175 Ariz. 11, 14, 852 P.2d 1194, 1198 (1993); Star Publishing Co. v. Pima County Attorney’s Office, 181 Ariz. 432, 434, 891 P.2d 899, 901 (App. 1994). The objective of A.R.S. section 39-121 “is to broadly define those records which are open to the public for inspection____” Id. The Public Records Law was enacted to allow disclosure and limit secrecy, and “to provide the public with ‘knowledge’ of all of the activities of a public officer and of the manner in which he conducts his office and performs his duty.” Carlson, 141 Ariz. at 491, 687 P.2d at 1246. Whether the denial of access to public records is wrongful is an issue of law we review de novo. KPNX-TV v. Superior Court in and for County of Yuma, 183 Ariz. 589, 592, 905 P.2d 598, 601 (App.1995).
Despite this presumption of disclosure, however, the availability of records for inspection by the public is qualified. The Arizona Supreme Court has recognized that although public records are presumed open,
[the] law also recognizes that an unlimited right of ... inspection might lead to substantial and irreparable private or public harm; thus, where the countervailing interests of confidentiality, privacy or the best interests of the state should be appropriately invoked to prevent inspection, we hold the officer or custodian may refuse inspection. Such discretionary refusal is subject to judicial scrutiny.
Arizona Board of Regents v. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., 167 Ariz. 254, 257, 806 P.2d 348, 351 (1991) (citing Carlson, 141 Ariz. at 491, 687 P.2d at 1246).
Numerous statutory exceptions to the policy of openness illustrate these limitations. See Carlson, 141 Ariz. at 490, 687 P.2d at 1245. For example, adoption records, consumer fraud investigation records, and department of health services records, to name a few, are all exempt from disclosure. Id. (discussing A.R.S. §§ 8-120; 8-121; 44-1525; 36-105; 36-136(G); 36-340; 36-509; 36-714(B)(1) respectively).
Arizona has adopted the elements set forth in the Restatement (Second) of Torts section 652A et seq. (1971) for a privacy claim based on public disclosure of private facts. Rutledge v. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., 148 Ariz. 555, 558 n. 3, 715 P.2d 1243, 1246 n. 3 (App.1986). However we have determined that the Restatement test does not apply because the facts sought here are public facts from public records. KPNX argues that the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. section 552 (“FOIA”), test applies. When Arizona law does not directly address an issue regarding disclosure of public records, Arizona courts look to FOIA for guidance. See, e.g., Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community v. Rogers, Inc., 168 Ariz. 531, 540-41, 815 P.2d 900, 909-10 (1991) (citing Church of Scientology v. Phoenix Police Dep’t., 122 Ariz. 338, 340, 594 P.2d 1034,1036 (App.1979)). Upon review of the law, we have determined that neither FOIA nor Arizona Law provides that disclosure of teachers’ birth dates to KPNX constitutes a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. See, e.g., United States Dep’t of State v. The Washington Post, Co., 456 U.S. 595, 596, 600, 102 S.Ct. 1957, 1958-59, 1960-61, 72 L.Ed.2d 358 (1982) (citations omitted) (The purpose of FOIA is to prevent disclosure of files containing “intimate details” and “highly personal” information, which would constitute a “clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy.”)
The common law limitations to the presumption of disclosure of open records are embodied in the balancing scheme first enunciated in Mathews v. Pyle, 75 Ariz. 76, 251 P.2d 893 (1952). These limitations are
... based on the conflict between the public’s right to openness in government, and important public policy considerations relating to protection of either the confidentiality of information, privacy of persons or a concern about disclosure detrimental to the best interests of the state. This has been the general basis for the common law rule.
Carlson, 141 Ariz. at 490, 687 P.2d at 1245. Public records presumptively must be dis closed. We now discuss the application of this presumption to the specific request by KPNX.
A. The Birth Dates.
KPNX requested from the Districts the names and birth dates of every full-time and substitute teacher on their payrolls. The 25 Districts named in this action employ approximately 10,000 teachers. Neither KPNX nor the Districts dispute that the birth dates constitute public records; the Districts merely argue the birth dates should not be subject to disclosure under A.R.S. section 39-121.
The Districts make two major arguments against disclosure. First, the Districts argue this information is private because it is contained in confidential personnel files and databases with restricted access which are used internally to administer employee benefits. The Districts obtain the teachers’ birth dates under a promise of confidentiality after the teachers have been hired, and they use this information solely to administer retirement plans, health insurance, and medical benefits. The birth dates are available only to a limited group of designated District personnel. Therefore, the Districts argue, disclosure of the teachers’ birth dates would result in an unwarranted invasion of privacy because KPNX would have access to the teachers’ personal information.
The law in Arizona is that “[t]he promise of confidentiality standing alone is not sufficient to preclude disclosure.” Moorehead v. Arnold, 130 Ariz. 503, 505, 637 P.2d 305, 307 (App.1981). As we said in Moorehead, if the promise of confidentiality were to end our inquiry, we would be allowing a school district official to eliminate the public’s right under Arizona’s Public Records Law. We cannot allow a school district to exempt public records from disclosure simply by promising confidentiality. See Guard Publishing Co. v. Lane County School Dist. No. 4J, 310 Or. 32, 39, 791 P.2d 854, 858 (1990). Therefore, the school districts’ confidentiality agreements do not override the statutory duty of disclosure.
The second argument the Districts make is that if the birth dates are released, outside parties will be able to obtain otherwise confidential information about the teachers by accessing various computer databases. For example, some teachers’ prior criminal history would be publicized, though this criminal history is irrelevant for the purposes of the KPNX investigation. The release of this information, the Districts conclude, implicates the teachers’ constitutional privacy interests because disclosure would represent a significant intrusion into their private affairs.
In response to the Districts’ arguments, KPNX points out that birth dates are not truly private, as they can already be determined from other public documents, such as voter registration records, misdemeanor traffic tickets, trial court criminal records and hearing schedules, police reports, booking slips, real property liens filed with the county recorder, and credit reports. We agree that the availability of dates of birth from other public sources defeats the Districts’ argument that teachers have a privacy interest in their birth dates as recorded in school records.
B. The Inapplicability of the Mathews Balancing Test.
The trial court balanced the teachers’ privacy rights against KPNX’s need for access to the birth dates, in accordance with Carlson. The trial court, however, erred by applying this balancing test under the circumstances presented in this case. The information KPNX seeks is not confidential or private because it may be obtained through the inspection of other public records. Thus, the countervailing interests of confidentiality, privacy, and the best interests of the state are not implicated. We therefore hold, as a matter of law, that the birth dates contained in the Districts’ personnel files and internal databases are public records under Arizona’s Public Records Law, and therefore should have been disclosed upon request.
The Districts point to Arizona’s Administrative Code (“A.A.C.”) R2-5-105(D), which restricts public access to information contained in state personnel records. Although the rule permits only certain information from a state employee’s personnel record to be disclosed to the public, an employee’s birth date is not included in that list. This suggests, according to the Districts, that we should similarly treat birth dates as inaccessible under the Public Records Law. We disagree. Whatever policy reasons may underlie the disclosure provisions of R2-5105(D), the fact remains that teacher birth date information is widely available from other public records, and it is therefore not subject to protection as private information under the Public Records Law. We must therefore conclude the legislature intended that the Districts make all necessary efforts to comply with the disclosure requirements of the Public Records Law.
We do not decide, because the issue was not presented, whether in order to comply with KPNX’s request, Districts may have to specially compile lists of the birth dates, or redact confidential or private information from database printouts containing birth date information. Similarly, we do not decide, because the question was not presented, who bears any financial cost of any necessary compilation of lists and redacting of private information from the database printouts. But see Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. v. Purcell, 187 Ariz. 74, 927 P.2d 340 (App.1996) (approving reasonable user fees to underwrite the expenses for compilations of voter registration lists). Under A.R.S. section 39-121.03, agencies can charge a portion of the cost to the state for obtaining copies of printouts and a reasonable fee for the cost of time, equipment, and personnel in producing such reproduction.
II. Attorneys’ Fees
Attorneys’ fees may be awarded where access to public records is denied if two requirements are met. First, the entity requesting access to the records must be entitled to them, and access must have been wrongfully denied; second, the custodian of records must have acted “in bad faith or in an arbitrary or capricious manner” by withholding access to the records. Cox, 175 Ariz. at 14, 852 P.2d at 1198.
Here, although KPNX was entitled to the birth dates and access was wrongfully denied, the record does not support a finding of bad faith on the part of the Districts; nor can we say the Districts acted arbitrarily or capriciously by withholding access to the teachers’ birth dates. The Districts complied with KPNX’s request to the extent that they supplied KPNX with the teachers’ names and other non-disputed information. As a compromise, the Districts also offered to provide KPNX with the birth dates of specific teachers.
We also note that the Districts were acting in the face of strenuous objections to the release of this information by the teachers and the teacher unions. In attempting to comply with KPNX’s requests, the Districts acted with a good faith, though mistaken, belief in the confidentiality of the birth dates.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons above, we reverse the ruling of the trial court and remand with instructions to order the release of the birth dates consistent with this opinion. KPNX has requested attorneys’ fees and costs for this appeal under both A.R.S. sections 39.121.02(B) and 12-2030. A.R.S. section 12-2030 provides that fees “shall” be awarded. The Districts also requested attorneys’ fees on appeal pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-341.01(C).
A.R.S. section 12-2030 is a statute governing mandamus actions against political subdivisions. This statute does not apply because this is not a mandamus action. A.R.S. section 39-121.02(B) is a statute expressly governing fees for denial of access to public records. Fees under A.R.S. 39-121.02(B) require bad faith or arbitrary and capricious withholding — all of which we have determined were absent here. Finally, this statute is more specific than the mandamus fees statute. The more specific statute governs over a more general statute. For these reasons, we hold that A.R.S. section 39-121.02(B) controls in this case. Accordingly, we deny KPNX’s request for fees.
FIDEL and GARBARINO, JJ., concur.
. A.R.S. section 39-121, entitled "Inspection of public records,” provides:
Public records and other matters in the office of any officer at all times during office hours shall be open to inspection by any person.
. The 57 school districts in Maricopa County as a whole employ between 25,000 and 35,000 teachers.
. Some of the Districts have a personnel policy agreement prohibiting the release of any information concerning a teacher, other than the teacher’s dates of employment, without written authorization from the teacher; others state they have a mutual understanding or "relationship of trust” with their teachers which prevents them from disclosing the birth dates; still others have provisions in their collective bargaining agreements requiring that the birth dates be kept confidential.
. The Districts, in a letter to KPNX, stated that KPNX must identify the legitimate “public interest” to be served by disclosing the birth dates. In a reply letter, KPNX stated its purpose was to use the birth dates to identify teachers with a prior criminal history, in order to protect school children from sex offenders. KPNX planned to inform parents and school administrators of the results of the search. On appeal, KPNX also points out that a search of one teacher’s criminal history conducted prior to its public records request identified a registered sex offender who had been caught masturbating in a room full of children.
The Districts objected to what they essentially perceived as a witch hunt. We note, however, that the legal presumption of disclosure places no burden on KPNX with respect to elucidating its reasons for requesting the birth dates. KPNX was not required to identify any "public interest" to be served by the disclosure in order for the records to be released. We do not, therefore, inquire into the merits of KPNX’s use of the birth date information requested here.
. Birth dates are obtainable from voter registration records, which are public information and subject to disclosure under the Public Records Law. See generally, Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. v. Purcell, 187 Ariz. 74, 927 P.2d 340 (App.1996).
. In most of the affidavits submitted by the Districts, the Districts state they are able to delete information from their computer printouts (which contain the teachers' birth dates), and that they have routinely done so when necessary.
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ORDERED: Petition for Review = DENIED.
|
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OPINION
ZLAKET, Chief Justice.
This disciplinary proceeding arises out of a commercial transaction in which respondent was both an investor and the attorney for other investors. Concluding that he breached ethical duties owed to the investment’s promoters, who were also clients of his law firm, a hearing committee recommended that respondent be suspended for at least two years. One committee member urged disbarment. The disciplinary commission rejected many of the committee’s factual findings, proposing instead a one-year suspension. Both the state bar and respondent appeal. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 53(e), Ariz.R.Sup.Ct.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Respondent was a partner in the firm of Murphy & Posner. Robert Amquist, a Canadian citizen and an Arizona lawyer, was employed by the firm under a work visa. He was a litigation associate who also dabbled in real estate syndication and investments. Aound April 1986, Amquist and a commercial broker, James D. Tuton, formed a limited partnership to buy land in Tempe. Murphy & Posner did the legal work connected with the purchase, the partnership formation, the offering memorandum, and the subscription documents. Respondent was an investor, as were other members of the firm.
Early in 1987, Amquist and Tuton contracted to buy land in Glendale, with the latter depositing $25,000 of his own money as a non-refundable down payment on the $1.1 million purchase price. Facing a 2-month deadline and needing another $250,000 to close the deal, the promoters decided to syndicate the purchase, as they had successfully done before. They named this most recent partnership “Glendale Palms.”
There was a dispute in the testimony regarding respondent’s role in the transaction. Nevertheless, the hearing committee found that he had initially encouraged Amquist and Tuton to pursue the deal, suggesting early on that he would be an investor. It also concluded that he had helped formulate offers on the property, reviewed the purchase documents before they were signed, and persuaded the promoters to give all related legal work to his firm.
Gary Pederson, another associate at Murphy & Posner, actually prepared the acquisition papers, as well as an offering memorandum and investor subscription package for the limited partnership. He was supervised by John Murphy, Jr., respondent’s brother and a partner in the firm. Amquist and Tuton wanted to promote the package as a Regulation D exempt offering, which required that investors meet certain standards of sophistication and financial worth. To insure compliance, they' asked prospective investors to complete a questionnaire and promised that the disclosed information would be kept confidential.
Amquist and Tuton divided the limited partnership into 100 shares, priced at $15,000 each. Estimating that they would need $360,000 in cash to meet the down payment and other expenses, the two structured the deal so that an investor purchasing a share would pay $3,600 down and sign a promissory note to pay the balance over four years. The offering memorandum indicated that the real estate would not be acquired unless all 100 units were sold. Athough respondent claimed otherwise, the committee found that he had reviewed incoming agreements and kept himself continuously informed about the promoters’ success in enlisting subscribers. It also determined that he had accepted personal responsibility for disposing of 20 shares.
By April 17, 1987, Almquist and Tuton had not sold all of the units. Taking advantage of an option in the purchase contract, they put an additional $2,000 in escrow to extend the closing deadline another 30 days. By Friday, May 15, the promoters thought they had reached their goal. Tuton had commitments for 50 shares, and Almquist, relying on respondent’s verbal assurances that he would purchase 20, had accounted for the remaining 30 units.
When the two men approached respondent that afternoon to collect the down payment, however, he refused to proceed unless they personally guaranteed a 10% annual return on the investment. Although the partnership was structured to avoid personal liability and no other investors were given such assurances, Almquist and Tuton instructed Gary Pederson to prepare the guarantees. Respondent then signed agreements obligating himself and his children’s trust to five shares each. He also arranged for one of his clients, the trustee of the Nancy Hopkins Trust, to do the same. Finally, he favorably described the investment to his brother John without disclosing his own guaranteed returns. John subsequently bought five units, and the sale closed on May 18,1987.
When the Phoenix real estate market declined precipitously, investors failed to make cash calls and the project became implausible. Upon advice from John Murphy, Almquist and Tuton decided to make no further payments. They returned the funds they were holding for investors and defaulted on the 1990 obligation. The property was subsequently lost to foreclosure.
A year earlier, respondent had resigned from Murphy & Posner and opened a new practice under the name Murphy & Associates. In 1991, that firm filed two lawsuits on behalf of the Nancy Hopkins Trust against Almquist and Tuton. One was in federal court alleging various securities violations, and the other was in state court based on the personal guarantees. Although respondent did not sign the two complaints, an associate testified that they were prepared and filed at respondent’s direction. In defending against the lawsuits, Almquist and Tuton argued that respondent’s unethical conduct precluded relief. The state bar was notified, and formal proceedings began.
Following numerous days of testimony, the hearing committee issued its report. It found that Almquist and Tuton were respondent’s clients and that he had used private knowledge of their sales difficulties to extract the personal guarantees, in violation of ER 1.6(a) (duty of confidentiality) and ER 1.8(b) (use of confidential information to client’s disadvantage). The committee also determined that he had failed to recognize or had ignored conflicts of interest between the trusts and the promoters, all of whom were his clients, in contravention of ER 1.7(a) (representation of clients whose interests are directly adverse), ER 1.7(b) (representation of one client materially limited by duties owed to another), and ER 1.9(a) (representation of client whose interests are adverse to former client in same or substantially related matter); and that he had violated ER 1.9(b) (use of information to former client’s disadvantage) and ER 1.10 (imputed disqualification) by using confidential data regarding the financial worth of other investors in filing the federal securities complaint. Finally, it concluded that respondent had entered into a business arrangement with his clients without making full disclosure and allowing a reasonable opportunity to seek independent counsel, a violation of ER 1.8(a) (prohibited transactions). All three committee members believed that respondent’s transgressions were serious. The chairman concluded that a two-year suspension was warranted, another urged five years, and the third recommended disbarment.
Respondent appealed to the disciplinary commission. Unconvinced that Almquist and Tuton were respondent’s personal clients or that he had exploited any confidential information, the commission unanimously rejected the committee’s findings and recommendations. It stressed that respondent was a litigator, not a transactional attorney, and that he had never billed the Glendale Palms partnership for any legal services. Based on its own interpretation of the evidence, the commission found only that he entered into a business transaction without obtaining a written waiver, ER 1.8(a), and obtained beneficial terms for himself and other clients while the firm represented those with whom he was negotiating, ER 1.7(a).
DISCUSSION
It is apparent from the conflicting committee and commission reports that the facts are in dispute. Having heard sharply contradictory testimony, the committee specifically questioned respondent’s credibility. Although this court is an independent trier of law and fact in disciplinary cases, we ordinarily defer to the tribunal that heard the witnesses firsthand. In re Varbel, 182 Ariz. 451, 453, 897 P.2d 1337, 1339 (1995). Findings of unethical conduct must, however, be supported by clear and convincing evidence. Id.
Use of Confidential Information
The bar’s allegations of misuse involve two separate areas of confidential information: the promoters’ selling difficulties and the financial qualifications of individual investors as reflected in their completed questionnaires. Respondent argues that neither category should be considered confidential because the requirements of a Regulation D offering place a broad duty of disclosure on the promoters. The commission agreed, finding “as a matter of law” that there was no confidential information capable of misuse and noting that Almquist’s and Tuton’s sales problems were “a common topic of luncheon conversation” at the firm — something that any investor, including respondent and his clients, had a right to know.
Regulation D is silent on the latter point. We observe, however, that Gary Pederson, one of the only witnesses with securities expertise, testified that information regarding the promoters’ selling difficulties was confidential. We are also unaware of any rule by which law firm gossip transforms a client’s private business into public knowledge. In our view, Almquist and Tuton were under no obligation to publicly disclose the progress of sales efforts, and such information should have been protected by their attorneys.
Regarding the questionnaires, Regulation D speaks of full public disclosure in terms of the issuer’s financial background, not the investor’s. See 17 C.F.R. § 230.502(b)(2). Nevertheless, because we believe the bar failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence that respondent used knowledge of other investors’ financial qualifications in drafting the federal securities complaint, we need not decide whether such information was also confidential.
Respondent points to Murphy & Posner’s billing records to substantiate his claim that he never performed legal work for Almquist or Tuton relating to Glendale Palms. In his view, he was simply an investor and thus had no access to, or obligation regarding, confidential information. Although respondent’s factual predicate may be true, it is not determinative. The duty plainly rested upon the entire law firm. American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility, Annotated Model Rules of Professional Conduct 165 (3d ed. 1996)(“Lawyers in firms or other types of associations are assumed to have access to each other’s confidential client information.”). Moreover, we find clear and convincing evidence that respondent “looked over the shoulders” of Almquist and the other lawyers who performed the acquisition and partnership work. Thus, he had access to information regarding the promoters’ difficulties in selling subscriptions.
Respondent also relies heavily on his continued personal and professional ties with Almquist after the guarantees were given in 1987. This apparently influenced the disciplinary commission, which believed that an ongoing relationship ran contrary to Almquist’s claimed sense of betrayal. While the facts are uncontested, we do not draw the same inferences from them as have respondent and the commission. The record shows that Almquist was inextricably connected to respondent, both personally and professionally. His visa specifically required employment by Murphy & Posner, and he worked directly for respondent at the time. Almquist and Tuton testified to feelings of outrage and betrayal generated by the last-minute demand for guarantees. This was corroborated by Gary Pederson’s observations of their demeanor and attitude on May 15. After the transaction closed, Almquist had ample reason to set aside his anger and continue his relationship with respondent. We see nothing inconsistent between his accusations and subsequent conduct.
Our review of the record leads us to agree with the hearing committee that respondent made last-minute demands for personal guarantees knowing Almquist and Tuton had no other investors available, the escrow could not be extended beyond the following Monday, and the two men faced the loss of their down payment if they could not close. We thus conclude that he used confidential information to the detriment of his firm’s clients. Disclosure of the information to the trusts breached ER 1.6; his personal use of it violated ER 1.8(b).
Conñicts of Interest
With respect to the provisions of ERs 1.7 and 1.9, respondent makes several arguments. He again asserts that he was merely an investor and had no attorney-client relationship with Almquist and Tuton relating to Glendale Palms. Further, he claims that the dual representation was appropriate because the investors and promoters had a common goal — to make money. Likewise, respondent says he reasonably believed the interests of his trust clients would not become adverse to Almquist and Tuton. He explains: “At the inception of the transaction, the likelihood that the two Trusts would have to enforce Almquist’s and Tuton’s guarantees was no greater than the likelihood that Almquist and Tuton would have to enforce the two Trusts’ promissory notes____” Finally, respondent argues that the promoters implicitly consented because they knew he represented the trusts when they sought his involvement in the investment plan.
As for ER 1.8(a), respondent contends that he satisfied its requirements because the terms of the transaction were fair, reasonable, and fully disclosed. According to him, Almquist and Tuton had offered personal guarantees as much as a month before closing. He thus reasons that they had sufficient time to seek outside counsel. Moreover, he says, the transaction documents show full consent to his investment in the partnership.
After careful review of the record, we believe that respondent’s actions fell short of compliance with the ethical rules. As with the improper use of confidential information, whether he actually performed legal services regarding the Glendale Palms matter is of no consequence since he was a partner in the firm whose members did. See ER 1.10(a), Rules of Professional Conduct (‘While lawyers are associated in a firm, none of them shall knowingly represent a client when any one of them practicing alone would be prohibited from doing so by ER 1.7,1.8(c), 1.9 or 2.2.”); ER 1.10 cmt., Rules of Professional Conduct (“[E]ach lawyer is vicariously bound by the obligation of loyalty owed by each lawyer with whom the lawyer is associated.”).
The interests of the trusts were clearly adverse to those of the promoters. Respondent’s law firm had endeavored to insulate Almquist and Tuton from personal liability in connection with the limited partnership syndication. On behalf of his trust clients, respondent demanded personal guarantees that stripped away the very protection the firm had labored to produce. See In re Pappas, 159 Ariz. 516, 523, 768 P.2d 1161, 1168 (1988) (“[interests need not be antagonistic, such as between buyer and seller____ [Those] of a general and limited partner always differ or diverge.”).
We also cannot agree with the contention that Almquist and Tuton consented to the adverse representation. Their acceptance of the trusts’ investments under the terms extracted by respondent do not constitute the informed and willing consent contemplated by the ethical rules. See In re Shannon, 179 Ariz. 52, 62, 876 P.2d 548, 558 (1994) (attorney must explain implications, advantages, and risks of common representation); In re Neville, 147 Ariz. 106, 113, 708 P.2d 1297, 1304 (1985) (full disclosure includes explanation of divergent interests and of need to seek independent legal advice). Furthermore, we have difficulty accepting the argument that dual representation here might not have adversely affected at least one of the firm’s clients. See ER 1.7(a), Rules of Professional Conduct.
Regarding his own investment, respondent suggests that the imputed disqualification imposed by ER 1.10(a) applies to violations of ERs 1.7 and 1.9, but not to business transactions prohibited by ER 1.8(a). Under his reading of the rules, while he could not have represented persons or other entities in a business deal where their interests were adverse to those of other clients within his firm, he was free to personally enter into the transaction on his own behalf. We fail to see the logic of such an interpretation and find that respondent’s conduct violated ERs 1.7(a), 1.7(b), 1.8(a), and 1.9(a).
DISPOSITION
Although divided over an appropriate sanction, the hearing committee agreed that respondent should be ordered to make restitution to Almquist and Tuton in the amount of $2,264.03 (fees and costs incurred in defending the lawsuits); to indemnify the promoters in writing against any and all judgments, losses, damages, and expenses arising from legal actions by the Nancy Hopkins Trust on the guarantees; to disassociate himself and his law firm from any direct or indirect involvement in the prosecution of those legal actions; and to reimburse the state bar for its costs. In light of'its own factual findings, the disciplinary commission disagreed with the committee and instead proposed only that respondent be suspended for one year, pay the bar’s costs, and pass the ethics section of the bar exam as a condition of reinstatement.
Both the committee and the commission found multiple aggravating factors. These included a selfish motive, a pattern of misconduct, the refusal to acknowledge wrongful actions, and substantial experience in the practice of law. That respondent had no prior disciplinary record was considered a mitigating factor.
The lawyer-client relationship is seriously jeopardized when an attorney fails to preserve confidences or avoid conflicts of interest. If a lawyer abuses the trust and loyalty of his firm’s client for the benefit of himself or others, disbarment is generally the appropriate sanction. See American Bar Association, Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, 4.21 and 4.31 (1991). In this case, however, we are greatly influenced by the fact that in 26 years of practice, respondent has never before received a disciplinary complaint. This very substantial mitigating evidence convinces us that a suspension will adequately serve “to protect the public from further acts by respondent, to deter others from similar conduct, and to provide the public with a basis for continued confidence in the Bar and the judicial system.” In re Hoover, 155 Ariz. 192, 197, 745 P.2d 939, 944 (1987). We thus suspend respondent from the practice of law for one year and order that he pay all costs and expenses incurred by the bar in this matter. Additional consequences such as monetary damages or restitution are best left to the civil courts in fact-intensive disputes like this one.
MOELLER and MARTONE, JJ., concur.
. The appeal of this matter was filed prior to the effective date of the 1996 amendments to the disciplinary rules. See Rule 53(e)(ll), Ariz. R.Sup.Ct.
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ORDER
After hearing oral argument and considering further the pleadings filed, it appears to the Court that the grant of review in this case was improvident. Therefore,
IT IS ORDERED that the order granting review is vacated.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Petition for Review is dismissed.
ZLAKET, C.J. and FELDMAN, J., dissent from the dismissal of the Petition for Review.
|
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OPINION
TOCI, Judge.
The state appeals the trial court’s dismissal with prejudice of one count of aggravated assault and two counts of criminal damage against William A. Rasch (“defendant”). Defendant asserts that we do not have jurisdiction. We conclude, however, that Rule 31.2, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides that the state’s timely filing of a notice of appeal under the wrong cause number does not deprive this court of jurisdiction. See State v. Good, 9 Ariz.App. 388, 392, 452 P.2d 715, 719 (1969). We also conclude that, because the trial court found the prosecutor’s failure to advise the victim of defendant’s interview request resulted from a miscommunication, the prosecution did not engage in intentional or deliberate misconduct to justify a dismissal with prejudice. We therefore affirm the dismissal but vacate the “with prejudice” language in the judgment of dismissal.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Defendant was charged with aggravated assault and two counts of criminal damage. The prosecutor sent the victim a letter explaining her rights as a victim under the Arizona Constitution. The victim told the prosecutor that she wanted to speak only with him. Defense counsel informed the prosecutor that he wished to interview her, but no interview took place.
The victim testified at the trial. On cross-examination and in chambers outside the jury’s presence, she stated that the prosecutor never informed her that defense counsel had requested an interview with her. She stated that if she had been informed, she would have complied.
In chambers, the prosecutor admitted that he violated his statutory obligation to inform the victim of defense counsel’s interview requests. See Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 13^4433(B) (Supp.1996). Defendant moved to dismiss the case for a violation of his substantive due process rights. On December 6, 1995, the court “dismiss[ed] the case with prejudice, jeopardy having attached.”
On December 22, 1995, the state filed a timely notice of appeal. Although correct in every other detail, the notice of appeal contained the wrong cause number. On Decern ber 28, 1995, after discovering the error, the state filed an amended notice of appeal containing the correct cause number. On January 3, 1996, the state filed a supplemental notice of appeal and sought an order treating it as filed on December 22. The trial court denied the state’s motion. The court reasoned that the state filed under the wrong cause number “without reason or excuse” and did not show “excusable neglect.”
II. DISCUSSION
A. Jurisdiction
Defendant contends that, because the notice of appeal contained the incorrect cause number, this court does not have jurisdiction over the appeal. Although the state recognized its mistake and filed both an amended and a supplemental notice of appeal, defendant argues that the amended notice was not timely. We disagree.
Rule 31, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, contains the procedural requirements governing criminal appeals. Rule 31.3 provides that a party must file a notice of appeal within twenty days after judgment. In State v. Berry, 133 Ariz. 264, 650 P.2d 1246 (App. 1982), we held that when a party files a notice of appeal more than twenty days from dismissal, we do not have jurisdiction over the appeal except to order its dismissal. Id. at 267, 650 P.2d at 1249.
Rule 31.2(d) (Supp.1996) provides that the notice of appeal shall “identify the order, judgment and sentence appealed from.” This rule was “drawn from Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure 3.” Ariz.R.Crim.P. 31.2 cmt (1987). That rule, and cases interpreting it, find most defects non-jurisdictional. Matarese v. LeFevre, 801 F.2d 98, 105 (2d Cir.1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 908, 107 S.Ct. 1353, 94 L.Ed.2d 523 (1987) (failure to specify the order or decision was not a jurisdictional defect).
A notice of appeal gives the adverse party notice that an appeal has been taken from a “specific judgment in a specific case.” Good, 9 Ariz.App. at 392, 452 P.2d at 719. In general, this requires that appellant serve and file the notice of appeal in accordance with the procedural rules. Id. at 391, 452 P.2d at 718. A “mere technical error[],” however, does not render the notice ineffective, unless the appellee shows that the error prejudiced him. Id. at 392, 452 P.2d at 719.
Here, the state filed the appeal within the twenty-day limit that Rule 31 prescribes. Although the notice of appeal contained the incorrect cause number, it correctly identified the order appealed from, the names of the parties, and the judge, and thus it clearly gave notice to defendant. The incorrect cause number constituted a non-jurisdictional defect. The state cured that defect when it filed the amended notice of appeal reflecting the correct cause number only two days after the twenty-day deadline. Because the defendant has not argued or shown prejudice, the notice of appeal was effective. Therefore, we have jurisdiction to hear the state’s appeal.
Defendant argues that the state’s failure to timely object to the dismissal waives the issue on appeal. A.R.S. section 13-4032(1) (Supp.1996), however, specifically authorizes an appeal from the order of dismissal. Defendant has not cited, and we have not found, any cases that require the state to object to a judgment of dismissal in order to preserve a right to appeal.
Further, defense counsel did not move for dismissal with prejudice, he simply moved for dismissal. Rule 16.6(d) (Supp.1996) provides that a dismissal of prosecution is without prejudice “unless the court order finds that the interests of justice require that the dismissal be with prejudice.” Not until the trial judge granted the motion to dismiss was it apparent that the dismissal was with prejudice. The state did not waive its right to appeal from the judgment dismissing the case with prejudice. We therefore turn to the merits of the appeal.
B. Dismissal With Prejudice
Relying on Rule 16, the state argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it dismissed this action with prejudice. As we discussed above, Rule 16.6(d) requires a trial court to dismiss a case without prejudice unless it specifically finds that the interests of justice require dismissal with prejudice. In State v. Garcia, 170 Ariz. 245, 823 P.2d 693 (App.1991), the defendant claimed that the state filed a motion to dismiss to delay •the case so that a critical witness would become unavailable. Id. at 246-47, 823 P.2d at 694-95. The trial court dismissed the case with prejudice. Id. at 247, 823 P.2d at 695 (dismissal based on Rule 16.5(d), now Rule 16.6).
On appeal, this court held in Garcia that the trial judge abused his discretion when he dismissed the state’s case with prejudice. Id. Based on the record, we concluded that the trial judge could not have relied on the potential unavailability of the witness in dismissing the case with prejudice. Id. Instead, this court found that a dismissal with prejudice might be appropriate if the state retried the defendant, the trial judge found that the state had delayed prosecution to gain a tactical advantage, and the critical witness had disappeared. Id.
Here, shortly after the court dismissed the case “with prejudice, jeopardy having attached,” the prosecution filed a motion for reconsideration. Although the trial court ultimately denied this motion because “prejudice was obvious and, at that point, not remediable,” it failed to make specific findings of prejudice to defendant. Defendant, citing State v. Zmich, 160 Ariz. 108, 770 P.2d 776 (1989), argues that we must view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the trial court’s ruling. We agree. This proposition, however, does not help defendant.
Although, in general, jeopardy attaches when the jury is impaneled, State v. Soloman, 125 Ariz. 18, 21, 607 P.2d 1, 4 (1980), the double jeopardy clause does not ordinarily bar retrial when a court grants a mistrial on defendant’s motion. State v. Wilson, 134 Ariz. 551, 554, 658 P.2d 204, 207 (App.1982). Nevertheless, when the prosecutor knowingly engages in improper and prejudicial conduct indifferent to the fact that such conduct will likely result in a mistrial or dismissal, the court must order a mistrial and jeopardy will attach. Pool v. Superior Ct., 139 Ariz. 98, 108-09, 677 P.2d 261, 271-72 (1984). A prosecutor whose conduct is due to legal error, negligence, or mistake does not meet this condition. Id. at 108, 677 P.2d at 271. Before jeopardy will bar a retrial after a mistrial, the court must find that the prosecutor’s conduct was intentional conduct that caused prejudice to the defendant and could not be cured by means short of a mistrial. Id. at 109, 677 P.2d at 272. The double jeopardy clause protects defendants “against [both] governmental actions intended to provoke mistrial requests and ... the substantial burdens imposed by multiple prosecutions.” State v. Marquez, 113 Ariz. 540, 542, 558 P.2d 692, 694 (1976).
Here, the record shows that the prosecutor’s failure to inform the victim of defense counsel’s request for an interview was inadvertent rather than intentional. The prosecutor relied on the victim’s statement, “I only want to talk to you.” The trial judge agreed that the prosecutor’s mistake was not intentional but instead the result of a miscommunication. Because the trial judge found no prosecutorial misconduct, he erred in dismissing the case with prejudice.
Furthermore, we observe in passing that a double jeopardy issue is not “ripe” until the defendant is prosecuted following a mistrial. See Marquez, 113 Ariz. at 541, 558 P.2d at 693; Pool, 139 Ariz. at 101, 677 P.2d at 264 (trial judge refused to rule on double jeopardy issue after declaring mistrial as not “a propitious time”). The issue is normally presented when defendant moves to dismiss the second prosecution on double jeopardy grounds, claiming that judicial or prosecutorial overreaching intentionally forced a mistrial of the original prosecution. See Marquez, 113 Ariz. at 543, 558 P.2d at 695. Here, the trial court erred in prematurely ruling on double jeopardy grounds.
Defendant contends that the state’s position requires that we speculate on a “silent record,” which State v. Williams, 128 Ariz. 415, 416, 626 P.2d 145, 146 (App. 1981), prohibits. The record, however, supports the state’s position. The trial judge dismissed the case without specific findings of intentional or deliberate prosecutorial misconduct. Additionally, by finding that the failure to inform the victim about the defense’s request was a mere “miscommunication,” the trial judge implicitly found an absence of intentional or deliberate prosecutorial misconduct.
III. CONCLUSION
We find that the state did not waive its right to appeal the trial court’s order dismissing this ease with prejudice. We conclude that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the charges against defendant with prejudice. We affirm the judgment of dismissal as modified by vacating the phrase “with prejudice.”
GARBARINO, P.J., and WEISBERG, J., concur.
. In State v. Rodriguez, 163 Ariz. 391, 393 n. 2, 788 P.2d 124, 126 n. 2 (App.1989), Division Two of this court declined to follow Berry and instead found exceptional circumstances justified suspending the twenty-day requirement pursuant to Rule 31.20.
. The cases defendant cites in support of this argument are inapposite. E.g., State v. Kemp, 185 Ariz. 52, 57, 912 P.2d 1281, 1286, cert. denied,-U.S.-, 117 S.Ct. 117, 136 L.Ed.2d 68 (1996) (a party waives his right to appeal issues listed in the appendix of his opening brief but not discussed in its body); State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 611, 621, 905 P.2d 974, 990, 1000 (1995), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 1444, 134 L.Ed.2d 564 (1996) (absent fundamental error, counsel is precluded from raising evidentiary issues on appeal if he failed to object during trial).
. Here, the state asserts, and defendant does not dispute, that when a defendant requests a dismissal during trial it is functionally equivalent to a mistrial.
|
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OPINION
GERBER, Presiding Judge.
Alfredo Morales Tinajero (Tinajero) appeals his convictions and sentences for six felony offenses arising from a single fatal traffic collision. We vacate two of his convictions for leaving the scene of an accident because he was improperly charged with three counts of that offense. His remaining convictions are affirmed. We further remand all remaining counts for resentencing because the trial court utilized an improper aggravating factor in sentencing.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
We view the facts in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury verdicts. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993). Tinajero was driving his pickup truck at a high rate of speed when he attempted to pass a vehicle, decided not to, and then lost control of the truck. The truck crashed into an oncoming car. David Lucas, the driver, died as a result of injuries suffered in the collision. His wife Tammy suffered fractures to her arm and hand. Their son Steffan suffered two black eyes and an injury where his seat belt had been buckled.
After the collision, Tinajero’s truck rolled over on the driver’s side. He and a companion climbed out of the window behind the driver’s seat and fled to the home of Florenzio Sanchez Granados, the registered owner of the truck. Tinajero admitted to Sanchez that he had been driving when he crashed the truck. Maricopa County Sheriffs Deputy Pablo Gonzalez later interviewed Sanchez. As he did so, Tinajero then told the deputy that he had been driving .the truck at the time of the crash. He claimed that he had not hit anything and that he was alone in the truck. He said he had left the scene of the collision because he was nervous and scared. He reiterated these statements to Scottsdale Police detective William Yedowitz, with Gonzalez providing a translation from Spanish to English. After Tinajero received treatment for his injuries at a local hospital, Yedowitz interviewed him again, with Officer Christopher Humiston providing translation. In this interview, Tinajero admitted knowing that his truck collided with another car.
Police obtained a sample of Tinajero’s blood. At the time of the test, his blood alcohol content was .14 percent. A criminalist estimated that Tinajero’s blood alcohol content was between .192 and .226 percent at the time of the accident. Investigators tested blood found inside Tinajero’s truck and learned that it could not have come from him. The investigation disclosed that Alfonzo Sanchez, Tinajero’s companion, had been injured in the collision. Alfonzo' testified that he, Tinajero, and a third man had shared 24 cans of beer in the hours preceding the accident. Alfonzo confirmed that Tinajero had been driving at the time of the collision. He said that, after the truck rolled over, Tinajero had said, “[l]et’s go, because the police are going to come.”
Tinajero testified at trial. He claimed that Alfonzo had been driving the truck when the crash occurred. He said that he had falsely told police that he had been driving in order to protect Alfonzo, who was an illegal immigrant, and because he did not think anyone had been hit. He denied telling Florenzio Sanchez that he had been driving.
Tinajero was found guilty of six felony offenses: manslaughter, a class 2 dangerous felony; two counts of aggravated assault, class 3 dangerous felonies; and three counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving death or injury. One count of leaving the scene was a class 5 felony premised on the death of David Lucas. The other two counts of that offense were class 6 felonies. The trial judge imposed concurrent aggravated sentences of 15 years for manslaughter; 10 years for aggravated assault against Tammy Lucas; and 12 years for aggravated assault against Steffan Lucas. The judge also imposed concurrent terms on the three counts of leaving the scene, sentencing him to two years for the class 5 felony and 1.5 years for each class 6 felony. The judge ordered those latter three concurrent sentences to be served consecutively to the concurrent sentences for aggravated assault and manslaughter.
Tinajero timely appeals. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (A.R.S.) sections 12-120.21(A)(1), 13-4031 and 13-4033(A).
ISSUES ON APPEAL
Tinajero raises the following issues on appeal:
1. Whether the trial court erred in denying his motion to admit polygraph evidence;
2. Whether the court erred in precluding admission of his out-of-court statements in which he denied he was driving the truck at the time of the accident;
3. Whether the court erred in denying his motion for sanctions when the state made untimely disclosure of police reports;
4. Whether the court erred in determining that his post-arrest statements were voluntary;
5. Whether the court erred in overruling his hearsay objection to Yedowitz’ testimony as to the interpreting officers’ translations;
6. Whether the court erred in refusing a jury instruction derived from State v. Willits, regarding the state’s alleged failure to preserve evidence;
7. Whether he was properly charged and convicted of three counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death;
8. Whether his convictions for manslaughter and aggravated assault precluded, on double jeopardy grounds, his conviction for leaving the scene of the accident;
9. Whether the trial court used improper aggravating factors at sentencing.
DISCUSSION
1. ADMISSION OF POLYGRAPH EVIDENCE
Prior to trial, Tinajero moved to introduce evidence that he underwent a polygraph examination which revealed that he responded truthfully when he denied driving the vehicle involved in the collision. The trial court denied the motion. We find no error. Evidence regarding a polygraph examination is inadmissible absent a stipulation by the parties. State v. Ikirt, 160 Ariz. 113, 115, 770 P.2d 1159, 1161 (1989).
2. ADMISSION OF PRIOR CONSISTENT STATEMENTS
Tinajero asserts that the trial judge erred when he precluded testimony that, while incarcerated after his arrest, Tinajero stated that he had not been driving at the time of the collision. His out-of-court statements were hearsay, Ariz. R. Evid. 801(c), but were potentially admissible as nonhearsay under Rule 801(d)(1)(B) to rebut a charge of recent fabrication if they were made before a motive to falsify arose. State v. Martin, 135 Ariz. 556, 559, 663 P.2d 240, 243 (App.1982); State v. Vild, 155 Ariz. 374, 377, 746 P.2d 1304, 1307 (App.1987). The judge determined that Tinajero’s motive to falsify had arisen by the time he was arrested. Given this time sequence, the trial court did not abuse its discretion.
Tinajero also argues that his post-arrest statements that he had not been driving should have been admitted under the “catchall” hearsay exception of Rule 803(24). We have previously rejected the admissibility of prior consistent statements under this rule because “the trustworthiness of an individual’s assertions of innocence are [sic] highly suspect.” Starkins v. Bateman, 150 Ariz. 537, 545, 724 P.2d 1206, 1214 (App.1986).
3. DENIAL OF MOTION FOR SANCTIONS
During trial, Tinajero moved for sanctions after the state made untimely disclosure of police reports containing statements of various witnesses. The trial judge granted the motion in part and denied it in part. On appeal, Tinajero argues that the judge committed reversible error in denying his motion for a continuance to permit him to depose Martin Tinajero to whom he made the post-arrest statements denying that he was driving at the time of the collision.
We find no reversible error. Even if Tinajero’s own statements following his arrest qualified as exculpatory evidence under Rule 15.1(a)(7), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, a new trial was not required unless the statements were material. State v. Spears, 184 Ariz. 277, 287, 908 P.2d 1062, 1072 (1996). Evidence is material only if there is a reasonable probability that its disclosure would have changed the outcome of the proceeding. Id. Because Tinajero’s prior statements were inadmissible hearsay, they were not material. Accordingly, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the requested continuance. See State v. Krone, 182 Ariz. 319, 322, 897 P.2d 621, 624 (1995)(“[T]he propriety of a given sanction for a discovery violation is largely within the discretion of the trial judge.”)
4. VOLUNTARINESS OF STATEMENTS
Tinajero contends that the trial court erred in determining that his statements to Yedowitz were voluntary. He claims that the statements were rendered involuntary by the investigator’s failure to inform him of the fact that David Lucas had died.
This argument is meritless. We assess the voluntariness of a defendant’s statement from the totality of the circumstances. State v. Carrillo, 156 Ariz. 125, 135, 750 P.2d 883, 893 (1988). We will not disturb the trial court’s determination that the statement was voluntary absent a showing of clear and manifest error. State v. Tapia, 159 Ariz. 284, 288, 767 P.2d 5, 9 (1988). “[T]he Constitution does not require the police to give every person being questioned a complete exposition of the reason for questioning, the objectives sought, the evidence already in hand, and the strength of the case being built.” Carrillo, 156 Ariz. at 136, 750 P.2d at 894; accord, People v. Smith, 108 Ill.App.2d 172, 246 N.E.2d 689 (1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 1001, 90 S.Ct. 1150, 25 L.Ed.2d 412 (1970)(statement was not rendered involuntary by failure of police to disclose fact that victim had died).
Tinajero also invokes A.R.S. section 13-3988(B) (1989). This statute requires a judge to consider “[w]hether such defendant knew the nature of the offense with which he was charged or of which he was suspected at the time of making the confession.” The trial judge explicitly considered section 13-3988(B) in finding the confession voluntary.
Although Tinajero was informed he was arrested for aggravated assault, the fact that he was not informed of the potential manslaughter charge did not render his statements involuntary. The single factor listed in section 13-3988(B)(2), like the other factors enumerated in the statute, is not conclusive on voluntariness. State v. Walden, 183 Ariz. 595, 610, 905 P.2d 974, 989, cert. denied, - U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 1444, 134 L.Ed.2d 564 (1996). Tinajero’s waiver of his rights “was not invalid simply because the officers did not inform him of every crime about which they would question him.” Id.
5. ADMISSION OF TRANSLATED STATEMENTS
At trial the state introduced Tinajero’s statements to Yedowitz as translated by Gonzalez and Humiston. He now contends that the admission of these statements over his hearsay objection constitutes reversible error. We disagree.
The English translations of Tinajero’s statements by Gonzalez and Humiston, recounted at trial by Yedowitz, were hearsay because each was a “statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” Ariz. R. Evid. 801(c). Hearsay is generally inadmissible. Ariz. R. Evid. 802. However, translations like those at issue in this ease may be admitted under the “catch-all” hearsay exception, Ariz. R. Evid. 803(24). See generally State v. Terrazas, 162 Ariz. 357, 783 P.2d 803 (App.1989).
Tinajero asserts that Terrazas is inapplicable because the interpreters’ translations, recounted by Yedowitz, lacked the “circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness” required by Rule 803(24). However, he premises this claim on the assertion that his own statement was “untrustworthy” because he later claimed it was false. His argument is misfocused since the trustworthiness of the translators’ statements, not Tinajero’s, is at issue. Two factors are relevant to the analysis: (1) the reliability of the translation and (2) the reliability of the testifying officer’s recollection of the translation at trial. Terrazas, 162 Ariz. at 361, 783 P.2d at 807. He challenges neither factor on appeal. The record supports the conclusion that the translations were reliable.
6. DENIAL OF WILLITS INSTRUCTION
Tinajero asserts that the trial court erred in denying his request for an instruction pursuant to State v. Willits, 96 Ariz. 184, 393 P.2d 274 (1964), permitting the jury to infer from the failure of police to preserve evidence that the evidence was against the state’s interest. He argued that the instruction was supported by the police’s release of the truck to a towing company shortly after the collision. Two months later the vehicle was sold to a salvage company and destroyed. He claimed that he was deprived of an opportunity to test bloodstains within the truck to demonstrate that he had occupied the passenger seat at the time of the collision.
The trial judge denied the instruction on the ground that police had no reason to preserve the vehicle in light of Tinajero’s admissions that he was its sole occupant at the time of the collision. We agree that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.
The duty of police to preserve potentially exculpatory evidence arises when the evidence is “obviously material.” State v. Perez, 141 Ariz. 459, 463, 687 P.2d 1214, 1218 (1984). This requirement reflects the due process standard of “constitutional materiality” that governs the preservation of evidence. See State v. Walters, 155 Ariz. 548, 551, 748 P.2d 777, 780 (App.1987). To be constitutionally material, “[ejvidence must both possess an exculpatory value that was apparent before the evidence was destroyed, and be of such a nature that the defendant would be unable to obtain comparable evidence by other reasonably available means.” Id. (quoting California v. Trombetta, 467 U.S. 479, 489, 104 S.Ct. 2528, 2534, 81 L.Ed.2d 413 (1984))(emphasis added). Given Tinajero’s inculpatory statements on the night of his arrest, he was unable to demonstrate why police had a reason to retain the truck.
7. MULTIPLE CHARGES OF LEAVING THE SCENE
Tinajero contends that he was improperly charged and convicted of three counts of leaving the scene of a single accident involving death or injury. He bases his argument on his construction of the relevant statute, A.R.S. section 28-661, which at the time of the offense stated in pertinent part:
A. The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident resulting in injury to or death of any person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident or as close thereto as possible but shall then forthwith return to and in every event shall remain at the scene of the accident until he has fulfilled the requirements of section 28-663.
B. The driver who is involved in an accident resulting in death or serious physical injury as defined in section 13-105 and who fails to stop or to comply with the requirements of section 28-663 is guilty of a class 5 felony. Any person who is involved in an accident resulting in an injury other than death or a serious physical injury and who fails to stop or to comply with the requirements of section 28-663 is guilty of a class 6 felony.
This court-previously considered the propriety of consecutive sentences — and, implicitly, of separate charges — under this statute in State v. Hamblin, 165 Ariz. 211, 797 P.2d 1229 (App.1990). We there held that the defendant who struck two pedestrians at the same time was involved in two distinct “accidents” which engendered separate duties to each victim and supported consecutive penalties. Id., 165 Ariz. at 213, 797 P.2d at 1231. We expressly avoided determining “whether, if defendant had struck one vehicle causing death or injury to two people,” separate charges would apply. Id. We also noted in Hamblin that
[t]he gravamen of the statutory offense is failure to remain at the scene, a crime of omission. Thus, a driver who becomes involved in multiple accidents has a duty created by law to remain at the scene of the accidents and to render aid to those injured and to otherwise comply with the provisions of A.R.S. § 28-663. Defendant’s duty was to remain at the scene. His single act of leaving caused him to omit the performance of that duty as it relates to each accident.
Id., 165 Ariz. at 214, 797 P.2d at 1232 (emphasis added).
This prior description of the essence of the offense in Hamblin points to the proper result in this case involving only a single accident. Leaving, or failing to return to, “the scene of the accident” supports a conviction of only a single charge, classified according to the most serious injury, for each such accident scene regardless of the number of victims.
The language of A.R.S. section 28-661(B), which specifies that felony sanctions apply to “[t]he driver who is involved in an accident,” who either fails to stop at the scene or who stops but fails to comply with A.R.S. section 28-663 supports this result. The specific reference in A.R.S. section 28-663 to a single driver who is involved in a single accident is specific legislative direction that a single accident supports conviction for only a single offense. Accord Dake v. State, 675 So.2d 1365, 1367 (Ala.Cr.App.1995) (“legislative intent to allow multiple prosecutions for a single act that injures more than one person is determined by the [statutory language]”); People v. Sleboda, 166 Ill.App.3d 42, 116 111. Dec. 620, 630, 519 N.E.2d 512, 522 (1988) (under virtually identical statute, “an individual can only be convicted once for leaving the scene of one accident since the focus is on remaining at the scene of the accident”).
The state argues that A.R.S. section 28-663 supports multiple convictions. Among other requirements, that statute mandates that a driver involved in an accident “render to any person injured in the accident reasonable assistance.” Based upon that directive, the state argues that a driver involved in a single accident may be separately charged under A.R.S. section 28-661 for each failure to render aid to each accident victim. However, we need not reach that issue here because the charge in question is not failure to render aid but rather the “geographical” charge of leaving the physical scene of the accident irrespective of injury.
Tinajero does not argue that evidence was insufficient to support his conviction for Count IV, which alleged that he left the scene of an accident involving death or serious physical injury. Accordingly, we affirm his conviction on that count but vacate his redundant convictions on Counts V and VI for leaving the scene of an accident involving injury.
8. DOUBLE JEOPARDY VIOLATION
Tinajero claims that the court’s imposition of sentences for leaving the scene of an accident consecutively to his concurrent sentences for aggravated assault and manslaughter violated federal and state constitutional guarantees against double jeopardy. See U.S. Const., amend. V; Ariz. Const., Art. 2, § 10. In determining the propriety of consecutive sentences under both constitutional provisions, we apply the test of Block-burger v. United States, 284 U.S. 299, 52 S.Ct. 180, 76 L.Ed. 306 (1932). State v. Cook, 185 Ariz. 358, 365, 916 P.2d 1074, 1081 (App.1995). Under Blockburger, “the test to be applied to determine whether there are two offenses or only one is whether each provision requires proof of an additional fact which the other does not.” 284 U.S. at 304, 52 S.Ct. at 182.
Under the Blockburger analysis, the consecutive sentences were properly imposed. The offenses of manslaughter and aggravated assault require the state to prove, respectively, causation of death and causation of physical injury. See A.R.S. §§ 13-1103(A)(1), 13-1203(A)(1)(1989). The offense of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death does not require proving who caused the harm involved in the accident but only the act of leaving the scene. Conversely, A.R.S. section. 28-661 requires proof that Tinajero failed to stop, remain at the scene of the accident, or fulfill the requirements of A.R.S. section 28-663. These factors are not elements of proof for manslaughter or aggravated assault.
9. IMPROPER AGGRAVATING FACTORS
At sentencing, the trial judge identified as an aggravating factor “the fact that [Tinajero] fled the scene without regard to the victims’ welfare.” He argues that, because this finding merely restated an element of the offense of leaving the scene of an accident, it was improperly employed to aggravate his sentence for that offense.
In State v. Germain, 150 Ariz. 287, 290, 723 P.2d 105, 108 (App.1986), we held that “[w]here the degree of a defendant’s misconduct rises to a level beyond that which is merely necessary to establish an element of the underlying crime, the trial court may consider such conduct as an aggravating factor under the broad language” of A.R.S. section 13-702(C)(14). We agree with the state’s argument that the trial court described aggravating factors beyond those merely necessary to establish an element of leaving the scene of the accident. Tinajero’s evasion of police created an investigatory circumstance above the minimum elements required for criminal liability — e.g., remaining at the scene and failing to display a driver’s license — that warranted consideration as an aggravating factor. The judge could also properly determine that, by exhibiting disregard to the plight of the victims, Tinajero demonstrated gross indifference that merited an aggravated sentence.
Tinajero also challenges the trial court’s finding that “the injuries that Steffan received” constituted an aggravating circumstance for the aggravated assault against Steffan Lucas. This finding is ambiguous. Under A.R.S. sections 13-1203(A)(1) and 13-1204(A)(2), his liability for aggravated assault attached when he caused any physical injury to Steffan. It is unclear whether the trial court relied on the fact that the child suffered multiple injuries — two black eyes, bruises, and seat belt injuries — or whether the severity of these injuries was used to warrant increased punishment. This matter can be clarified in resentencing on remand.
The parties agree that the trial judge improperly considered Tinajero’s lack of remorse as a factor aggravating each of his sentences. When a convicted person maintains his innocence through sentencing, as Tinajero did here, his failure to acknowledge guilt “is irrelevant to a sentencing determination” and “offends the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.” State v. Hardwick, 183 Ariz. 649, 656, 905 P.2d 1384, 1391 (App.1995). We agree with him that the sentencing record does not “ ‘clearly show that the trial court would have reached the same result even without consideration of the improper factor.’ ” Id. (quoting State v. Ojeda, 159 Ariz. 560, 562, 769 P.2d 1006, 1008 (1989)). Accordingly, we remand to the trial court for resentencing on the convictions unaffected by this opinion, with instructions to specify any aggravating factors and to ignore any lack of remorse.
CONCLUSION
We have not reviewed the entire record for fundamental error pursuant to State v. Smith, 184 Ariz. 456, 459, 910 P.2d 1, 4 (1996). Tinajero’s convictions on Counts V and VI are vacated. The remaining convictions which are affirmed are remanded to the trial court for resentencing consistent with this opinion.
LANKFORD and GRANT, JJ., concur.
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OPINION
MOELLER, Justice.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Defendant lived in a trailer park in Tucson. At the time of the murder, he had shared his trailer with Angela Gray and her three children for about three months. Defendant’s daughter also lived with them. The victim in this case was Gray’s youngest child, Rachel, who was four years old. On the day preceding her death, Rachel was hit many times. One blow to her abdomen was so severe that it ruptured her small intestine. Rachel also received injuries to her labia and vagina with no associated injuries to her thighs or buttocks, indicating that she had been sexually assaulted. The injuries to Rachel’s genitals were contemporaneous with her other physical injuries.
The following evidence linked defendant to Rachel’s injuries: on the day Rachel received her injuries, defendant left his trailer three times with Rachel in his van; two children saw defendant hitting her while he drove; defendant stopped at a Quik-Mart to get ice for Rachel’s head injury; and police found traces of Rachel’s blood type on defendant’s clothing and in his van.
Rachel was very ill between the time of the injuries and her death — vomiting, crying, and looking very pale. During the evening, a friend and her son came to defendant’s trailer. While they were there, the friend’s son noticed Rachel’s condition and asked defendant about it. Defendant falsely stated that he had taken Rachel to the fire department, and that the paramedics had examined her and had said she was all right. By the time defendant and Gray took Rachel to the hospital the following morning, she was already dead of peritonitis — an infection of the lining of the abdomen caused by a ruptured intestine.
Defendant was charged with one count of sexual assault (count one), three counts of child abuse (counts two, three, and four), and felony murder (count five). The trial judge instructed the jurors that two of the child abuse charges and the sexual assault charge could be predicate felonies for the felony murder charge. The trial judge further instructed the jurors that the child abuse charges could only be predicate felonies if defendant committed them intentionally or knowingly under circumstances likely to produce death or serious physical injury.
Defendant was convicted on all counts. The jurors further found that the child abuse charges that qualified as predicate felonies for felony murder were committed under circumstances likely to cause serious physical injury or death and that defendant’s mental state was intentional or knowing.
At the aggravation/mitigation hearing on the murder count, the trial judge found two aggravating factors: A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6) (especially cruel), and A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(9) (victim under the age of fifteen years). The judge found no statutory or non-statutory mitigating factors. Therefore, defendant was sentenced to death for the murder count and to terms of years for the other counts. Appeal is automatic. Ariz.R.Crim.P. 31.2(b). We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz.Rev. Stat.Ann. (A.R.S.) §§ 13-4031 and 13-4033 and Adz. Const, art. VI, § 5(3). We affirm defendant’s convictions and sentences.
ISSUES PRESENTED
TRIAL ISSUES
I. Whether Defendant Was Properly Convicted of Child Abuse (Count Four).
II. Whether Child Abuse (Count Four) Was Properly Used as a Predicate Felony for Felony Murder.
III. Whether the Trial Court Erred by Refusing Evidence That Angela Gray Had Previously Hit One of Her Other Children.
IV. Whether the Court Erred in Denying Defendant’s Motion to Sup press the Evidence Found in His Trailer.
V. Whether the Evidence Was Sufficient to Support a Guilty Verdict on the Sexual Assault Charge.
VI. Whether Sexual Assault Was Properly Used as a Predicate Felony for Felony Murder.
VII. Whether the Prosecutor Committed Misconduct by Referring to a Photograph That Was Not Admitted Into Evidence.
SENTENCING ISSUES
I. Whether the Death Penalty May Be Imposed When the Court Does Not Know Which Predicate Felony the Jury Used in Finding Felony Murder.
II. Whether the Enmund-Tison Finding Was Proper.
III. Whether the Aggravating Factors, Weighed Against the Proffered Mitigation, Support the Death Penalty.
DISCUSSION
I. Whether Defendant Was Properly Convicted of Child Abuse (Count Four).
A person is guilty of child abuse under A.R.S. § 13-3623(B) if, while having “care or custody of [a] child,” the person causes or permits the health of a child to be injured or causes or permits the child “to be placed in a situation where its person or health is endangered.” Defendant’s challenge to his conviction for child abuse revolves around the statutory words “care or custody” and particularly the word “care.” He claims that he did not have “care” of Rachel within the meaning of section 13-3623(B) and, therefore, could not be convicted of child abuse. See A.R.S. § 13-3623(B). On these grounds, defendant urged a Rule 20 motion for judgment of acquittal on Count Four, which the trial court denied.
A. The legal standard of “care” or “custody” in section 13-3623
Neither “care” nor “custody” is defined in A.R.S. § 13-3623. When a term is not defined in a statute, the court looks first to the statute’s language to determine the legislative intent, as the language is the “best and most reliable index of a statute’s meaning.” State v. Williams, 175 Ariz. 98, 100, 854 P.2d 131, 133 (1993) (quoting Janson v. Christensen, 167 Ariz. 470, 471, 808 P.2d 1222, 1223 (1991)). A statute is to be “construed according to the fair meaning of [its] terms to promote justice and effect the objects of the law.” A.R.S. § 13-104. If the language of the statute is plain, the court looks no further. Williams, 175 Ariz. at 100, 854 P.2d at 133. We assume that the legislature accords words their natural and obvious meanings unless otherwise stated. State v. Johnson, 171 Ariz. 39, 41, 827 P.2d 1134, 1136 (1992). A dictionary. may define a word’s natural and obvious meaning. State v. Bews, 177 Ariz. 334, 336, 868 P.2d 347, 349 (App. 1993).
“Care” is defined in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary as “charge, supervision, management: responsibility for or attention to safety and well-being.” The example given is “under a doctor’s care.” “Care” is also defined as “custody” or “temporary charge.” “Charge” is defined as “care, custody” and “management, supervision.” “Custody” is defined as “protection, care, maintenance, and tuition.” Webster’s New Int’l. Diet. (3d ed. 1976).' Therefore, both “custody” and “care,” as they relate to A.R.S. § 13-3623, imply accepting responsibility for a child in some manner.
Defendant urges us to adopt a definition of “care” that he asserts was adopted by the court of appeals in State v. Swanson, 184 Ariz. 194, 908 P.2d 8 (App. 1995). Although we agree with the result in Sivanson, we do not agree with all of its reasoning. In Swanson, defendant was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. Id. at 195, 908 P.2d at 9. Because he had two children as passengers, he was also convicted of two counts of negligent child abuse. Id.; A.R.S. § 13-3623(C). On appeal, the defendant argued that he should have been acquitted of the child abuse charges. The Swanson court agreed, finding that the defendant did not have “care” of the children within the meaning of the child abuse statute. Id. In doing so, the court of appeals first referred to a statutory definition of “custody” found in A.R.S. § 8-101(5):
“Custody” means a status embodying all of the following rights and responsibilities:
(a) The right to have the physical possession of the child.
(b) The right and the duty to protect, train and discipline the child.
(e) The responsibility to provide the child with food, shelter, education and ordinary medical care, and the authority to consent to surgery or other extraordinary medical care in an emergency.
A.R.S. § 8-101(5); see Swanson, 184 Ariz. at 195-96, 908 P.2d at 9-10. This definition of “custody” is taken from the article of the code relating to adoptions, and its application is expressly limited to that article. A.R.S. § 8-101. Nothing indicates that the legislature intended this definition to relate to the child abuse statute, and we can think of no reason why the legislature would intend any such connection. See A.R.S. § 8-101(5).
Having referred to the adoption code’s definition of “custody,” the court of appeals then went on in Swanson to hold that the defendant did not have “care” of his two passengers necessary to bring him within the child abuse statute. Swanson, 184 Ariz. at 196, 908 P.2d at 10. The court stated that the word “care” “implies more than the general duty of care owed to anyone who may be injured by one’s negligence.” Id. We agree with this finding in Swanson. The general duty of “care” in negligence cases, properly rejected by the Swanson court, has no application in a criminal case. Under A.R.S. § 13-3623, a defendant must, at the very least, be criminally negligent before he can be convicted, although one might incur civil liability under a lesser standard. Under the facts of Swanson, we have no quarrel with the result because no evidence proved that defendant took responsibility for either child in any manner; he only allowed the children to ride in his car. That may have been sufficient to impose tort liability, but was not sufficient to prove criminal liability under the child abuse statute.
The court of appeals recently referred to Swanson in upholding a defendant’s conviction for child abuse. State v. Billy Don Smith, 188 Ariz. 263, 935 P.2d 841 (App. 1996). We find Smith quite instructive. In Smith, the victim, Sedona, and her mother, Beth, had been living with the defendant in his van for about a month and a half before the victim died. Id. at 263-264, 935 P.2d at 841-42. During that time, the defendant treated Sedona like his daughter. Id. Beth stated, “He became very insistent that he bathe her and feed her and hold her and do everything regarding the parenthood of Se-dona.” Id. at 263, 935 P.2d at 841.
Sedona showed signs of illness about two days before she died. When Sedona stopped breathing, Beth told the defendant that they had to get her to a hospital. The defendant initially refused, claiming that he would be arrested for child abuse. Id. at 264, 935 P.2d at 842. However, he agreed after Beth threatened to scream out the window for help. Id. Nevertheless, the defendant drove around for quite awhile, making up excuses, before he actually arrived at the hospital, where he dropped them off and drove away. Id. at 264, 935 P.2d at 842. The defendant was convicted of felony murder and child abuse for failing to seek medical treatment. Id.
On appeal, the defendant argued that he should not have been convicted of child abuse because he did not have “care” or “custody” of Sedona. Id. at 265, 935 P.2d at 843. The court, however, found that he had care of Sedona because he “voluntarily assumed responsibility” for providing for the victim. Id. The court stated that whether the defendant had “care” of the child is a jury 'question. Id. The court found that the jury had sufficient evidence to find that the defendant had “care” of the child, stating, “The issue of whether appellant had assumed responsibility for Sedona’s care was simply a question of fact the jury found against appellant, and the record supports that finding.” Id.
Accordingly, because “care” and “custody” are common terms, this court will apply their usual meanings within the context of A.R.S. § 13-3628. “Care” and “custody,” in this context, require that the defendant accept responsibility for the child in some manner. Only when no substantial evidence exists to find that the defendant had “care” or “custody” of the child will a directed verdict of not guilty or a reversal of a conviction be appropriate.
B. Factual Basis for a Finding of “Care” in This Case
When a defendant claims that evidence is insufficient to support a verdict, the appellate court does not reweigh the evidence. State v. Guerra, 161 Ariz. 289, 293, 778 P.2d 1185, 1189 (1989). Rather, it must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the state and thereby ascertain whether substantial evidence exists to sustain the verdict. State v. Zmich, 160 Ariz. 108, 109, 770 P.2d 776, 777 (1989); State v. Barger, 167 Ariz. 563, 568, 810 P.2d 191, 196 (App.1990). A judgment of acquittal under Rule 20 is appropriate only when “no substantial evidence [exists] to warrant a conviction.” Ariz. R.Crim. P. 20(a). “Substantial evidence” is “evidence that would convince an unprejudiced thinking mind” about the truth of the fact for which the evidence is presented. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576,-597, 832 P.2d 593, 614 (1992). “If reasonable [persons] may fairly differ as to whether certain evidence establishes a fact in issue, then such evidence must be considered as substantial.” State v. Tison, 129 Ariz. 546, 553, 633 P.2d 355, 362 (1981) (citations omitted).
In this case, substantial evidence exists for a jury to find that defendant had “care” or “custody” of Rachel. He accepted responsibility for Rachel by his actions. Angela Gray and all three of her children moved into defendant’s trailer about three months before Rachel died. Defendant provided food and shelter for the family. He acted as a caregiver to all of Gray’s children and was, in essence, their stepfather, although not married to their mother. Rebecca, Gray’s eleven-year-old daughter, testified that she had to ask permission of her mother or defendant before she could go outside and play. On the day that Rachel’s injuries occurred, Rebecca had asked defendant’s permission twice to go outside: once to go to a friend’s house and once to ride her bike. Rebecca testified to the manner in which defendant disciplined — by sending the child to his or her room. Additionally, defendant told the children that they were not allowed to play in his van because he had tools and other things in it that might hurt them. Defendant clearly accepted responsibility for Rachel by taking her out alone with him on three separate occasions on the fateful day. He continued to assert responsibility over her by telling people who were concerned about her condition that he had taken her to the paramedics and they had pronounced her all right.
Having assumed responsibility for Rachel, it would be anomalous in the extreme to find that defendant’s responsibility for her ended when he deliberately inflicted the fatal injuries upon her. The jury received substantial evidence to find that defendant had care or custody of Rachel within the meaning of A.R.S. § 13-3623.
II. Whether Child Abuse (Count Four) Was Properly Used as a Predicate Felony for Felony Murder.
Our holding that the child abuse conviction is proper disposes of defendant’s argument that it cannot be used as a predicate felony for felony murder.
III. Whether the Trial Court Erred by Refusing Evidence That Angela Gray Had Previously Hit One of Her Other Children.
We review a trial court’s decision regarding admissibility of evidence only for clear abuse of discretion. State v. King, 180 Ariz. 268, 275, 883 P.2d 1024, 1031 (1994); see also State v. Williams, 132 Ariz. 153, 157, 644 P.2d 889, 893 (1982). Defendant offered evidence that Angela Gray had spanked her older daughter, Rebecca, “hard,” and that the spankings stopped when Gray and her children moved in with defendant. The trial court refused to admit the proffered evidence. Defendant argues that the evidence should have been admitted under Rule 404(b) of the Arizona Rules of Evidence to show that Gray was the likely perpetrator of Rachel’s beating and that defendant had “nonviolent” tendencies.
Evidence of other acts is not admissible to prove a person’s character to show that the person acted in conformity with the prior acts. Ariz.R.Evid. 404(b). The evidence may be admissible for other purposes, however, such as to show “motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident.” Id.
Before a defendant may produce evidence that someone else may have committed the crime, “the defendant must show that the evidence has an inherent tendency to connect such other person with the actual commission of the crime. Vague grounds of suspicion are not sufficient.” State v. Fulminante, 161 Ariz. 237, 252, 778 P.2d 602, 617 (1988), aff'd, 499 U.S. 279, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991).
Defendant offered evidence of a “hard spanking” by Gray of Rachel’s older sister, which allegedly occurred more than ninety days before Rachel’s murder. In our view, the evidence does not have an inherent tendency to connect Gray to the commission of the sexual abuse and murder of Rachel. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in precluding the introduction of the evidence.
IV. Whether the Trial Court Erred in Denying Defendant’s Motion to Suppress the Evidence Found in His Trailer.
Defendant moved to suppress evidence found in his trailer during the execution of a search warrant. He argues that an earlier illegal warrantless entry disclosed evidence that was later used, in part, to obtain the search warrant. The state contends the earlier warrantless entry was justified as a welfare check on the other children known to live at the trailer.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. Similarly, the Arizona Constitution provides that “[n]o person shall be disturbed in his private affairs, or his home invaded, without authority of law.” Ariz. Const, art. II, § 8. To fulfill these constitutional requirements, courts usually require the government to obtain a search warrant before it can search a person’s home. However, courts have also created exceptions to the requirement of a warrant under certain circumstances. One of those exceptions is the “emergency aid” exception, which permits police to enter a home without a warrant “in the reasonable, good-faith belief that there is someone within in need of immediate aid or assistance.” See State v. Fisher, 141 Ariz. 227, 240, 686 P.2d 750, 763 (1984), and numerous federal and state authorities cited therein. The “emergency aid” exception focuses on public welfare or safety, and it may be invoked without regard to whether the police have probable cause to obtain a warrant. Id. The reasonableness of a police officer’s entry under the “emergency aid” exception is a question of fact for the trial court. Id. at 238, 686 P.2d at 761. We will not disturb the trial court’s ruling on appeal absent clear and manifest error. State v. Stanley, 167 Ariz. 519, 523, 809 P.2d 944, 948 (1991).
In Fisher, this court set forth three factors for appellate courts to use in evaluating when a warrantless entry is justified under the “emergency aid” exception: (1) whether police have reasonable grounds to believe that an emergency exists and that someone needs assistance for the protection of life and property; (2) whether the search is primarily motivated by intent to arrest or to seize evidence; and (3) whether there is a reasonable basis to associate the emergency with the place to be searched. 141 Ariz. at 237-38, 686 P.2d at 760-61. We examine each of these factors.
A. Reasonable grounds to believe an emergency exists
The record supports the trial court’s finding that the police had a justifiable concern about the welfare of the other children. An officer observed the condition of Rachel’s body at the hospital. He discussed the case with hospital staff. Angela Gray’s explanation about what happened to Rachel did not comport with Rachel’s injúries. The officer knew that defendant had left the hospital to check on the other three children and had not returned. He then contacted a police sergeant and advised her that Rachel’s death was suspicious and that officers should go to the trailer to check on the welfare of the other children and preserve any scene that might be at the trailer. When officers arrived at the trailer, no vehicle was found. The officers knocked on the door; no one answered. The door was unlocked, so the officers entered the trailer to search for the children. During that time, they saw, but did not seize, a bloody towel on the couch. They were in the trailer for about ninety seconds, just long enough to determine that the children were not present.
B. Primary motivation for the search
The United States Supreme Court has held that a warrantless search must be “strictly circumscribed by the exigencies which justify its initiation.” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 25-26, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1882, 20 L.Ed.2d 889 (1968). If the police actions exceed those necessary to meet the exigencies, “assertions that they were motivated by the exigencies alone must be strictly scrutinized.” Fisher, 141 Ariz. at 239, 686 P.2d at 762.
The officers stayed in the trailer for approximately ninety seconds, only long enough to look for the children. They saw a bloody towel on the couch but did not disturb it or search for other evidence. Instead, they secured the trailer and waited for sheriffs officers to take other action. See id. (holding warrantless entry under the circumstances to be reasonable when police were inside for no more than two minutes). The evidence confirms that the officers’ primary motivation in entering the trailer was to protect the welfare of the children.
C. Reasonable basis to associate the emergency with the place to be searched
The officers had reasonable grounds to associate the emergency with defendant’s trailer. Angela Gray told the officer that defendant had returned to the trailer to check on the welfare of the other children. This, combined with the fact that she told them a suspicious story, gave the officers reasonable grounds to check the trailer to ensure the safety of the other children.
Because the officers’ warrantless entry was justified under the “emergency aid” exception, the entry was lawful. Therefore, the information concerning the bloody towel that the officers saw in plain view upon searching the trailer was permissibly used, along with other evidence, to obtain a search warrant. Because we conclude that the original warrantless entry was proper, we do not reach the state’s alternative argument that the evidence later seized pursuant to the search warrant was also admissible under the independent source doctrine.
V. Whether the Evidence at Trial Was Sufficient to Sustain a Guilty Verdict on the Sexual Assault Charge.
Defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction for sexual assault. Sexual assault is defined as “intentionally or knowingly engaging in sexual intercourse ... with any person without consent of such person.” A.R.S. § 13-1406(A). Sexual intercourse is “penetration into the ... vulva ... by any part of the body or by any object.” A.R.S. § 13-1401(3). Defendant concedes that “it was obvious the child had been assaulted.” However, he claims there was insufficient evidence to connect him to the crime.
Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the state, substantial evidence supports defendant’s conviction for sexual assault. See Atwood, 171 Ariz. at 596-97, 832 P.2d at 613-14; Zmich, 160 Ariz. at 109, 770 P.2d at 777; State v. Blevins, 128 Ariz. 64, 623 P.2d 853 (App.1981) (holding that evidence may be either direct or circumstantial, and the probative value of the evidence is not reduced simply because it is circumstantial). Defendant concedes, and the evidence supports, that Rachel was sexually assaulted. The medical examiner testified regarding the extent of injuries to Rachel’s genitalia. The labia, or outside genitalia, were bruised and scraped, and the opening of her vagina was torn about one half inch in length and about three-sixteenths of an inch in depth. The examiner testified that her vaginal injuries were consistent with penetration or attempted penetration and that the injury to her vaginal opening indicated penetration through the vulva. Additionally, the location of her injuries with no associated injuries on her thighs or buttocks is consistent with a nonaccidental injury. Rachel also had many defensive wounds, indicating that she had attempted to protect herself. The defensive wounds included injuries to both of her hands, her fingers, her forearms, her knees, and her right leg.
Evidence supports the conclusion that virtually all of Rachel’s injuries occurred within a two-hour period. Rachel’s sister, Rebecca, testified that Rachel spent the morning with her and their brother watching cartoons. Rachel “seemed fine” when her siblings went out to ride their bikes, about 3:00 p.m. Additionally, Rachel “seemed fine” after the first two times that she returned with defendant. Rachel first accompanied defendant to the market. Rebecca saw Rachel standing at the door when they returned, and she seemed fine. The second time defendant returned with Rachel, Rebecca again saw her standing at the door, and Rachel appeared to be fine. If Rachel had already suffered genital injuries, she would have been in pain. The examiner testified at the aggravation/mitigation hearing that the genital injuries would have caused pain at basically all times. The thud time that defendant went out with Rachel, he told Rebecca that he was going to his brother’s house. However, his brother’s wife testified that defendant never visited their house on that day. During defendant’s third trip with Rachel, two children saw defendant hitting Rachel while he drove. One of the children placed the time at 5:00 p.m. Blood spatter in the van likely was created by defendant hitting Rachel after she had already suffered a head injury. Additionally, blood spatter consistent with Rachel’s blood type was found on defendant’s jeans, along with traces of blood on defendant’s shirt and-boots. The next time that Rebecca saw Rachel, at about 6:30 p.m., Rachel was in a lot of pain. Many of the injuries that Rachel now had were consistent with defense against a sexual assault. Thus, substantial evidence was introduced to conclude that Rachel’s physical assault and sexual assault all occurred within the two-hour time period during which she was alone with defendant in his van.
The evidence of the time period of Rachel’s injuries, the testimony that defendant was seen hitting her, the fact that Rachel was fine before she went out with defendant the third time and was injured when she returned, and the fact that defendant told others that he had taken Rachel to see the paramedics when he had not, support the finding that defendant committed the sexual assault along with, and as part of, the overall physical assault. Consequently, we find that sufficient evidence exists to sustain defendant’s sexual assault conviction.
VI. Whether Sexual Assault Was Properly Used as a Predicate for Felony Murder.
Defendant argues that sexual assault is not a valid predicate for felony murder in this case for two reasons. First, he claims the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction for sexual assault. We have, however, concluded otherwise. Second, he contends that the evidence will not support a finding that the death occurred in furtherance of the crime of sexual assault or in immediate flight therefrom. We first note that this contention is somewhat academic because defendant was also convicted of inflicting the precise injury (Count II) (the blow to the abdomen that ruptured the intestine) that unquestionably was the direct cause of death. Based on the record, therefore, it is likely that the felony murder finding on that count was unanimous. However, we also find that defendant caused the death in furtherance of the sexual assault.
A death is in furtherance of an underlying felony if the death resulted from an action taken to facilitate accomplishment of the felony. State v. Hallman, 137 Ariz. 31, 38, 668 P.2d 874, 881 (1983); State v. Arias, 131 Ariz. 441, 443, 641 P.2d 1285, 1287 (1982). Substantial evidence exists to find that Rachel’s death occurred in furtherance of the sexual assault. All of Rachel’s defensive wounds occurred during the same short time period as Rachel’s genital injuries. The wounds to her knees were consistent with the tendency to lift one’s knees when one is on the ground and trying to protect oneself. The injury that caused Rachel’s death, the laceration of the small intestine, also occurred during the same time period. As discussed above, Rachel was alone with defendant in his van during the relevant time period. Defendant was seen hitting Rachel while driving his van, and she was crying. Rachel was not injured before she went with defendant the third time but was hurt when she returned. Substantial evidence exists that defendant committed both the physical assault and the sexual assault during the same time period. Therefore, we find substantial evidence to support defendant’s conviction.
Defendant argues that it is illogical to assume that a man would have to beat a small four-year-old girl to sexually assault her. We say that it is equally illogical to assume that a grown man would have to beat a twenty-eight pound girl for any reason. Yet Rachel was severely beaten by defendant, and the defensive wounds on her body show that she was trying to protect herself, even though her attempts proved futile. Rachel’s death could legitimately be found to be the natural and proximate result of defendant’s acts in facilitating the sexual assault. See State v. Lopez, 173 Ariz. 552, 555, 845 P.2d 478, 481 (App. 1992). Therefore, we hold that the sexual assault is a valid predicate felony for the felony murder conviction.
VII. Whether the Prosecutor Committed Misconduct by Referring to a Photograph That Was Not Admitted Into Evidence.
Although defendant made no objection at trial, on appeal he contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct by allowing the medical examiner to testify regarding a picture that was not admitted into evidence. During the examiner’s testimony, the prosecutor asked that two autopsy photos showing Rachel’s external genitalia be admitted. (Exhibits 136 an'd 137.) Defendant objected to their admission on grounds of gruesomeness. In response, the trial court addressed the prosecutor as follows: “It seems to me you can get by explaining there was some blood, though not set out there. I am going to suggest that you use that one instead of that one, but not both.” The prosecutor then used Exhibit 136, which was admitted, and asked the examiner to describe the difference between Exhibit 136 and Exhibit 137.
The examiner explained that the injuries and the blood and fluid from the injuries were visible in Exhibit 137 and that Exhibit 136 was taken after the blood and fluid had been cleaned away. He stated that he used the presence of the pooled blood, the appearance of the injury, and microscopic examination of tissue samples to estimate the time of the injury.
Defendant did not object to the questioning of the examiner in this fashion, nor did he assert any claim of prosecutorial misconduct in the trial court. Failure to object at the time of trial waives the claim on appeal, absent fundamental error. State v. West, 176 Ariz. 432, 445, 862 P.2d 192, 205 (1993) (citing Ariz. R.Crim. P. 21.3). We have held that error is fundamental only when it is “clear, egregious, and curable only via a new trial.” State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 155, 812 P.2d 626, 628 (1991). The prosecutor’s questioning of the medical examiner, which contained a reference to the unadmitted Exhibit' 137, did not approach fundamental error.
SENTENCING ISSUES
I. Whether the Death Penalty May Be Imposed When the Court Does Not Know Which Predicate Felony the Jury Used in Finding Felony Murder.
We have resolved part of this issue by determining that sufficient evidence exists to sustain defendant’s convictions on the challenged predicate felonies. Further, we have previously rejected defendant’s contention that a unanimous verdict on the theory of felony murder is required. See State v. Lopez, 163 Ariz. 108, 111, 786 P.2d 959, 962 (1990).
II. Whether the Enmund-Tison Finding Was Proper.
A person convicted of felony murder is only eligible for a death sentence if he killed, attempted to kill, or intended that a killing take place, Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782, 797, 102 S.Ct. 3368, 3376, 73 L.Ed.2d 1140 (1982), or was a major participant in the felony and acted with reckless disregard for human life. Tison v. Arizona, 481 U.S. 137,157-58, 107 S.Ct. 1676, 1688, 95 L.Ed.2d 127 (1987). Defendant alleges that Angela Gray had a higher duty of care to Rachel than defendant and, therefore, she was responsible for Rachel’s death by not taking Rachel to the hospital. Based on this assertion, he argues he is not responsible for Rachel’s death, and, therefore, the Enmund-Tison finding must fall. Nothing in law or logic supports the proposition that only one person can bear responsibility for a child’s death. Indeed, in this case, the mother was also charged with murder and child abuse, and her trial was severed from defendant’s. We emphatically reject defendant’s suggestion that a parent’s guilt exonerates a non-parent, much as did the court of appeals in Smith. See State v. Billy Don Smith, 188 Ariz. 263, 935 P.2d 841 (App.1996).
In State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 896 P.2d 830 (1995), we held that, based on the jury instructions, the jurors had found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant killed the victim. Id. at 315, 896 P.2d at 855. That finding satisfied Enmund. Id. Similarly, in this case, the jury’s verdict on Count II (direct physical injury to Rachel) and Count V (felony murder) required a finding beyond a reasonable doubt that defendant killed Rachel. The medical examiner testified that Rachel’s death was caused by peritonitis after the rupture of her small intestine was left untreated. The jury convicted defendant of causing the rupture of Rachel’s small intestine, the specific injury that led to her death (Count II). This supports a death eligible finding under Enmund. In addition, defendant is also clearly death eligible under Ti-son, as he was not only a major participant in the underlying felonies, but was the sole participant in the assault of Rachel, and he obviously acted with reckless disregard toward human life.
III. Whether the Aggravating Factors, Weighed Against the Mitigating Factors, Support Imposing the Death Penalty.
This court independently determines whether aggravating or mitigating circumstances exist and reweighs them to determine if a death sentence is appropriate. A.R.S. § 13-703.01.
A. Aggravating factors
Defendant’s death sentence was based upon two aggravating factors: especially cruel, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6), and victim under the age of fifteen, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(9).
1. Especially cruel, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6)
The trial court found the murder was especially cruel within the meaning of A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6). A murder is especially cruel when the murderer inflicts mental or physical pain upon a conscious victim before death. State v. Greenway, 170 Ariz. 155, 165, 823 P.2d 22, 32 (1991). When the suffering is experienced after the infliction of a fatal wound, that suffering must have been “objectively foreseeable” to support a finding of cruelty. Bolton, 182 Ariz. at 311, 896 P.2d at 851. The defendant’s subjective intent to cause suffering is irrelevant. Id. at 312, 896 P.2d at 852.
Here, the evidence establishes that Rachel suffered from physical pain for many hours after she was assaulted. She was crying and vomiting and had bruises on her face, fingers, and hands. The emergency room physician testified that the blow to Rachel’s bowel would have caused great pain initially and would have continued to cause pain to a lesser extent thereafter. Rachel also experienced pain from her genital injuries. The defensive wounds on her body show that she was conscious during her beating. See State v. (George Molina) Lopez, 174 Ariz. 131, 143-44, 847 P.2d 1078, 1090-91 (1992) (finding cruelty when a one-year-old victim died of blunt-force trauma to the head, abdomen, and chest; doctor testified that the victim must have suffered for about 45 minutes from the injuries).
Defendant knew how severely he had beaten Rachel. Her body showed signs of being struck dozens of times by fists, elbows, and perhaps blunt instruments. Rachel was physically sick for the rest of the evening. Additionally, defendant told others that he had taken Rachel to the paramedics even though he had not, which may have prevented others from seeking medical help for her. He deliberately extended her suffering by not taking her to the hospital and by misleading others who might have. It is beyond question that Rachel suffered especial cruelty within the meaning of section 13-703(F)(6) during her terrifying last day of life.
2. Victim under the age of fifteen, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(9)
The trial court found the aggravating factor of A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(9), which applies when the defendant is an adult and the victim is a person under the age of fifteen. Defendant was an adult and Rachel was four years old. The (F)(9) factor is satisfied.
B. Mitigating Factors
The defendant must establish mitigating factors by a preponderance of the evidence. State v. McMurtrey, 143 Ariz. 71, 73, 691 P.2d 1099, 1101 (1984). Defendant presented evidence attempting to prove that drug abuse, a dysfunctional family, and Angela Gray’s responsibility to care for her daughter were mitigating factors. We will discuss each of these factors.
1. Drug addiction and intoxication
Defendant argues that he produced sufficient evidence of drug addiction and intoxication for the court to find a mitigating circumstance. Voluntary intoxication may be a mitigating factor if the defendant proves by a preponderance of the evidence that his “capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was significantly impaired, but not so impaired as to constitute a defense to prosecution.” A.R.S. § 13-703(G)(1); see also State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 520, 898 P.2d 454, 469 (1995), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 787, 133 L.Ed.2d 737 (1996). However, “[n]ot being able to ‘think clearly in reality’ ... is not coextensive with not having the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of one’s conduct.” State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 651, 832 P.2d 593, 668 (1992).
An expert testified that defendant began using drugs when he was a teen and was a heavy user of methamphetamine at the time of the murder. The evidence of defendant’s drug use at the time of the murder was self-reported; however, expert testimony corroborated defendant’s testimony. The defense expert stated that methamphetamine users tend to stay awake for several days and then “crash” for several days at a time. Additionally, defendant’s sister-in-law and girlfriend testified that defendant consumed methamphetamine on Saturday, the day before the incident. However, no testimony establishes, either because of his use of drugs or because he was coming down off of the drugs, that defendant could not appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or conform his conduct to the law. All of the people who testified for defendant claimed that they had never seen defendant hurt anyone, when he was on or off of drugs. The trial court properly concluded that not enough evidence had been produced to show that defendant was impaired by methamphetamine use to constitute statutory or non-statutory mitigation.
2. Dysfunctional Family
A dysfunctional family is a mitigating circumstance only if the defendant “can show that something in [his] background had an effect or impact on his behavior that was beyond his control.” Bolton, 182 Ariz. at 314, 896 P.2d at 854. Defendant’s mother testified at the aggravation-mitigation hearing regarding his childhood, including the fact that she taught him right from wrong. Although defendant did not have a perfect childhood, no evidence exists of a dysfunctional childhood that would affect his reasoning and conduct at the time of this incident.
3. Responsibility of Rachel’s mother
Defendant argues that the court should have found a non-statutory mitigating factor to be that Angela Gray was largely responsible for Rachel’s suffering. Defendant claims that Gray’s lack of action by not taking her child to the hospital should be considered an intervening factor, so that defendant should not be solely responsible for Rachel’s death. We have previously discussed this argument in our Enmund-Tison discussion. See Sentencing Issues, Pt. II.
The trial court did not specifically address Gray’s involvement as a non-statutory mitigating circumstance. However, the trial court indicated that it had considered all of the mitigating evidence presented by defendant and found it insufficient to call for leniency.
Defendant’s attempt to transfer responsibility for Rachel’s death to Gray is meritless. Defendant was with Rachel the balance of the evening after he inflicted the assault upon her. He knew better than anyone else the suffering she was experiencing. He told people, in Gray’s presence, that he had taken Rachel to see the paramedics and that they had said she was fine. Not only did he not take Rachel to the hospital when he knew how much she was suffering, he also effectively dissuaded others from taking her to the hospital by telling them that he had taken her to the paramedics. Even though Rachel was not his biological child, he had a duty to take her to the hospital after he inflicted the injuries upon her.
CONCLUSION
Two aggravating factors support the death penalty: A.R.S. § 13 — 703(F)(6) (especially cruel), and A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(9) (victim under the age of fifteen years). No statutory or nonstatutory mitigating factors have been established by a preponderance of the evidence.
The convictions and sentences are affirmed.
ZLAKET, C.J., JONES, V.C.J., and FELDMAN and MARTONE, JJ., concur.
. Under A.R.S. § 13-3623, the class of felony is determined by the mental state of the defendant. If the defendant acted intentionally or knowingly, the offense is a class 4 felony; if the defendant acted recklessly, the offense is a class 5 felony; and if the defendant acted with criminal negligence, the offense is a class 6 felony. A.R.S. § 13-3623(C). The statute does not apply to actions committed with ordinary negligence. Defendant was convicted of a class 4 felony.
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WEISBERG, Judge.
Richard Lewis Jones (“defendant”) appeals (i) his convictions and sentences for eight counts of sexual assault, a class 2 felony and dangerous crime against children, and (ii) the revocation of his probation following a conviction on one count of endangerment, a class 6 felony. For the following reasons, we affirm six of defendant’s convictions, reverse two of his convictions, and affirm his probation revocation with one modification.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Cause No. CR 92-08919
Defendant sexually abused his eldest daughter, CJ, at various times over a ten-year period. CJ was 14 years old when defendant last assaulted her. On October 20, 1992, approximately two weeks after the last assault, CJ, her 13-year-old brother RJ, and her 11-year-old sister SJ reported the abuse to local police.
CJ provided police with details of defendant’s assaults, all of which included acts of oral sex as well as penile penetration of CJ’s vagina and/or anus. The police investigation led to an indictment charging defendant with eight counts of sexual assault.
In February 1993, shortly after the jury selection process began, CJ, RJ and SJ told the prosecutor that CJ’s allegations were false. They said that they had lied to punish defendant for having had an extra-marital relationship, and for the purpose of getting him out of the house.
The ease proceeded to trial in March 1993. When CJ, RJ, and SJ failed to appear on the first day of trial, despite a subpoena to do so, they were arrested pursuant to a civil arrest warrant. They were then placed in the Maricopa County juvenile detention center where they remained for approximately one week, until they finished testifying.
CJ testified that her original allegations were true, that defendant had in fact molested her, and that she and her siblings had lied in February to avoid testifying against defendant. RJ’s testimony was consistent with CJ’s, but SJ testified that the original allegations were false and the February story was true.
A jury convicted defendant on all charges. The court sentenced defendant to aggravated, consecutive 25-year prison terms on all eight counts. Defendant was credited with 223 days of presentence incarceration.
B. Cause No. CR 92-02303
In cause number CR 92-02303, defendant was charged with attempted flight from a law enforcement vehicle in violation of Ariz.Rev. Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 28-622.01, designated as a class 6 felony pursuant to Ariz. Rev.Stat. Ann. section 13-1001(0(5). Defendant entered a plea agreement on June 9, 1992, in which he pled guilty to felony endangerment under A.R.S. section 13-1201, a class 6 felony. He received a term of probation. Immediately after sentencing in cause number CR 92-08919, however, the court revoked his probation because of those convictions. The court imposed a 1.5-year sentence on the endangerment charge to be served consecutively to the sentences imposed in CR-92-08919. Defendant was credited with 365 days of presentenee incarceration.
Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal in both cases. This court consolidated defendant’s appeals by an order dated October 22, 1993. We have jurisdiction to adjudicate the appeal. Ariz. Const, art. VI, § 9; A.R.S. §§ 12-120.21(A)(1), 13-4031,13^033(1).
ISSUES PRESENTED
We address the following issues:
A. Whether defendant’s convictions are supported by substantial evidence;
B. Whether the trial court properly admitted evidence of defendant’s prior bad acts;
C. Whether the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion for a new trial based on the prosecutor’s unsupported statement, in closing argument, that defendant’s wife “wouldn’t put it past her husband to do those things to his daughter”;
D. Whether the trial court properly permitted CJ’s examining physician to testify that CJ told him defendant had sex with her;
E. Whether the trial court properly admitted the contents of a note written by C J to her examining physician during the course of her treatment.
F. Whether the trial court properly permitted a police officer to testify as to the dates of the assaults based on information provided by CJ and recorded in a police report;
G. Whether the mandatory and consecutive sentencing provisions set forth at A.R.S. sections 13-604 and 13-604.01 violate the separation of powers doctrine embodied in Article 3 of the Arizona Constitution; and
H. Whether defendant’s eight consecutive 25-year sentences offend the Arizona and federal constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.
I. Whether the detention during trial of C J, R J, and S J denied defendant a fair trial.
J. Whether the trial court erred in naming the underlying offense in revoking defendant’s probation in cause no. CR 92-02303.
DISCUSSION
A.
We begin with an issue not raised by defendant. Our review of the record reveals that there was insufficient evidence to support two of defendant’s eight convictions. Insufficiency of the evidence is fundamental error. State v. Jannamon, 169 Ariz. 435, 439-0, 819 P.2d 1021, 1025-26 (App.1991).
The indictment charged defendant with the following counts of sexual assault against CJ: I, oral contact; II, intercourse; III, oral contact; IV, oral contact; V, oral contact; VI, oral contact; VII, intercourse; and VIII, intercourse; totalling five counts of oral contact and three counts of intercourse. The jury found defendant guilty of each count, specifying the nature of the sexual assault on the verdict form.
CJ, however, testified to only seven assaults: three acts of oral contact and four counts of intercourse. There was no evi dence of an eighth assault from any source. We therefore conclude that one of defendant’s convictions for oral contact must be reversed for insufficient evidence.
Additionally, one of defendant’s convictions for sexual assault by oral contact was supported only by evidence of sexual intercourse, rather than oral contact. We therefore conclude that another of defendant’s convictions for oral contact must be reversed for insufficient evidence.
The oral contact counts in the indictment were alleged to have occurred in the following time periods: Count I, on or about October 1992; Counts III and IV, between March and June 1992; and Counts V and VI, on or about July 1992. Count I is supported by CJ’s testimony that an act of fellatio occurred in September or October 1992. Count III is supported by CJ’s testimony that an act of fellatio occurred between March and June 1992. Count V is supported by CJ’s testimony that a second act of fellatio occurred in September or October 1992. Thus, the counts not supported by the evidence are Counts IV and VI.
B.
Although the eight sexual assaults charged in the indictment took place in 1992, the state moved in limine to admit evidence that defendant had committed sexual assaults against CJ from the time she was five years old. The state grounded its motion in Rule 404(b) of the Arizona Rules of Evidence (the “Rules”), asserting that the evidence showed a common plan, scheme or design, opportunity, preparation, identity, corroboration or continuing course of conduct, or was necessary to complete the story. The trial court ruled that the evidence was admissible under Rule 404(b) to “complete the story” and to show absence of mistake or accident, motive or opportunity. The trial court also determined that the probative value of the evidence outweighed its prejudicial value.
Defendant argues that the prior acts were admitted solely to show his propensity to commit the crimes charged; that such evidence was inadmissible in the absence of foundational medical expert testimony under State v. Treadaway, 116 Ariz. 163, 568 P.2d 1061 (1977); that the prejudicial impact of the evidence outweighed its probative value; and that admission of the evidence was reversible error.
We need not, however, reach the issue of whether the prior acts were admissible under the enumerated exceptions set forth in Rule 404(b), because we reject defendant’s argument on the basis of State v. Garner, 116 Ariz. 443, 447, 569 P.2d 1341, 1345 (1977). In Gamer, our Supreme Court held that “[i]n a case involving a sex offense committed against a child, evidence of a prior similar sex offense committed against the same child is admissible to show the defendant’s lewd disposition or unnatural attitude toward the particular victim.” (Emphasis added.) The state, therefore, did not need to rely on an exception to Rule 404(b) since this particular type of evidence is admissible to show propensity. Id.; State v. Rojas, 177 Ariz. 454, 460, 868 P.2d 1037, 1043 (App.1993).
Moreover, a Treadaway hearing is unnecessary where, as here, the prior bad acts are similar in nature and involve the same victim. “Expert testimony is not needed, and remoteness is not an issue ... when similar molestations occur incessantly over a long period of time against the same victim.” Rojas, 177 Ariz. at 460, 868 P.2d at 1043. Here, defendant’s assaults followed the same pattern over a course of several years, and CJ was his only victim. The case on which defendant relies, State v. Hopkins, 177 Ariz. 161, 866 P.2d 143 (App.1993), is inapposite because it involved evidence of defendant’s prior sexual molestation of family members other than the victim. Accordingly, the trial court did not err by admitting evidence of defendant’s prior sexual acts against CJ.
C.
Defendant’s wife, ChJ, testified for the state as a hostile witness. The prosecutor unsuccessfully attempted to have ChJ acknowledge statements she had made during an October 1992 interview with Detective Eric Stall. At trial, ChJ consistently responded that she did not remember making those statements attributed to her by the prosecutor.
When Detective Stall testified, the prosecutor asked him, “Did you ask [ChJ] whether or not she thought that her husband was capable of doing this, meaning sexually assaulting [CJ]?” Stall responded, “Yes.” There is no evidence in the record, however, as to ChJ’s actual response to this interview question.
Nonetheless, during closing argument the prosecutor made the following remarks:
And even mom says to Detective Stall, it is not within her daughter’s nature to lie. And then she also says something else. She wouldn’t put it past her husband to do those things to her daughter.
Defendant objected, arguing that there was no evidence in the record to support the prosecutor’s statement. The court stated, “We will let the jury rely on their own recollections of that.” The court denied defendant’s contemporaneous oral motion for a mistrial and subsequent written motion for a new trial. Defendant argues that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing to grant a mistrial or new trial. We disagree.
The remark was clearly improper because it was based on facts that were not in evidence. Such a remark requires a new trial if it was probable that the remark affected the verdict, thus denying the defendant a fair trial. State v. Hansen, 156 Ariz. 291, 297, 751 P.2d 951, 957 (1988). In reviewing a trial court’s decision on this issue, we apply an abuse of discretion standard. Id. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.
The statement was not as damaging as defendant suggests. It was a purported expression by ChJ of her opinion as to defendant’s character, and a somewhat vague opinion at that. The comment did not imply that ChJ had actually observed defendant committing any untoward act with C J.
Moreover, we reject defendant’s argument that the comment unfairly bolstered CJ’s credibility. The jury observed CJ give extensive testimony that provided a great deal of direct evidence against defendant. It is unlikely that the jurors’ assessment of her truthfulness was affected by a triple-hearsay reiteration of a comment by ChJ that went indirectly to CJ’s credibility.
Furthermore, in response to defendant’s objection, the trial court immediately instructed the jurors to rely on their own recollection as to whether Detective Stall had reiterated ChJ’s statement to him during his trial testimony. In addition, the court instructed the jury, both before and after the trial, to “decide the facts only from the evidence produced in court,” and that statements by the attorneys are not evidence. Under these circumstances, we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that the improper remark did not affect the verdict.
D.
Dr. Parabodh Hemmady examined CJ two weeks after she reported the incident to police. Dr. Hemmady testified as to CJ’s statements to him during the examination, pursuant to the Rule 803(4) hearsay exception. Defendant argues that CJ’s statements identifying defendant as the perpetrator of the sexual assaults were inadmissible under Rule 803(4) because they were not necessary for CJ’s medical diagnosis or treatment.
We need not address the merits of defendant’s argument, however, because admission of the evidence, even if improper, was palpably harmless. CJ’s testimony was unequivocal in identifying defendant as the perpetrator of the alleged sexual assaults. Thus, Dr. Hemmady’s testimony was merely cumulative. In fact, the cumulative nature of this testimony was one of the grounds for defendant’s objection:
[It] seems to me there’s some sort of rule about evidence regarding cumulative matters and sort of judicial economy. And I think at some point we are going to — the jury just keeps hearing over and over again the same allegations made by [CJ]; what she’s already testified to under oath anyway.
The identity of the perpetrator was not at issue here. Defendant took the position that the alleged sex acts never occurred. He did not posit that the acts may have occurred but were perpetrated by some other person. If the jury believed that CJ was sexually assaulted, they clearly would have concluded that defendant was the perpetrator, regardless of Dr. Hemmady’s testimony. We therefore conclude that the admission of Dr. Hemmady’s testimony regarding CJ’s identification of defendant had no impact on the verdict.
We also note that the case on which defendant relies, State v. Thompson, 146 Ariz. 552, 707 P.2d 956 (App.1985), is distinguishable. Thompson involved a defendant whose child abuse victim had died. The treating physician in that case testified that the deceased victim’s sister, while in the hospital waiting room on another occasion, told a third party that the appellant had hit the victim. Id. at 558, 707 P.2d at 962. None of the witnesses in Thompson saw the appellant inflicting the fatal injury, there was no direct evidence of the crime and, obviously, there was no testimony by the victim. Thus, the Thompson facts are quite unlike those in the instant case.
E.
Dr. Hemmady also testified that, during the medical examination, CJ was reluctant to talk about the details of the sexual assaults and that CJ therefore wrote, rather than spoke, her response to the question, “Can you tell us what happened to you?” The prosecutor had Dr. Hemmady read the contents of that writing into evidence. Defendant objected, arguing lack of foundation or authentication. On appeal, he assigns error to the court’s denial of the motion on that basis and further argues that the information in the note was inadmissible hearsay because it was not pertinent to the medical examination. We disagree with both arguments.
Rule 803(4) provides a hearsay exception for “[statements made for purposes of medical diagnosis or treatment and describing medical history, or past or present symptoms, pain, or sensations, or the inception or general character of the cause or external source thereof insofar as reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment.” The note provided CJ’s physician with information describing the inception and general character of the circumstances that required medical attention. Moreover, Dr. Hemmady indicated that the questions asked of CJ were routine in sex abuse cases. The contents of the note, therefore, were reasonably pertinent to diagnosis or treatment and were admissible under Rule 803(4). See United States v. Renville, 779 F.2d 430, 435-39 (8th Cir.1985).
Furthermore, Dr. Hemmady’s testimony was adequate for purposes of establishing foundation and authentication of the note. He was present when CJ wrote the note, and he read it immediately after she wrote it. He identified the document read in court as a duplicate of the note that CJ wrote. This is typical “testimony of [a] witness with knowledge,” as contemplated by Rule 901(b)(1). State v. Maximo, 170 Ariz. 94, 97, 821 P.2d 1379, 1382 (App.1991).
In any event, even if the court’s ruling were erroneous, it was harmless. CJ had already testified in great detail as to the information that was in the note, which was therefore merely cumulative.
F.
Although CJ testified to the details of the sexual assaults charged in the indictment, her testimony was vague as to dates of the assaults corresponding to Counts III through VIII. She testified to three assaults occurring in September or October, two additional assaults in September, one assault in May, and one assault sometime between March and June, all in 1992. She testified that it was difficult for her to establish time frames because the assaults occurred on such a regular and frequent basis. When Officer Lynn Parkin interviewed CJ on October 21, 1992, CJ told her that assaults had occurred one week prior to the interview, in July, and between the time of her birthday in March and the beginning of summer vacation in June.
CJ testified before the state called any of the police witnesses to testify. Defendant objected when the prosecutor elicited Officer Parkin’s testimony regarding the dates of the crimes as established during the October 21, 1992 interview with CJ. The trial court, however, ruled that the testimony was admissible under Rule 801(d)(1)(B) to rebut a charge of recent fabrication. Defendant now argues that the trial court erred by admitting Officer Parkin’s testimony on this issue. As we explain below, we conclude that the trial court did, in fact, err by admitting Officer Parkin’s testimony insofar as it provided dates for the assaults, but further conclude that the error was not reversible because defendant suffered no prejudice.
Rule 801(d)(1)(B) provides that a prior statement of a witness is not hearsay if it is consistent with her trial testimony and is “offered to rebut an express or implied charge against the declarant of recent fabrication or improper influence or motive.” To be admissible under this rule, the statement must have been made before the purported motive to fabricate arose. See, e.g., State v. Martin, 135 Ariz. 552, 553-54, 663 P.2d 236, 237-38 (1983). If the statement meets these requirements, it is admitted substantively, and not just to buttress the witness’ credibility. Id. at 553, 663 P.2d at 237.
We first note that the trial court properly admitted, pursuant to Rule 801(d)(1)(B), Officer Parkin’s testimony about CJ’s statements reporting that defendant had sexually assaulted her and describing the assaults. At trial, defendant expressly adopted the position that CJ’s February recantation was truthful, and that her trial testimony was false. In cross-examining CJ earlier in the day, defendant attempted to develop the theory that CJ was fabricating her trial testimony in order to get out of a juvenile detention facility:
Q: Okay. Last Friday [at trial], before you told that on Friday, did you tell her or anyone else who works with her that the story you told in February was not true?
A: No.
Q: So it was only after you’d been in jail for two days that you told someone that the February story was not true?
A: Yes.
In addition, defendant forcefully argued the recent fabrication theory during closing argument:
These kids are old enough to figure out after they have been sitting in jail for five days, and this is the last story they told, and now they are in jail, and they are in jail because of this trial, what story should they tell to get out of jail? You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.
There’s only two stories. This one kept them out of custody. This one got them picked up and held in the police station for three hours. This one got them put in jail a few weeks later. Which one are we going to tell now? Gee, maybe if we tell he did it story we will get out of jail. Do you know what, they got out of jail.
CJ’s October statements to Officer Parkin, that defendant had assaulted her and describing the nature of the assaults, were clearly consistent with her trial testimony. These statements, moreover, were made pri- or to CJ’s being placed in juvenile detention, which defendant asserted was the motive for her to fabricate her trial testimony. Accordingly, these statements were properly admitted under Rule 801(d)(1)(B) to rebut defendant’s charge of CJ’s recent fabrication. Compare State v. Tucker, 165 Ariz. 340, 343, 798 P.2d 1349, 1352 (App.1990) (evidence of child’s recantation of accusations against defendant did not justify introduction of the child’s prior consistent statements to a police officer: “The defense removed this basis for admissibility by foregoing use of the recantation.”).
This theory, however, does not support the introduction of CJ’s statements to Officer Parkin concerning the approximate dates of the assaults. CJ’s statements to Officer Parkin concerning the dates was inconsistent with her trial testimony regarding the dates. The prosecutor even acknowledged this in her argument for the introduction of these statements at trial: “[W]hat we are looking [for] ... is to know whether or not the officer remembers the time frames. [CJ], to the best of my recollection, did not give a specific time but she did give the officers the times.”
If CJ had provided the specific dates in her trial testimony and the defense then charged that she had recently fabricated those dates, evidence of CJ’s October statements regarding the dates would have been admissible. That, however, was not the case here. Thus, because CJ’s statements to Officer Parkin concerning the dates of the assaults were not consistent with CJ’s trial testimony, Officer Parkin’s testimony regarding these particular statements was not admissible under Rule 801(d)(1)(B).
The state alternatively urges us to affirm the trial court’s ruling for the reason that CJ’s inability to remember the dates of these incidents makes her an “unavailable” witness under Rule 804(a)(3). But, even if the declarant is “unavailable,” the testimony must fall within one of the hearsay exceptions listed in Rule 804(b). The state has not argued which specific exception applies to Officer Parkin’s testimony, and we conclude that none of them do.
Nor does Rule 804(b)(5), the “catchall” provision, apply because CJ’s statements to Officer Parkin do not possess the “circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness” required by this exception. Cf. State v. Robinson, 153 Ariz. 191, 201-02, 735 P.2d 801, 811-12 (1987) (hearsay statements supported by “equivalent circumstantial guarantees of trustworthiness” when the statements made by a five-year-old were spontaneous, consistent, and corroborated by both physical evidence and behavorial changes). Accordingly, we conclude that Rule 804(b)(l)(5) does not apply and that Officer Parkin’s testimony concerning the approximate dates of the alleged assaults was therefore improperly admitted.
Defendant, however, has not argued why this error should result in the reversal of his convictions. He apparently assumes that the lack of a specific time frame results in insufficient evidence to support the charges in the indictment. We disagree.
We conclude that the introduction of Officer Parkin’s testimony regarding the dates of the assaults was harmless. The date of the offense is not an element of sexual assault. See A.R.S. § 13-1406(A). The dates provided by Officer Parkin, therefore, were not material to proof of the state’s ease. See State v. Verdugo, 109 Ariz. 391, 392, 510 P.2d 37, 38 (1973). Furthermore, it cannot be argued that the testimony bolstered CJ’s credibility for the simple reason that Officer Parkin’s testimony regarding dates was not consistent with CJ’s; this is precisely why Officer Parkin’s testimony was inadmissible to rebut defendant’s charge of recent fabrication under Rule 801(d)(1)(B). We therefore conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Parkin’s testimony regarding the dates of the offenses did not affect the jury’s verdict.
We further conclude that CJ’s testimony regarding the dates of the assaults was sufficient to support the convictions. As noted above, CJ’s testimony generally established seven sexual assaults occurring between late March and September or October 1992. The indictment alleged two offenses occurring “on or about October, 1992;” two offenses occurring “on or between” March 27 and June 15, 1992; and four offenses occurring “on or about July, 1992.” We conclude that the differences between the dates alleged in the indictment and the more general dates provided by CJ do not require reversal of defendant’s convictions because defendant has shown no prejudice.
First, though CJ’s dates corresponding to most of the specific counts do not exactly match those of the indictment, both CJ’s testimony and the indictment generally establish assaults occurring between late March and October 1992.
A technical or formal defect in an indictment may be remedied by amendment. A defect is technical or formal if it does not change the nature of the offense charged or prejudice the defendant in any way. State v. Brace, 125 Ariz. 421, 423, 610 P.2d 55, 57 (1980). An error as to the date of the offense alleged in the indictment does not change the nature of the offense, and therefore may be remedied by amendment. Id; State v. Self, 135 Ariz. 374, 380, 661 P.2d 224, 230 (App.1983). When the amendment results in no change in the underlying offense or actual prejudice to the defendant, the indictment is automatically deemed amended to conform to the evidence adduced at trial. State v. Roscoe, 145 Ariz. 212, 225, 700 P.2d 1312, 1325 (1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1094, 105 S.Ct. 2169, 85 L.Ed.2d 525 (1985); State v. Winter, 146 Ariz. 461, 465, 706 P.2d 1228, 1232 (App.1985); Ariz. R.Crim. P. 13.5(b).
Accordingly, absent prejudice to defendant, the indictment in the instant case is deemed amended to conform to the evidence, which established that the sexual assaults occurred between late March and October 1992. Defendant has the burden of showing that he suffered actual prejudice. State v. Hamilton, 177 Ariz. 403, 410, 868 P.2d 986, 993 (App.1993); see also United States v. Austin, 448 F.2d 399, 401 (9th Cir.1971) (“Generally, exact dates are not required so long as they are within the statute of limitation and no prejudice is shown. Appellant has made no showing as to how he was prejudiced.”) (citation omitted). Defendant, however, has not even alleged any theoretical prejudice, let alone demonstrated actual prejudice.
In Hamilton, for example, the indictment alleged that the defendant had molested the victim sometime between October 1, 1986 and May 31, 1987. This court held that, “[although the indictment does allege time periods in which the offenses were alleged to have occurred ranging up to one year, defendant does not show any actual prejudice therefrom.” Id. We reasoned that
[defendant's assertion that he was unable to present an alibi defense, because he could not reconstruct his life for a specific year, is a theoretical, not an actual, prejudice that could be asserted any time an offense was alleged to have occurred over a period of time.
Id. at 410 n. 6, 868 P.2d at 993 n. 6. In the instant case, defendant has not even asserted a theoretical inability to present an alibi defense. Nor has he asserted that the broad range of dates established by CJ’s testimony, and hence the amended indictment, prejudiced him in any other way.
Defendant did not use an alibi defense at trial, nor did he argue that the crimes were committed by another person. Rather, his sole defense was that CJ was lying. As in State v. Schroeder, 167 Ariz. 47, 53, 804 P.2d 776, 782 (App.1990),
Defendant’s only defense was that the acts did not occur. Thus, the jury was left with only one issue — who was the more credible of the only two witnesses to the alleged acts? [T]he jury’s verdict here implies that it did not believe the only defense offered.
Any defect in the dates alleged in the indictment, therefore, could not have prejudiced his defense. See id.; State v. Herrera, 176 Ariz. 9, 15, 859 P.2d 119, 125, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 966, 114 S.Ct. 446, 126 L.Ed.2d 379 (1993) (even if error occurred because the state alleged alternate mental states, such error was harmless because defendant’s sole defense was that he did not participate in the offense). Accordingly, we conclude that CJ’s testimony regarding the dates of the assaults was sufficient to support defendant’s convictions.
G.
Sexual assault against a minor under 15 years of age is punishable as a dangerous crime against children. A.R.S. § 13-1406(B). A.R.S. section 13-604.01 requires “flat time” consecutive sentencing for such crimes. Section 13-604(L) provides that a trial court’s failure to impose sentences in accordance with the mandates of Title 13, the Arizona Criminal Code, amounts to malfeasance. Defendant contends that this sentencing scheme offends Article 3 of the Arizona Constitution, which provides that “no one of such [branches of state government] shall exercise the power properly belonging to either of the others.” Defendant argues that the malfeasance provision “infringes on the judiciary’s constitutional role by requiring the trial court to impose an excessive sentence, based on the prosecutor’s discretion of whether to charge a crime as dangerous against children, and infringes on the judiciary’s common law and statutory role of reducing excessive sentences.” We disagree.
This court rejected a virtually identical argument in State v. Garcia, 176 Ariz. 231, 235, 860 P.2d 498, 502 (App.1993), and held that A.R.S. section 13-604(L)
does not affect the allocation of power between the prosecutor and the trial judge. Rather, the statute reflects an exercise of legislative control over criminal penalties. See [State v.] Prentiss, 163 Ariz. [81] at 84, 786 P.2d [932] at 935 [(1989)] (“The legislature sets the sentencing limits and distributes the authority to control the sentence, within those limits, in the courts, correctional authority, and the parole board.”).
Defendant’s argument differs from the appellant’s argument in Garcia only in that Garcia involved the mandatory imposition of a prison term under A.R.S. section 13-604(G) rather than mandatory consecutive sentences. That distinction, however, does not go to the substance of our reasoning in Garcia. Accordingly, Garcia is controlling and we reject defendant’s argument.
H.
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 2, Section 15 of the Arizona Constitution both proscribe cruel and unusual punishment. Sentences which are “grossly disproportionate” to the crime committed are considered cruel and unusual, and offend these constitutional provisions. State v. Bartlett, 171 Ariz. 302, 310, 830 P.2d 823, 831 (1992) cert. denied, 506 U.S. 992, 113 S.Ct. 511, 121 L.Ed.2d 445 (1992) (“Bartlett II”). Although defendant argues that the trial court’s imposition of eight consecutive 25-year sentences was a grossly disproportionate punishment, because we reverse two of defendant’s convictions, we limit our review to whether a sentence of six consecutive 25-year prison terms is grossly disproportionate to the crimes committed. We conclude that it is not.
Bartlett II requires a threshold inquiry to determine whether a comparison of the crime with the sentence supports an inference of gross disproportionality. 171 Ariz. at 305, 830 P.2d at 826. In conducting this inquiry, we consider such factors as the harm caused or threatened to the victim or society, the level of defendant’s culpability, as measured by the seriousness of the crime and against whom it was committed, the level of violence employed, and other aggravating and mitigating factors. Id. Defendant’s challenge to his sentence does not survive this threshold inquiry.
The harm to the victim was substantial. CJ suffered humiliation, fear, and threats of retribution when defendant forced her to submit to these many sexual assaults. Defendant was not dissuaded from his actions by CJ’s screaming, fighting, or protestations that the acts of anal intercourse were especially painful. To CJ’s tearful pleas he responded, “It will be over in a minute.” Defendant neglected to use any type of contraceptive or prophylactic, thus subjecting CJ to the risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The seriousness of the harm done to CJ was manifest.
Moreover, the victim was defendant’s own daughter, who suffered her father’s sexual assaults from the time she was a young child. As in State v. Zimmer, 178 Ariz. 407, 410, 874 P.2d 964, 967 (App.1993), we are dealing with “predatory conduct by a mature adult in a position of trust and authority with a young and unwilling victim.” Breach of his daughter’s trust is especially offensive. We note that this type of “coercive, psychologically brutalizing relationship between an adult man in a position of trust and authority over” a child, was also deemed harmful to society in State v. Hamilton, 177 Ariz. 403, 408, 868 P.2d 986, 991 (App.1993).
In addition, defendant threatened violence to CJ, CJ’s mother, and CJ’s brothers and sisters if CJ or RJ reported the assaults to anyone. After they had reported the abuse, defendant repeated the same threats if they testified to what they knew.
Defendant’s culpability is clear. He violated his daughter repeatedly and methodically over a long period of time. Furthermore, he has expressed no remorse and accepted no responsibility for his actions.
Under these circumstances, the six consecutive 25-year sentences are proportionate to the crime. This conclusion is supported by a review of other Arizona eases involving dangerous crimes against children in which lengthy sentences survived Eighth Amendment challenges. See, e.g., State v. Jonas, 164 Ariz. 242, 792 P.2d 705 (1990) (25 years flat time where defendant sold two marijuana cigarettes to 14-year-old boy); State v. Taylor, 160 Ariz. 415, 773 P.2d 974 (1989) (2,975 years flat time where defendant convicted of 85 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, sexual conduct with a minor under 15, and attempted sexual conduct with a minor under 15); Zimmer, 178 Ariz. at 410, 874 P.2d at 967 (51 years flat time where defendant touched 11-year-old victim’s breast three times, and touched her vagina over her underpants three times); Hamilton, 177 Ariz. at 408, 868 P.2d at 991 (135 years flat time for three acts of molestation and three acts of sexual conduct by live-in boyfriend against his girlfriend’s 14-year-old daughter); State v. Smith, 156 Ariz. 518, 753 P.2d 1174 (App. 1987) (91 years flat time where defendant convicted on two counts of sexual conduct with a minor, two counts of child molestation, and one count of sexual exploitation of a minor); State v. Crego, 154 Ariz. 278, 742 P.2d 289 (App.1987) (40 years flat time where defendant convicted of two counts of child molestation).
Accordingly, because the sentences imposed do not support an inference of gross disproportionality, we conclude that they are constitutional.
I.
As previously noted, when CJ, RJ, and SJ failed to appear on the first day of trial, despite a subpoena to do so, they were arrested pursuant to a civil arrest warrant. They were then placed in the Maricopa County juvenile detention center where they remained for approximately one week, until they finished testifying. Defendant did not object to these events at trial and has not argued them as a ground for reversal in his appeal. Notwithstanding, the dissent argues that this conduct constituted unlawful coercion of the children’s testimony and thereby denied defendant a fair trial.
While we regret the procedurally incorrect detention of the children, we do not believe that it denied defendant a fair trial. Even though the trial court failed to comply with the procedural requirements for securing the testimony of material witnesses, see A.R.S. §§ 13-4081 to 13-4084; Ariz. R. Civ. P. 64.1., and even though such failure resulted in violations of the children’s due process rights, the rights we are concerned with here are those of defendant, not the children.
The issue is thus whether the violation of the children’s due process rights constituted coercion that affected their testimony, thereby depriving defendant of a fair trial. Because defendant has not objected to this conduct, we consider only whether it resulted in fundamental error. State v. Gendron, 168 Ariz. 153, 154, 812 P.2d 626, 627 (1991); see also A.R.S. § 13-4035. We conclude that it did not.
To begin, we note that, if the state had complied with the appropriate procedural requirements, it had the authority to compel the children’s testimony and to detain them up to three days until they testified either in court or by conditional examination for later introduction at trial. See A.R.S. § 13-4083(B). Had these procedures been followed, there would be no reason to argue that the lawful detentions somehow violated defendant’s due process rights.
In any event, there is no evidence that the violations of the children’s due process rights caused them to alter their trial testimony. In the absence of such evidence, it would be pure speculation for us to conclude that these procedural abuses caused two of the three children to reject their prior recantations. Furthermore, the effect on the children’s testimony was thoroughly explored in defense counsel’s cross-examination of the children, and was argued to the jury in closing argu ments. We therefore conclude that the violations of the children’s due process rights did not deprive defendant of a fair trial.
J.
Defendant has not raised any issues specific to the probation revocation in cause no. CR 92-02303. We therefore affirm the trial court’s revocation of probation and the sentence imposed.
Notwithstanding, in sentencing defendant, the trial court mistakenly treated the underlying offense as attempted unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle (the offense with which defendant was charged), rather than felony endangerment (the offense to which he pled guilty). Both offenses, however, are class 6 felonies subject to identical sentencing ranges. Furthermore, defendant received the presumptive prison term and there do not appear to be any mitigating factors applicable to revocation of one charge but not the other. We therefore merely amend the June 2, 1993 minute entry to reflect that defendant has been adjudged guilty of endangerment, rather than attempted unlawful flight.
CONCLUSION
We have searched the record for fundamental error, pursuant to A.R.S. section 13-4035, and, aside from the errors noted above, have found none. Accordingly, we affirm six of defendant’s convictions and sentences, and reverse two of defendant’s convictions and sentences. Defendant’s probation revocation and sentence in CR 92-02303 are affirmed, subject to the modification embodied in the following order.
IT IS ORDERED, nunc pro tunc, amending the trial court’s minute entry order dated June 2, 1993 in CR 92-02303, as follows:
1. Page 43, paragraph three, shall read, “OFFENSE: Amended Count III: Endangerment,” and
2. Page 43, paragraph five, shall read, “IN VIOLATION OF A.R.S. SECTIONS: 13-1201, -701, -702, -801, -802, -812.”
GARBARINO, J., concurs.
. The facts are viewed in a light most favorable to sustaining the judgment with all reasonable inferences resolved against the defendant. State v. Atwood, 171 Ariz. 576, 596, 832 P.2d 593, 613 (1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1084, 113 S.Ct. 1058, 122 L.Ed.2d 364 (1993).
. Defendant raised issues B through H on appeal. We have considered sua sponte issues A, I and J.
. The verdict forms submitted to and signed by the jury specified whether the sexual assault was committed by oral contact or intercourse. On this count, the jury explicitly found that defendant had committed sexual assault by oral sexual contact and there was no evidence to support such a finding.
. For a discussion of the failure of CJ's testimony to exactly match the dates provided in the indictment, see infra section F.
. The note stated, “My father sexually abused me in many ways. He had intercourse with me many times. Stuck his tongue in my vaginal area. Then after he did those things to me, he stuck his penis in my behind and said do not tell anybody about these happenings.”
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OPINION
WEISBERG, Judge.
Maricopa County (the county) appeals and Crystal Point Joint Venture (the taxpayer) cross-appeals the judgment entered by the tax court. We affirm on both the appeal and the cross-appeal.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The taxpayer developed an eighteen-story, luxury condominium building in Phoenix which consisted of 69 units, each with separate tax parcel numbers. As of January 1, 1992, the taxpayer still owned 37 units. In mid-1992, studio units that had been associated with six of the condominium units as maid’s quarters became separately parcelled, and three were sold. As of January 1, 1993, the taxpayer owned the remaining three studio units and all 37 units from the preceding year.
The Maricopa County Assessor assigned separate full cash values to each of the units for tax year 1992. The taxpayer challenged these assessments before the Maricopa County Board of Equalization (BOE) and then the State Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA). See generally Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) §§ 42-221, 42-241.01, 42-245. The sum of the separate full cash values for 1992 that BOE fixed and BOTA upheld was $11,-801,888.
Although the Assessor revalued the units for 1993, the taxpayer also challenged the revaluations before BOE. The sum of the separate full cash values for 1993 fixed by BOE was $6,831,256.
The taxpayer brought actions in the tax court challenging the BOTA valuations for 1992 and the BOE valuations for 1993. See generally A.R.S. § 42-177. The actions were consolidated. After a three-day bench trial, the tax court found that 1) the taxpayer had failed to produce sufficient evidence to show that the valuations were too high, and 2) although the county had demonstrated that the valuations were too low, it had failed to provide sufficient evidence from which the court could determine the actual full cash values. See A.R.S. § 42 — 178(B); Department of Revenue v. Transamerica Title Ins. Co., 117 Ariz. 26, 28, 570 P.2d 797, 799 (App. 1977). The court entered formal judgment affirming the valuations.
The county now appeals and the taxpayer cross-appeals raising the following issues:
1. Did the tax court err in finding that the taxpayer had not met its burden of proving that the values were excessive and, if so, should the values be reduced to those supported by the taxpayer’s expert witness?
2. After having determined that the county had shown that the values were insufficient, did the tax court err in failing to set the new values supported by the county’s expert?
3. Should condominium units be valued as separate parcels of real property and, if so, did the tax court err in setting a single aggregate full cash value for the taxpayer’s units for each year?
4. Did the tax court err in entering a judgment that did not include the stipulated legal classifications of each unit?
5. Did the tax court err in denying the county’s request for expert witness fees and double costs under Rule 68, Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure?
We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12 — 2101(B). This appeal is assigned to Department T of this court pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-120.04(G) and -170(C).
DISCUSSION
I.
We first address the taxpayer’s argument on cross-appeal. The taxpayer contends that the tax court erred in determining that 1) it had failed to overcome the statutory presumption of correctness for the BOTA and BOE valuations, and 2) it had not established the correct values. See A.R.S. §§ 42-178(B)-(C).
In support of its argument, the taxpayer points to the testimony of its expert, Ralph Brekan, who applied the discounted cash flow method to appraise the units. The taxpayer argues that, since the county agreed that this appraisal method is a “standard appraisal method! ] and technique! ]” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5), and since there was no competent evidence to the contrary, the tax court was required to adopt the units’ values as opined by Brekan. We, however, disagree.
Brekan explained the discounted cash flow appraisal method in his written report:
This technique estimates the price an investor/developer can afford to pay for all of the improved units after considering cost of sales, carrying costs, absorption periods, and profit. The retail prices of the respective units are estimated based upon the sales of similar unit types, including sales in the subject project, from which all holding costs are deducted, including marketing costs, and entrepreneurial profit to arrive at the net sales proceeds. The periodic net sales proceeds are then discounted to present value at an appropriate yield rate over the estimated period required for project development and market absorption. The result is an indication of the bulk market value to one owner or buyer.
(Emphasis added). He testified consistently at trial that the discounted cash flow method produced an estimate of market value representing what one willing buyer would have paid for all the units on January 1, 1992, and January 1, 1993. Brekan then assigned individual values to each of the units by apportioning the project’s discounted cash flow valuation among the units based upon the contributory value of each unit to the whole. He also acknowledged that, if he were determining the fair market value of each individual unit for residential use, he would do so by a different method using sales comparison data. Brekan thus made it clear that he based his market value opinions on the assumption that the condominium units constituted a single piece of real estate that was to be valued as such.
The taxpayer argues that Brekan’s discounted cash flow approach constitutes a “standard appraisal method! ] and technique!]” within A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5). It further contends that A.R.S. sections 42-221(E) and -229, together with DOR’s Assessment Procedures Manual and Land Manual, expressly contemplate appraising groups of commonly owned tax parcels as a single unit.
The county responds that each unit must be valued independently to satisfy both A.R.S. section 33-1204(B) and the Arizona constitutional requirement of uniformity. See Ariz. Const, art. IX, § 1 (“All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax____”). We agree with the county, although we do so based upon the statute alone.
To begin, the taxpayer cannot rely upon A.R.S. section 42-221(E) for the proposition that multiple tax parcels owned by a single taxpayer may be valued either individually or collectively, at the taxpayer’s option. The statute merely permits property owners, in limited circumstances, to include more than one parcel in a petition to the assessor for changes in classification or valuation.
The taxpayer also relies mistakenly on A.R.S. section 42-229, which provides: “If two or more contiguous lots, tracts of land or patented mines are owned by the same person, they may be jointly assessed and one valuation fixed for the whole.” The taxpayer fails to cite any authority for its implicit premise that a condominium unit is the legal equivalent of a “lot,” a “tract of land,” or a “patented mine” and we reject that interpretation. See A.R.S. § 1-213 (“Words and phrases shall be construed according to the common and approved use of the language.”); Deatherage v. Deatherage, 140 Ariz. 317, 320, 681 P.2d 469, 472 (App.1984) (statutory language to be given its natural and obvious meaning.).
More importantly, however, we find another statute to be both directly on point and dispositive. A.R.S. section 33-1204 specifically addresses condominiums and provides in part:
A. If there is a unit owner[ ] other than a declarant,[ ] each unit that has been created, together with its interest in the common elements, constitutes for all purposes a separate parcel of real estate.
B. Except as provided in subsection C, if there is a unit owner other than a declarant, each unit shall be separately taxed and assessed, and no separate tax or assessment may be rendered against any common elements.
D. If there is no unit owner other than a declarant, the real estate comprising the condominium shall be taxed and assessed as a single parcel.
(Emphasis added). Assessing property for ad valorem taxation necessarily includes valuing the property. E.C. Garcia & Co. v. Arizona State Dep’t of Revenue, 178 Ariz. 510, 517, 875 P.2d 169, 176 (App.1993); Fry v. Mayor of Sierra Vista, 11 Ariz.App. 490, 495, 466 P.2d 41, 46 (1970). Accordingly, under A.R.S. sections 33-1204(B) and (D), if even one unit in the complex is owned by someone other than the declarant, every unit must be treated as a separate parcel of real estate and separately valued, assessed, and taxed. The only situation in which the units that comprise the complex are to be valued, assessed, and taxed as a single parcel is when the declarant owns every unit within the condominium project.
The taxpayer nevertheless argues that the units may be valued first as a whole, with the value then being apportioned among the individual parcels. It contends that A.R.S. section 33-1204 does not preclude the “valuation parameters” of A.R.S. Title 42 from being applied to condominium units, and concludes that A.R.S. sections 42-221(E) and -229 therefore allow aggregate valuation for all owners of multiple condominium units. We disagree.
Although A.R.S. section 33-1204 does not specify that the valuation provisions of Title 42 are inapplicable to condominium units, it is a specific statute that is on point, and therefore must prevail over other more general statutes. See Mercy Healthcare Ariz., Inc. v. Arizona Health Care Cost Containment Sys., 181 Ariz. 95, 100, 887 P.2d 625, 630 (App.1994); Drexel Heights Fire Dist. v. City of Tucson, 175 Ariz. 488, 489, 858 P.2d 321, 322 (App.1993). Accordingly, despite being a valid appraisal method for other purposes, the discounted cash flow method is legally incompetent when applied here.
Moreover, the taxpayer, in effect, asks us to recognize that each unit is adversely impacted by the glutting effect of having all of its units on the market at the same time. Our supreme court, however, has made it clear that individual circumstances which adversely affect the marketability of real estate cannot be controlling for ad valorem property tax purposes. See Recreation Ctrs. of Sun City, Inc. v. Maricopa County, 162 Ariz. 281, 285, 782 P.2d 1174, 1178 (1989).
In Rec. Centers, the taxpayer contended that its property was valueless due to the adverse effect of deed restrictions on its marketability. The supreme court rejected that argument, stating:
Rec Centers insists that the assessor must consider the “realities of the market place” and may not “create a mythical sale in accordance with the definition of market value.”
We believe this argument confuses the concept of marketability with that of value. The statutes do not impose a tax on “market value” but on “full cash value.” They equate full cash value with market value (see A.R.S. § 42-227(A)), but provide that any of the standard appraisal methods may be used in the determination, thus contemplating that where market value is not the best indicator of value, other approaches, such as a cost or income approach, may be used to fix value. See A.R.S. § 42-201(4). Thus, although a particular restriction may destroy marketability, the property may have value in use to the owner and should therefore be assessed and taxed. Arizona has recognized this principle. See [County of Maricopa v.] Sperry Rand [Corp.], 112 Ariz. [579,] 581, 544 P.2d [1094,] 1096 [1976] (special purpose building with little or no value on the market but having great value in use to the owner should not be assessed by use of the market technique but, instead, by a cost less depreciation method); Graham County, 109 Ariz. at 471, 512 P.2d at 14 (use of income approach improper, because taxpayer was nonprofit electric cooperative).
Rec. Centers, 162 Ariz. at 289, 782 P.2d at 1182 (citation omitted); cf. In re America W. Airlines, Inc., 179 Ariz. 528, 535, 880 P.2d 1074, 1081 (1994) (classification of property turns on characteristics, use, utility, or productivity of property itself, not size, wealth, or location of owner).
In this ease, the taxpayer’s situation is the mirror image of that presented in Rec. Centers, but the same principle applies: a parcel’s intrinsic value for its actual or intended use, and not its owner’s ability or inability to liquidate it, is the focus when determining full cash value for property tax purposes.
Finally, the taxpayer asserts that the county admitted in the joint pretrial statement that the 1992 BOTA valuation was excessive. But, even accepting arguendo that that was so, only the valuation’s presumption of correctness would be overcome. The admission, alone, could not provide competent evidence to establish a different full cash value.
Accordingly, we uphold the tax court’s rejection of Brekan’s appraisal and its conclusion that the taxpayer failed to introduce sufficient evidence to either overcome the statutory presumption of correctness or to establish different full cash values for the units.
II.
We next consider the tax court’s finding that the county had shown that the BOE and BOTA valuations were too low, but failed to prove the proper valuations.
The tax court’s initial ruling after trial stated:
The County has introduced enough evidence for the Court to conclude that the value set by the Board is too low. But the County has failed to convince the Court that the proper value should be the sum [in] Mr. Duncan’s [the county’s expert] report.... Mr. Duncan, during testimony, and counsel for the County, at argument, said the figure should be less than the [sum in the] report but neither presented argument as to what that figure should be. The figure set by the State Board cannot be approved because the presumption has been overcome. Therefore, the Court will have to set a hearing to hear evidence to determine where, below the [sum in] Mr. Duncan’s report, the value for the tax years 1992 and 1993 should be set.
But after a later hearing, the tax court modified its stance:
Because of the wording of A.R.S. § 42-178(C), “If the court finds that the valuation is excessive or insufficient, the court shall find the full cash value of the property,” ... the Court felt that, having determined that the valuation was insufficient, it was required to proceed to a finding of value. Since it also found that the County had tried that but failed, it felt that it must ask for more evidence. The Court feels now that that is wrong. To give the County the opportunity to do what it had initially failed to do does not seem fair or equitable. For one thing, allowing a party to reopen its case for a deficiency a court sees might allow a case to go on indefinitely. That is not good.
This Court does not now believe that the “shall” in the statute requires the Court to go farther once both parties have failed to carry their burdens.
Therefore, IT IS ORDERED affirming the valuation set by the State Board [sic ).
The county now contends that, pursuant to A.R.S. section 42-178(0, the tax court’s finding that the county had overcome the presumption of correctness required it to assign a higher full cash value for each unit. The taxpayer responds that the county’s appraisal evidence was deficient in several particulars and did not qualify as substantial competent evidence for fixing higher valuations. In reply, the county points out that both Brekan and Duncan arrived at estimated market values that were higher than those set by the administrative boards, and that this combination constituted substantial, competent evidence which the tax court could not ignore. We, however, disagree with the county.
In Graham County v. Graham County Elec. Coop., 109 Ariz. 468, 512 P.2d 11 (1973), a utility appealed property valuations set by the state taxing authority. The utility successfully attacked the appraisal method used by the state in order to show that the valuations were excessive. Then, in order to establish new values, the utility presented an appraisal premised upon a method different from that used by the state. The trial court found that the valuations were too high and lowered them accordingly.
On review, the Arizona Supreme Court held that, in order to overturn a property valuation, the trial court must first find that the set value is excessive and then, if supported by substantial competent evidence, set a proper value. Id. at 470, 512 P.2d at 13. While the supreme court agreed that the state’s appraisal method was “fundamentally wrong,” it disagreed that the new valuations were supported by substantial competent evidence. Id. at 470-71, 512 P.2d at 13-14. It therefore held that the utility had failed to establish appropriate values and affirmed the state’s valuations. Id. at 471, 512 P.2d at 14.
In the instant case, the tax court properly followed the supreme court’s guidance in Graham County. Even though the BOTA and BOE valuations were deficient, they were affirmed because the county had not presented substantial competent evidence of correct values.
We acknowledge that A.R.S. section 42-178(C) provides that the court “shall” find the property’s full cash value once it has found that the administrative valuation was either insufficient or excessive. But under the county’s interpretation, the tax court would be required to set speculative full cash values since the only other evidence presented was not competent. Accordingly, we construe A.R.S. section 42-178(0 to require a finding of a new full cash value only when the proponent has presented substantial competent evidence of a proper valuation. See Graham County, 109 Ariz. at 470-71, 512 P.2d at 13-14.
The county next argues that both Brekan and Duncan presented evidence of current market values, as determined by the sales comparison method, and that their combined testimony constituted substantial competent evidence of full cash value. Again, we disagree.
Brekan testified that he was never asked to value any of the taxpayer’s individual units. Furthermore, we are unable to locate anything in the record indicating that he may have done so. We have also searched the record, in vain, for any indication that the county, even once, cited Brekan’s evidence to the tax court in support of its individual valuations.
In any event, Brekan’s appraisal report and testimony are inconsistent with the county’s position. Brekan’s report stated:
Three approaches may be used; however, the Sales Comparison Approach is not considered applicable and was therefore not used in this appraisal. The Sales Comparison Approach is not used as an overall indicator of value for all 37 units due to a lack of comparable bulk sales of similar condominium units.
The Sales Comparison Approach was applied as a technique within the Income Capitalization Approach to support the estimate of average retail pricing for individual units, to be used in the discounted cash flow analysis.
Brekan never opined that the sales comparison approach, as applied in the discounted cash flow method, may function independently as a “standard appraisal method! ][or] technique! ]” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 42-141(A)(5). Accordingly, there is no basis on which to hold that the transitional “retail price estimates” used by Brekan in his discounted cash flow analysis constituted competent evidence of the units’ full cash values.
We also find no error in the tax court’s refusal to accept Duncan’s appraisal. A trier of fact may disregard expert opinion evidence when it is equivocal; when it is contradicted by other expert testimony; when its factual predicates are disputed; or when common experience or conflicting lay testimony provide a basis for disbelief. Morris K. Udall et al., Law of Evidence § 25, at 43-44 (3d ed.1991). Our review of the record reveals numerous grounds on which the tax court would have been within its discretion in disregarding Duncan’s opinion.
The most salient grounds are those enumerated by the tax court itself. During his testimony, Duncan acknowledged that he had failed to consider several relevant factors and that his actual valuation figures were overstated. For example, Duncan’s appraisal did not take into account that the units were unfinished and would require further work before they could be sold. He also failed to consider that several of his comparable sales were overstated because substantial decorator allowances were not appropriately treated as reductions in the actual price paid. Additionally, the tax court understandably questioned Duncan’s use of 1994 sales as valid comparables, especially since Duncan included them only “[t]o have a larger data base to work from.” Finally, the county never attempted to amend or correct Duncan’s inadequately supported conclusions. Accordingly, the tax court was not required to accept his opinion.
Because both sides failed to prove their claims for adjustments to the BOTA and BOE valuations for 1992 and 1993, the tax court correctly denied all relief, thereby leaving the administrative valuations undisturbed.
III.
We next consider whether the tax court erred in failing to value the units individually, rather than as parts of a unitary whole. Although BOTA and BOE had fixed separate valuations for each of the taxpayer’s units, the tax court entered a judgment that described the full cash value for each year as a lump sum of the separate valuations. The county now urges that the lump sum valuation violated the principle of mandatory separate value required by A.R.S. section 33-1204.
The county, however, neither raised that objection to the taxpayer’s form of judgment, nor proposed its own form of judgment setting forth separate valuations. Accordingly, this argument has been waived and we will not consider it. See Sahf v. Lake Havasu City Ass’n for the Retarded, 150 Ariz. 50, 53, 721 P.2d 1177, 1180 (App.1986).
IV.
The county next complains that the tax court abused its discretion in entering a judgment that did not include the property classifications to which the parties had stipulated in their joint pretrial statement. The taxpayer responds by judicially admitting, see IX John H. Wigmore, Evidence § 2588 (1981), that it
does not retreat from that stipulation and does not dispute that the classifications for the parcels in the appeal should be those set forth in the Joint Pretrial Statement. However, because the parties stipulated to those classifications, Crystal Point does not believe that it was necessary for the Court to either make findings of fact relating to those classifications or include them in the Judgment. Crystal Point does not believe the Court intended to relieve the parties of the burdens of them stipulation by not including them in the Judgment. Thus, the Court did not err by failing to include the stipulated classifications in the Judgment.
We first note that the county has not argued that the resolution of the contested issues in this case rests in any way upon the classifications in the stipulation. We further note that most of the other pretrial stipulations were similarly inessential and similarly left out of the judgment — without objection by either party.
Next, we observe that property classification was not raised as an issue by either party and was never the basis of any request for relief. Finally, the county has failed to cite any authority for the requirement that all pretrial stipulations be included in the judgment and has also failed to allege any prejudice arising out of the omission.
We therefore are unconvinced that the trial court’s unwillingness to include this portion of the pretrial statement in the final judgment constituted an abuse of discretion.
V.
Finally, the county argues that it is entitled to an award of its expert witness fees and double costs because it made an offer of judgment to the taxpayer pursuant to Rule 68, Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. The offer listed each unit by parcel number and set forth an individual full cash value, classification, and the year or years to which the value and classification would apply. It further stated:
The terms (full cash values and assessment ratios) of this Offer of Judgment are not divisible and may not be accepted in part or rejected in part. Plaintiff, Crystal Point Joint Venture, must accept the full cash value and assessment ratio for each and every property parcel listed in ... in order for the Offer of Judgment to be binding upon Defendant, Maricopa County.
This Offer of Judgment is further conditioned upon the requirement that the offer, if accepted by the Plaintiff, must be approved by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, and Defendant Arizona Department of Revenue and its counsel, the Attorney General of the State of Arizona. Although the taxpayer did not accept the offer of judgment, the tax court denied the county’s Rule 68 request. It did so properly.
The county’s offer of judgment proposed settlement for aggregate full cash values of $9,666,100 for 1992 and $9,771,100 for 1993. The tax court’s judgment adopted aggregate values of $11,801,888 for 1992 and $6,831,256 for 1993. The judgment thus favored the county by $2,135,788 for 1992, but favored the taxpayer by $2,939,844 for 1993. Accordingly, unless the taxpayer’s combined tax rate for 1992 was at least 37.7% higher than its combined tax rate for 1993, an unlikely circumstance on which the record is silent, the ultimate judgment was not more favorable to the county than its offer. It therefore was not entitled to relief pursuant to Rule 68(d).
VI.
The taxpayer requests the award of its attorneys’ fees on appeal pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-348(B). In our discretion, we decline to do so.
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the tax court’s judgment.
GARBARINO, P.J., and TOCI, J., concur.
. A.R.S. section 42 — 141 (A)(5) provides in part:
The department shall ... [a]dopt standard appraisal methods and techniques for use by the department and county assessors in determining the valuation of property.... In the standard appraisal methods and techniques adopted, current usage shall be included in the formula for reaching a determination of full cash value.
. A.R.S. section 42-221(E) provides in part:
E. Any owner of properly which in his opinion has been valued too high or otherwise improperly valued or listed on the role by the assessor may file a petition with the assessor on a form prescribed by the department. The petition shall set forth in writing the owner’s opinion of the full cash value of the property and substantial information which justifies that opinion of value for the assessor to consider for purposes of basing a change in classification or reduction or correction of the valuation. Petitions may include more than one parcel of property if they are part of the same economic unit according to the department of revenue guidelines or if they are owned by the same owner, they have the same use, are appealed on the same basis and are located in the same geographic area, as determined pursuant to department of revenue guidelines and are on a form prescribed by the department.... For purposes of this section, the owner provides substantial information to justify the opinion of value by stating the method or methods of valuation on which the opinion is based and:
1. Under the income approach, including the information required in subsection H of this section.
2. Under the market approach, including the full cash value of at least one comparable property in the same geographic area or the sale of the subject property.
3. Under the cost approach, including the cost to build or rebuild the property plus the land value.
. A.R.S. section 33-1202 provides, in relevant part:
22. "Unit” means a portion of the condominium designated for separate ownership or occupancy. 23. "Unit owner" means a declarant or other person who owns a unit----
. A.R.S. section 33-1202(13) defines "declaration” as "any instruments, however denominated, that creates a condominium and any amendments to those instruments.” Subsection (12) defines "declarant" as "any person or group of persons who reserves, is granted or succeeds to any special declarant right.” Subsection (10) provides:
"Condominium” means real estate, portions of which are designated for separate ownership and the remainder of which is designated for common ownership solely by the owners of the separate portions. Real estate is not a condominium unless the undivided interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners.
. “Evidence is competent for the purposes of rebutting the statutory presumption of and show-’ ing that the Department's valuation was excessive when it is derived by standard appraisal methods and techniques which are shown to be appropriate under the particular circumstances involved." Inspiration Consol. Copper Co. v. Arizona Dep’t of Revenue, 147 Ariz. 216, 223, 709 P.2d 573, 580 (App.1985) (emphasis added); accord Golder v. Department of Revenue, 123 Ariz. 260, 263, 599 P.2d 216, 219 (1979). A standard appraisal method may be inappropriate under the circumstances, and evidence tendered pursuant to its use incompetent, where the method is legally inapposite as applied. See Graham County v. Graham County Elec. Coop., 109 Ariz. 468, 471, 512 P.2d 11, 14 (1973) (use of standard income capitalization method of appraisal was “fundamentally wrong” where taxpayer was non-profit utility that set rates intending not to make profit).
. The tax court later corrected this statement in a minute entry order, noting that it had meant to refer to BOTA for 1992 and BOE for 1993.
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OPINION
NOYES, Presiding Judge.
Westin Tucson Hotel Co. (“Westin”) appeals from the Tax Court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of the State of Arizona Department of Revenue (“DOR”) and Pima County (“County”) on Westin’s refund claims. Westin also appeals the denial of its Motion for Sanctions. Finding no error, we affirm.
I.
On May 7, 1993 Westin filed its 1993 State of Arizona Business Personal Property Tax Statements, Form 82520 (“82520’s”) with the Pima County Assessor’s Office. According to Susan Patent of the Assessor’s Office, Form 82520 is used to indicate taxable personal property on hand as of January 1st of the year in question. Westin’s 82520’s summarized the general nature and amount of its personal property but did not provide an itemized list of assets.
Patent became doubtful of the numbers reported by Westin and decided to perform an audit. When Westin still was unable to supply an itemized list of its personal property, Patent reviewed Westin’s general ledger accounts instead. Pima County then assessed taxes based on the general ledger accounts, rather than Westin’s 82520’s. Westin paid the taxes and did not appeal.
A similar situation arose in the 1994 tax year. Westin’s figures on the 82520’s were lower than those found in the general ledger accounts, but Westin did not provide an itemized list of its on-hand personal property. The Assessor’s Office again relied on Patent’s audit and used the higher of the two figures, the ledger accounts, to determine the cash value of Westin’s personal property. Westin filed an administrative appeal under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) section 42-604.
During the course of the administrative appeal, Westin’s Controller, Joan LeFevre, provided Patent with a copy of Westin’s bank depreciation policy. This policy accounts for at least some of the discrepancy between the 82520 figures and those on the general ledger. Westin’s bank depreciation policy requires it to list assets on the fixed asset registers for twelve years from the time of acquisition, even if it no longer owns the property. As Westin’s personal tax representative, Michael Hellon, described:
Because of the way La Paloma keeps its books, the general ledger reflects original installed costs of all of the properties’ assets and many assets which have been disposed of.
The problem is — let me give you an example. When they buy banquet chairs, they may buy 100 at a time and a couple of them get broken and tossed away. And this will happen over a period of years. Then they’ll buy another 100. So it isn’t a problem of accounting for what’s there, it’s a problem of overaccounting what’s no longer there.
The general ledger therefore apparently overstates the actual property on hand by an undetermined amount.
After discussing the problem with LeFevre and Hellon, the County Assessor’s Office negotiated a compromise and settlement for 1994. The parties agreed upon a specified percentage to be deleted from the acquisition cost, and settled on a 1986 acquisition date for property where the acquisition date could not be determined. The compromise resulted in a property valuation lower than that initially assessed by the County, but higher than would have been assessed based on Westin’s 82520’s.
Westin then requested that the County Assessor’s Office apply the 1994 framework to the 1993 tax year, but the Assessor denied the request. Westin was precluded from filing an administrative appeal under A.R.S. section 42-604 because the time for appeal had passed.
Westin then filed a Petition for Special Action and Complaint and Appeal with the Arizona Tax Court seeking a refund for 1993 under a number of theories, including a claim pursuant to A.R.S. section 11-506 (1991). Under section 11-506, a taxpayer has three years from the payment of the tax in which to file a refund claim. On November 28, 1995, the Tax Court granted summary judgment in favor of Appellees and denied both parties’ motions for sanctions. Westin timely appealed. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(B) (1994).
II.
Westin argues the following issues on appeal:
1) that the 1993 taxation of property no longer owned by Westin was an “erroneous assessment” under A.R.S. section 11-506;
2) that the availability of statutory appeal under A.R.S. section 42-604 does not foreclose Westin’s right to recovery under A.R.S. section 11-506;
3) that the Tax Court committed reversible error in granting the Taxing Authorities’ motions for summary judgment because A.R.S. section 42-179 (Supp.1996) defines “error” to include the “existence or nonexistence” of property;
4) that the Assessor violated A.R.S. sections 42-236 and 42-204 by not relying on Westin’s 82520’s to assess Westin’s personal property taxes for the 1993 tax year;
5) that the Tax Court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of the Taxing Authorities, rather than Westin, on Westin’s Equal Protection and Uniformity Clause claims;
6) that the Tax Court committed reversible error by denying Westin’s Motion for Sanctions against Pima County; and
7) that Westin is entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and costs.
We address these issues in turn.
III.
1. “Erroneous Assessment” under A.R.S. section 11-506
Westin argues that the County taxed property that it did not own, thereby imposing taxes based on an “erroneous assessment,” and entitling Westin to a refund under A.R.S. section 11-506. The 1991 version of A.R.S. section 11-506 is applicable in this case and provides that:
A. If all or a part of a property tax has been paid on an erroneous assessment after such assessment is first verified by the county assessor and then verified by the department of revenue, the county board of supervisors shall direct the county treasurer to grant a refund to the taxpayer, to the extent of the erroneous tax paid pursuant to such erroneous assessment, after correcting the tax roll, provided the taxpayer submits a claim on a form approved by the department to the county treasurer within three years after the payment of such erroneous tax----
B. For the purposes of this section, an erroneous assessment is limited to a clerical or computational error or any other error not involving the exercise of discretion, opinion or judgment by the assessor or the department. This section does not apply to questions of valuation that can be appealed according to section 42-221 or 42-604....
A.R.S. § 11-506 (1991) (repealed by Laws 1994, Ch. 323, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996) (emphasis added).
A.R.S. section 11-506 “is intended to provide redress to an aggrieved taxpayer who discovers an obvious, indisputable and nondiscretionary error.” Ringier American v. Dept. of Revenue, 184 Ariz. 250, 255, 908 P.2d 64, 69 (App.1995).
That error must be “clear and indisputable.” Id. at 253, 908 P.2d at 67. Furthermore, “a special action under A.R.S. section 11-506 is only allowable when the assessment error is so obvious that the Department may easily verify it and issue a refund without the need for a formal appeal.” First Interstate Bank v. Dept. of Revenue, 185 Ariz. 433, 439, 916 P.2d 1149, 1155 (App.1995). This is not such an error.
In this case, there are numerous factual disputes regarding Westin’s taxable personal property on hand for the 1993 tax year. The County Assessor’s Office was unwilling to rely on Westin’s 82520’s and Westin is unable to provide an itemized list of its personal property. If there is an error, it is difficult to quantify. Based on calculations by Patent, Westin claims that “[b]oth the Taxing Authorities and taxpayer agree that the amount of the ‘erroneous assessment’ is $1,547,289.00.” The Taxing Authorities do not agree, however. The Taxing Authorities contend that these calculations were not intended to determine the amount of an error, but rather were meant to “dispute Appellant’s claims that the Form 82520’s submitted by it were a true and accurate reflection of the personal property owned by it for the tax years 1993 and 1994.” This is not a case where “the Department may easily verify [the error] and issue a refund.” First Interstate Bank, 185 Ariz. at 439, 916 P.2d at 1155. We therefore conclude that Westin is not entitled to relief under A.R.S. section 11-506.
2. Availability of Appeal
The Taxing Authorities argue, based on A.R.S. section 11-506(B), that the availability of appeal under A.R.S. sections 42-221 and 42-604 forecloses Westin’s claims under A.R.S. section 11-506. Westin disagrees, citing S & R Properties v. Maricopa County, 178 Ariz. 491, 875 P.2d 150 (App.1993) and Ringier American v. Dept. of Revenue, 184 Ariz. 250, 908 P.2d 64 (App.1995) to support its position.
In S & R Properties, this Court held that “failure to appeal in the current tax year” does not preclude “a refund for erroneous assessments.” 178 Ariz. at 500-01, 875 P.2d at 159-60. However, this is only true where “the taxpayer’s claim or the County’s own records reveal a clear and indisputable error.” Id. As we determined in the previous section, this case does not involve such an error.
Westin also cites Ringier American. In Ringier American, this Court stated that, based on the reasoning in S & R Properties, “we examine Ringier’s claim for sufficiency under § 11-506, notwithstanding that the claim could have been made by timely appeal.” 184 Ariz. at 253, 908 P.2d at 67. However, sufficiency under section 11-506 requires that the error be “clear and indisputable” so that “DOR may easily verify it and issue a refund.” Id. S & R Properties and Ringier American therefore only support Westin’s position if Westin can first show an “erroneous assessment” under A.R.S. section 11-506. It has not done so.
Furthermore, the holdings in S & R Properties and Ringier American relied on the version of A.R.S. section 11-506 in effect prior to 1991. The amended 1991 version expressly states that “[t]his section does not apply to questions of valuation that can be appealed according to section 42-221 or 42-604.” A.R.S § 11-506(B) (1991). Westin argues that because the 1993 assessment involves an “existence of property” question rather than a “question of valuation,” the 1991 language should not apply. We find this argument unpersuasive.
A.R.S. section 42-604 provides for “a change in the valuation” of a taxpayer’s property. A.R.S. § 42-604(B) (Supp.1996). Westin successfully appealed its 1994 assessment under A.R.S. section 42-604. Regardless of how Westin chooses to characterize the issue, the 1993 assessment was also capable of being “appealed according to section ... 42-604” within the meaning of A.R.S. section 11-506(B). Westin had an adequate remedy by appeal and we hold that its failure to take advantage of this opportunity forecloses recovery under A.R.S. section 11-506.
3. “Error” Under A.R.S. section 42-179
Westin also claims that the Tax Court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Taxing Authorities because Westin stated a claim under A.R.S. section 42-179. A.R.S. section 42-179(3)(e)(iv) (Supp.1996) provides that:
3. “Error” means any mistake in assessing or collecting property taxes resulting from:
(e) Subject to the requirements of § 42-179.04, subsection B, a valuation that is based on an error that is exclusively factual in nature or due to a specific legal restriction that affects the subject property and that is objectively verifiable without the exercise of discretion, opinion or judgment and is demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence, such as:
(iv) The existence or nonexistence of the property on the valuation date.
Westin failed to mention A.R.S section 42-179 in its original Complaint and did not subsequently amend the Complaint to include a claim under this statute. Westin’s first reference to A.R.S. section 42-179 is in its final Reply in Support of Cross-Motion for Partial Summary Judgment and Reply to Department of Revenue’s Response. Rule 4(a) Civil Motions, Uniform Rules of Practice (Supp.1996) requires that a reply “be directed only to matters raised in the answering memorandum.” Although the Tax Court did not expressly address this issue in its order granting summary judgment, a claim raised for the first time in a reply is waived. Cf. Ness v. Western Sec. Life Ins. Co., 174 Ariz. 497, 502, 851 P.2d 122, 127 (App.1992) (citing United Bank v. Mesa N.O. Nelson Co., 121 Ariz. 438, 443, 590 P.2d 1384, 1389 (1979) and Ariz.R.Civ.App.P. 13(c)). We further note that “[questions not raised in the trial court will not be considered on appeal.” Clark v. AiResearch Mfg. Co. of Ariz., Inc., 138 Ariz. 240, 244, 673 P.2d 984, 988 (App.1983) (citations omitted). Westin failed to adequately raise its A.R.S. section 42-179 claim in the Tax Court and we conclude that the issue is waived.
4. Violation of A.R.S. sections 42-204 and 42-236
Westin next contends that the County Assessor’s Office ignored its submitted Form 82520’s in violation of A.R.S. sections 42-204 and 42-236. Westin also claims that because the Taxing Authorities did not move for summary judgment on this issue, summary judgment should not have been granted in the Taxing Authorities’ favor.
A. Summary Judgment
Westin is only partially correct in its assertion that the Taxing Authorities did not move for summary judgment on-the sections 42-204 and 42-236 claim. The County’s Motion For Summary Judgment filed May 22, 1995 addresses Westin’s claim under A.R.S. section 42-204, but does not mention section 42-236. Westin states in its opening brief that “Appellant, however, did move for summary judgment on its claim that Appellees violated A.R.S. § 42-236.”
Arizona case law has long held that “a judgment on a motion for summary judgment may be either for or against the moving party, even though the opposing party has not filed such a motion.” Trimmer v. Ludtke, 105 Ariz. 260, 263, 462 P.2d 809, 812 (1969) (citing Market v. Transamerica Title Insurance Company, 103 Ariz. 353, 442 P.2d 97 (1968), overruled on other grounds by Burch & Cracchiolo, P.A. v. Pugliani, 144 Ariz. 281, 283, 697 P.2d 674, 676 (1985); Carpenter v. Superior Court, 101 Ariz. 565, 422 P.2d 129 (1966)). The Tax Court did not err by granting summary judgment for the Taxing Authorities on this point.
B. Westin’s Form 82520’s
Westin alleges that the Taxing Authorities violated A.R.S. sections 42-236 and 42-204 in relying on Patent’s audit and the general ledger accounts rather than using the 82520’s submitted by Westin. Westin points out that A.R.S. section 42-223(A) requires a taxpayer to provide a correct list of its property and that a failure to do so results in a penalty. A.R.S. section 42-236(B) requires the assessor to “make such investigation as necessary to insure that all property subject to property taxation in the county is properly included on the lists.” Westin argues that these two statutes interpreted together impose a duty on assessors to “obtain information from the taxpayer and act reasonably on the information obtained.” Specifically, Westin believes that because its 82520’s provided “an essentially correct list” of taxable personal property, the County Assessor could not “simply disregard” them.
Westin argues that “it was illegal and a breach of [the Assessor’s] statutory duties” to disregard the 82520’s. Because A.R.S. section 42-204(C) provides for a refund of “illegally collected” excess taxes, Westin contends that the Tax Court erred in denying its motion for summary judgment. We disagree.
As noted above, A.R.S. section 42-236(B) requires an assessor to investigate “to insure that all property subject to property taxation in the county is properly included on the lists.” Patent did so when she performed an audit. Contrary to the assertion that the Assessor was required to rely on Westin’s “essentially correct” 82520’s, an assessor has broad powers in determining whether to rely on taxpayer supplied lists. A.R.S. section 42-223(C), for example, states that “Every list filed with the assessor may be subject to audit.” In Ringier American v. Dept, of Revenue, this court recognized that “[t]he decision whether to audit ... and the information to be assessed during the audit all clearly involve the exercise of the Assessor’s discretion.” 184 ’Ariz. at 255, 908 P.2d at 69. In this case, the Assessor’s Office acted within its authority and we find no error.
5. Westin’s Constitutional Claims
Westin’s next argument concerns a claim that the Pima County Assessor’s Office violated the Equal Protection and Uniformity Clauses of the Arizona Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Additionally, Westin claims that the Tax Court erred in granting summary judgment for DOR on the constitutional issues.
A. Summary Judgment
Westin reiterates its earlier argument that the Tax Court erred in granting summary judgment for DOR because Westin moved for summary judgment on the constitutional claims and DOR did not. Neither the record, nor the law supports this assertion. In DOR’s Motion For Partial Summary Judgment filed May 15, 1995, DOR expressly mentions Westin’s Equal Protection and Uniformity Clause claims, and states that “Plaintiff has failed to allege any facts demonstrating that there has been an intentional and systematic discrimination in the application of the taxing laws.” However, regardless of whether DOR moved for summary judgment on the issue, the Tax Court had authority to grant summary judgment either for, or against, the moving party. Trimmer v. Ludtke, 105 Ariz. at 263, 462 P.2d at 812.
B. Constitutional Claims
Westin claims that Pima County routinely reduces property tax assessments for similarly-situated taxpayers based on their individual accounting policies. Westin contends that it has been treated differently in this respect because the Assessor’s Office refused to retroactively reduce its property tax assessment for 1993. As evidence, Westin offers the Affidavit of its tax representative, Michael Hellon. Hellon testified that “Pima County has made special allowances for the internal accounting practices of taxpayers in situations similar to Plaintiff’s, including, without limitation, Loews Ventana Canyon.”
In order to demonstrate a violation of the Uniformity Clause of the Arizona Constitution, Ariz. Const, art. 9, section 1, and the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, U.S. Const, amend XIV, “[t]he party claiming discrimination must show that the unequal assessments were the result of systematic and intentional conduct on the part of the assessing official and not mere errors in judgment.” Maricopa County v. North Central Dev. Co., 115 Ariz. 540, 543, 566 P.2d 688, 691 (App.1977). North Central does not address equal protection under the Arizona Constitution as provided for in article 2, section 13, however, “[t]he equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment and the state constitution have for all practical purposes the same effect.” Valley Nat. Bank of Phoenix v. Glover, 62 Ariz. 538, 554, 159 P.2d 292, 299 (1945); see also Lake Havasu City v. Mohave County, 138 Ariz. 552, 562, 675 P.2d 1371, 1381 (App.1983) (stating that both “the federal and state constitutions require equal assessment of taxes.” (citation omitted)). In this case, Westin provided no evidence that the Assessor denied it an adjustment routinely granted to other taxpayers in similar situations. For example, Hellon mentions Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, but no others. Hellon also admits that Loews Ventana Canyon has different internal accounting procedures. This testimony does not support the elements of Westin’s claim.
A motion for summary judgment should be granted where there is no “evidence creating a genuine issue of fact on the element in question.” Orme School v. Reeves, 166 Ariz. 301, 310, 802 P.2d 1000, 1009 (1990). If the undisputed facts are such that no reasonable jury could grant relief, then summary judgment is warranted. Id. Because the evidence presented by Westin is insufficient to support its constitutional claim, we affirm the Tax Court’s grant of summary judgment for DOR.
6. Sanctions
Westin next argues that the County’s Motion to Strike was a violation of Rule 11 of the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure and therefore the Tax Court should not have denied Westin’s Motion for Sanctions. Rule 11 provides in relevant part that:
The signature of an attorney or party constitutes a certificate by the signer that the signer has read the pleading, motion, or other paper; that to the best of the signer’s knowledge, information and belief formed after reasonable inquiry it is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law; and that it is not interposed for any improper purpose____ If a pleading, motion or other paper is signed in violation of this rule, the court ... shall impose ... an appropriate sanction____
Ariz.R.Civ.P. 11(a) (Supp.1996).
The County’s Motion to Strike was based on the fact that Hellon’s fee was contingent on the outcome of this case, and in a similar vein, on the assertion that his credibility was suspect. Westin cites the Arizona Rules of Evidence to support an assertion that testimony cannot be precluded merely because the witness has a contingency fee arrangement. Westin argues that therefore the County’s motion was contrary to law and, because the County did not indicate that it was seeking to change or modify the law, the County violated Rule 11, thus requiring the court to impose sanctions.
Contrary to Westin’s assertion, Arizona case law provides a basis for the County’s Motion. In Laos v. Soble, 18 ArizApp. 502, 503, 503 P.2d 978, 979 (1972), this Court held that:
We are of the opinion, and so hold, that a contract providing for compensation of a witness contingent on the success of the litigation is subversive of public justice for the reason that his evidence may be improperly influenced. Public policy considerations brand such contract illegal.
Accordingly, we find no violation of Rule 11 and affirm the Tax Court’s denial of sanctions.
7. Attorneys’ Fees
Westin requests attorneys’ fees pursuant to A.R.S. sections 12-2030(A) (Supp.1996) and 12-348 (1992), statutes which require the requesting party to prevail on the merits of the claim. Westin has not done so and we deny its request for attorneys’ fees.
IV.
The judgments of the Tax Court are affirmed.
GERBER and EHRLICH, JJ., concur.
. When referred to as a unit in this Opinion, the State of Arizona Department of Revenue and Pima County are designated “the Taxing Authorities.”
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NOYES, Judge.
Christina Acker (“Appellant”) appeals from the trial court’s sua sponte, pre-serviceof-proeess dismissal of her informa pawperis civil action. Appellant’s complaint alleges that prison officials violated their policies and her constitutional rights by denying her any phone contact with members of her family, all of whom reside out of state. Appellant pursued administrative remedies without success, then filed this complaint. Rather than allow the complaint to be served, the trial court dismissed it with this minute entry:
The Court having received an Application for Deferral/Waiver of Fees, having reviewed the file in this matter, and good cause appearing,
IT IS ORDERED, on the Court’s own motion, dismissing the Complaint pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6), A.R.Civ.P., as the Complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
Appellant filed a notice of appeal. Because no Defendant has been served with the complaint, Appellant is the only party to the appeal. We conclude that the trial court lacked express authority to dismiss the complaint on the stated grounds. We also conclude that the dismissal cannot be affirmed as an exercise of inherent authority because the trial court neither invoked that authority nor made any record to support its use of that authority.
Express Authority
Appellant is a state-prison inmate who seeks access to the civil courts pursuant to the informa pauperis privilege accorded by Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated (“A.R.S.”) sections 12-302 and 306(C) (Supp. 1996). These statutes, with few exceptions (i.e., eases of dissolution of marriage and child support), now hold inmates “responsible for the full payment of actual court costs.” A.R.S. § 12-306(C). These costs are assessed against the inmate’s prison account until paid in full. Id. Twenty percent of all deposits into the inmate’s account are withheld to pay outstanding court costs. Id. An inmate, however, cannot be denied access to the courts if funds are not immediately available. Id.; see also A.R.S. § 12-302(B).
The Arizona legislature has also decreed that in forma pauperis inmate-litigants be punished for specified behaviors:
A prisoner shall forfeit five days of the prisoner’s earned release credits if the court finds or a disciplinary hearing held after a review by and recommendations from the attorney general’s office determines that a prisoner does any of the following:
1. Brings a claim without substantial justification.
2. Unreasonably expands or delays a proceeding.
3. Testifies falsely or otherwise presents false information or material to the court.
4. Submits a claim that is intended solely to harass the party filed against.
A.R.S. § 41-1604.10(E) (Supp.1996) (for felonies committed before January 1, 1994); A.R.S. § 41-1604.07(G) (Supp.1996) (thereafter).
No Arizona statute authorizes the trial court to issue a sua sponte dismissal of an in forma pauperis action (or any other action) on grounds that it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In contrast, we now discuss the federal statutes, which do authorize such dismissals.
“The federal in forma pauperis statute, enacted in 1892 and presently codified as 28 U.S.C. § 1915, is designed to ensure that indigent litigants have meaningful access to the federal courts.” Neitzke v. Williams, 490 U.S. 319, 324, 109 S.Ct. 1827, 1831, 104 L.Ed.2d 338 (1989) (citing Adkins v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 342-43, 69 S.Ct. 85, 90-91, 93 L.Ed. 43 (1948)). Prior to 1996, the federal statute permitted sua sponte dismissal of inmate civil litigation only if the allegation of poverty was untrue or if the action was “frivolous or malicious.” 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) (1994). A complaint is “frivolous” where it “lacks an arguable basis either in law or fact.” Neitzke, 490 U.S. at 325, 109 S.Ct. at 1831-32. A complaint which fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted is “not automatically frivolous within the meaning of § 1915(d).” Id. at 331, 109 S.Ct. at 1834.
In 1996, Congress amended the federal in forma pauperis statute to mandate sua sponte dismissal of an action which fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted:
(2) Notwithstanding any filing fee, or any portion thereof, that may have been paid, the court shall dismiss the case at any time if the court determines that—
(A) the allegation of poverty is untrue;
or
(B) the action or appeal—
(i) is frivolous or malicious;
(ii) fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted; or
(iii) seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.
28 U.S.C. § 1915(e) (1996). A related federal statute provides:
(a) Screening. — The court shall review, before docketing, if feasible or, in any event, as soon as practicable after docketing, a complaint in a civil action in which a prisoner seeks redress from a governmental entity or officer or employee of a governmental entity.
(b) Grounds for dismissal. — On review, the court shall identify cognizable claims or dismiss the complaint, or any portion of the complaint, if the complaint—
(1) is frivolous, malicious, or fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted; or
(2) seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief.
28 U.S.C. § 1915A (1996).
A sua sponte dismissal like that ordered by the trial court here is authorized — mandated — by the federal in forma pauperis statutes but it is not authorized by the Arizona statutes. Because the trial court derives its authority from Arizona rather than federal statutes, its sua sponte dismissal on the stated grounds was in excess of any express authority and can be affirmed only if it was a proper exercise of inherent authority.
Inherent Authority
A court’s inherent authority “may be defined as such powers' as are necessary to the ordinary and efficient exercise of jurisdiction.” State v. Superior Court, 39 Ariz. 242, 247-48, 5 P.2d 192, 194 (1931) (citation omitted). We recently referred to the trial court’s “inherent screening power” and its “inherent power to dismiss facially invalid claims” in post-conviction relief proceedings. State v. Curtis, 185 Ariz. 112, 114-15, 912 P.2d 1341, 1343-44 (App.1995) (affirming sua sponte dismissal of a petition for post-conviction relief which contained “obviously precluded” claims). In the in forma pauperis context, however, the court’s “inherent screening power” has generally not been used to summarily clear the docket of complaints which fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; it has generally been used to get control of inmates who have proven themselves to be abusers of the in forma pauperis privilege by filing frivolous actions.
Inmates have a constitutional right of access to the courts, Bounds v. Smith, 430 U.S. 817, 821, 97 S.Ct. 1491, 1492-93, 52 L.Ed.2d 72 (1977), but
[s]ome inmates ... seize on the court’s openness and pervert it for purposes that have little to do with obtaining justice____ The filing excesses of these relatively few inmates interferes with the orderly administration of justice____ A federal court has both the inherent power and the constitutional obligation to protect its jurisdiction from conduct that impairs its ability to carry out Article III functions.
Jones v. Warden of Stateville Correctional Center, 918 F.Supp. 1142, 1152 (N.D.Ill.1995) (citations omitted).
A court’s inherent authority is largely unwritten; appellate affirmation of an exercise of that authority ordinarily is grounded on trial court findings and conclusions which explain its actions. In Jones, for example, the court made detailed findings to explain its conclusion that the inmate’s access to the courts had to be severely curtailed because he had proven himself to be a “recreational litigant” who “repeatedly and flagrantly abused the judicial process by inundating the courts with frivolous and repetitive lawsuits.” Id. at 1153, 1156. Similarly, the Curtis trial court explained that petitioner was precluded from raising claims in a second petition which he had thoroughly litigated in a previous petition. 185 Ariz. at 114, 912 P.2d at 1343.
If only from our own docket, we know that Appellant files many lawsuits. But her other filings are irrelevant here because the dismissal was based only on the complaint in this case — a complaint which the trial court did not find to be frivolous. Because the trial court neither invoked its inherent authority nor made any findings that would justify its use of that authority, the dismissal cannot be affirmed as an exercise of inherent authority.
Sua Sponte Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissals
In this section, we explain why we discourage sua sponte Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals. As relevant here, Rule 12(b), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, provides as follows:
Every defense, in law or in fact, to a claim for relief in any pleading ... shall be asserted in the responsive pleading thereto if one is required, except that the following defenses may at the option of the pleader be made by motion:
6. Failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.
A motion making any of these defenses shall be made before pleading if a further pleading is permitted____ If, on a motion asserting the defense numbered 6 to dismiss for failure of the pleading to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.
We express no opinion on whether Appellant’s complaint might survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss after defendants are served with it. The question will then be asked why the trial court should have to allow service of a complaint which appears doomed to dismissal as soon as defendants file a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. We answer that question by first noting that motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim are not favored in Arizona. Folk v. City of Phoenix, 27 Ariz.App. 146, 151, 551 P.2d 595, 600 (1976). A court should not grant such a motion unless it appears certain that the plaintiff would not be entitled to relief under any state of facts susceptible of proof under the claim stated. Id. (citations omitted). In our review of a motion to dismiss, we must accept all material facts alleged by the non-moving party as true. Lakin Cattle Co. v. Engelthaler, 101 Ariz. 282, 284, 419 P.2d 66, 68 (1966) (citations omitted). Before a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss is granted, the non-moving party should be given an opportunity to amend the complaint if such an amendment will cure its defects. Sun World Corp. v. Pennysaver, Inc., 130 Ariz. 585, 589, 637 P.2d 1088, 1092 (App.1981) (citing In re Cassidy’s Estate, 77 Ariz. 288, 270 P.2d 1079 (1954)). Because no Arizona case discusses sua sponte Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals, we again look to federal precedent.
Sua sponte dismissals of in forma pauper-is actions were (until the 1996 amendment of the federal statutes) disapproved in the federal system unless preceded by “proper pro cedural steps,” which were described as follows:
A district court may dismiss an action on its own motion for failure to state a claim, but only after the court takes the proper procedural steps. The court must permit issuance and service of process as required by Fed.R.Civ.P. 4(a) and the court must notify the plaintiff of the proposed action and afford him an opportunity to submit written argument in opposition. In addition, the court must give a statement of the reasons for the dismissal, and an opportunity to amend unless the complaint is clearly deficient.
Franklin v. Oregon State Welfare Division (“Franklin I”), 662 F.2d 1337, 1340-41 (9th Cir.1981) (citations omitted); see also Jackson v. Arizona, 885 F.2d 639, 640 (9th Cir. 1989) and Wong v. Bell, 642 F.2d 359, 361-62 (9th Cir.1981). The rationale for disapproval of sua sponte Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals was that:
[T]he procedure (1) eliminates the traditional adversarial relationship; (2) causes inefficiencies in the judicial process as a whole; and (3) may give the appearance that the judiciary is a proponent rather than an independent entity.
Franklin I, 662 F.2d at 1341-42.
Another reason to discourage sua sponte Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals is that any appeal is nonadversarial; the appellant is the only party before us. Such one-party practice “often leads to a shuttling of the lawsuit between the [trial] and appellate courts.” Lewis v. New York, 547 F.2d 4, 6 (2d Cir.1976).
We do not know how the Franklin I principles will be applied in the federal system now that 18 U.S.C. § 1915 mandates sua sponte Rule 12(b)(6) dismissals in certain instances, but we find those principles to provide good guidance for informa pauperis statutes such as presently exist in Arizona. We do not hold that an Arizona trial court can never order a sua sponte Rule (12)(b)(6) dismissal. We do hold that, before the trial court orders such a dismissal of an in forma pauperis complaint, it should follow the Franklin I “proper procedural steps.” Likewise, if the trial court, on its own motion, dismisses an in forma pauperis action by invoking its inherent authority to dismiss frivolous actions, it should make findings which explain its action.
The judgment of dismissal is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
FIDEL, J., and SKELLY, J., Pro Tempore.
|
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OPINION
THOMPSON, Judge.
Danny A. Moran (Moran) and Helen M. Braun (Braun) attempted to marry under the terms of a private marriage contract rather than by obtaining a marriage license. Moran asserts that the license requirement violates his religious beliefs and thus is unconstitutional. We hold that the license requirement is valid because it does not substantially burden Moran’s religious beliefs and that the parties’ purported marriage is invalid because they did not obtain the required marriage license.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In March 1992, Moran and Braun entered into a contract entitled “Marriage Contract.” The contract provided that it was irrevocable and based on “the Divine Law of Yahweh, as revealed in Holy Scripture.” Also contained in the contract is the statement that the agreement “is not subject to any statute, rule, regulation, or policy of man, in any jurisdiction whatsoever, if said statute, rule, regulation, or policy is contrary to the Principles of Divine Law. Nor are any of its provisions voidable or challengeable in any court in any jurisdiction.”
In the agreement, Moran and Braun contracted to enter into “the state of Holy Matrimony, recognizing the Divine Law of Yahweh as the sole authority for creating and regulating the role and status of Husband and Wife.” The remainder of the contract reads:
The Marriage shall be structured according to the Patriarchal Laws of Holy Scripture, and the Authority, Responsibility, and Headship of the Husband shall not, and cannot, be challenged or otherwise interfered with by any civil authority. Any issue of the Marriage shall not be under any form of disability, conventional, legal, or otherwise, to any civil government; shall owe its existence solely to Yahweh; shall, under the Divine Law of Headship, be subject only to the Husband/Father in temporal matters; and cannot be compelled to contract into any form of civil servitude repugnant to and violative of said Divine Law.
All forms of civil law relevant to Marriage and Family not in conformance with the Principles of the Divine Law of Yahweh are specifically repudiated, and the parties declare them to be non-binding and unenforceable upon this union.
The contract includes “Vows of Union,” which Moran and Braun signed before a notary public; the vows are much like traditional wedding vows. The union was solemnized on April 5, 1992, in a religious ceremony with family and friends in attendance. The contract was recorded in the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office on September 24, 1993.
On September 14, 1993, a daughter was born to the couple. Between November 1993, and February 1994, Braun periodically left Moran, taking the child with her, but then returned to Moran. Braun initiated at least five such temporary separations. In January 1995, Braun again left Moran. Moran filed both domestic relations and juvenile actions seeking to obtain custody of his daughter. Braun filed a petition seeking a protective order. On February 9,1995, Moran filed the declaratory judgment action that is the subject of this appeal. He sought a judgment declaring that (1) the marriage contract was valid and enforceable, any Arizona statute to the contrary notwithstanding, (2) a valid marriage existed between Moran and Braun, (3) Braun had breached the contract and was not allowed to remove the child from Moran’s custody without his consent, (4) Braun must return the child to Moran, (5) Moran was the sole and lawful custodian of the child, and (6) Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (A.R.S.) § 25-111 et seq. is constitutionally invalid as applied to the facts of the case.
Braun failed to file an answer to the complaint, and Moran applied for an entry of default. Default was entered on March 15, 1995. Moran subsequently moved for a default judgment. He argued that the marriage contract created a legal and lawful marriage and that A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121 are invalid, as applied to his marriage contract, because the requirement of a marriage license interfered with his free exercise of his constitutionally-protected religious freedoms, impaired the obligations of contract, and violated equal protection of the law. He pointed out that the consequence of invalidity of the marriage contract due to the state requirement would be that he would not be presumed to be his child’s father.
Braun filed an answer to the complaint in June 1995. She also moved to set aside the entry of default.
After hearing oral argument on the motion for a default judgment, the trial court found and declared that the purported marriage of Moran and Braun was entered into without the issuance of a marriage license as required by A.R.S. § 25-111 and therefore was not a valid marriage. The court further declared that the contract between the parties was not enforceable as a marriage contract nor could it control the custody of the child of the parties. Because, as a matter of law, the court could not grant the declaratory relief sought by Moran, it ruled that Braun’s motion to set aside the entry of default was moot. The court also denied as moot Braun’s petition for temporary orders regarding custody and support because the paternity of Moran had not yet been established.
Moran filed a timely notice of appeal from the judgment. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-210KB).
DISCUSSION
A. Validity of A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121
Moran argues that A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121 are invalid because they unduly burden his exercise of his religion. He states that his belief is that he must obey Yahweh (God) rather than men.. According to Moran, the marriage license requirement is the state’s attempt to replace his God with a statutory scheme such that if he has to comply with the statutory scheme he will be forced to put another god before his God. He contends that the license requirement is invalid under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb (RFRA); Article 1, § 10, clause 1 of the United States Constitution; and the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.
The requirements for a valid marriage in Arizona are set forth at A.R.S. § 25 — 111(B):
B. A marriage contracted within this state is not valid unless:
1. A license is issued as provided in this title, and
2. The marriage is solemnized by a person authorized by law to solemnize marriages, or by a person purporting to act in such capacity and believed in good faith by at least one of the parties to be so authorized.
Additionally, A.R.S. § 25-121(A) provides:
No persons shall be joined in marriage within this state until a license has been obtained for that purpose from the clerk of the superior court in any county of this state.
As set forth by these statutes, both a marriage license and a solemnization ceremony before an authorized person are required for a marriage contracted within Arizona to be valid. See Gamez v. Industrial Comm’n, 114 Ariz. 179, 181-82, 559 P.2d 1094, 1096-97 (App.1976); In re Trigg’s Estate, 3 Ariz.App. 385, 387, 414 P.2d 988, 990 (1966), aff'd, 102 Ariz. 140, 426 P.2d 637 (1967). Therefore, because there is no dispute that Moran and Braun did not obtain a marriage license as required by A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121, their purported marriage, notwithstanding their private “marriage contract,” is not valid.
Relying on Meister v. Moore, 96 U.S. (6 Otto) 76, 24 L.Ed. 826 (1877), Moran argues that A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121 are directory and not mandatory. He contends that the Meister court ruled that absent a statute specifically rendering certain marriages void, statutes requiring the issuance of a marriage license must be construed as directory rather than mandatory. Moran misreads Meister. The Court there stated:
A statute may declare that no marriages shall be valid unless they are solemnized in a prescribed manner; but such enactment is a very different thing from a law requiring all marriages to be entered into in the presence of a magistrate or a clergyman, or that it be preceded by a license, or publication of banns, or be attested by witnesses. Such formal provisions may be construed as merely directory____
Thus, the Court indicated that a statute that declares that a marriage is not valid unless certain requirements occur is mandatory. Section 25-111 contains this mandatory language.
Because application of A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121(A) means that Moran and Braun are not legally married, we examine whether this statute violates Moran’s right to exercise his religion. We conclude that the statutory requirement of obtaining a marriage license does not violate either the constitutional or federal statutory protections of Moran’s right to practice his religious beliefs.
We start our analysis by considering the state’s interest in marriage. Marriage is a basic civil right, and the freedom to marry is recognized as a fundamental right within the protective ambit of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Nelson v. Minner, 604 F.Supp. 590, 592 (S.D.Iowa 1985), aff'd, 786 F.2d 1172 (8th Cir.1986); Boynton v. Kusper, 112 Ill.2d 356, 98 Ill.Dec. 208, 213, 494 N.E.2d 135, 140 (1986) (citing Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1, 12, 87 S.Ct. 1817, 1823, 18 L.Ed.2d 1010 (1967)). Nevertheless, the state is also vitally concerned with the establishment of marriages because marriage is a relationship in which “the public is deeply interested, for it is the foundation of the family and of society, without which there would be neither civilization nor progress.” Nelson, 604 F.Supp. at 593 (quoting Maynard v. Hill, 125 U.S. 190, 211, 8 S.Ct. 723, 729, 31 L.Ed. 654 (1888)). The licensing and performance of marriage and the rights, duties and obligations derived from marriage are of paramount importance to the state and are subject to its control. Rubino v. City of New York, 125 Misc.2d 936, 480 N.Y.S.2d 971, 972 (Sup.1984).
It is well-established that states have the power to determine how its residents may enter into marriage. United States v. Seay, 718 F.2d 1279 (4th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 467 U.S. 1226, 104 S.Ct. 2677, 81 L.Ed.2d 873 (1984). See also In re Guardianship of Mikulanec, 356 N.W.2d 683, 689 (Minn.1984) (marriage is “a social relationship subject to the state’s police powers”). Accordingly, “Reasonable regulations that do not significantly interfere with decisions to enter into the marital relationship may legitimately be imposed.” Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374, 386, 98 S.Ct. 673, 681, 54 L.Ed.2d 618 (1978). See also Califano v. Jobst, 434 U.S. 47, 53, 98 S.Ct. 95, 99, 54 L.Ed.2d 228 (1977); Nicpon by Urbanski v. Nicpon, 145 Ill.App.3d 464, 99 Ill.Dec. 458, 461, 495 N.E.2d 1193, 1196 (1986). Among the matters the state may control are the forms and procedures necessary to solemnize marriages. Nelson, 604 F.Supp. at 592.
Arizona has codified its procedures necessary to form legal marriages at A.R.S. § 25-111. Only two procedural steps are required — obtaining a marriage license and solemnizing the marriage by a person authorized to do so. Moran challenges only the marriage license requirement.
A court may determine whether a state act imposes a substantial burden on an individual’s exercise of religion. See Fordham Univ. v. Brown, 856 F.Supp. 684, 697 (D.D.C.1994) (regulations prohibiting federal funding of telecommunication equipment for sectarian programming did not burden free exercise of religion, much less substantially burden it). We conclude that Arizona’s marriage license requirement does not substantially burden Moran’s free exercise of his religion.
Moran has not shown that obtaining a marriage license from the state conflicts with any of his religious beliefs. He says that the law of marriage he invokes is the superior law of “the Divine Creator and Legislator of the Universe” and that he is absolutely bound to follow and obey that law; however, he does not say how obtaining a marriage license interferes with following that law.
He does contend that the requirement for obtaining the state’s permission to marry elevates the state to the status of a creator. We note, however, that Moran incorrectly characterizes the issuance of a marriage license as the state’s “permission” to marry because “permission” implies consent to a person’s choice of a mate and circumstances of the marriage. The only statutory instances in which the state can be said to permit or not permit marriages is for marriages between certain blood relatives as prohibited by A.R.S. § 25-101 and for marriages involving persons under eighteen years of age which require parental consent pursuant to A.R.S. § 25-102. These statutes do not affect Moran and are not at issue in this appeal. In issuing marriage licenses, the state “permits” all marriages except where the parties are close blood relatives or where one or both are minors and they lack parental consent. We fail to see how this sort of “permission” would elevate the state to the status of Moran’s creator.
Furthermore, obtaining a marriage license would not infringe on Moran’s ability to solemnize the marriage in a religious ceremony or to observe his religious beliefs within the marriage. He would be free to enter into a premarital agreement that would comport with his religious beliefs as long as the agreement was not unconscionable. See A.R.S. § 25-201(A) (“Parties intending to marry may enter into agreements not contrary to good morals or law.”); Williams v. Williams, 166 Ariz. 260, 262, 801 P.2d 495, 497 (App.1990) (antenuptial agreements are enforceable if they do not violate public policy). Thus, the requirement to obtain a marriage license to form a valid marriage does not conflict with Moran’s ability to exercise his religious beliefs.
Moran argues that for A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121 to be valid, the state must show that it has a compelling governmental interest in requiring a marriage license as a condition for a valid marriage. He notes that the state, which did not appear in the action, has made no such showing.
As discussed above, we find that the marriage license requirement does not substantially burden Moran’s exercise of his religion. The “compelling governmental interest” test is applied under RFRA only if the government has substantially burdened a person’s exercise of religion, and the government wishes to attempt to justify its action. See 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-l. Because Moran has not met this threshold showing of substantial burden, we need not consider whether a compelling governmental interest is present.
Moran also argues that application of A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121 to invalidate his marriage burdens his religious beliefs concerning his custody of his child. If he was not married to Braun when their child was bom, he must establish his paternity before he can petition for custody of or visitation with the child. Moran asserts that he cannot pursue a paternity action without denying the validity of his marriage, which would require him to violate his belief that the marriage is valid under the tenets of his religion.
We conclude that Moran has no such dilemma. As the trial court wisely pointed out to him at oral argument, once the court declared the marriage invalid, Moran could file his paternity action based on the court’s declaration that the marriage is invalid; he would not have to say that he believes the marriage is invalid. Therefore, Moran is not forced by the state to personally deny the validity of his marriage in order to establish paternity and seek custody of his child.
B. Enforceability of the Contract
Moran seems to argue that even if A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121 are valid, the contract between him and Braun is nevertheless enforceable. We disagree.
As noted above, Moran and Braun were not married because they did not obtain a marriage license. Therefore, their private marriage contract did not establish a marriage, and any terms of the contract relating to the establishment of a marriage are unenforceable. Likewise, any rights given to Moran arising out of the purported marital relationship cannot be enforced.
The other portions of the contract that Moran would like to enforce give him custody of the parties’ child. Those terms are also unenforceable. The state may intrude into the parent-child relationship due to the state’s interest in the future well-being of minor children residing in this state. Appeal in Pima County Juvenile Action No. J— 77188, 139 Ariz. 389, 392, 678 P.2d 970, 973 (App.1983). Thus, parents cannot bind the court by their agreements concerning custody. Solomon v. Solomon, 5 Ariz.App. 352, 355, 427 P.2d 156, 159 (1967). Accordingly, Moran and Braun could not by their agreement determine the custody of their child, particularly where Braun disputes the agreement, the paternity of Moran is not legally established, and the matter went before the court.
In sum, the provisions of the parties’ marriage contract are unenforceable.
C. Default Judgment
Moran argues that the trial court should have granted him a default judgment because default was entered against Braun, and she did not show good cause for failing to timely answer the complaint. We conclude that the trial court was correct in refusing to enter judgment for Moran, despite the entry of default, because Moran was not legally entitled to the declaratory judgment he sought.
An entry of default establishes as proven all well-pleaded facts. Southern Arizona School for Boys, Inc. v. Chery, 119 Ariz. 277, 281, 580 P.2d 738, 742 (App.1978). However, the defendant is not held to have admitted conclusions of law. Id. at 281-82, 580 P.2d at 742-43. In exercising discretion as to the entry of a default judgment, the court may consider the merits of the plaintiffs substantive claims. Eitel v. McCool, 782 F.2d 1470, 1471 (9th Cir.1986). If the substantive claims lack merit, the trial court does not abuse its discretion in declining to enter a default judgment. Aldabe v. Aldabe, 616 F.2d 1089, 1092-93 (9th Cir.1980).
The entry of default against Braun operated as an admission of the facts pled by Moran. However, the declaratory relief sought by Moran also involved the interpretation and application of statutory law, specifically A.R.S. §§ 25-111 and 25-121. Entry of default did not entitle Moran to an application of the law that was contrary to the law. In other words, even though default had been entered, the trial court could not have declared that the parties’ marriage contract formed a valid marriage where such a declaration would clearly be contrary to Arizona law. Accordingly, the court correctly declined to enter the declaratory judgment sought by Moran, entered judgment that the purported marriage was invalid, and determined that Braun’s motion to set aside the entry of default was moot.
D. The State as a Party
Moran argues that the state and/or attorney general did not have to be named as a party in his declaratory judgment action. He notes that the trial court stated in oral argument that in order for Moran to obtain declaratory relief concerning the constitutionality of a statute, he was required to name the state as a party.
The court did make that statement in oral argument, but it did not make any such finding or ruling in its judgment nor did it base its denial of the declaratory judgment sought by Moran on the fact that the state was not a party to the action. Therefore, we need not consider this issue.
E. Admissibility of Videotape of Ceremony
As his final issue, Moran argues that the trial court erred in refusing to admit into evidence a videotape of the religious ceremony that solemnized the marriage of Moran and Braun. We disagree. Whether the marriage was solemnized was not an issue at the oral argument at which the videotape was offered. The issue was whether the parties’ failure to obtain a marriage license invalidated their purported marriage. Accordingly, the videotape was irrelevant, and the trial court did not err in precluding its admission.
CONCLUSION
The marriage of Moran and Braun is invalid, and Moran must prove his paternity be fore he can petition for custody of or visitation with the child. We affirm.
GERBER, P.J., and VOSS, J., concur.
. Moran's complaint named as defendants Braun and Michael Doyle. Doyle had been appointed by the juvenile court as guardian ad litem for the child in the juvenile court action. In addition to the declaratory relief sought, Moran asked for an order permanently enjoining Braun and Doyle from interfering with Moran’s custody of the child. The court dismissed Doyle from the action, and he is not a party to this appeal.
. We do note, however, that the state might regulate a person’s observance of religious beliefs in a marriage if those beliefs led to acts that violated criminal or civil laws. Despite the constitutional right to believe in any religious doctrine, the right to act upon or exercise those beliefs is not absolute. Rubino, 480 N.Y.S.2d at 972. "The very concept of ordered liberty precludes allowing every person to make his own standards on matters of conduct in which society as a whole has important interests.” Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 215-16, 92 S.Ct. 1526, 1533, 32 L.Ed.2d 15 (1972).
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OPINION
VOSS, Presiding Judge.
This is a consolidated appeal from three separate cases filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Appellants each filed a complaint against the State of Arizona, the Arizona Department of Insurance, and Susan Gallinger, Director of Insurance of the State of Arizona, alleging that each appellee failed to properly supervise and regulate AMS Life Insurance Company (AMS). Specifically, appellants allege that appellees approved an application submitted by AMS to redomesticate to Arizona at a time when appellees knew AMS was not qualified to write insurance under the laws of Arizona; that appellees approved AMS’s annual request for renewal of its certificate of authority when AMS did not meet Arizona’s statutory requirements; and that appellees were grossly negligent in licensing and regulating AMS. Appellants further contend that these failures caused them economic harm when AMS went into receivership.
In each of the three actions, the trial court granted appellees’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim on the ground that appellees were entitled to absolute immunity under Arizona Revised Statutes Annotated section (A.R.S. § ) 12-820.01.
DISCUSSION
When reviewing a trial court’s dismissal for failure to state a claim, we must assume that all allegations of the claim are true. Jung v. City of Phoenix, 160 Ariz. 35, 35-36, 770 P.2d 339, 339-40 (App.1987), modified, 160 Ariz. 38, 770 P.2d 342 (1989). We will uphold the dismissal only if plaintiff “would not be entitled to relief under any facts susceptible of proof in the stated claim.” Menendez v. Paddock Pool Constr. Co., 172 Ariz. 258, 261, 836 P.2d 968, 971 (App.1991). Whether defendants are entitled to immunity is a question of law which this court reviews de novo. Carroll v. Robinson, 178 Ariz. 453, 456, 874 P.2d 1010, 1013 (App.1994).
The only issue on appeal is whether the appellees are entitled to absolute immunity under A.R.S. § 12-820.01. We find they are.
In Stone v. Arizona Highway Comm’n, 93 Ariz. 384, 392, 381 P.2d 107, 112 (1963), the Arizona Supreme Court reversed the prior common law and abolished governmental immunity. The supreme court revisited its Stone decision in Ryan v. State, 134 Ariz. 308, 656 P.2d 597 (1982). In Ryan, the court acknowledged that a total abolition of governmental immunity was not a workable solution and that some areas of immunity must remain. Id. at 310, 656 P.2d at 599. The court stated that immunity should be recognized for judicial and legislative functions but had difficulty defining the appropriate scope of immunity for executive functions. Id. at 310-11, 656 P.2d at 599-600. The court recognized that an ad hoc approach was the most appropriate way to determine immunity for executive functions. Id. at 310, 656 P.2d at 599. The court invited the legislature to intervene in the development of governmental immunity by defining which executive functions should be entitled to immunity. Id. at 310, 656 P.2d at 599.
The legislature responded by enacting immunity statutes in 1984. See A.R.S. §§ 12-820 to 12-820.05. The statutes alter the existing law of governmental immunity only “as specifically provided in this article.” A.R.S. § 12-820.05(A). Therefore, for governmental immunity to apply, the conduct must be within a specific statutory exception to the rule of governmental liability. Such is the ease here.
A.R.S. § 12-820.01 provides absolute immunity for certain governmental functions. Absolute immunity is provided for the exercise of judicial or legislative functions and the exercise of administrative functions “involving the determination of fundamental governmental policy.” A.R.S. § 12-820.01(A). The statute does not define what functions involve the determination of fundamental governmental policy other than to say that the function must involve the exercise of discretion. A.R.S. § 12-820.0KB). Therefore, to be entitled to absolute immunity under A.R.S. § 12 — 820.01(A)(2), a governmental function must involve both the determination of fundamental governmental policy and the exercise of discretion.
We first observe that the licensing and regulation of insurance involves the exercise of substantial discretion. The language of A.R.S. Title 20 gives the Director of Insurance and the Department of Insurance discretion throughout the licensing and regulatory scheme. For example, the Director of Insurance has discretion to specify standards for the valuation of an insurer’s reserves, A.R.S. § 20-510(C)(2)(c) (Supp.1995), may accept an insurer’s calculation of reserves, A.R.S. § 20-510(B), may require an insurer to submit statistical and financial data, A.R.S. § 20-235(C), may conduct investigations deemed proper to determine whether a person has violated any portion of A.R.S. Title 20, A.R.S. § 20-142(C), and may hold hearings for any purpose deemed necessary, A.R.S. § 20-161(A). Additionally, the courts of other states have recognized that the exercise of discretion permeates the regulation of insurance companies. Alias Smith & Jones, Inc. v. Barnes, 695 P.2d 302, 306 (Colo.App. 1984); Hatcher v. Haupert, 655 N.E.2d 1229, 1232 (Ind.App.1995); Gerber v. Commissioner of Ins., 242 Mont. 369, 786 P.2d 1199, 1200 (1990); Zuber v. Department of Ins., 34 Ohio App.3d 42, 516 N.E.2d 244, 247 (1986); First Nat’l Bank v. Pennsylvania, 102 Pa.Cmwlth. 474, 518 A.2d 871, 873 (1986).
However, a finding of discretion, alone, is not sufficient to provide absolute immunity. The act must also include the determination of fundamental governmental policy. The statutory language provides courts with little guidance in making this determination.
The history of A.R.S. § 12-820.01 likewise provides little direct guidance for the determination of what constitutes determination of fundamental governmental policy. The language of A.R.S. § 12-820.01 was patterned after Restatement (Second) of Torts § 895B. The comments to the Restatement note that the rule “expresses a standard rather than a precise rule and does little more than to offer guidelines for a court.” Restatement (Second) of Torts § 895B cmt. d. The commission that drafted A.R.S. § 12-820.01 expressed an intent to allow courts to make case-by-case determinations of whether absolute immunity applies to specific administrative functions. In its report, the commission states that it is necessary that situations involving the determination of fundamental governmental policy “be identified by the courts as they arise.” Governor’s Commission on Governmental Tort Liability, Arizona Governmental Tort Claims Act, at 11-12 (filed Dec. 16, 1983). The commission further stated that the “purpose of the immunity is ‘to insure that courts refuse to pass judgment on policy decisions in the province of coordinate branches of government’ ” where the policy decision involves “consciously balancing risks and advantages.” Id. at 12 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Torts § 895B cmt. d). The courts should avoid making “a policy decision that is better left to the administrative officials.” Id.
The administrative acts in this case involve policy decisions that should be reserved for administrative officials. The decision to license a particular insurance company entails considerably more than a low-level bureaucratic determination that the company meets a list of static requirements. Instead, the decision requires reliance upon the judgment and expertise of administrative officials to determine whether the applicant company is fit to conduct business in Arizona. This is the precise type of policy decision that courts should leave to administrative officials.
The legislature provides additional guidance by providing examples of administrative functions that involve the determination of fundamental governmental policy. Evenstad v. State, 178 Ariz. 578, 588, 875 P.2d 811, 816 (App.1993). A.R.S. § 12-820.01(B) provides a list of government functions that the legislature has determined, by definition, involve the determination of fundamental governmental policy. Bird v. State, 170 Ariz. 20, 23, 821 P.2d 287, 290 (App.1991). The language of the statute specifically notes that this list is not exclusive. A.R.S. § 12-820.01(B); Evenstad, 178 Ariz. at 583, 875 P.2d at 816. A non-enumerated governmental function may be entitled to absolute immunity if similar in nature and quality to an enumerated function. See Evenstad, 178 Ariz. at 583, 875 P.2d at 816.
In Evenstad, this court was asked to decide whether the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) was absolutely immune when promulgating rules and regulations to enforce laws. Id. at 582, 875 P.2d at 815. Like the regulation of insurance, promulgation of rules and regulations is not specifically enumerated in A.R.S. § 12-820.01. The court then compared the promulgation of rules and regulations to the enumerated functions. The court held the promulgation of rules and regulations was similar to two enumerated functions: determining whether to seek or provide resources, A.R.S. § 12-820.01(B)(1), and determining whether and how to spend existing resources, A.R.S. § 12-820.01(B)(2). Evenstad, 178 Ariz. at 583, 875 P.2d at 816. Because of the similar nature of the functions, the court held the MVD was protected by absolute immunity when promulgating rules and regulations. Id. at 586, 875 P.2d at 819.
The same analysis is helpful in this case. The licensing and regulation of insurance is similar in nature and quality to the enumerated function, “[t]he licensing and regulation of any profession or occupation.” A.R.S. § 12-820.01(B)(3). The licensing and regulation of insurance involves similar policy considerations and determinations. Initially, both the regulation of insurance and the regulation of professions and occupations are done to protect the citizens of the state. Compare A.R.S. § 32-101(A) with A.R.S. § 20-101 (Historical and Statutory Notes). Additionally, the regulation of insurance and the regulation of professions and occupations both require attainment of minimum quality standards, training, and financial responsibility. In both areas, the administrative decisions involved in the licensing or regulation require specialized knowledge of the underlying industry or profession.
Finding that insurance regulation does not involve the determination of fundamental governmental policy would render meaningless the legislature’s language that the enumerated functions of A.R.S. § 12-820.01(B) are not exclusive. If regulation of one of the largest and most far-reaching industries in the state fails to involve the determination of fundamental governmental policy, what non-enumerated administrative functions could possibly be entitled to immunity protection? It would be anomalous to insulate administrative officials from errors made in carrying out minor licensing decisions, such as those involved in the licensing of barbers and security guards, while leaving exposure for errors made in regulating one of the state’s largest, most pervasive industries.
Appellants argue that because they have alleged appellees acted with gross negligence, appellees are not protected by the qualified immunity provided by A.R.S. § 12-820.02. Appellants’ claim is controlled by A.R.S. § 12-820.02(5) which provides qualified immunity to public entities or employees for “[t]he issuance of or failure to revoke or suspend any permit, license, certificate, approval, order or similar authorization for which absolute immunity is not provided pursuant to § 12-820.01.” (Emphasis added.) This section, therefore, applies only to acts for which absolute immunity is not provided. Because we believe that A.R.S. § 12-820.01 provides absolute immunity for appellees, appellees are not liable under A.R.S. § 12-820.02(5) for their alleged gross negligence in granting and failing to revoke AMS’s certificate to conduct insurance.
CONCLUSION
We hold that A.R.S. § 12-820.01 affords absolute immunity for the licensing and regulation of insurance. The act of licensing and regulating insurance is an administrative act that involves both the exercise of discretion and the determination of fundamental governmental policy.
We affirm.
TOCI, J., concurs.
. In Noren v. State, Cause No. CV 93-04247, judgment for appellees was entered pursuant to stipulation to allow the case to be consolidated with the two other cases in this appeal.
. A.R.S. § 12-820.01 provides:
A. A public entity shall not be liable for acts and omissions of its employees constituting:
1. The exercise of a judicial or legislative function; or
2. The exercise of an administrative function involving the determination of fundamental governmental policy.
B. The determination of a fundamental governmental policy involves the exercise of discretion and shall include, but is not limited to:
1. A determination of whether to seek or whether to provide the resources necessary for:
(a) The purchase of equipment,
(b) The construction or maintenance of facilities,
(c) The hiring of personnel, or
(d) The provision of governmental services.
2. A determination of whether and how to spend existing resources, including those allocated for equipment, facilities and personnel.
3. The licensing and regulation of any profession or occupation.
|
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OPINION
LANKFORD, Judge.
Phoenix Newspapers, Inc. and its reporter, Randall Collier, (“the Newspapers”) appeal from the trial court’s dismissal of their complaint and from an award of attorneys’ fees.
In 1994, the Newspapers sought a declaratory judgment that the Arizona Department of Corrections (“ADOC”) Director’s Management Order 89-21 (“DMO 89-21”) and the ADOC Internal Management Policy for “Release of Information to the News Media” unconstitutionally discriminate against media representatives by denying them prison visitation privileges enjoyed by the general public. In addition, the Newspapers sought an injunction against ADOC’s enforcement of the DMO against the Newspapers and all members of the media.
Following dismissal of the Newspapers’ 1994 complaint, they filed a new action. The 1995 complaint again sought declaratory and injunctive relief, claiming that DMO 89-21 unconstitutionally denies media representatives equal access to visitation of inmates.
The issues presented on appeal are as follows:
1. Did the trial court err in dismissing the Newspapers’ 1995 complaint as barred by res judicata?
2. Did the trial court err in dismissing the Newspapers’ 1995 complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted?
3. Did the trial court err in awarding attorneys’ fees to defendants pursuant to Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 12-349?
We hold that the Newspapers’ second complaint, filed in 1995, is not barred by the first judgment under existing Arizona law. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court’s ruling that the 1995 complaint is barred by res judicata. However, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal of the Newspapers’ 1995 complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. We reverse the trial court’s award of attorneys’ fees to defendants.
Stated briefly, the facts and procedural history of this case are as follows. ADOC’s DMO 89-21, the subject of both lawsuits, prohibits visitation of inmates except by five classes of persons. Media representatives, based on their status as news reporters alone, do not fall within any class permitted visitation. ADOC’s Internal Management Policy identifies a prison liaison, designated by the Director, to coordinate responses to news media inquiries. The Newspapers claimed that these policies unconstitutionally discriminate against media representatives by denying them visitation privileges afforded members of the general public.
In the first action, the trial court ruled that DMO 89-21 confers no right of visitation upon the public. Accordingly, the court rejected the Newspapers’ claim that media representatives, as members of the public, were entitled to visitation. The court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.
The Newspapers then moved to amend the 1994 complaint. They sought to include a new claim: DMO 89-21 violates the Arizona Constitution by granting privileges to certain citizens and classes of citizens while denying those privileges to the general public. The trial court denied the motion to amend. Although the court’s minute entry suggested that it had found no merit in the amended complaint, the court declined to include language in its formal dismissal order that the court was “in essence finding that the proposed amended complaint would not state a claim against defendants upon which relief can be granted.”
In 1995, the Newspapers filed the second complaint. The new complaint asserted essentially the same claim proposed by the motion to amend the 1994 complaint. The trial court granted the State’s motion to dismiss on two grounds: (1) The complaint was barred by res judicata because of the dismissal of the 1994 complaint; and (2) the complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. In addition, the court ordered the Newspapers to pay the State’s attorneys’ fees as a sanction. The Newspapers appeal both the dismissal and the fee award. We have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-120.21(A).
I.
We first consider whether the doctrine of res judicata bars the second complaint. Res judicata is a question of law and is therefore reviewed de novo. Timothy Berg et al., 1 Arizona Appellate Handbook § 3.5.2.5.1 at 1995-3-15 (Jefferson L. Lankford & Paul G. Ulrich eds., 3d ed. 1992, 1995 supp.); see generally Horizon Resources Bethany Ltd. v. Cutco Indus., Inc., 180 Ariz. 72, 881 P.2d 1177 (App.1994) (appellate court is not bound by the trial court’s conclusions of law).
The res judicata issue reveals itself to be even more complex than the parties present it. Part of the difficulty is that most Arizona cases apply an antiquated “same evidence” test for defining the “same cause of action.” The other problem is that the trial court not only refused to permit the Newspapers to amend their complaint to add a new theory, but declined to clearly express its reason for doing so.
For an action to be barred, it must be based on the same cause of action asserted in the prior proceeding. Chaney Bldg. Co. v. City of Tucson, 148 Ariz. 571, 573, 716 P.2d 28, 30 (1986); Nienstedt v. Wetzel, 133 Ariz. 348, 355, 651 P.2d 876, 883 (App.1982). Arizona has applied a rather restrictive test to resolve this question: If no additional evidence is needed to prevail in the second action than that needed in the first, then the second action is barred. See Rousselle v. Jewett, 101 Ariz. 510, 421 P.2d 529 (1966); Wilson v. Bramblett, 91 Ariz. 284, 371 P.2d 1014 (1962); Pierpont v. Hydro Mfg. Co., 22 Ariz.App. 252,. 526 P.2d 776 (1974). Such cases adopting the “same evidence” test were consistent with the first Restatement of Judgments § 61 (1942), which adopted the test.
The same evidence test has fallen into disuse in recent years. See Ross v. International Bhd. of Elec. Workers, 634 F.2d 453 (9th Cir.1980) (applying Arizona law and identifying “same evidence” test, but stating that dispositive question was whether litigant previously had a fair opportunity to litigate the claim); Heinig v. Hudman, 177 Ariz. 66, 865 P.2d 110 (App.1993) (applying Restatement (Second) of Judgments § 24 (1982)). Nevertheless, we stated as recently as 1982 that “Arizona case law is clear” that this test governs. Bill v. Gossett, 132 Ariz. 518, 522, 647 P.2d 649, 653 (App.1982).
The Restatement (Second) of Judgments and the clear majority of courts now employ a “transactional” test for determining whether the cause of action is the same. Section 24 of the current Restatement provides:
[T]he claim extinguished includes all rights of the plaintiff to remedies against the defendant with respect to all or any part of the transaction, or series of connected transactions, out of which the action arose.
What factual grouping constitutes a “transaction”, [sic] and what groupings constitute a “series”, [sic] aré to be determined pragmatically, giving weight to such considerations as whether the facts are related in time, space, origin, or motiva tion, whether they form a convenient trial unit, and whether their treatment as a unit conforms to the parties’ expectations or business understanding or usage.
The modern trend also clearly favors this transactional test. Restatement (Second) § 24, cmt. a; 1B James W. Moore et al., Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 0.410[1] at III-193 n. 24 (2d ed. 1991) (most federal circuits have adopted transactional test); Durham v. Neapolitan, 875 F.2d 91, 94 (7th Cir.1989) (most federal courts use transactional test). The same evidence test is regarded as too narrow, failing to fully serve the res judicata policy of precluding the reassertion of claims. See Snell v. Mayor and City Council of Havre de Grace, 837 F.2d 173, 176 (4th Cir. 1988); Durban, 875 F.2d at 94. It allows litigants to recast their claims under new theories, implicating somewhat different facts than those involved in the prior action. “[Ojnly slight variations of the facts to support different theories of the same incident can result in a court finding different causes of action, thus thwarting the purposes of res judicata.” Barr v. Resolution Trust Corp., 837 S.W.2d 627, 630 (Tex.1992) (adopting Restatement (Second) § 24). Instead, the transactional test focuses on whether the new claim arises out of the same “transaction or occurrence” that was the subject of the original action. Id.; see Moore et al., supra ¶ 0.410[1] at III-193-94 (stating that any difference between Restatement (Second) § 24 and Rule 13(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. definitions of “transaction or occurrence” is insignificant); cf. Ariz.R.Civ.P. 13(a) (compulsory counterclaim rule).
Applying the old Arizona rule results in no preclusion. The Newspapers assert a new theory in their second action, supported by some additional facts. Indeed, at least one fact asserted in the second action directly contradicts a fact essential to the first. In the first, the Newspapers alleged that the general public was granted visitation, while in the second, it asserted that the public was denied that privilege. Unfortunately, that approach permits the Newspapers — and any other plaintiff — to avoid preclusion merely by posturing the same claim as a new legal theory. The undesirability of such a succession of litigation, unfair to defendant and burdensome to the legal system, is obvious.
In contrast, the modern rule prevents such relitigation. If the new claim is closely related to the first — because it arises out of the same events — it could and should have been asserted in the first action. “[T]he prevailing view in the courts is in favor of requiring a plaintiff to present in one suit all of the claims for relief that he may have against the defendant arising out of the same transaction or occurrence.” Moore, et al., supra ¶ 0.4Í0[1], at III-193. If the plaintiff had such an opportunity to litigate in the first action, its second attempt should be — and generally is — barred.
The transactional test prevents what virtually all courts agree a plaintiff should not be able to do: revive essentially the same cause of action under a new legal theory. See Restatement, supra at cmt. e; Robinson v. National Cash Register Co., 808 F.2d 1119 (5th Cir.1987); Car Carriers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 789 F.2d 589 (7th Cir.1986). For example, having failed under a contract theory, a plaintiff cannot bring the same cause as a tort claim. Dowd v. Society of St. Columbans, 861 F.2d 761, 763 (1st Cir.1988).
That is precisely what the Newspapers seek to do here. Having failed to prevail on one theory, they assert another in this action. However, underlying both theories is the same occurrence: the defendants’ denial of media access to prisoners. If they failed to exercise an opportunity to litigate that theory in the first action, the Newspapers should not be able to burden the system and the defendant with another action concerning the same events. To allow the Newspapers to bring a second action based on the same occurrence involved in the first subverts the basic purpose of the res judicata doctrine of baning the splitting of claims.
However, existing Arizona law does not bar the claim. Under the same evidence test, for example, an action on an open or stated account is not barred by a prior action on a promissory note, even though both actions are based on the same debt. Wilson v. Bramblett, supra. Needless to say, we are not free to ignore or alter the law as enunciated by our supreme court. Arizona Su preme Court decisions also bar us from following the second Restatement because it conflicts with Arizona ease law. See Jesik v. Maricopa County Community College Dist., 125 Ariz. 543, 546, 611 P.2d 547, 550 (1980) (“[W]e follow the Restatement only in the absence of Arizona authority to the contrary.”).
Accordingly, we are compelled to hold that the judgment in the first action does not bar the claim asserted in this action. Although the claims involved in the two proceedings arise out of the same event, the denial of access to prisoners, they do not constitute the same cause of action under existing Arizona law.
II.
Because we hold that the Newspapers’ 1995 complaint was not barred by res judicata, we next consider their claim that the trial court erroneously dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.
In reviewing a dismissal for failure to state a claim, this Court assumes that the allegations in the complaint are true and upholds the dismissal only if we are certain that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts which will entitle him to relief upon his stated claims. E.g., Wallace v. Casa Grande Union High Sch. Dist. No. 82 Bd. of Governors, 184 Ariz. 419, 424, 909 P.2d 486, 491 (App.1995). The Newspapers contend that in violation of the Arizona Constitution, they, as members of the general public, were denied access to prisoners. The Newspapers raise two bases for their claim. First, they argue that the ADOC’s regulations deny members of the press, as members of the general public, equal protection under the law. See Ariz. Const, art. II, § 13. Second, they argue that the regulations constitute impermissible special legislation. See Ariz. Const, art. IV, pt. 2, § 19(13).
We first address the Newspapers’ equal protection argument. Because this case addresses neither a fundamental right nor a suspect class, we find denial of equal protection only where no rational basis exists for the classification. E.g., State v. Nguyen, 185 Ariz. 151, 154, 912 P.2d 1380, 1383 (App. 1996). In other words, the Equal Protection Clause does not deny the State the power to treat classes of people differently as long as the classification is reasonable. State v. Beckerman, 168 Ariz. 451, 453, 814 P.2d 1388, 1390 (App.1991).
The law affords no guarantee that the public obtain unrestricted access to prisoners. ADOC has discretion to promulgate its regulations in order to maintain a safe and efficient prison system. Limitations on persons permitted entry to prisons are rationally related to the State’s interest in public safety and prison order. No set of facts would entitle the Newspapers to relief upon this claim.
Moreover, the Newspapers have raised an unconventional, and unpersuasive, equal protection claim. They contend that the Equal Protection Clause precludes the State from granting rights to any group without accordingly granting such rights to the general public. However, the Equal Protection Clause prohibits unreasonable discrimination against, rather than in favor of, an identifiable class. Arizona Downs v. Arizona Horsemen’s Foundation, 130 Ariz. 550, 557, 637 P.2d 1053, 1060 (1981). The Newspapers’ claim that legislation granting visitation privileges to specified persons unreasonably discriminates against all others misconstrues the purpose of the clause. The State is not obligated to afford all persons or groups every privilege granted to any other person or group. Cf. Kahn v. Thompson, 185 Ariz. 408, 916 P.2d 1124 (App.1995) (holding senior citizen discounts to municipal tennis courts not violative of equal protection).
Nor does the Newspaper have a colorable claim based upon the Special Legislation Clause, which prohibits unreasonable discrimination in favor of a particular class. See id. Legislation is general, and thus not special, if the classification has a reasonable basis, encompasses all members of the relevant class, and allows members to move in to and out of the class. Republic Inv. Fund I v. Town of Surprise, 166 Ariz. 143, 149, 800 P.2d 1251, 1257 (1990). In this case, the regulations are rationally related to maintaining prison security and order. In addition, all members of the enumerated classes are permitted visitation, and the classes are elastic, allowing movement of members.
Because the ADOC’s regulations violate neither the Equal Protection Clause nor the Special Legislation Clause, we affirm the trial court’s dismissal because the Newspapers’ 1995 complaint failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.
III.
We now consider whether the trial court properly awarded defendants their attorneys’ fees under A.R.S. section 12-349, which mandates fee awards for filing frivolous lawsuits. When reviewing a discretionary award of attorneys’ fees, this Court will reverse only for an abuse of discretion. Heuisler v. Phoenix Newspapers, Inc., 168 Ariz. 278, 284, 812 P.2d 1096, 1102 (App. 1991). In contrast, under A.R.S. section 12-349, the fee award is mandatory. The judge must award fees, and the question is whether sufficient evidence exists to support his finding of a frivolous claim or defense.
The statute requires that the action be groundless, harassing and in bad faith for fees to be awarded. A.R.S. § 12-349. We view the evidence in a manner most favorable to sustaining the award and affirm unless the trial court’s finding that the action can be so characterized is clearly erroneous. Heuisler, 168 Ariz. at 284, 812 P.2d at 1102 (citing Gilbert v. Board of Medical Examiners, 155 Ariz. 169, 181, 184, 745 P.2d 617, 629, 632 (App.1987)).
We first address the Newspapers’ claim that the trial court did not enter appropriate findings of fact or conclusions of law. Findings of fact and conclusions of law need only be specific enough to allow an appellate court “to test the validity of the judgment.” Miller v. Bd. of Supervisors of Pinal County, 175 Ariz. 296, 299, 855 P.2d 1357, 1360 (1993) (citation omitted). Moreover, A.R.S. section 12-350 requires only that, in awarding attorneys’ fees pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-349, the court “set forth the specific reasons for the award.” This provision mandates no particular form for these findings. See Lane v. Hognason, 12 Ariz.App. 330, 470 P.2d 478 (1970) (approving trial court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law in minute entry form).
In this case, Judge Galati’s November 6, 1995, minute entry specifically incorporated Judge Cates’ findings and conclusions in his minute entry denying the Newspapers’ motion to amend the complaint. Judge Galati also made specific findings of groundlessness, lack of good faith and intent to harass in his December 20, 1995, minute entry. These findings sufficiently indicate the basis for his conclusions and meet the requirements set forth in A.R.S. section 12-350 and expanded upon in State v. Richey, 160 Ariz. 564, 774 P.2d 1354 (1989) (requiring findings of fact and conclusions of law under both A.R.S. sections 12-341.01(C) and -349).
The Newspapers also contend that the trial court should have required clear and convincing evidence to support its award of attorneys’ fees. The appropriate standard under A.R.S. section 12-349 is preponderance of the evidence.
Arizona Revised Statutes section 12-349 does not expressly require that a claim be established by clear and convincing evidence. In that respect, it is notably different from another fee sanction statute, A.R.S. section 12-341.01(0, which does expressly require such evidence. Timothy Berg, et al., Arizona Attorneys’ Fees Manual § 5.4.2.4 at 5-10 (Bruce Meyerson & Patricia K. Norris, eds., 2d ed. 1992). Both statutes share common language identifying claims which “constitute[ ] harassment, [are] groundless and [are] not made in good faith.” But section 12-349, enacted a number of years after section 12-341.01(C), conspicuously omits reference to a clear and convincing standard of proof.
Our review of the legislative history produced no specific reference to the legislature’s intent in omitting a clear and convincing evidence standard. Because the statute itself is silent on the standard of proof, we look for the legislature’s intent in such sources as context, subject matter, historical background and purpose. Blum v. State, 171 Ariz. 201, 205, 829 P.2d 1247, 1251 (App.1992). Moreover, we presume that the legislature does not enact superfluous or reiterative legislation. Patterson v. Maricopa County Sheriffs Office, 177 Ariz. 153, 156, 865 P.2d 814, 817 (App.1993).
Section 12-349 was enacted with the express purpose of reducing groundless lawsuits. When the legislature enacted A.R.S. section 12-349, section 12-341.01(0) — another statute enacted to reduce frivolous litigation — was already in existence. Because the scope of section 12-349 differs little from the scope of section 12-341.01(0), we are convinced that the legislature intended to further reduce frivolous litigation by increasing the threat of fee sanctions. Cf. State v. Richey, 160 Ariz. 564, 565, 774 P.2d 1354, 1355 (1989) (recognizing that A.R.S. section 12-341.01(0) “specifically requires a higher burden — ‘clear and convincing evidence’ — before a trial court can determine that a claim ... constitutes harassment, is groundless and not made in good faith”). Therefore, we hold that A.R.S. section 12-349 requires that defendants show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the Newspapers’ lawsuit was groundless, in bad faith and harassing.
Finally, in light of the preponderant evidence standard, we consider whether defendants presented sufficient evidence for an award of attorneys’ fees. This Court reviews the trial court’s findings of fact under a clearly erroneous standard. Ariz. R.Civ.P. 52(a); Schnepp v. State ex rel. Dep’t of Economic Sec., 183 Ariz. 24, 27, 899 P.2d 185, 188 (App.1995). However, the application of the fee statute is a question of law subject to de novo review. See Roberts v. State, 179 Ariz. 613, 880 P.2d 1159 (App. 1994). We hold that the trial court erred in awarding attorneys’ fees pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-349.
Both A.R.S. sections 12-341.01 and -349 require evidence that the Newspapers’ claim constituted harassment, was groundless and not made in good faith. Because both statutes use the conjunctive “and,” all three elements must be present. Gilbert, 155 Ariz. at 180, 745 P.2d at 628. An objective standard may be utilized to determine groundlessness, but a subjective standard determines “intent to harass” and bad faith. Id. at 180-81, 745 P.2d at 628-29.
Judge Galati’s December 20, 1995, minute entry discussed the evidence of each element required by Gilbert. First, Judge Galati expressly found objective evidence of groundlessness. The Newspapers had lost their claim in the first action on the merits by denial of their motion to amend. The Newspapers had an opportunity to appeal from this ruling, but did not. Instead, the News papers filed a second action that is barred by res judicata. Because a reasonable attorney would not have brought an action barred by res judicata, the trial court found objective evidence that the claim was groundless.
However, we have determined that existing Arizona law does not bar the claim. Accordingly, the claim is not groundless for this reason.
Moreover, Judge Galati did not find sufficient evidence of the Newspapers’ intent to harass. Defendants correctly argue that intent to harass may be established by circumstantial evidence. Nonetheless, Judge Galati expressly stated that he “[did] not find that it was Phoenix Newspapers’ intent to file a meritless lawsuit for the purpose of harassing the state____” (Emphasis in original). Although he continued that the action had a harassing “effect,” A.R.S. section 349 — as well as section 341.01 — requires harassing intent. See Gilbert, 155 Ariz. at 180-81, 745 P.2d at 628-29 (referring repeatedly to the “intent to harass” as a criterion of section 12-341.01(0).
Thus, while the evidence might have supported a finding of intent to harass, Judge Galati expressly found to the contrary. Because all three elements — groundlessness, bad faith and intent to harass — must be present, Judge Galati misapplied the statute by awarding attorneys’ fees to defendant without the requisite finding of intent to harass and without a correct basis for finding the claim groundless. Accordingly, we reverse the award of attorneys’ fees pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-349.
For these reasons, we reverse in part and affirm in part.
PATTERSON, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
. The State argues that Pell v. Procunier, 417 U.S. 817, 94 S.Ct. 2800, 41 L.Ed.2d 495 (1974), renders plaintiffs’ complaint futile, and therefore the court correctly dismissed it. Pell does not address the issues presented in this case. The media plaintiffs in Pell based their claim on the First Amendment freedom of the press. They did not, as the State incorrectly contends, base their cause of action on the Equal Protection Clause. Here, the media plaintiffs brought their cause of action as members of the public and claimed that the prison regulation denied them rights afforded other citizens. Thus, they have raised an equal protection claim, as well as a special legislation claim.
Moreover, Pell held that the right of the press to prisoner access extends no further than that of the general public. The Newspapers’ argument would broaden Pell's holding by granting the general public rights of prisoner access extended to any persons. We decline to so hold.
. In considering whether this rule rationally advances a legitimate goal, we may consider either the actual basis on which the ADOC acted or any hypothetical basis on which it may have acted. See Church v. Rawson Drug & Sundry Co., 173 Ariz. 342, 350, 842 P.2d 1355, 1363 (App.1992).
. The court awarded fees pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-349. Defendants respond that the Newspapers failed to raise the issue of the proper standard of proof under this statute, and there fore waived review of this claim. See Richter v. Dairy Queen of S. Arizona, 131 Ariz. 595, 596, 643 P.2d 508, 509 (App.1982). We disagree. The Newspapers sufficiently put the trial court on notice of the argument in their Response to Motion for Attorneys’ Fees. The Newspapers’ response addressed both fee statutes — A.R.S. sections 12-341.01 and -349 — and the applicable standard of proof set forth in A.R.S. section 12-341.01. The Newspapers concluded its discussion of both statutes with the claim that ”[a]ll three of the elements of harassment, groundlessness and bad faith must be ... shown by clear and convincing evidence....” The issue was thereby adequately preserved for appellate review.
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OPINION
PELANDER, Presiding Judge.
In this medical malpractice case, plaintiffs, surviving parents of decedent Danette Perguson, appeal from the trial court’s entry of summary judgment for defendants. Although this appeal presents close issues about expert witness disclosures and application of the “one expert per issue” presumption of Rule 1(D)(4), Uniform Rules of Practice for Medical Malpractice Cases (Medical Rules), 17B A.R.S., we reverse for the reasons set forth below.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
While undergoing an elective abortion procedure by defendant Robert Tamis, M.D., in February 1992, decedent sustained a large pulmonary embolus and died several hours later. Her parents filed this action in February 1994, claiming that medical negligence by Dr. Tamis and his physician assistant (PA), defendant Steve Nunn, proximately caused her death. In their initial disclosure statement and interrogatory answers served in October 1994, plaintiffs listed as an expert witness MacArthur Hill, M.D., an obstetrician/ gynecologist (OB/Gyn) in Colorado, who purportedly would testify that both defendants fell below the standard of care and caused the death of Danette Perguson. The interrogatory answer listed several opinions Dr. Hill was expected to render against Dr. Tamis and Mr. Nunn.
At the comprehensive pretrial conference (CPC) in December 1994, the trial court set a firm jury trial date for September 18, 1995. The court also accepted the parties’ joint CPC memorandum, which proposed simultaneous disclosure of all standard of care and causation expert witnesses in February 1995. In their first supplemental disclosure statement served in February, plaintiffs again listed Dr. Hill as an expert witness, indicating his testimony would include the following: [TJhat Dr. Tamis knew or should have known that Danette presented a high risk and that his actions on the day the procedure were [sic ] done were the direct and proximate cause of her death. Dr. Hill will testify that the abortion performed by Dr. Tamis caused her death.
In that supplemental disclosure, plaintiffs also listed as an expert witness Thomas Murphy Goodwin, M.D., (OB/Gyn) of California, stating as follows:
Dr. Goodwin has reviewed the medical records and the deposition transcript of Robert Tamis. It is anticipated that he will testify as to the following areas:
1. Nature of the pregnancy of Danette Perguson.
2. Relationship of her condition of Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency to that pregnancy condition, as well as the high platelet count.
3. That such condition created a unique circumstance for Dr. Tamis’ clinic and the management of said patient by Dr. Tamis and his staff.
4. That given her condition at the time she presented, she was not a candidate for abortion, that she should have been advised by Dr. Tamis of her condition.
5. That she should have been informed of the probable increased risks from the procedure, including death and that if she desired to continue the procedure, it should have been performed in a hospital where more support would have been available, intermittent compression of the lower extremities could have been employed to reduce the risk of thrombus formation; peri-operative use of aspirin or other agents to decrease platelet function should have been at least discussed.
Dr. Goodwin also is an expert in maternal-fetal medicine and can comment on the risks of continuing a pregnancy vis a vis termination. Dr. Goodwin opines that but for the abortion performed by Defendants, Danette Perguson would be alive today.
Dr. Goodwin will supplement his opinion as additional discovery is provided to him for review.
Defense counsel took Dr. Hill’s deposition in Colorado on April 7, 1995, thoroughly questioning him on all liability issues without objection, limitation or clarification of his role by plaintiffs’ counsel. Although Dr. Hill opined that both Dr. Tamis and Mr. Nunn were negligent, he was unable to say to a reasonable degree of medical probability that anything defendants did or did not do caused the decedent’s death.
On May 25, defendants moved to exclude any expert testimony by Dr. Goodwin under Medical Rule 1(D)(4) on the grounds that “his anticipated testimony is both duplicative and cumulative in violation of the applicable medical malpractice rules.” In response, plaintiffs asserted for the first time that only Dr. Goodwin, not Dr. Hill, would address all causation issues as to both defendants and standard of care issues as to Dr. Tamis. After oral argument, the trial court granted defendants’ motion, finding that Dr. Goodwin’s testimony “would be duplicative and/or cumulative” to Dr. Hill’s. On the same day as that ruling, defendants immediately moved for summary judgment, contending that plaintiffs had failed to establish causation. Defendant Nunn further contended that Dr. Hill was not qualified to render opinions against him.
In response to defendants’ summary judgment motions, plaintiffs acknowledged that Dr. Hill’s testimony was inadequate on the causation issue, but contended that element could and would be established through Dr. Goodwin. Plaintiffs also urged the court to reconsider its prior ruling excluding Dr. Goodwin’s testimony, asserting that it was not duplicative or cumulative to Dr. Hill’s and attaching an affidavit Dr. Goodwin had executed on August 9,1995. In his affidavit, Dr. Goodwin stated in some detail how defendants were negligent and caused decedents death.
The trial court denied plaintiffs’ motion to reconsider the exclusion of Dr. Goodwin’s testimony and granted summary judgment for defendants, concluding that plaintiffs “lack[ed] sufficient expert testimony to demonstrate the element of causation and are unable to make a prima facie case” against any of the defendants. The court also found plaintiffs lacked sufficient expert testimony to establish the standard of care applicable to defendant Nunn. This appeal followed.
DISCUSSION
“The trial court has broad discretion in ruling on discovery and disclosure matters,” and we will not disturb its ruling “absent an abuse of discretion.” Soto v. Brinkerhoff, 183 Ariz. 333, 335, 903 P.2d 641, 643 (App.1995). “That discretion is abused if the record fails to establish substantial evidence to support the ruling,” id., or if the trial court commits an error of law in reaching its discretionary conclusion. Grant v. Arizona Pub. Serv. Co., 133 Ariz. 434, 456, 652 P.2d 507, 529 (1982). Interpretation of the meaning and effect of a court rule is a question of law subject to de novo review. Cf. Jones v. Buchanan, 177 Ariz. 410, 868 P.2d 993 (App.1993).
It is undisputed that plaintiffs timely and properly disclosed Dr. Goodwin as an expert witness in accordance with the trial court’s CPC order and the disclosure requirements of Rule 26.1, Ariz. R. Civ. P., 16 A.R.S. Thus, defendants acknowledge that their motion to exclude and the trial court’s ruling thereon were “not based on inadequate or untimely disclosure,” but rather only on Medical Rule 1(D)(4). That rule, as amended in 1992, requires the court and the parties at the time of the CPC to “[l]imit the number of experts.” The rule further provides that “[e]ach party shall presumptively be entitled to only one standard-of-care expert!, and e]ach side shall presumptively be entitled to only one expert on any other issue.” The rule, however, says nothing about the listing or disclosure of experts.
Defendants contend that Medical Rule 1(D)(4) “does not permit the listing of duplicative and/or cumulative experts,” and “litigants are not allowed to disclose multiple everts and manipulate those experts’ roles and opinions depending on who gives a better performance at their deposition.” Defendants’ position essentially is that once they had deposed Dr. Hill and obtained his unqualified opinions on all negligence and causation issues, in accordance with plaintiffs’ prior disclosures and without plaintiffs’ objection to or clarification of Dr. Hill’s role, plaintiffs were then “locked in” to using only Dr. Hill. That conclusion, however, is neither mandated by Medical Rule 1(D)(4) nor logically reconcilable with this court’s recent decision in Aguirre v. Forrest, 186 Ariz. 393, 923 P.2d 859 (App.1996).
In Aguirre, this court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion or violate Medical Rule 1(D)(3) by authorizing plaintiffs, approximately three months before trial but after the expert disclosure deadline, to substitute their timely-disclosed causation expert for their standard of care expert, permitting the former to testify on both issues. As in this case, plaintiffs in Aguirre sought to make the “expert witness switch” after, one of their disclosed experts had been deposed. Relying on our supreme court’s reasoning and “‘common sense approach’” applied to the civil procedure disclosure rules, Allstate Insurance Co. v. O’Toole, 182 Ariz. 284, 287, 896 P.2d 254, 257 (1995), we concluded that Medical Rule 1(D)(3) was not “ ‘meant to deprive judges of all discretion to do what may be right and just in particular circumstances.’ ” Aguirre, 186 Ariz. at 396, 923 P.2d at 862, quoting Allstate, 182 Ariz. at 287, 896 P.2d at 257.
As defendants correctly note, this case is distinguishable from Aguirre in several respects. It is true, for example, that plaintiffs’ counsel’s conduct relating to expert disclosures in this case was ambiguous and arguably misleading. The timing, manner and lack of diligence of plaintiffs’ ultimately differentiating the experts’ roles were far from ideal. In addition, the “expert witness switch” permitted in Aguirre totally eliminated one of plaintiffs’ experts, whereas plaintiffs’ attempted “switch” in this case sought to clarify or reallocate the roles their two experts would play. Such factual and procedural distinctions, however, are relatively insignificant. As in Aguirre, plaintiffs attempted their “expert witness switch” approximately three months before trial and before Dr. Goodwin had been deposed, albeit two months after Dr. Hill’s deposition. The major difference, of course, is that the trial court in Aguirre permitted the “expert witness switch,” whereas the trial court here precluded it by excluding Dr. Goodwin altogether, thereby effectively assuring summary judgment for defendants.
The Medical Rules, as amended in 1992, have similar goals and purposes as the 1992 amendments to our Rules of Civil Procedure. See Medical Rules, Preamble, 17B A.R.S.; Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26.1, Court Comment (1991 Promulgation). Indeed, with certain specified exceptions, the Rules of Civil Procedure, including Rule 26.1, apply to medical malpractice cases to the extent they do not conflict and are not inconsistent with the Medical Rules. See Medical Rules, 17B A.R.S., Preface to 1992 Amendments. Accordingly, cases interpreting the witness disclosure requirements of our civil procedure rules are instructive in construing parallel provisions in the Medical Rules. In Allstate, our supreme court recognized that “[t]he mandatory exclusion of evidence in cases where no ‘good cause’ has been shown for the failure to timely disclose can at times bring about results that are unduly harsh, overly punitive, and inconsistent with the purposes of the new rules.” 182 Ariz. at 287, 896 P.2d at 257. The trial court’s ruling totally excluding Dr. Goodwin as a witness, in our view, produced such a result here.
Witness disclosure issues must be decided on a case by case basis. Aguirre, 186 Ariz. at 395, 923 P.2d at 861. As the court stated in Allstate:
The reason for a failure to properly disclose evidence is only one factor in the determination of good cause to grant “leave of court.” Others may include, but are not necessarily limited to: the willfulness or inadvertence of a party’s (or attorney’s) conduct, prejudice to either side that may result from excluding or allowing the evidence, the opposing party’s (or attorney’s) action or inaction in attempting to resolve the dispute short of exclusion, and the overall diligence with which a case has been prosecuted or defended.
182 Ariz. at 288, 896 P.2d at 258. Evaluating those factors in accordance with the “ ‘common sense’ approach” espoused in Allstate and Bryan v. Riddel, 178 Ariz. 472, 875 P.2d 131 (1994), and mindful that “procedural rules should be interpreted to maximize the likelihood of a decision on the merits,” Allstate, 182 Ariz. at 287, 896 P.2d at 257, we conclude that the trial court’s total exclusion of Dr. Goodwin’s testimony was too harsh a sanction for any alleged infraction of the presumptive limitations in Medical Rule 1(D)(4) and constituted an abuse of discretion. That ruling essentially terminated the litigation by depriving plaintiffs of an opportunity to establish a prima facie case.
Despite plaintiffs’ less than diligent behavior relating to experts, the facts surrounding their disclosure of Dr. Goodwin do not smack of “sandbagging,” concealment, deception or “ ‘litigation by ambush.’ ” Allstate, 182 Ariz. at 287, 896 P.2d at 257. In addition, there is no indication of willfulness on the part of plaintiffs’ counsel. Although defendants complain that plaintiffs filed Dr. Goodwin’s detailed affidavit just forty days before trial when opposing defendants’ summary judgment motions, plaintiffs’ disclosure of Dr. Goodwin in February 1995 substantially complied with the requirements of Rule 26.1, and defendants do not contend otherwise.
Defendants claim to be tactically disadvantaged and prejudiced by plaintiffs’ redesignation of experts because defendants already have “shown their hands” by having thoroughly deposed Dr. Hill and by plaintiffs having already deposed the jointly-retained defense expert. Defendants had the opportunity, however, to depose Dr. Goodwin in May 1995, before plaintiffs deposed the defense expert, but chose not to. Although reducing litigation costs clearly is an important goal in all cases, defendants could and should have sought clarification (with court intervention, if necessary) of the disclosed-roles of plaintiffs’ experts vis-a-vis the presumptive limitations of Medical Rule 1(D)(4) before taking Dr. Hill’s deposition, if indeed they were primarily concerned with the expense of taking two experts’ depositions. Moreover, the prejudice to plaintiffs in totally excluding Dr. Goodwin outweighed the prejudice to defendants in having to take a second expert’s deposition or, if necessary, having to request a short trial continuance. Indeed, defendants’ contention in Aguirre that the “expert witness switch” deprived them of summary judgment was held not to be sufficiently prejudicial to preclude the switch.
Finally, if plaintiffs’ disclosure was considered deficient in any respect, including its alleged violation of Medical Rule 1(D)(4), defense counsel had sufficient time and opportunity to bring that to the attention of plaintiffs’ counsel or the court well before trial and before any arguable prejudice arose. Defendants did not seek to restrict plaintiffs’ experts until after taking Dr. Hill’s deposition, however, and then sought to force and limit plaintiffs’ choice to the expert whom defendants had deposed. Other than insisting that plaintiffs delete Dr. Goodwin as a witness, there was no apparent attempt by defense counsel “to resolve the dispute short of exclusion.” Allstate, 182 Ariz. at 288, 896 P.2d at 258. Our supreme court has expressly recognized the obligation of all attorneys to informally “work together to bring about decisions on the merits of cases, rather than try to trip each other with technicalities.” Id. Just as the exclusionary provisions of Rule 26.1 are not to be used as “a weapon of destruction” in an “arsenal of technicalities,” id. at 287, 896 P.2d at 257, neither is the “one expert per issue” presumption in Medical Rule 1(D)(4). See also In re Radacosky, 183 Ariz. 531, 534, 905 P.2d 540, 543 (App.1995) (“Counsel are to work together to accomplish the purposes of the discovery rules. They are not to run to the court claiming foul play whenever a colorable argument can be constructed.”).
We do not suggest that there are no limits on the number of experts parties may disclose, or that parties must first complete discovery before they or the trial court may take steps to limit the number or type of experts. To the contrary, Medical Rule 1(D)(4) suggests just the opposite. Once a party has agreed or is ordered to limit his or her timely-disclosed but overlapping experts, however, that party, not adverse parties, should get to choose which expert(s) will or will not be used at trial.
Because the trial court erred in excluding Dr. Goodwin as a witness, summary judgment for defendants on causation grounds was inappropriate. Dr. Goodwin’s affidavit clearly raised genuine issues of material fact bearing on causation as to both defendants. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendant Nunn, however, on the alternative ground that Dr. Hill was unqualified to render opinions on the standard of care of PAs in Arizona. We disagree.
We view the evidence and all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment was entered. Dr. Hill is a licensed, board-certified OB/Gyn who has performed abortions and dilation and curettage procedures. Although he criticized Mr. Nunn in several areas, Dr. Hill acknowledged that he was not familiar with the law or standard of care applicable to PAs or their scope of practice in Arizona. In addition, Dr. Hill had never worked with a PA before. Nonetheless, Dr. Hill believed that since he was qualified to supervise Mr. Nunn, he also was qualified to render standard of care opinions against him.
An expert witness may be qualified to give an opinion in a medical malpractice case by reason of his or her actual experience, study, education, observation or association. Taylor v. DiRico, 124 Ariz. 513, 518, 606 P.2d 3, 8 (1980); McGuire v. DeFrancesco, 168 Ariz. 88, 92, 811 P.2d 340, 344 (App.1990); Gaston v. Hunter, 121 Ariz. 33, 51, 588 P.2d 326, 344 (App.1978). The expert need not be of the same medical specialty as the malpractice defendant. Fridena v. Evans, 127 Ariz. 516, 520, 622 P.2d 463, 467 (1980); Taylor, 124 Ariz. at 518, 606 P.2d at 8; Barrett v. Samaritan Health Serv., 153 Ariz. 138, 141, 735 P.2d 460, 463 (App.1987); Gaston, 121 Ariz. at 53, 588 P.2d at 346. “The test in every case is whether the witness possesses special knowledge about the subject at issue which will assist the jury in making its decisions.” Gaston, 121 Ariz. at 51, 588 P.2d at 344.
Dr. Hill’s criticism of defendant Nunn focused solely on the latter’s acts or omissions relating to the abortion procedure, including his alleged failure to obtain an adequate history, to communicate the history to Dr. Tam-is before inserting the laminaria and to properly dilate the cervix. Dr. Hill clearly was experienced in and qualified to address those subjects, even though he had not yet reviewed the Arizona statutes relating to PAs, A.R.S. §§ 32-2501 to 32-2554, and even though a PA is not necessarily held to the same standards as an OB/Gyn. We agree with plaintiffs that Dr. Hill possessed “the years of experience, skill, knowledge, education and training in the field of obstetrics, gynecology, and specifically, the performance of abortions, to comment on the actions of a physician’s assistant.” Any deficiencies in his knowledge and background relating specifically to PAs “may affect the weight, to be given the expert’s testimony, but does not altogether preclude its admissibility.” McGuire, 168 Ariz. at 92, 811 P.2d at 344, citing Smith v. John C. Lincoln Hosp., 118 Ariz. 549, 551, 578 P.2d 630, 632 (App.1978).
We reverse the trial court’s judgments for defendants and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with this decision.
LIVERMORE and FLOREZ, JJ., concur.
. Rule 26.1 does not require a party to spell out, word for word, his or her entire case. Bryan, 178 Ariz. at 476 n. 5, 875 P.2d at 135 n. 5.
. Similarly, defendants’ expert deemed himself qualified to render opinions on the standard of care of PAs even though he had never employed or supervised them.
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OPINION
PELANDER, Presiding Judge.
In this product liability case against a motor vehicle manufacturer, plaintiffs/appellants obtained a jury verdict but they challenge two evidentiary rulings by the trial court. The first ruling excluded certain evidence of vehicle defectiveness on disclosure grounds, and the second ruling admitted evidence concerning a nonparty’s fault. In connection with the second ruling, we must examine what effect, if any, Arizona’s Uniform Contribution Among Tortfeasors Act (UCATA), A.R.S. §§ 12-2501 to 12-2509, has on the application of this court’s pre-Act decision in Cota v. Harley Davidson, 141 Ariz. 7, 684 P.2d 888 (App.1984). We find no error in either of the trial court’s rulings and therefore affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
This case arises from a two-vehicle accident in November 1991. Robert Ellisor, who was intoxicated and driving a Lincoln Continental at a speed of approximately 36 to 39 miles per hour, rear-ended plaintiffs’ 1988 Ford Aerostar van, which was stopped. The van was equipped with four “captain’s chairs.” Plaintiff Frank Zuern was driving and his then five year-old son, Blake, was seated in the chair directly behind him. Both were wearing seat belts. During the collision, Mr. Zuern’s seat back collapsed rearward into the space that Blake occupied. Blake sustained a fractured left femur and severe head injuries.
Plaintiffs sued Ford Motor Company (Ford), alleging that their van was defective and unreasonably dangerous and that Ford was strictly liable in tort for designing, manufacturing and selling the vehicle. Ford timely designated Ellisor as a nonparty at fault. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiffs and awarded full damages of $643,000 to Blake Zuern and $127,314 to his parents, plaintiffs Frank and Kristie Zuern. The jury allocated 70% of the fault to Ellisor and 30% of the fault to Ford, and the trial court entered judgment in accordance with the verdict for plaintiffs against Ford in the total net amount of $231,094.20. Plaintiffs moved for a new trial, challenging, inter alia, the aforementioned evidentiary rulings, and then appealed only from the trial court’s order denying that motion.
DISCUSSION
1. Evidence of Rear Seat Defectiveness
Plaintiffs contend the trial court erred in excluding them proffered evidence of defects in the rear seat which Blake occupied, claiming the evidence would have simply rebutted a new defense theory which Ford had first disclosed less than sixty days before trial and which Ford presented at trial. “A trial court’s rulings on the exclusion or admission of evidence will not be disturbed on appeal unless a clear abuse of discretion appears and prejudice results.” Selby v. Savard, 134 Ariz. 222, 227, 655 P.2d 342, 347 (1982). In addition, “[t]he trial court has broad discretion in ruling on discovery and disclosure matters,” and we will not disturb its ruling absent a clear abuse of discretion. Soto v. Brinkerhoff, 183 Ariz. 333, 335, 903 P.2d 641, 643 (App.1995).
Throughout this litigation, plaintiffs primarily contended that Mr. Zuern’s seat was defective, unreasonably dangerous and had caused Blake’s injuries. According to plaintiffs, Blake’s head injuries resulted from Mr. Zuern’s seat ramping backward during the collision and causing his head to forcefully strike Blake’s head. Approximately three months before trial, however, plaintiffs’ experts formed a new opinion that Blake had hit the back of his head on an upper, horizontal cross member in his own seat back frame after he was struck by Mr. Zuern. Inspection of Blake’s seat two months before trial revealed a dent in the upper, horizontal cross member of his seat back. The dent indisputably was made by Blake’s head hitting it. When Ford moved to continue the trial for sixty days to address the new evidence, plaintiffs opposed the motion and essentially contended that their liability theory had not changed. The trial court denied Ford’s motion.
Subsequently, the trial court granted Ford’s motion in limine to preclude plaintiffs from arguing or presenting evidence that a defect in Blake’s seat caused or contributed to his injury, and denied Ford’s alternative motion to postpone the trial, both of which plaintiffs opposed. Adhering to its ruling, the trial court later rejected plaintiffs’ proffered expert testimony, presented through an offer of proof during trial, that the rear seat was defective and unreasonably dangerous if Blake’s head injuries resulted solely from his contacting the cross member in his seat back, without any impetus or force from Mr. Zuern.
Considering the entire context of its ruling, we cannot say the trial court clearly abused its discretion in precluding plaintiffs’ proffered evidence concerning defectiveness of Blake’s seat. Plaintiffs first disclosed that new, albeit alternative, theory informally during their expert’s supplemental deposition one month before trial, and then formally through a supplemental disclosure a few days later. That disclosure came more than three months after the deadline for disclosing expert opinions. Thus, the trial court did not err in excluding the evidence based on plaintiffs’ failure to timely and properly disclose the new liability theory, particularly since plaintiffs, not Ford, initially interjected the new issues into the case. Ariz.R.Civ.P. 26.1, 16 A.R.S. See generally Allstate Insurance Co. v. O’Toole, 182 Ariz. 284, 896 P.2d 254 (1995); Bryan v. Riddel, 178 Ariz. 472, 875 P.2d 131 (1994); Jones v. Buchanan, 177 Ariz. 410, 868 P.2d 993 (App.1993); cf. Czarnecki v. Volkswagen of America, 172 Ariz. 408, 837 P.2d 1143 (App.1991) (trial court properly rejected proposed amendment which would have added a new design defect theory seven weeks before trial).
Plaintiffs also contend they timely disclosed the proffered evidence concerning Blake’s seat as “rebuttal” evidence, which the trial court should have admitted simply to counter Ford’s theory concerning the mechanism of Blake’s head injury. We cannot fairly construe the evidence as “rebuttal” evidence, however, nor did plaintiffs so characterize it before, during or after trial. Cf. Deyoe v. Clark Equip. Co., 134 Ariz. 281, 284, 655 P.2d 1333, 1336 (App.1982) (“It has been recognized that the line between direct and rebuttal evidence is hazy and hard to determine and the trial court must have reasonable discretion in fixing the line absent manifest abuse.”). We note, moreover, that if plaintiffs regarded evidence of the rear seat’s alleged defectiveness as essential to their case, they could and should have acceded to Ford’s two requests for a short trial continuance to allow it time to address the new theory. Instead, they opposed the continuances. Under the circumstances, we cannot say the trial court abused its discretion in denying plaintiffs a new trial on this ground. See Ariz.R.Civ.P. 59(a)(6), 16 A.R.S.
2. Evidence of Nonparty’s Intoxication and Criminal Conviction
Analysis of Ellisor’s blood after the accident revealed a blood alcohol content of .26%. He pleaded guilty to criminal charges relating to the accident, admitted “he was drunk and intentionally went out to get drunk” at the time, and was sentenced to prison. Over plaintiffs’ objection, the trial court admitted evidence of those facts and permitted an investigating detective to testify that Ellisor had a “very strong odor of alcohol,” fumbled through his wallet for several minutes looking for his license, refused to perform field sobriety tests, and appeared to be obviously impaired. Based on that evidence, Ford’s counsel told the jury in closing argument that it should assess “by far the largest degree of fault” to Ellisor and urged the jury, as “the conscience of the community,” to “figure out what we are going to do with drunk drivers in this community.”
Plaintiffs contend, as they did in the trial court, that the evidence of Ellisor’s intoxication and conviction should have been excluded because it was irrelevant, and any probative value it had was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues and misleading the jury. Relying exclusively on Cota, plaintiffs maintain that “[t]he reasons why Ellisor drove his car into the Aerostar and the fact that he was subsequently convicted of a criminal charge” were irrelevant to the issue of fault in a case like this involving only a strict liability claim. According to plaintiffs, the only relevant consideration bearing on fault was the extent to which Blake’s injuries were caused by the design of the Aerostar and the extent to which they were caused by the foreseeable collision with Ellisor’s car.
In Cota, the plaintiff/motorcyclist was badly burned when one of the cycle’s gasoline tanks ruptured during a collision. He sued the manufacturer on a “crashworthiness” theory of strict liability, claiming the motorcycle was defective in its design. On appeal from an adverse jury verdict, the manufacturer alleged error, inter alia, in the trial court’s exclusion of evidence that the motorcyclist had been drinking before the accident and was driving on the wrong side of the road at the time of the collision. In rejecting that claim, this court stated:
Defendants’ thinly veiled reason for wanting this evidence to be brought to the jury’s attention was to paint Cota as a wrongdoer and hope the jury would take that into consideration in either denying liability or in limiting damages. Such a purpose would be improper. The evidence was irrelevant, and the trial court properly excluded it.
141 Ariz. at 14-15, 684 P.2d at 895-96.
Cota is distinguishable and not controlling here for several reasons. First, unlike this case, Cota involved defense claims of product misuse and assumption of risk by the plaintiff which, if proven, would have been a complete bar to the plaintiffs claim. See A.R.S. § 12-683(3); McCarty v. F.C. Kingston Co., 22 Ariz.App. 17, 522 P.2d 778 (1974). Second, and more importantly, Cota was decided before the UCATA took effect. The Act’s comparative fault system has significantly altered the legal landscape. Under the current statutory system, a defendant is liable “only for the amount of damages allocated to that defendant in direct proportion to that defendant’s percentage of fault.” A.R.S. § 12-2506(A). In assessing the “percentage of fault” of each defendant, the fact-finder must assess the fault of any nonparties who have been timely and properly designated and who contributed to the injuries or damages. A.R.S. § 12~2506(B) (“In assessing percentages of fault the trier of fact shall consider the fault of all persons who contrib uted to the alleged injury ... regardless of whether the person was, or could have been, named as a party to the suit.”); Ariz.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(5), 16 A.R.S. The Act broadly defines fault as
an actionable breach of legal duty, act or omission proximately causing or contributing to injury or damages sustained by a person seeking recovery, including negligence in all of its degrees, contributory negligence, assumption of risk, strict liability, breach of express or implied warranty of a product, products liability and misuse, modification or abuse of a product.
A.R.S. § 12-2506(F)(2).
Division One of this court recently noted “the broad definition of fault in section 12-2506(F)(2), and the clear directive in section 12-2506(B) to compare all fault,” concluding that “the Arizona comparative fault statutes should be interpreted as requiring comparison of all types of fault, including intentional wrongdoing.” Hutcherson v. City of Phoenix, 188 Ariz. 183, 192, 933 P.2d 1251, 1260 (Ct.App.1996). See also Thomas v. First Interstate Bank, 187 Ariz. 488, 930 P.2d 1002 (Ct.App.1996); Natseway v. City of Tempe, 184 Ariz. 374, 909 P.2d 441 (App.1995). In addition, our supreme court has made clear that comparative fault principles apply to strict product liability actions. Jimenez v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 183 Ariz. 399, 405, 904 P.2d 861, 867 (1995) (holding the UCATA requires “a factual determination of the plaintiffs misuse as a relative degree of fault in allocating causal responsibility in a strict products liability claim”). That court also has recognized that § 12-2506(B) compels “the assessment of nonparty fault regardless of whether the nonparty was or could be made a defendant to the action,” Dietz v. General Elec. Co., 169 Ariz. 505, 510, 821 P.2d 166, 171 (1991), and that designating a nonparty at fault allows defendants “to offer trial evidence of [the nonparty’s] negligence and to argue that the jury should attribute all or some percentage of fault to [the non-party], thereby reducing Defendants’ pereentage of fault and consequent liability.” Id. at 507, 821 P.2d at 168.
Under the UCATA, which expressly defines “fault” to include “strict liability,” § 12-2506(F)(2), all of the different types of fault identified in that section, if contributing to the same injury, must be compared in order to comply with the statutory mandate that “the trier of fact shall consider the fault of all persons who contributed to the alleged injury” in assessing percentages of fault. § 12-2506(B). See Cleveland v. Piper Aircraft Corp., 890 F.2d 1540, 1550 (10th Cir. 1989) (“common sense in the fair application of [New Mexico’s] pure comparative negligence system mandates that the negligence of all parties [and nonparties], including original tortfeasors and crashworthiness tortfeasors, which proximately causes enhanced injuries in a crashworthiness or ‘second collision’ case must be compared”); Hardin v. Manitowoc-Forsythe Corp., 691 F.2d 449, 454 (10th Cir.1982) (in product liability action involving defective design claim, under Kansas law “all types of fault, regardless of degree, are to be compared in order to apportion the causal responsibility for the accident,” including the fault of non-parties); Craigie v. General Motors Corp., 740 F.Supp. 353, 359 (E.D.Pa.1990) (under Pennsylvania’s UCATA, defendant/vehicle manufacturer in crashworthiness case permitted to implead for contribution “all those whose negligent or tortious acts are alleged to be contributing causes of harm”); Kidron v. Carmona, 665 So.2d 289, 292 (Fla.Dist.Ct. App.1995) (jury in enhanced injury case shall consider fault of the parties as well as all others who contributed to the accident, regardless of whether they were named or could have been named as defendants).
We disagree with plaintiffs’ contention that the comparative fault issue should have been limited to “the extent to which the collision or defects in the Aerostar caused or contributed to Blake’s injuries or damages.” Section 12-2506(C) requires the trier to assess “degrees of fault,” not just degrees of causation. Although causation (or physical contribution to the injury) is a necessary condition precedent to consideration of a person’s fault — i.e., the fault must have “proximately caus[ed] or contribut[ed]” to the claimant’s injuries to be considered, A.R.S. § 12-2506(F)(2) — once causation is found the trier of fact must determine and apportion “the relative degrees of fault” of all parties and nonparties. § 12-2506(0). See Standard Chartered PLC v. Price Waterhouse, 229 Ariz.Adv.Rep. 26, 48, - Ariz. -, -, — P.2d -, -, 1996 WL 640702 (Ct.App. November 7, 1996) (“the parties’ relative contribution to causation is best left for the jury to determine as an element in apportioning relative degrees of fault”); William L. Prosser, Comparative Negligence, 51 Mich.L.Rev. 465, 481 (1953); Victor E. Schwartz, Comparative Negligence, § 17-1(a) at 352 (3d ed. 1994) (“The process is not allocation of physical causation, which could be scientifically apportioned, but rather of allocating fault, which cannot be scientifically measured.”). Accord, State v. Kaatz, 572 P.2d 775, 782 (Alaska 1977) (‘What is to be compared is negligence, conduct, fault, culpability not causation, either physical or legal.”); Day v. General Motors Corp., 345 N.W.2d 349 (N.D.1984) (in analyzing comparative fault, jury should consider both accident-producing fault and injury-enhancing fault in crashworthiness case).
Thus, the trial court did not err in admitting evidence bearing on Ellisor’s fault, including evidence of his intoxication and criminal conviction. Cf. Keltner v. Ford Motor Co., 748 F.2d 1265 (8th Cir.1984) (trial court, applying Arkansas law, did not err in admitting evidence of plaintiff/motorist’s drinking habits and odor of intoxicants in crashworthiness case); Hinkamp v. American Motors Corp., 735 F.Supp. 176 (E.D.N.C. 1989), aff'd, 900 F.2d 252 (4th Cir.1990) (driver’s intoxication considered relevant factor in crashworthiness ease). That such evidence was prejudicial to plaintiffs, painted Ellisor as a wrongdoer and undoubtedly increased the chances of the jury assessing a sizeable percentage of fault to him did not make the evidence inadmissible. Moreover, we will not overturn the trial court’s weighing of factors and determinations under Ariz.R.Evid. 403, 17A A.R.S., absent a manifest abuse of discretion, which we do not find here. Readenour v. Marion Power Shovel, 149 Ariz. 442, 449-50, 719 P.2d 1058,1065-66 (1986).
Finally, that plaintiffs’ strict liability theory was premised on the crashworthiness doctrine did not automatically limit the nature or scope of admissible evidence bearing on Ellisor’s fault. See Whitehead v. Toyota Motor Corp., 897 S.W.2d 684, 693-94 (Tenn.1995), and cases cited therein. As Ford correctly notes, in light of Arizona’s comparative fault system, the relevance of evidence concerning Ellisor’s conduct did not change simply because plaintiffs chose not to sue him or because Ford raised the issue of his fault under § 12-2506.
Affirmed.
DRUKE, C.J., and LIVERMORE, J., concur.
. In his supplemental deposition, plaintiffs’ expert opined that the rear seat cross member was too hard and its padding inadequate, but acknowledged that he had had all of the information and materials needed to reach that conclusion at the time of his first deposition taken more than three months before trial.
. Ford’s experts testified at trial that Blake’s head injury was caused solely by his head striking the seat back cross member in his seat. Those opinions were disclosed by Ford just weeks before trial and differed from the experts’ deposition testimony. Plaintiffs waived any error in the admission of the new opinions, however, by not objecting to the testimony at trial and not moving before or during trial to exclude such evidence on disclosure grounds. Rhue v. Dawson, 173 Ariz. 220, 230, 841 P.2d 215, 225 (App. 1992). Therefore, we do not address plaintiffs’ contention that the trial court erred in "permitting Ford to pursue its new theory of defense without rebuttal from [plaintiffs].”
. This court in Cota adopted the crashworthiness theory enunciated in Larsen v. General Motors Corp., 391 F.2d 495 (8th Cir.1968). As Division One of this court has noted, "[a] crashworthiness case is one in which the alleged manufacturing or design defect does not cause the accident,” and in which "the manufacturer is liable only for enhancement damages comprised of 'that portion of the damage or injury caused by the defective design over and above the damage or injury that probably would have occurred as a result of the impact or collision absent the defective design.’ ” Czamecki, 172 Ariz. at 412 n. 2, 837 P.2d at 1147 n. 2 (App.1991).
. Although the court refused to speculate on how Cota would be decided today, it noted that § 12-2506(F)(2) "expressly includes 'product liability and misuse’ in its definition of 'fault.' " Hutcherson, 188 Ariz. at 193, 933 P.2d at 1261.
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OPINION
FELDMAN, Justice.
Steven Henry Hummert (Defendant) appealed his convictions for kidnaping, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and aggravated assault. Defendant claimed the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of DNA testing. Following State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 858 P.2d 1152 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994), the court of appeals held that experts can only testify a DNA match means the defendant cannot be excluded as the donor of the sample. State v. Hummert, 183 Ariz. 484, 905 P.2d 493 (App.1995). Furthermore, the court of appeals found that the experts’ testimony about their personal experience of random matches at three loci had the effect of communicating to the jury that the DNA conclusively came from Defendant. This, the court of appeals held, was prejudicial error. Id. Therefore, the case was reversed and remanded. We accepted review pursuant to Rule 31.19 of the Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure. We have jurisdiction under Arizona Constitution, art. VI, § 5(3).
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In the early morning hours of July 16, 1989, a nineteen-year-old Tempe woman and a friend were driving home from a dance club when they noticed a red Honda CRX with gray out-of-state license plates and an emblem shaped like Texas on the rear. The Honda was traveling in a different direction and turned at an intersection. A little while later they saw the same car turning in yet a different direction at another intersection.
The woman dropped off her friend and went on to her boyfriend’s home, but he was not there. Again she thought she saw the red Honda. When she arrived home at approximately 3:30 a.m., a man surprised her as she was leaving her car and forced her into a neighbor’s yard at gunpoint. As he did so, she saw the same red Honda CRX and was able to remember part of the license plate number. The man then raped her. The attacker attempted to strangle the victim, and in the struggle she bit him on his forearm. During the assault, he hit her around the face and head, perhaps with the butt of his gun or against a brick planter, causing severe lacerations and loss of consciousness. When she woke up, the red Honda was gone.
The victim described the car and license to the police and family members at the hospital. Propitiously, a cousin who had visited her at the hospital stopped at a nearby Mc-Donalds, where he saw a red Honda CRX with Texas plates and a Texas-shaped emblem on the back. Defendant, who owned the car, worked at the McDonalds as a manager. When questioned by the police, Defendant claimed to have been at a party with people from work at the time of the assault. The co-workers later told police Defendant had asked them to say he left the party at 4:00 a.m. when he actually left at approximately 2:00 a.m. Defendant also had a wound on his arm that was consistent with a bite, and a pubic hair from the crime scene was consistent with his hair. Although the victim picked two other photographs from a pretrial photographic line-up, she identified Defendant as her assailant at trial.
The FBI performed DNA tests using the Restricted Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) method and found that DNA extracted from semen on the victim’s underwear matched Defendant’s DNA at four loci, although one match was not considered because the victim shared the same allele. At trial, the judge admitted evidence of the match, the criteria for declaring a match, and opinions that Defendant was not excluded by the DNA tests. After a Frye hearing, the judge found that although the process of RFLP DNA profiling had been accepted by the relevant scientific community, the methods for calculating the mathematical probability of a random match were not generally accepted. The statistical probability of a random match expresses this possibility in a mathematical percentage. In Bible, for example, the witness testified, in effect, that the probability the blood on Bible’s shirt came from the victim was in a “conservative” range of 60 million to one. 175 Ariz. at 582, 858 P.2d at 1185. Instead of allowing statistics on the probability of a random match, the trial judge only permitted testimony about the uniqueness of DNA and the expert’s personal experience in never finding random matches under the same circumstances. If a match is random, then the sample could have come from someone other than the person in question.
Defendant was convicted of two counts of sexual assault, kidnaping, two counts of aggravated assault, and sexual abuse, all dangerous felonies. Because Defendant had a prior felony conviction and was on probation, he was sentenced to concurrent terms of twenty-five years to life on all counts.
On appeal Defendant challenged the admissibility of the DNA evidence, among oth er issues. The question before the court of appeals was whether “testimony regarding the existence of a ‘match’ between questioned and known DNA samples [is] admissible,” given Bible’s holding “that random match probability calculations are inadmissible on Frye grounds.” Hummert, 183 Ariz. at 489, 905 P.2d at 497. The court held that under Bible, experts can only testify that a DNA match means the defendant cannot be excluded as the donor of the sample. Because the expert witnesses testified the DNA matched at three loci, the court said this was tantamount to showing conclusively the samples came from the same person. The court found this was prejudicial error because it overstated the significance of the DNA test results, implicitly conveyed to the jury the forbidden random match statistics, and made it practically impossible for the defense to cross-examine the experts without referring to the inadmissible probability statistics. Id. In its opinion, the court cited several cases from other states holding DNA evidence and the declaration of a match inadmissible in the absence of generally accepted population frequency statistics.
DISCUSSION
A. Evolution of the Arizona rule on DNA evidence
We have considered the admissibility and use of DNA evidence in two cases: Bible and State v. Johnson, 186 Ariz. 329, 922 P.2d 294 (1996). The present case was tried before Bible and the appeal argued and decided after Bible but before Johnson. Both cases describe the science involved in DNA testing in some detail. In the present case we make no attempt to review the scientific process except for what may be necessary to explain our reasoning.
The use of DNA profiling and matching in forensics involves three basic steps. First, through a lengthy process of chemical treatment and “photographing” using radioactive probes and X-ray film, profiles (autorads) are created of DNA evidence samples from the crime scene and samples taken from the victim and the suspects. Second, the profiles are analyzed to determine whether any of the samples match. This is done both by sight and computer analysis, comparing whether the pictures of the DNA segments photographed are the same length. Finally, the significance of the match is articulated, usually by calculating the probability of a random match. Bible, 175 Ariz. at 577, 858 P.2d at 1180.
1. State v. Bible and Cellmark’s use of the product rule
Applying Frye, we reviewed the admissibility of DNA statistical probability evidence calculated with the product rule in Bible. We held that while the RFLP method of declaring a match is admissible, the random match mathematical calculations were inadmissable because the laboratory that had applied the product rule used a flawed database. Id. at 581, 858 P.2d at 1184. The Cellmark laboratory maintained a database of DNA samples that were used to calculate how frequently the genes profiled occurred in the general population. However, this database was flawed because it had not been shown that it was in linkage equilibrium, was broad enough to be statistically valid, or was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. See Johnson, 186 Ariz. at 331-33, 922 P.2d at 296-98. The “application of the product rule [by Cell-mark] and the resulting opinion of the odds against a random match were not derived by applying generally accepted scientific theory” because the database was flawed. Bible, 175 Ariz. at 586, 858 P.2d at 1189. Contrary to the court of appeals’ reading, as a general matter Bible did not absolutely reject the use of statistics calculating the probability of a random match. Arguably, with a database that meets Frye requirements, the product rule may be accepted as effective for calculating the probability of a random match. Id. at 590, 858 P.2d at 1193; see also Johnson, 186 Ariz. at 335, 922 P.2d at 300.
2. The need for statistics
The court of appeals stated:
An autorad match is meaningless without the statistical evidence to validate the match. If the autorad reflects only sites on the DNA that are common to all human beings (monomorphic sites), the evidence obtained cannot be the basis for identifying the defendant. Thus, the expert must also show that the alleles detected by the particular probes used are polymorphic.
Hummert, 183 Ariz. at 484, 905 P.2d at 497. The purpose of the statistical interpretation of the match, however, is not to determine whether the loci measured in the autorad were poly- or mono-morphic. Because 99.9 percent of all human DNA is monomorphic— common to all people — the RFLP test has been developed to look at and measure only those areas that are polymorphic — i.e., known to vary widely from person to person. Statistical comparisons to the database are required to determine how often a particular polymorphic combination occurs in the population. All the sites used in the RFLP technique are by definition polymorphic, making a second test unnecessary.
Related to the court of appeals’ misunderstanding of the necessity of the statistical analysis of the probability of a random match was its application of a statement made by the National Research Council (NRC) in its 1992 report, The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence (1992 Report), claiming that “[t]o say that two patterns match, without providing any scientifically valid estimate ... of the frequency with which such matches might occur by chance, is meaningless.” Id. at 74. Courts, particularly the Washington Supreme Court in State v. Cauthron, 120 Wash.2d 879, 846 P.2d 502 (1993), have interpreted this to mean that numerical statistics are required to express the significance of the match of two DNA profiles. We believe this view to be seriously incorrect. First, it is unclear that the NRC intended to say that only numerical expressions are acceptable in court. Furthermore, in a later report, unavailable at the time of the court of appeals’ opinion, the NRC stated:
Scientifically valid testimony about matching DNA can take many forms. The conceivable alternatives include statements of the posterior probability that the defendant is the source of the evidence DNA, qualitative characterizations of this probability, computations of the likelihood ratio for the hypothesis that the defendant is the source, qualitative statements of this measure of the strength of the evidence, the currently dominant estimates of profile frequencies or random-match probabilities, and unadorned reports of a match. Courts or legislatures must decide which of these alternatives best meet the needs of the criminal justice system.
National Research Council, The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence ES-7 (emphasis omitted) (1996) (pre-publication copy) (1996 Pre-Publication Report).
We interpret this to mean that there is no single or specific scientific method of expressing the significance of a match but, rather, different ways of explaining the significance in a forensic setting. Therefore, once an expert witness, using a method such as RFLP that has been accepted as admissible under Frye, has determined there is a match, then the expert may testify and express his or her opinions in several ways that effectively communicate his or her findings. Id. From the scientist’s standpoint, it is for the courts to decide if the expert may testify on the significance of the match as determined by probability statistics, or draw conclusions, as was done in this case, strictly from personal knowledge and study, if this is the type of information the expert regularly and reasonably relies on. See Ariz.R.Evid. 702 and 703. We did not foreclose this issue in Bible. We held instead that when DNA samples “match, the conclusion is that they may be from the same individual.” We went on to conclude there was no general acceptance in the scientific community for Cell-mark’s random match probability calculations and they were therefore inadmissible. Bible, 175 Ariz. at 590, 858 P.2d at 1193. We reserved and
expressly [did] not decide whether the inadmissibility of the random match probability calculations means that other DNA evidence, such as evidence of a match is inadmissible____
We take a cautious conservative approach. Not knowing what records in other cases will show, what issues those cases will raise, or what new technology will bring, we neither write in stone nor go farther than we must____ We make no final judgment on how far, if at all, the court may go in allowing a party to inform the jury about the declaration of a match and its meaning in any specific case.
Id.
3. State v. Johnson
Three years after Bible, armed with recently expressed scientific opinion, we again addressed the issue. After our opinion in Bible, and many cases like it in other states, the relevant scientific community acknowledged the problems arising from questions about DNA databases. In its 1992 Report, the NRC developed a way to make DNA analysis helpful for forensic use. The modified ceiling method uses a database that ensures the random match probabilities calculated are very conservative and protect a defendant’s rights. See Johnson, 186 Ariz. at 333, 922 P.2d at 298. In Johnson, we held that the modified ceiling method had been generally accepted by the relevant scientific community, meaning DNA probability calculations computed using the modified ceiling method are admissible under Frye. Id.
Subsequent to the Johnson opinion, the NRC updated its 1992 Report, concluding that enough information about gene frequency had been gathered in four years to make the conservative approach of the ceiling principles no longer necessary. See 1996 PrePublication Report, at 5-32. The NRC also concluded that alternative methods, including the product rule with qualifications made to cope with subpopulations, isolated populations, and related individuals, are now statistically viable. Id.
B. Expert opinions and scientific evidence
1. Alternative methods
The experts’ testimony in the present case involved two types of evidence— scientific evidence on the procedures for determining a match between evidentiary DNA and opinion evidence concerning the experts’ experience with random matches. The trial judge properly applied the Frye analysis and determined that evidence of a match is admissible. However, on the basis of the scientific evidence then available, the judge did not allow the experts to testify about the mathematical or statistical probability result ing from the match. Instead, the experts were allowed to offer evidence of their personal opinion. This testimony is governed not by the application of Frye but by Arizona Rules of Evidence 702 and 703. See State v. Roscoe, 145 Ariz. 212, 219, 700 P.2d 1312, 1319 (1984). “Frye-ing" scientific evidence is necessary when application of a scientific technique is “likely to have an enormous effect in resolving completely a matter in controversy.” State ex rel. Collins v. Superior Court, 132 Ariz. 180, 199, 644 P.2d 1266, 1285 (1982), quoting M. Udall & J. Liver-more, Law of Evidence § 102, at 212 (2d ed.1982). However, when the expert gives testimony that “only helps a trier to interpret the evidence ... it will be received on a lesser showing of scientific certainty.” Id. As we stated in Roscoe, “[t]he weight of the evidence did not hinge upon the validity or accuracy of some scientific principle; rather, it hinged on [the expert’s] credibility, the accuracy of his past observation ... the extent of the training ... and the reliability of his interpretations____” Roscoe, 145 Ariz. at 220, 700 P.2d at 1320; McCormick on Evidence § 203, at 871, nn. 27 and 28 (J.W. Strong et al., eds., 4th ed.1992). The experts in this case did not testify to conclusions based on the application of Cellmark’s statistics and database but only to their own experience. Having made the DNA examination according to recognized scientific principles and finding a match at three loci, the experts claimed that because of the unique nature of each person’s DNA, they had never before seen a three-loci match from unrelated individuals. On the basis of their own experience, they believed such a random match would be very uncommon. The trial judge did not err in admitting this evidence of the experts’ own work and experience and the opinions reached on that basis. See Ariz. R.Evid. 702 and 703.
2. Opinion evidence as an “end-run” around Frye
The court of appeals suggested that although couched in terms of their personal experience, the experts’ testimony effectively conveyed to the jury the then-impermissible random match probability statistics. We do not agree. Both witnesses explained why they had found a match both visually and numerically. They explained that the profiles matched over four probes, though one of the probe matches was rejected in the interests of accuracy and that the areas looked at by RFLP analysis are polymorphic and vary between individuals. This testimony fit within the scientific evidence category and was permitted because it met the requirements of Frye.
The prosecutor then turned to the experts’ personal experience, developing their experience with the RFLP analysis and the pertinent literature to support their testimony that they had never personally seen or heard of a random match over three or four loci. However, it was also developed that such a match would be possible between identical twins or even brothers. Defendant chose not to cross-examine the experts on the basis for their opinions, instead focusing on the fact that only a small percentage of DNA differs from person to person, the possibility of laboratory error, bias, and environmental insults to the evidence DNA. As noted, this is the very type of opinion evidence discussed in Roscoe, which is not based on the application of scientific principle but, rather, on the observations and credibility of the witness. Thus, it need only meet the requirements of relevancy and not be substantially more prejudicial than probative. See Ariz.R.Evid. 401 and 403.
3. Application of Rule 703
The court of appeals argued that Rule 703 might be used as a way to “back-door” otherwise unacceptable scientific evidence. Under the present state of our cases, however, because scientific evidence, as opposed to opinion evidence, must first meet the requirements of Rule 702 and Frye, we find this highly unlikely. Moreover, a search of cases within Arizona shows no such abuse of Rule 703. Rather, the alleged inadmissible evidence most often used under Rule 703 is hearsay, and we have clearly stated that such evidence is only admissible as a basis for expert opinion, not for any substantive value. See State v. Lundstrom, 161 Ariz. 141, 147-49, 776 P.2d 1067, 1073-75 (1989).
The court of appeals also argued that for the defense to effectively cross-examine the experts about their assumptions was “practically impossible without resorting to the precluded random match probability statistics.” While we note that Defendant effectively and thoroughly cross-examined the experts on the problems that may have occurred to taint the match they declared, we also find nothing under Rule 703 that would have precluded cross-examination to establish that the opinions were based on application of an unrecognized scientific principle. It is well established in Arizona that the basis for an expert’s opinion is fair game during cross-examination. See Ariz.R.Evid. 705; Arizona Evidence § 24, citing State v. Swafford, 21 Ariz.App. 474, 486, 520 P.2d 1151, 1163 (1974) (“The expert invites investigation into the extent of his knowledge, the reasons for his opinion including facts and other matters upon which it is based and which he took into consideration and may be subjected to the most rigid cross-examination concerning his qualifications and his opinion and its sources.”). Moreover, had Defendant still desired to keep out the numbers that were the basis for the experts’ opinions, he probably could have cross-examined the experts on the method of determining the significance of the match and the scientific controversy behind it without ever mentioning the exact numbers.
C. Exclusion of evidence of Mesa sexual assault
The trial judge rejected Defendant’s offer of evidence of another sexual assault with some similarities to the assaults charged in this case. Although police eliminated him as a suspect, Defendant argued that the perpetrator of the other sexual assault could have been the perpetrator in this case. The judge found that because of substantial differences between the two crimes, there was not enough evidence with an “inherent tendency to connect the other person with the actual commission of the [charged] crime.” Hummert, 183 Ariz. at 493-94, 905 P.2d at 502-03, citing State v. Oliver, 169 Ariz. 589, 590-91, 821 P.2d 250, 251-52 (App. 1991). Moreover, the judge held, on the basis of Rule 403, that the danger of confusing and misleading the jury outweighed the probative value of the evidence. See Ariz. R.Evid. 403. The court of appeals disagreed, holding that under Rule 404(b) (evidence of other acts admissible, inter alia, to show identity) the jury should have been allowed to hear the evidence and decide whether Defendant’s exculpation in the other case was relevant to the issue of identity in this case. Hummert, 183 Ariz. at 495, 905 P.2d at 504.
We do not believe the problem is grounds for reversal. Although this issue was not raised in the petition for review, we assume, arguendo, that the other act evidence was marginally relevant. Thus it was within the trial judge’s discretion to determine its admissibility under Rule 403. We see no abuse of discretion. Furthermore, given the overwhelming evidence of Defendant’s guilt, including the DNA evidence, any error in rejecting the other act evidence was, beyond a reasonable doubt, harmless.
D. Special concurrence
The rather unusual nature of the concurring opinion justifies brief comment. The concurring justice joined this court’s Bible and Johnson opinions. Now, although conceding the legal analyses and results were correct, he nevertheless wishes to confess some scientific errors in the language the court used in those cases to summarize scientific principles related to DNA typing, population genetics, and statistical analysis. Given the complexity of the science and mathematics underlying these principles, we readily concede that mistakes there may be — see ante, note 3 — but, as the concurring justice notes, those mistakes “did not affect the results.” Concurrence at 16.
We see no purpose therefore in proclaiming “mea culpa” for technical, scientific errors described in an as-yet unpublished law review article written by even the most distinguished law college professor. Respectfully, therefore, we decline to join in the concurring justice’s act of contrition. If, as the concurring justice believes, the trial court record in Bible showed that Cellmark’s “database was consistent with a population in Hardy-Weinberg equalibrium,” then so be it. Concurrence at 16.
Nor, despite the concurring justice’s view, did we attempt in past cases or this one to “resolve scientific issues.” Concurrence at 18. We attempt only to understand them, keeping in mind our lack of training in these disciplines, and to articulate them to the extent necessary to explain the reasons for concluding that a scientific principle has or has not been accepted in the relevant scientific community. It is hard to make such an explanation without stating at least the essence of the principle and explaining what is or is not accepted.
The law review article makes two proposals, both of which are explicitly or implicitly endorsed by the concurring justice. The first is that the courts should decide eases and write opinions without trying to explain the relevant scientific principles. The opinion would merely announce the result, based on scientific consensus, thus providing neither description nor explanation of what is or is not scientifically accepted. But as the author of the article himself acknowledges, that approach is “trivial” because it is “unlikely to produce convincing opinions.” As the author concludes, in the final analysis the court “must understand what needs to be understood,” and sometimes neither counsel nor the court’s own scientific research “provide[s] adequate clarification.” D.H. Kaye, Bible Reading: DNA Evidence in Arizona, 28 Ariz. St. L.J. 1035, 1073-74 (pre-publication copy).
The article’s second, and main, proposal is that the court should submit its draft opinions on cases involving scientific issues to a panel of learned scientists, who will undertake a sort of non-peer review process to make sure the court has correctly appreciated and decided issues affected by the sciences. Id. at 1075. Such a process would, of course, make life easier for the members of this court, but unlike courts exercising original jurisdiction, we have no provision for masters to vet draft appellate opinions. We hesitate to think of the comments from litigants and counsel who discover that their case has been effectively decided by an “impartial” group of scientists whose identity was not revealed to them, before whom they could not appear, and to whom they could address neither argument nor question.
CONCLUSION
We recognize that the passage of time has left us in a better position to evaluate the admissibility of DNA evidence than the courts considering the case before us. However, we hold here that the apparent trappings of science, the Frye rule, and scientific recognition need not cloud the courts’ views. Although compliance with Frye is necessary when the scientist reaches a conclusion by applying a scientific theory or process based on the work or discovery of others, under Rules 702 and 703 experts may testify concerning their own experimentation and observation and opinions based on their own work without first showing general acceptance. Such evidence need only meet the traditional requirements of relevance and avoid substantial prejudice, confusion, or waste of time. See Ariz. R. Evid. 403. The trial judge did not err in admitting the evidence in question in this case.
We therefore vacate the court of appeals’ opinion and affirm the trial judge’s rulings and Defendant’s convictions.
ZLAKET, C.J., and MOELLER, J., and JACOBSON, J. (Retired), concur.
ROBERT J. CORCORCAN, J.,
did not
participate in the determination of this matter; pursuant to Ariz.Const. art. VI, § 3, the Honorable EINO M. JACOBSON, J.(Retired) of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, was designated to sit in his stead.
. For a detailed explanation of RFLP analysis, the method used in this case, with cites to the scientific literature, see Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 858 P.2d 1152; State v. Anderson, 118 N.M. 284, 881 P.2d 29 (1994).
. See Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (C.A.D.C. 1923), explained and applied in Bible, 175 Ariz. at 578, 858 P.2d at 1181.
. The product rule is often described as simple multiplication of the frequency of the occurrence of- two alleles in the relevant population. For example, if when looking at one loci the profiles match and one allele is found in ten percent of the population and the other is found in fifty percent of the population, then the probability of a coincidental match is the product of the two frequencies. See Johnson, 186 Ariz. at 333 n. 3, 922 P.2d at 296 n. 3; Bible 175 Ariz. at 582, 858 P.2d at 1185. However, we made a mathematical error when explaining these calculations in Bible and Johnson. Because there are pairs of alleles, unless the alleles are identical the calculation should be 2(0.10 x 0.50) = 0.10, or a ten percent probability of a random match. National Research Council, The Evaluation of DNA Evidence 0-19 (1996).
. In context, the 1992 Report stated:
Can DNA typing uniquely identify the source of a sample? Because any two human genomes differ at about 3 million sites, no two persons (barring identical twins) have the same DNA sequence. Unique identification with DNA typing is therefore possible provided that enough sites of variation are examined.
However, the DNA typing systems used today examine only a few sites of variation and have only limited resolution for measuring the variability at each site. There is a chance that two persons might have DNA patterns (i.e., genetic types) that match at the small number of sites examined. Nonetheless, even with today's technology, which uses 3-5 loci, a match between two DNA patterns can be considered strong evidence that the two samples came from the same source.
Interpreting a DNA typing analysis requires a valid scientific method for estimating the probability that a random person might by chance have matched the forensic sample at the sites of DNA variation examined. A judge or jury could appropriately weigh the significance of a DNA match between a defendant and forensic sample if told, for example, that "the pattern in the forensic sample occurs with a probability that is not known exactly, but is less than 1 in 1,000” (if the database that shows no match with the defendant’s pattern is of size 1,000).
To say that two patterns match, without providing any scientifically valid estimate (or, at least, an upper bound) of the frequency with which such matches might occur by chance, is meaningless.
1992 Report, at 74. We read this to mean that there should be some analysis of the significance of the match, but it does not direct the method by which the significance should be expressed.
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OPINION
FELDMAN, Justice.
Defendant Erie Owen Mann was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death for the killings of Richard Alberts and Ramon Bazurto during a drug deal. Appeal to this court is automatic on capital counts and we have jurisdiction pursuant to A.R.S. § 13-4031 and Ariz.R.Crim.P. 31.2(b). We affirm the judgment.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Defendant and his girlfriend, Karen Miller, rented a house in Tucson where they sold cocaine, marijuana, and guns. Typically, Karen sold “eight-balls” (one-eighth of an ounce packets) of cocaine in the evening while Defendant worked on bigger drug deals.
In late November 1989, Defendant told Karen of his plan to rip off Richard Alberts, a friend also involved in the cocaine trade. Defendant set up a deal to sell about a kilogram of cocaine for roughly $20,000. According to Karen, Defendant knew he would have to “whack” (kill) Alberts after taking the money and giving Alberts a shoebox filled with newspaper instead of cocaine.
The plan changed when Alberts showed up with another man, Ramon Bazurto. Defendant, however, quickly made up his mind “to do it.” The men entered the house and followed Defendant back to the master bedroom. Karen followed behind and stood in the doorway, between Alberts and Bazurto. After trading the bag of money for the shoebox, Alberts lifted the top of the box that contained only newspaper. Almost instantaneously, Defendant shot Alberts and then Bazurto. Each was shot once, Alberts through the heart and Bazurto through the lung, severing the aorta. Both bullets passed through the bodies and traveled through the walls of the house.
Alberts died almost instantly but Bazurto did not. According to Karen, he feebly attempted to reach for the gun he was carrying in his waistband. Defendant placed his foot on Bazurto’s hand to stop him and described to Karen what was happening as the victim lost motor control and died. She testified it took from three to five minutes for Bazurto to die.
Defendant got a friend, Carlos Alejandro, to help him dump the bodies near a rural road in the vicinity of Fort Grant prison, near Safford. The next day, Defendant and Karen did a thorough cleaning job to erase all traces of the murder. All the walls and floors were scrubbed and patched, and the room was repainted. Defendant gave Alberts’ car to an acquaintance to whom he owed money. He also dismantled his guns, destroyed the mechanisms with a hammer, and scattered the pieces, as well as the recovered bullets, in a lake. When questioned by police, Defendant told them Alberts and Bazurto had come to the house but left after the drug deal failed.
Nothing more came of the ease until January 1994 when Karen Miller ended her relationship with Defendant, allegedly because of escalating domestic violence and his threats to “do it again.” After moving, she told the police about the murder. Police tracked down Alejandro and the person to whom the car had been given and were able to corroborate Karen’s story. Defendant then was arrested and charged with the murders of Alberts and Bazurto. Karen Miller and Alejandro were never charged for their part in the murders or cover-up.
At trial, Defendant was found guilty of the murders, based primarily on the testimony of Karen Miller and Carlos Alejandro. At sentencing, the trial judge found three aggravating factors: pecuniary gain (§ 13 — 703(F)(2)); multiple murders (§ 13-703(F)(8)); and, in the case of Bazurto, cruelty and depravity (§ 13 — 703(F)(6)). The judge found the statutory and non-statutory mitigators were insufficient when weighed against the aggravators and sentenced Defendant to death for both murders.
DISCUSSION
A. Trial issues
1. The stipulation
Defendant claims the trial judge committed fundamental error by admitting an inculpatory statement without determining whether the waiver of Defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights was knowing, intelligent, and voluntary. The stipulation read: “Defendant was familiar with the area where the victim’s [sic] bodies were found and had been in that area at the time the bodies were left there.” This stipulation was made to preclude the prosecution from submitting evidence that Defendant was familiar with the area because he had been previously incarcerated at Fort Grant.
The judge told the jury, however, that it “is stipulated between the prosecution and defense that the defendant, Eric Mann, was familiar with the area along Arizona route 666 when the bodies of Richard Alberts and Ramon Bazurto Junior were found.” Reporter’s Transcript (R.T.), Oct. 28, 1994, at 5 (emphasis added).
After the stipulation was read, the prosecutor interjected that the stipulation should have read “where [not when] the bodies ... were found,” and the judge reread it to the jury. After the lunch break the prosecutor again told the judge a mistake had been made, stating the stipulation should have read that Defendant had been in the area “prior to” not “on” the date the bodies were left. The exchange was:
THE COURT: Well, do you want me to read it to them again?
DEFENSE: It’s your call.
PROSECUTOR: It’s your call. You want to leave it alone?
DEFENSE: I’ll leave it alone. I wasn’t going to say in closing he wasn’t there, he wasn’t familiar with the area.
Id. at 55.
In United States v. Miller, 588 F.2d 1256 (9th Cir.1979), the court held that when a stipulation amounts to a guilty plea, Rule 11 procedures must be followed. Id. at 1263; Fed.R.Crim.P. 11. But where stipulations are not tantamount to a guilty plea, the trial court need only assure that the stipulation was made voluntarily. Id. In State v. West, this court stated a defendant may be bound by trial counsel’s strategic decisions to waive rights. Only when the circumstances are exceptional must a defendant consent to the waiver. 176 Ariz. 432, 447, 862 P.2d 192, 207 (1993). Here, defense counsel clearly made a tactical decision to stipulate and avoid revealing the prior incarceration. Furthermore, he decided not to have the stipulation corrected, presumably to avoid emphasizing it to the jury. The tactical decisions had merit and were reasonable. In West, this court stated, ‘We do not believe a stipulation to facts that the state could easily have proved amounts to an exceptional circumstance.” Id. That principle is appropriately applied to the present case, in which Defendant claimed self-defense and did not deny killing the victims and disposing of their bodies. We see no error.
2. Correction of witness testimony
Defendant claims there was reversible error because Karen Miller testified she had not been granted immunity when she had and the prosecutor did not correct her testimony. Defendant’s counsel questioned Karen Miller, asking:
DEFENSE: And is it your understanding that you’re not going to be charged with any crime in this ease?
KAREN MILLER: I don’t have any understanding on that at all. I don’t know.
DEFENSE: Are you hopeful that you will not be charged with any crime based on this case?
MILLER: Yes, I am.
DEFENSE: And you’re hoping that your testimony here today will lead to that result; isn’t that right?
MILLER: Yes, I am.
R.T., Oct. 26, 1994, at 115-16. Defendant argues that the prosecutor committed misconduct by failing to bring out that the State had made a deal with Karen.
But the prosecutor did not hide the deal or Karen’s bias from the jurors. During argument the prosecutor told the jurors, “[s]he’s been granted or told she will not be prosecuted on this case simply because without that promise, we would not have the person who had pulled the trigger.” R.T., Oct. 25, 1994, at 143. This point was driven home as well by Defendant in his opening statement and closing argument. Counsel stated that these were “self-serving statements of two people, Karen Miller and Carlos Alejandro, who both have gotten complete immunity.” R.T., Nov. 1, 1994, at 30. We do not believe that Miller’s arguably false testimony “in reasonable likelihood [could] have affected the judgment of the jury____” Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264, 271, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 1178, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217 (1959) (where witness answered a question falsely, the prosecutor knew of the falsehood and did not correct it); see also Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150, 154, 92 S.Ct. 763, 766, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972) (the lie must be material and affect the verdict).
B. Sentencing issues and independent review of aggravators and mitigators
This court independently reviews death sentences for error, determines whether the aggravating circumstances have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, considers any mitigating circumstances, and then weighs the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in deciding whether the mitigating circumstances are substantial and warrant leniency. State v. Brewer, 170 Ariz. 486, 500, 826 P.2d 783, 797, cert. denied, 506 U.S. 872, 113 S.Ct. 206, 121 L.Ed.2d 147 (1992).
1. Aggravating factors
A defendant is eligible for the death penalty when the state has proven beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of at least one statutory aggravating circumstance. A.R.S. § 13-703(E) (amended 1993). In this case, the judge found three aggravating circumstances: pecuniary gain (§ 13-703(F)(5)), cruelty in the murder of Ramon Bazurto (§ 13-703(F)(6)), ■ and multiple homicides (§ 13-703(F)(8)). Defendant contests the first two findings.
a. Heinous, cruel, or depraved
A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(6) is disjunctive, and a finding of either cruelty or heinous/depraved conduct is sufficient to find this aggravating factor. State v. Roscoe, 184 Ariz. 484, 500, 910 P.2d 635, 651 (1996). The judge found the (F)(6) factor applicable to the murder of Ramon Bazurto, and we believe the circumstances support a finding of cruelty.
To show a murder was especially cruel, the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim consciously suffered physical or emotional pain. State v. Bible, 175 Ariz. 549, 604, 858 P.2d 1152, 1207 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 221 (1994). Defendant argues that the medical examiner testified that Bazurto probably was conscious only for ten to twenty seconds and during that time may have been in a state of shock. But Karen Miller testified that Bazurto was alive for three to five minutes. The judge found Karen Miller’s testimony more persuasive. Conflicts in the evidence are for the trial judge to resolve. State v. Milke, 177 Ariz. 118, 128, 865 P.2d 779, 789 (1993), cert. denied, 512 U.S. 1227, 114 S.Ct. 2726, 129 L.Ed.2d 849 (1994). The judge explained he believed Karen’s compelling testimony and discounted the pathologist’s testimony because the medical examiner was uncertain whether Bazurto would have suffered.
Given Karen’s testimony and the judge’s findings, the evidence was sufficient to find the murder was cruel because Bazurto was alive and conscious for an appreciable period of time. See State v. Herrera, 176 Ariz. 21, 34, 859 P.2d 131, 144, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 951, 114 S.Ct. 398, 126 L.Ed.2d 346 (1993) (a period between eighteen seconds and several minutes was sufficient). Moreover, Defendant did not contend Karen’s observations that Bazurto was conscious and attempted to defend himself were scientifically or medically impossible, nor did Defendant provide any evidence to that effect.
b. The application of (F)(6) is not unconstitutionally vague
Defendant argues the sole definition of the conduct required to satisfy the (F)(6) factor was stated in Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 110 S.Ct. 3047, 111 L.Ed.2d 511 (1990). Because the judge did not base his findings and special verdict specifically on the language of Walton, Defendant argues the application of the (F)(6) factor was unconstitutionally vague. We disagree.
Findings of cruelty, heinousness and depravity as aggravating factors warranting the death penalty are usually based on the definitions used in State v. Gretzler (the Gretzler factors). 135 Ariz. 42, 659 P.2d 1, cert. denied, 461 U.S. 971, 103 S.Ct. 2444, 77 L.Ed.2d 1327 (1983). Defendant posits that the Ninth Circuit held the Gretzler factors were too vague in Adamson v. Ricketts, 865 F.2d 1011 (9th Cir.1988). Furthermore, Defendant argues the Gretzler definitions were not completely approved when the Supreme Court considered the application of Arizona’s aggravating factors in Walton.
Adamson was not specifically overruled in Walton, although in denying certiorari on this issue in a later case, three justices would have remanded Adamson’s case to the Ninth Circuit to reconsider in light of Walton. Lewis v. Adamson, 497 U.S. 1031, 110 S.Ct. 3287, 111 L.Ed.2d 795 (1990). In Walton, the Supreme Court examined Arizona’s aggravating factors to determine if this court’s definitions provided sufficient guidance to the sentencer. The Court held that our definition of the (F)(6) factor passed constitutional muster. Walton, 497 U.S. at 654, 110 S.Ct. at 3057. Defendant argues the specific definitions used by the Court in Walton, and not the articulation in Gretzler, are the only definitions that are constitutionally allowable.
But in Lewis v. Jeffers, the United States Supreme Court stated:
Walton therefore squarely forecloses any argument that Arizona’s subsection (F)(6) aggravating circumstance, as [previously] construed by the Arizona Supreme Court [in Gretzler ], fails to channel the sentencer’s discretion by ‘clear and objective standards’ that provide ‘specific and detailed guidance,’ and that ‘make rationally reviewable the process for imposing a sentence of death.’
497 U.S. 764, 777-78, 110 S.Ct. 3092, 3100-01, 111 L.Ed.2d 606 (1990) (citations omitted); see also State v. Mata, 185 Ariz. 319, 339, 916 P.2d 1035, 1055 (1996) (Zlaket, V.C.J., dissenting).
c. The murder of Ramon Bazurto was for pecuniary gain
Defendant argues the trial judge erred in finding pecuniary gain under § 13-703(F)(5) because Bazurto appeared unexpectedly and Defendant had not previously contemplated killing him. Because the murder of Bazurto was not part of the rip-off plan, Defendant argues the judge erroneously found the pecuniary gain aggravating factor.
This circumstance exists when pecuniary gain is a motive or cause for the murder. State v. Spears, 184 Ariz. 277, 292, 908 P.2d 1062, 1077 (1996); State v. Murray, 184 Ariz. 9, 36, 906 P.2d 542, 569 (1995); State v. Runningeagle, 176 Ariz. 59, 65, 859 P.2d 169, 175, cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1015, 114 S.Ct. 609, 126 L.Ed.2d 574 (1993). Murdering a person to facilitate a robbery and escape constitutes murdering for pecuniary gain. State v. Gonzales, 181 Ariz. 502, 513, 892 P.2d 838, 849 (1995), cert. denied - U.S. -, 116 S.Ct. 720, 133 L.Ed.2d 673 (1996); Runningeagle, 176 Ariz. at 65, 859 P.2d at 175; State v. Williams, 166 Ariz. 132, 140, 800 P.2d 1240, 1248 (1987). Defendant planned to and did murder Alberts to steal $20,000. R.T., Oct. 26, 1994, at 22, 23-24. When Bazurto unexpectedly showed up at the house, Defendant made a choice after a period of thought and said, ‘Well, I got to do it,” apparently meaning that to go through with the plan he would also have to murder Bazurto. R.T., Oct. 26, 1994, at 38. Even if killing Bazurto was not part of the original plan, stealing the money was the “motive, cause, or impetus,” for the murders of both Alberts and Bazurto. The pecuniary gain aggravator therefore applies in this case. See Spears, 184 Ariz. at 292, 908 P.2d at 1077.
d. Consideration of (F)(6) and (F)(8) factors is not double punishment
In the weighing process the trial court considered both multiple homicide, A.R.S. § 13-703(F)(8), and that the murders had been committed in an especially heinous, cruel, or depraved manner, § 13-703(F)(6). Defendant argues that these
circumstances constitute elements of the offense. In formulating the sentencing statute for first degree murder, the legislature must have well understood that the loss of human life was involved. Therefore, the trial court should not have considered [both] the manner of death or number of deaths as factors for aggravating the defendant’s sentence.
We reject this argument. Because these circumstances — cruelty and multiple homicide — are not elements of first-degree murder (a crime that can be committed in a number of different ways), neither the United States Constitution nor A.R.S. § 13-116 is violated. No double punishment problem exists. See Lowenfield v. Phelps, 484 U.S. 231, 108 S.Ct. 546, 98 L.Ed.2d 568 (1988); State v. Lara, 171 Ariz. 282, 285, 830 P.2d 803, 806 (1992).
2. Victim impact evidence
The United States Supreme Court has held that a “State may legitimately conclude that evidence about the victim and about the impact of the murder on the victim’s family is relevant ... as to whether or not the death penalty should be imposed.” Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 827, 111 S.Ct. 2597, 2609, 115 L.Ed.2d 720 (1991) (overruling in part Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S.Ct. 2529, 96 L.Ed.2d 440 (1987)). Arizona has made that choice and thus, under the Arizona Constitution, and to the extent allowed by Payne and our cases, victim impact evidence should be considered by the court to rebut the defendant’s mitigation evidence. Ariz. Const, art. II, § 2.1(A); State v. Bolton, 182 Ariz. 290, 315, 896 P.2d 830, 855 (1995); see also State ex rel. Romley v. Superior Court, 172 Ariz. 232, 836 P.2d 445 (App.1992) (Ariz. Const, art. II, § 2.1 limited by rights granted by federal constitution).
a. Consideration of recommendations of victims’ families
Defendant asserts that the trial judge was barraged with letters from the victims’ immediate family members that explicitly requested the death penalty be imposed. Furthermore, he claims, the judge solicited, considered, and gave weight to the survivors’ recommendations in determining the sentence.
We have held that such recommendation do not tend to establish an aggravating circumstance and are therefore irrelevant for that purpose. Spears, 184 Ariz. at 292, 908 P.2d at 1077; Roscoe, 184 Ariz. at 502, 910 P.2d at 653; State v. Gulbrandson, 184 Ariz. 46, 66, 906 P.2d 579, 599 (1995). The record in the present case, however, does not indicate that the judge gave weight to family opinions. In fact, he stated that the finding of aggravating circumstances was based solely on the evidence adduced at trial. In commenting about the families’ opinions, furthermore, the judge merely stated that he understood their feelings. We see nothing in this record or the circumstances surrounding this trial from which to assume that the judge was improperly influenced by family recommendations.
In similar circumstances, we have stated: We acknowledge that family testimony concerning the appropriate sentence may violate the Constitution if presented to a capital sentencing jury.... We also acknowledge that victim impact testimony is not relevant to any of our statutory aggravating factors.
We nonetheless find no reversible error. Defendant ... was sentenced by a judge, and the judge expressly stated on the record that he would consider the parents’ statements only in connection with the non-capital counts. Absent evidence to the contrary, we have assumed that the trial judge in a capital case is capable of focusing on the relevant sentencing factor and setting aside the irrelevant, inflammatory and emotional factors.... Given this assumption and the trial judge’s express avowal, we find no error.
Bolton, 182 Ariz. at 315-16, 896 P.2d at 855-56 (citations omitted); see also Roscoe, 184 Ariz. at 502, 910 P.2d at 653.
b. Improper ex parte communications
Defendant claims the manner in which victim impact evidence was directed to the trial judge was an improper ex parte communication that created error in the sentencing procedure. Both the victims’ immediate and extended family and friends sent letters directly to the judge. We do not find error simply because letters were sent to the judge by .persons not specifically defined in the Arizona Constitution as victims with the right to be heard at sentencing. See Ariz. Const, art. II, § 2.1 (defining “victim”). We have no way of preventing members of the community from writing judges. Approximately thirty-five letters were sent to the judge. In accordance with normal procedure, he gave them to the clerk’s office for filing. Copies of the letters were also attached to the presentence report, a copy of which was given to Defendant. See Ariz. R.Crim.P. 26.6.
As previously noted, we presume the trial judge will ignore irrelevant information. This is particularly true when the judge stat ed at sentencing he found the aggravating factors “solely on the evidence adduced at trial,” and when the record clearly establishes beyond a reasonable doubt the three aggravators found by the judge.
Defendant points out that the judge made personal remarks about the impact evidence, but in context the remarks were merely expressions of empathy, not evidence of prejudice. Furthermore, the judge’s comments were meant to clarify the statement by the victim’s mother’s, which could be interpreted as requesting life imprisonment rather than the death penalty. Sentencing took place before our opinion in State v. Williams, 183 Ariz. 368, 904 P.2d 437 (1995), when the judge might have believed that a request for leniency was relevant.
3. Insufficient materials for appellate review
Defendant claims the sentencing materials were not complete because they were not paginated or indexed, there was no certification as to their completeness, and the record of the prior presentence report was not included, thus violating the stringent constitutional requirements that attach to death penalty proceedings. He asserts that the absence of an adequate record requires remand for a new sentencing hearing. Dobbs v. Zant, 506 U.S. 357, 113 S.Ct. 835, 122 L.Ed.2d 103 (1993); Wilson v. Allgood, 391 F.2d 285 (5th Cir.1968); State v. Schackart, 175 Ariz. 494, 858 P.2d 639 (1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1046, 114 S.Ct. 1578, 128 L.Ed.2d 220 (1994).
We find the record is sufficiently complete for this court to review on appeal. See Schackart, 175 Ariz. at 499, 858 P.2d at 644. The court does not require a perfect record, and when materials have been omitted, the defendant may move to have the record on appeal expanded. In the present case, remanding for resentencing is no remedy for the problem because the alleged error did not occur in the trial court.
4. Use of psychological evaluation
Statements were obtained during an in-custody, court-ordered psychiatric evaluation that Defendant claims was not accompanied by a full waiver of his Fifth Amendment rights. See Estelle v. Smith, 451 U.S. 454, 101 S.Ct. 1866, 68 L.Ed.2d 359 (1981). However, Defendant is precluded from objecting to admission of the psychological evaluation at sentencing because he failed to object at the time the evaluations were admitted or conducted. State v. Tison, 129 Ariz. 526, 535, 633 P.2d 335, 344 (1981), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 882, 103 S.Ct. 180, 74 L.Ed.2d 147 (1982); State v. Anaya, 170 Ariz. 436, 443, 825 P.2d 961, 968 (App.1991).
Furthermore, the facts of Estelle vary greatly from those before us. Here, Defendant’s attorney requested the post-trial evaluation for sentencing purposes, Defendant told the psychologist he could not talk about the murders, and Defendant used significant portions of the interview for his mitigation argument. Therefore, Defendant opened the door to use of the full report. See Ariz.R.Evid. 106; Buchanan v. Kentucky, 483 U.S. 402, 422-23, 107 S.Ct. 2906, 2917-18, 97 L.Ed.2d 336 (1987).
5. Hearing on motion for reconsideration
After sentencing, the judge heard argument on motions for clarification of sentence and reconsideration of the (F)(6) finding. Defendant was not present at the argument. The judge denied the motion for reconsideration and, in response to issues raised in the motion, commented on the (F)(6) factor and imposition of the death penalty. Defendant now claims there was no authority to conduct the post-sentencing proceeding, State v. Pike, 133 Ariz. 178, 650 P.2d 480 (App.1982). In addition, he contends his absence violated his rights under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and article II, § 24 of the Arizona Constitution to be present at all stages of the proceedings. Diaz v. United States, 223 U.S. 442, 32 S.Ct. 250, 56 L.Ed. 500 (1912); Rice v. Wood, 44 F.3d 1396 (9th Cir.1995), modified, 77 F.3d 1138 (1996); Hays v. Arave, 977 F.2d 475 (9th Cir.1992) (not harmless error); State v. Amaya-Ruiz, 166 Ariz. 152, 175, 800 P.2d 1260, 1283 (1990).
Having made the motion for reconsideration, Defendant cannot complain that the judge erred by hearing that motion. See State v. Diaz, 168 Ariz. 363, 365, 813 P.2d 728, 730 (1991). Moreover, courts have the inherent authority to clarify or modify their own judgments and orders. Skinner v. Superior Court, 106 Ariz. 287, 288, 475 P.2d 271, 272 (1970); State v. Freeman, 174 Ariz. 303, 305, 848 P.2d 882, 884 (App.1993). Because the judge made no additional findings but merely explained the reasons for a few of his previous findings, the hearing was not part of the sentencing and was not a critical stage of the proceedings in Defendant’s case.
Arizona v. Fulminante, 499 U.S. 279, 111 S.Ct. 1246, 113 L.Ed.2d 302 (1991), and Hays held a defendant’s absence from the sentencing hearing was structural error because the defendant could not communicate with the attorney about testimony given there. Such errors are not harmless because one cannot know what a defendant might have said in that situation. The Fulminante and Hays rationales do not apply here because the hearing was not an evidentiary type proceeding where Defendant could respond to witnesses. Nor was it a hearing to determine or impose sentence. The purpose was to hear counsel’s argument for clarification of the judge’s reasoning on a sentence already imposed. If there was error, it was not structural and was obviously harmless.
6. Mitigation
a. Disparity in sentencing of accomplices
'Karen Miller was an active participant in the drug rip-off scheme and murders. Reporting the crime four years after it occurred, she was granted immunity and never charged with any offense in connection with the case. Disparity in the sentences given a defendant and an accomplice can be a mitigating factor in deciding whether a death sentence is appropriate. See State v. Marlow, 163 Ariz. 65, 786 P.2d 395 (1989). When it is considered, disparity is mitigating only when it is unexplained. State v. Stokley, 182 Ariz. 505, 523, 898 P.2d 454, 472 (1995); State v. Schurz, 176 Ariz. 46, 57, 859 P.2d 156, 167 (1993). The disparity here is primarily explained by the difference in culpability — -Defendant was the instigator of the crime and the killer — and also because the state granted Miller and Alejandro immunity from prosecution to obtain testimony necessary to any prosecution for the killings. State v. Apelt, 176 Ariz. 349, 368, 861 P.2d 634, 653 (1993), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 834, 115 S.Ct. 113, 130 L.Ed.2d 59 (1994).
b. Rejection of mitigation for remorse
At sentencing the trial judge referred to a fatal traffic accident in which Defendant was involved and said that Defendant indicated no remorse. The judge’s statement concerning the car accident indicates the he found that incident probative of Defendant’s character and in rebuttal to mitigation evidence. Defendant invited the judge to consider the accident by mentioning it in the autobiography he prepared to show mitigation. Defendant cannot complain about the judge considering the evidence that he offered.
c. Non-violent history, cooperation with authorities
Defendant claims his conviction for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and an arrest for aggravated assault were insufficient to rebut the mitigating factor of a non-violent history. Furthermore, he argues, the judge did not weigh the fact that Defendant did not flee, thus showing cooperation with authorities.
Defendant’s actions belie his claim of nonviolent criminal history. Considering the turn Defendant’s life took with major participation in drug dealing, his allegedly peaceable life carried little weight. Moreover, considering that Defendant obstructed the criminal investigation from the time of the crime in 1989 to the time of his arrest four years later, Defendant’s claim of cooperation approaches frivolity.
d. Review of non-statutory mitigators
Defendant asserted several non-statutory mitigators. These include:
1. His relationship with his children and the effect on them if he were executed. He says he loves them and has always attempted to be a good father. His eldest daughter testified at the sentencing as to his good character as a parent, and his youngest sent a letter to the judge about their relationship.
2. The possibility of consecutive life sentences rather than the death penalty.
3. Defendant submitted evidence that his father was an alcoholic who beat his mother and half-brother, although he never abused Defendant. Also, he says, his father was well-connected with “mafioso” types in Tucson and from an early age arranged a type of apprenticeship in thuggery for Defendant. This influence directly contributed to Defendant’s behavior because he lacked “healthy socialization experiences.” Psychological Evaluation, at 9.
4. Defendant states that after the murders he changed his life-style, quit using drugs and alcohol, held a steady job, and was repairing his relationship with his oldest daughter.
The trial judge found these mitigators insufficient to call for leniency when weighed against the three aggravating factors. The possibility of a life sentence is not a mitigating factor but only a sentencing option. Murray, 184 Ariz. at 39, 906 P.2d at 572. An abusive family background is usually given significant weight as a mitigating factor only when the abuse affected the defendant’s behavior at the time of the crime. Id. at 40, 906 P.2d at 573; West, 176 Ariz. at 451-52, 862 P.2d at 211-12; State v. Wallace, 160 Ariz. 424, 427, 773 P.2d 983, 986 (1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1047, 110 S.Ct. 1513, 108 L.Ed.2d 649 (1990). Defendant did not show any connection. On independent review, we do not believe Defendant established mitigation of sufficient weight to call for leniency.
CONCLUSION
We find no prejudicial error in the trial or sentencing rulings. We have not conducted a fundamental error review, nor will we in future eases. This decision rests in great part on the repeal of A.R.S. § 13-4035 (which required review for fundamental error), but also on the realization that fundamental error review has outlived its necessity. We are aware the repeal of § 13-4035 does not preclude us from engaging in such a review where necessary to serve the ends of justice. Ariz. Const, art. VI, § 5(5). As well, we do not consider here waiver analysis pertaining to arguments raised for the first time on appeal.
We believe, however, fundamental error review is no longer necessary under modern circumstances. The practice arose in the days of the territorial government, when most defendants did not have a lawyer, nor were lawyers required or always appointed by the courts. See Ariz.Pen.Code 1901, § 1059; see also Ariz.Pen.Code 1901, §§ 1024 and 1025. Thus, appeals and such post-conviction relief as was available were options out of reach for most defendants. When a case was appealed, therefore, fundamental error review served a vital role in protecting the defendant’s constitutional rights. Today, almost all of our counties have a public defender. In addition, we now have a panoply of mandatory protections— appointment of counsel for trial and appeal, readily available appeals, Anders briefs, post-conviction relief procedures, and direct appeals and post-conviction review in death penalty eases. All of this is followed by the availability of some federal habeas review. We therefore believe that fundamental error review is no longer necessary.
We affirm Defendant’s convictions and sentences.
ZLAKET, C.J., JONES, V.C.J., and MOELLER, J., concur.
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OPINION
McGregor, judge.
This action initially involved relatively straightforward disputes between Western Savings and Loan Association (Western Savings) and Kenneth Foust (Foust). When the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) became Western Savings’ receiver near the end of a jury trial involving Western Savings and Foust, however, issues arose about the subject matter jurisdiction of the state courts and the continued viability of a counterclaim asserted by Foust. Because resolution of those issues on appeal requires consideration of the factual and procedural posture of this action, we discuss both in some detail.
I.
In 1985, Western Savings loaned Foust and Fred Andrews money pursuant to the terms of a promissory note (the note). That same year, Foust purchased property at Pinnacle Peak (the property), on which he later gave Western Savings a lien to secure the note. In February 1986, Foust hired a general contractor and in April 1986, he began construction of a house on the property. Foust listed the house for sale in July 1986. In the fall of 1986, Foust’s general contractor withdrew from the project and Foust took over construction. Foust contracted to sell the house to Roger Trunkett (Trunkett) in January 1987.
Foust needed additional financing to complete construction of the house. His counterclaim arises from his allegation that Western Savings, through its agent A1 Cameron (Cameron), made several loan commitments to him, none of which Western Savings honored. Foust alleged that he and Western Savings negotiated the terms and amounts of the loan commitments but conceded that neither party prepared written documentation of these agreements. Also, Western Savings’ records revealed no documentation of the loan commitments. Trial testimony revealed that the various amounts Foust claimed Western Savings agreed to loan would have financed complete construction of the Pinnacle Peak house, paid off the note, and paid off the balance owed on the property. Foust’s sale to Trunkett did not close, and another financing company eventually foreclosed on the property in August 1988.
In August 1987, Western Savings sued Foust for allegedly defaulting on the note. Foust filed a noncompulsory counterclaim that included various tort claims as well as claims for breach of contract and illegal filing of a lis pendens.
The trial court granted Western Savings summary judgment on its claim against Foust. Trial on Foust’s counterclaim began on June 5,1989. On June 14,1989, the court granted a directed verdict for Western Sav ings on the bad faith claim and the claim for punitive damages. On June 15, the court submitted the claims for breach of contract, illegal lis pendens, intentional interference, negligent misrepresentation, and fraud to the jury. Later that day, the jury returned a special verdict in favor of Western Savings on the lis pendens claim. It also returned a general verdict awarding Foust damages of $252,000.00.
On June 14, 1989, the day before the jury returned its verdict, a series of events began that inserted additional issues into these proceedings. According to evidence to which the parties stipulated after trial, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board determined that Western Savings was insolvent and appointed the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) as receiver of Western Savings on June 14, 1989. On that same date, Western Savings and Loan Association, F.A., was created and FSLIC was appointed its conservator.
Before the court instructed the jury on June 15,1989, the court heard arguments on Western Savings’ motion for mistrial. At that time, Western Savings’ attorney raised the issue of the possible application of the D’Oench, Duhme doctrine to the case. The attorney informed the court that he had neither received formal notification of receivership nor consulted with Western Savings about its change in status. The court denied the motion for mistrial without addressing the possible impact of D’Oench.
On October 2, 1989, Western Savings moved to allow admission of additional evidence related to Western Savings’ conservatorship and receivership status. In that motion, Western Savings argued the D’Oench doctrine applied and precluded Foust’s counterclaim. On December 28, 1989, Western Savings and Foust stipulated to the admission of additional evidence needed to consider the impact of the D’Oench doctrine upon Foust’s claims, although Foust does not agree the doctrine applies. The trial court did not rule oh Western Savings’ motion.
On December 22, 1989, Western Savings filed its objections to the form of judgment, again raising the D’Oench doctrine. The trial court overruled Western Savings’ objections in part and entered final judgment in favor of Foust on his counterclaim, in accord with the jury verdict.
Western Savings timely appealed. Foust cross-appealed from summary judgment entered in favor of Western Savings and from the trial court’s order denying him an award of prejudgment interest. By order of May 22, 1990, this court added RTC as appellant and cross-appellee, in its role as conservator/receiver of Western Savings. On May 31, 1990, the Office of Thrift Supervision formally appointed RTC as receiver for Western Savings and Loan Association, F.A.
While this appeal was pending, Foust twice filed administrative claims with RTC based on his judgment. By letter dated July 27, 1990, RTC notified Foust of the formal claims procedure required to assert his claims against Western Savings, and Foust complied with that procedure. Foust received notice that RTC had disallowed his claim by letter dated October 17, 1990.
In its current posture, therefore, this action presents several issues. To resolve RTC’s appeal, this court must determine whether RTC’s appointment as receiver automatically divests state courts of subject matter jurisdiction over state cases pending pri- or to RTC receivership. If we retain jurisdiction, this court must then decide whether RTC may assert the D’Oench doctrine for the first time on appeal to bar any or all of Foust’s claims against Western Savings. If Foust’s claims are not barred, we must determine whether the trial court erred in denying Foust prejudgment interest on his verdict against Western Savings. Finally, to resolve the remainder of Foust’s cross-appeal, we consider whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of RTC.
We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal pursuant to Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) §§ 12-120.21 and 12-2101.
II. RTC’S APPEAL
A.
The threshold question we address is whether the federal statutes governing RTC’s authority give designated federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over all claims against failed financial institutions to which RTC becomes a party and thus deprive state courts of subject matter jurisdiction in cases filed prior to RTC’s appointment as receiver. We hold that they do not.
Resolution of this issue hinges upon our interpretation of the relevant provisions of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), Pub.L. No. 101-73, 103 Stat. 183. The central provision is 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(6)(A) (West 1989), which outlines the procedure a claimant must follow to obtain review of an RTC decision denying a claim made against RTC in its role as receiver of a failed financial institution. A claimant
may request administrative review of the claim ... or file suit on such claim (or continue an action commenced before the appointment of the receiver) in the district or territorial court of the United States for the district within which the depository institution’s principal place of business is located or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (and such court shall have jurisdiction to hear such claim).
12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(6)(A) (emphasis added). Other relevant provisions include section 1821(d)(13)(D), which provides:
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no court shall have jurisdiction over—
(i) any claim or action for payment from, or any action seeking a determination of rights with respect to, the assets of any depository institution for which the Corporation has been appointed receiver, including assets which the Corporation may acquire from itself as such receiver; or
(ii) any claim relating to any act or omission of such institution or the Corporation as receiver.
Finally, section 1821(d)(5)(F)(ii) provides that, subject only to a 90-day stay authorized by section 1821(d)(12)(A),
the filing of a claim with the receiver shall not prejudice any right of the claimant to continue any action which was filed before the appointment of the receiver.
B.
State courts have jurisdiction concurrent with that of federal courts to enforce federal causes of action unless Congress specifically provides otherwise. New Times, Inc. v. Arizona Bd. of Regents, 20 Ariz App. 422,426, 513 P.2d 960, 964 (1973), vacated on other grounds, 110 Ariz. 367, 519 P.2d 169 (1974) (citing Charles Dowd Box Co. v. Courtney, 368 U.S. 502, 508, 82 S.Ct. 519, 523, 7 L.Ed.2d 483 (1962)). Additionally, Arizona law establishes a presumption favoring retention over divestiture of jurisdiction. Daou v. Harris, 139 Ariz. 353, 356, 678 P.2d 934, 937 (1984) (citations omitted). Any statute that allegedly divests a state court of jurisdiction that has fully vested must be “clear and unambiguous” to overcome the presumption of retention of jurisdiction. Id.
In interpreting the jurisdictional requirements of section 1821(d)(6)(A), we will give it a reasonable, rational and sensible construction that will accomplish the legisla tive intent. To do so, we consider the words used and the effects and consequences of the statute. Moreover, we will construe various provisions of the statutory scheme to harmonize rather than to contradict one another, Ban v. Quigley, 168 Ariz. 196, 198, 812 P.2d 1014, 1016 (App.1990), review dismissed, 169 Ariz. 477, 820 P.2d 643 (1991) (citations omitted), and will construe the words of the statute in conjunction with the context and subject matter of the entire act. Grant v. Bd. of Regents of Universities and State Colleges of Arizona, 133 Ariz. 527, 529, 652 P.2d 1374, 1376 (1982); Golder v. Dep’t of Rev., State Bd. of Tax Appeals, 123 Ariz. 260, 265, 599 P.2d 216, 221 (1979).
1.
In Gulf Offshore Co. v. Mobil Oil Corp., 453 U.S. 473, 101 S.Ct. 2870, 69 L.Ed.2d 784 (1981), the Supreme Court held that a party can rebut the presumption that state courts have concurrent jurisdiction with the federal courts by showing (1) an explicit statutory directive that the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction; (2) an unmistakable implication from the legislative history that Congress intended exclusive federal jurisdiction; or (3) a clear incompatibility between state court jurisdiction and federal interests. Id. at 478, 101 S.Ct. at 2875. RTC argues that FIRREA meets all the Gulf Offshore criteria and therefore the designated federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over actions involving RTC as receiver for financial institutions. We disagree.
RTC first asserts FIRREA contains an explicit statutory directive of exclusive federal jurisdiction because section 1821(d)(6)(A) directs that a suit requesting review of a claim against the RTC be filed in one of two federal district courts: the court in which the financial institution’s principal place of business is located or the district court for the District of Columbia. Although section 1821 does not expressly state that the jurisdiction of the designated federal courts is exclusive, RTC argues that the language is sufficient to bring FIRREA within the principle that “even where Congress has not expressly stated that statutory jurisdiction is ‘exclusive,’ ... a statute which vests jurisdiction in a particular court cuts off original jurisdiction in other courts in all cases covered by that statute.” Telecommunications Research & Action Ctr. v. FCC, 750 F.2d 70, 77 (D.C.Cir.1984); Greater Detroit Res. Recovery Auth. v. U.S. E.P.A., 916 F.2d 317, 322 (6th Cir.1990). In both these cases relied upon by RTC, however, although the term “exclusive” did not appear in the specific provisions challenged by the plaintiffs, other provisions within the statutory scheme designated the federal courts of appeals as the exclusive forum for review of agency decisions. Telecommunications Research, 750 F.2d at 77; Greater Detroit Res. Recovery Auth., 916 F.2d at 321. FIRREA hi contrast, contains no exclusivity language.
The fact that FIRREA lacks a specific reference to “exclusive” jurisdiction is not, of itself, determinative because we consider the context and subject matter of the statute and look to the language of the act as a whole to ascertain congressional intent. It is that examination, rather than the absence of any particular phrase, that leads us to conclude that the language of FIRREA is inconsistent with an intent to grant exclusive federal jurisdiction and instead logically supportive of an intent to permit state courts to exercise concurrent jurisdiction.
One strong indication that Congress intended to permit concurrent jurisdiction derives from the specific language of section 1821(d)(6)(A), which refers to a claimant’s ability to “continue an action commenced before the appointment of the receiver.” Applying the plain meaning of the word “continue,” we question how a claimant could “continue” an action commenced in state court if receivership automatically divests the court of subject matter jurisdiction. We believe Congress would have directed a party to “refile” or “recommence” an action in a designated federal court rather than to “continue” an action if it had intended to vest exclusive jurisdiction over a pending action in one of two federal district courts. See Marquis v. FDIC, 965 F.2d 1148, 1153 (1st Cir.1992); Marc Development, Inc. v. FDIC, 771 F.Supp. 1163, 1168-69 (D.Utah 1991); Berke v. RTC, 483 N.W.2d 712, 714 (Minn.App. 1992); Herbst v. RTC, 66 Ohio St.3d 8, 607 N.E.2d 440 (1993).
We find an additional indication that Congress intended to permit concurrent jurisdiction in the stay provision set out in sections 1821(d)(12)(A) and (B). Section 1821(d)(12)(A) permits the receiver to request a stay for up to 90 days after the receiver’s appointment “in any judicial action or proceeding to which [an insured depository institution] is or becomes a party.” Section 1821(d)(12)(B) requires that a court receiving such a request “shall grant such stay as to all parties.” If a state court automatically loses jurisdiction over a pending action upon the appointment of RTC as receiver, no reason whatever exists to stay the pending state proceeding, as a court lacking subject matter jurisdiction would have neither the necessity nor the authority to stay a pending action. See Marquis, 965 F.2d at 1153.
The discretionary nature of FIRREA’s removal provisions also counsels against finding exclusive federal jurisdiction. Section 1819(b)(2)(B) states that RTC “may ... remove any action, suit, or proceeding [to which the Corporation is a party] from a State court to the appropriate United States district court before the end of the 90-day period beginning on the date ... the Corporation is substituted as a party.” (Emphasis added.) See Berke, 483 N.W.2d at 715. Congress chose to use permissive rather than mandatory language to define RTC’s removal authority. If a state court immediately loses jurisdiction when RTC becomes receiver, RTC need not exercise any discretion in deciding whether to remove a ease from state court to federal court. Instead, RTC would simply move to dismiss the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction without complying with a 90-day removal deadline. Herbst, 607 N.E.2d 440. We believe the purpose of the removal mechanism is as described in Lazuka v. FDIC, 931 F.2d 1530, 1535 (11th Cir.1991), in-which the court noted that the removal provisions of FIRREA are intended to “afford the FDIC every possibility of having a federal forum.” This well-defined removal mechanism, which permits RTC to select a federal forum, would be unnecessary if Congress had intended to vest exclusive jurisdiction in the designated federal courts. Congress’ inclusion of the removal provision therefore also indicates that jurisdiction should be concurrent.
A conclusion that jurisdiction is concurrent permits us to construe various provisions of the statutory scheme to harmonize with rather than to contradict one another. Although section 1821(d)(6)(A) permits a litigant to “continue an action commenced before the appointment of the receiver,” FIRREA conspicuously lacks any procedural mechanism for “continuing” in federal court an action tried in a state court. A claimant whose case is pending in state court or in a non-designated federal court when the RTC is appointed receiver can find no procedure in FIRREA explaining how to transfer or to change venue between federal district courts; how to transfer records of the original proceedings between courts; how to determine the effect, if any, of previous findings; or how to anticipate the effect of prior state or federal district court decisions or judgments. Because Congress provided no mechanism consistent both with divesting state courts of jurisdiction upon RTC’s appointment as receiver and with “continuing” in federal court actions originally filed in state court, we conclude that Congress intended to permit such actions to remain in their original jurisdictions, unless RTC chooses to employ the established removal procedure.
RTC’s position results in another statutory inconsistency. Section 1819(b)(2)(C) authorizes the FDIC, FSLIC or RTC to appeal from federal district court orders remanding removed actions to state courts. Meyerland Co. v. FDIC, 960 F.2d 512, 519 (5th Cir.1992), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 113 S.Ct. 967, 122 L.Ed.2d 123 (1993). Congress would have no reason, however, to permit a district court to remand an action to a state court that lacks subject matter jurisdiction. Thus, RTC’s authority to appeal a remand order is logically necessary only if FIRREA permits state courts to exercise concurrent jurisdiction.
Finally, we find support for our conclusion in the language of section 1821(d)(5)(F)(ii), which states that “the filing of a claim with the receiver shall not prejudice any right of the claimant to continue any action which was filed before the appointment of the receiver.” (Emphasis added.) Dismissing rather than suspending a pending lawsuit until administrative remedies are exhausted would prejudice the claimant by requiring an additional financial investment, as well as more time and judicial resources. Marquis, 965 F.2d at 1153-54; Marc Development, Inc., 771 F.Supp. at 1168.
The inevitable prejudice that results from requiring a party to refile and relitigate an action in federal court sustains neither notions of judicial economy nor FIRREA’s goal of encouraging the .expeditious and fair disposition of lawsuits against failed financial institutions.
We conclude that FIRREA does not fall within the first of the Gulf Offshore criteria.
2.
RTC also contends that, even if FIRREA lacks an explicit statutory directive conferring exclusive jurisdiction upon the designated federal courts, the legislative history surrounding the statute demonstrates Congress’ intent to create exclusive federal jurisdiction and therefore satisfies the second Gulf Offshore criterion. See H.R.Rep. No. 54(I), 101st Cong., 1st Sess. 1, 418 (1989), reprinted in 1989 U.S.C.C.A.N. 86, 214-15. As support for its argument, RTC first points out that the legislative history refers only to federal courts. We find that fact of limited assistance, since Congress did not indicate it intended its references, none of which relate to exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction, to overturn the usual principle favoring concurrent jurisdiction.
Second, RTC urges that centering RTC litigation in the designated federal courts will further one of Congress’ goals in enacting FIRREA, which was to provide a clear set of guidelines with reasonable and specific time limits for claimants and the FDIC to follow. Id. at 215; cf. Coit Independence Joint Venture v. FSLIC, 489 U.S. 561, 586, 109 S.Ct. 1361, 1375, 103 L.Ed.2d 602 (1989). We agree with RTC that Congress intended to establish reasonable and specific guidelines for resolving claims. We believe, however, that Congress enacted the guidelines to respond to the concerns articulated in Coit. In that decision, the Supreme Court directed Congress to establish time limitations on FSLIC’s power to adjudicate claims against failed savings and loans and thereby avoid the “black hole from which [claims] may not emerge” which existed under FIRREA’s predecessor. Coit, 489 U.S. at 586, 109 S.Ct. at 1375. We agree with the Berke court that “[t]hese reasons are separate and distinct from that of granting federal courts exclusive jurisdiction over all claims against RTC.” Berke, 483 N.W.2d at 715 n. 1.
Moreover, RTC’s argument overlooks the equally important congressional goal of “dispos[ing] of the bulk of claims against failed financial institutions expeditiously and fairly ... [and allowing] the FDIC to quickly resolve many of the claims against failed financial institutions____” H.R.Rep. No. 54(1), at 215, 1989 U.S.C.C.A.N. at 418. As we have previously noted, requiring courts to dismiss pending state litigation only to permit the parties to refile such cases in federal court upon disallowance of a claim undermines FIRREA’s goal of creating an efficient process to handle claims against failed banks. We agree with the comments of the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which concluded that divesting a non-designated court of subject matter jurisdiction did not further the legislative purpose of FIRREA:
It is difficult to conceive of anything less efficient than dismissing a suit that has been, say, two years in process, only to have an identical suit started afresh some six months later. By staying all proceed ings in a pending action until the administrative claims process has run its course, efficacy will be promoted. At that point, suits based upon resolved claims can be dismissed outright, whereas suits based upon claims still unresolved can simply be resumed, thereby dispelling the need to retrace steps already completed.
Marquis, 965 F.2d at 1154.
3.
Finally, RTC argues that we should find exclusive federal jurisdiction because, under the third Gulf Offshore criterion, allowing multiple state courts to rule on claims disallowed by the RTC is clearly incompatible with significant federal interests. RTC makes the valid argument that exclusive federal jurisdiction centralizes multiple actions related to a specific institution, thereby potentially reducing the costs of litigation by limiting the number of counsel needed to represent RTC, diminishing the likelihood of inconsistent findings of fact and rulings of law common to suits against that institution, and providing uniform interpretation of the statutes governing the activities of the RTC. As we have previously discussed, however, FIRREA permits RTC to remove any action to which it becomes a party to one of the designated federal courts, see 12 U.S.C. § 1819(b)(2)(B), and thereby utilize the federal courts when doing so is necessary to protect significant federal interests. Through the removal procedure, RTC can gain the benefits it seeks without depriving the parties of the efficiency gained from permitting concurrent jurisdiction. We conclude that allowing state courts to exercise jurisdiction is not clearly incompatible with significant federal interests.
Under our analysis, therefore, Gulf Offshore does not mandate the conclusion that those federal courts designated in FIRREA have exclusive jurisdiction over actions filed prior to RTC receivership and defended by the RTC in its role as receiver.
4.
Although the jurisdictional question before this court remains unsettled, most of the state and federal courts that have considered similar issues have concluded Congress did not intend to confer exclusive jurisdiction upon the designated federal courts. Our analysis of related decisions reveals no case that directly supports RTC’s jurisdictional argument.
We find the cases on which RTC relies readily distinguishable from that which we consider. In Vinton v. Trustbank Savings, F.S.B., 798 F.Supp. 1055 (D.Del.1992), the federal district court held without substantial explanation that section 1821(d)(6)(A) does not preclude subject matter jurisdiction but instead operates as a mandatory venue provision. Id. at 1065. Apparently no other court, prior to or subsequent to Vinton, has adopted this view, and we do not find it persuasive or helpful.
In RTC v. Shoreview Builders, Inc., 252 N.J.Super. 408, 599 A.2d 1291 (A.D.1991), the court held that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to hear a counterclaim filed after the RTC became receiver of the failed institution. This opinion likewise is not helpful in analyzing the situation we face, in which Foust filed his counterclaim before receivership.
In Rehman v. FDIC, No. CL 91-5110-AJ (Fla.Cir.Ct. Feb. 14, 1992), the state court dismissed a claimant’s action against the FDIC for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the claimant failed to comply with the administrative claims procedure. Foust, however, filed suit before receivership, complied with the required claims procedure, and then received a disallowance of his claim. But see Gumowitz v. First Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, No. 90-CIV-8083, 1991 WL 84630 (S.D.N.Y. May 17,1991) (venue in non-designated federal district court might be improper); Bailey v. First City Bank, No. 91-CA-0132 (La.Ct.App. April 16, 1992) (federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over the claim after the administrative claims process is exhausted; order does not reveal whether suit filed before or after FDIC receivership).
Finally, RTC refers to a recent order from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, dismissing a counterclaim against RTC for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. RTC v. Olsen, No. CIV 92-0772 PHX CAM (D.Ariz. Oct. 9, 1992). In Olsen, however, the claimants filed their counterclaim after RTC became Western Savings’ receiver and the claimants failed to comply with the administrative claims procedures before filing suit. Thus, Olsen also does not address the issue before us.
RTC concedes that several federal courts have concluded that non-designated federal district courts retain subject matter jurisdiction over actions commenced before RTC becomes receiver, if the claimant complies with FIRREA’s administrative claim process. See Marquis, 965 F.2d 1148; Aliberti, Larochelle & Hodson Eng. Carp., Inc. v. First Meridian Group, 795 F.Supp. 42 (D.Me. 1992); Marc Development, Inc., 771 F.Supp. 1163. Because RTC asserts section 1821(d)(13)(D) withdraws jurisdiction from all courts automatically upon the appointment of RTC as receiver, however, RTC regards these decisions to the contrary as incorrect or irrelevant. RTC also points out that the federal cases do not mention the status of state court jurisdiction; each case involves actions that the RTC or FDIC previously removed from state to federal court.
. We recognize that the federal decisions criticized by RTC do not directly address the issue of state court jurisdiction. Nevertheless, we find their reasoning and the holdings regarding jurisdiction helpful in deciding whether RTC receivership automatically divests non-designated courts of jurisdiction. Moreover, we do not find the decisions supportive of RTC’s position.
In discussing the jurisdiction of federal courts other than those designated under section 1821, courts routinely hold that the explicit stay provisions of section 1821(d)(12) give RTC the option of requesting a stay to permit exhaustion of administrative remedies. The decisions suggest that, after exhausting administrative remedies, the claimant may resume his case in the original court. See Marquis, 965 F.2d at 1154; Praxis Properties v. Colonial Sav. Bank, S.L.A., 947 F.2d 49, 63 n. 14 (3rd Cir.1991); Aliberti, Larochelle, 795 F.Supp. at 45; RTC v. Cotten, 790 F.Supp. 649, 650 (E.D.La. 1992); Cohen v. RTC, 784 F.Supp. 197, 201-02 (E.D.Pa.1992); Marc Development, Inc., 771 F.Supp. at 1169; Coston v. Gold Coast Graphics, Inc., 782 F.Supp. 1532, 1535-37 (S.D.Fla.1992). Although RTC asserts that the courts wrongly decided these cases, it provides us not a single case supporting its position that receivership automatically divests jurisdiction in pending state court actions.
In contrast, several recent federal court decisions hold that a non-designated district court does not lose jurisdiction over a prereceivership case filed outside the jurisdiction of those district courts designated in section 1821(d)(6)(A). See Marquis, 965 F.2d 1148; Aliberti, Larochelle, 795 F.Supp. 42; Guidry v. RTC, 790 F.Supp. 651, 654 (E.D.La.1992); Cohen, 784 F.Supp. at 200; Coston, 782 F.Supp. at 1536; see also Matter of NNLC Corp., 136 B.R. 611 (Bkrtcy. D.Conn.1992) (bankruptcy court retains jurisdiction subject to stay for exhaustion of FIRREA administrative process; no discussion of dismissal due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction).
Additionally, recent state court decisions conclude that section 1821(d)(6)(A) does not divest state courts of subject matter jurisdiction over cases filed before appointment of a receiver or conservator, if the claimant compiles with the administrative claims procedures. See Connecticut Bank and Trust Co. v. Carriage Lane Assoc., 219 Conn. 772, 595 A.2d 334, 338 n. 9 (1991); Armstrong v. RTC, 234 Ill.App.3d 162, 175 Ill.Dec. 195, 201-02, 599 N.E.2d 1209, 1215-16 (1992), appeal allowed, 148 Ill.2d 639, 183 Ill.Dec. 15, 610 N.E.2d 1259 (1993); Botschafter v. FDIC, 33 Mass.App.Ct. 595, 603 N.E.2d 235 (1992); Berke, 483 N.W.2d 712; RTC v. Binford, 844 P.2d 810, 816 (N.M.1992); Herbst, 607 N.E.2d 440.
Finally, we note that under general principles of law, jurisdiction is established at the time of filing of the lawsuit and cannot be ousted by subsequent actions or events. Praxis Properties, 947 F.2d at 63 n. 14; Rosa v. RTC, 938 F.2d 383, 392 n. 12 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 112 S.Ct. 582, 116 L.Ed.2d 608 (1991); State v. Howell, 107 Ariz. 300, 301, 486 P.2d 782, 783 (1971) (authority derived from A.R.S. § 12-120.21); Botschafter, 603 N.E.2d at 239; Berke, 483 N.W.2d at 715 (quoting F. Alderete Gen. Contractors, Inc. v. United States, 715 F.2d 1476, 1480 (Fed.Cir.1983)); Binford, 844 P.2d at 814. We agree with RTC that Congress, in enacting FIRREA, could have overridden the time of filing rule and divested all other courts of jurisdiction. For all the reasons discussed above, however, we conclude that Congress did not intend to override the time of filing rule by its reference to designated courts in section 1821(d)(6)(A).
We conclude that when RTC becomes a receiver for a failed financial institution, section 1821(d)(6)(A) does not vest exclusive jurisdiction over pending state cases in the designated federal district courts. We therefore retain subject matter jurisdiction over this action.
C.
Because we have subject matter jurisdiction to decide this case, we next consider whether the D’Oench doctrine precludes Foust’s claims against Western Savings.
In D’Oench, Duhme & Co. v. FDIC, 315 U.S. 447, 62 S.Ct. 676, 86 L.Ed. 956 (1942), the Supreme Court held that the maker of a note subject to a secret agreement not to enforce the note could not use lack of consideration as a defense to an action to recover on the note brought by the FDIC as receiver for a bank. Id. at 459, 62 S.Ct. at 680. The general rule derived from D’Oench and the line of cases succeeding it provides:
In a suit over the enforcement of an agreement originally executed between an insured depository institution and a private party, a private party may not enforce against a federal deposit insurer any obligation not specifically memorialized in a written document such that the agency would be aware of the obligation when conducting an examination of the institution’s records.
Baumann v. Savers Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 934 F.2d 1506, 1515 (11th Cir.1991) (citing FDIC v. McCullough, 911 F.2d 593, 600 (11th Cir.1990)), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 112 S.Ct. 1936, 118 L.Ed.2d 543 (1992).
RTC specifically argues that the D’Oench doctrine defeats Foust’s counterclaim because it derives solely from alleged loan commitments that Foust concedes were not memorialized in Western Savings’ institutional records. RTC further argues that the federal statutory provisions codifying the D’Oench doctrine7 preclude Foust’s claim as well. Under those statutory provisions, any agreement that does not meet certain standards of formality as described in 12 U.S.C. § 1823(e) cannot support a claim against the receiver or the RTC. 12 U.S.C. § 1821(d)(9)(A). Section 1823(e) states:
(e) Agreements against interests of Corporation. No agreement which tends to diminish or defeat the interest of the Corporation in any asset acquired by it ... as receiver of any insured depository institution, shall be valid against the Corporation unless such agreement—
(1) is in writing,
(2) was executed by the depository institution and any person claiming an adverse interest thereunder, including the obligor, contemporaneously with the acquisition of the asset by the depository institution,
(3) was approved by the board of directors of the depository institution or its loan committee, which approval shall be reflected in the minutes of said board or committee, and
(4) has been, continuously, from the time of its execution, an official record of the depository institution.
RTC contends that the alleged loan commitments on which Foust relied for his counterclaim fail to meet these four criteria.
1.
In opposing RTC’s reliance on the D’Oench doctrine, Foust first contends that RTC may not raise this defense because RTC only became a party to the appeal and raised this issue after the court entered final judgment for Foust. Foust argues this court may review only issues tried below and may not consider issues that arise after final judgment. Barrasso v. First Nat’l Bank, 122 Ariz. 469, 472, 595 P.2d 1014, 1017 (App. 1979).
The record does not support Foust’s assertion that Western Savings ignored the issue of the D’Oench doctrine’s bar of Foust’s counterclaims until after final judgment. As we have noted, Western Savings informally raised this defense before the jury retired on June 15,1989. It formally raised the defense by motion on October 2, 1989, and again on December 22, 1989, well before the trial court entered final judgment on January 12, 1990. Moreover, given the timing of RTC’s appointment as receiver, which was the occurrence necessary to place the D’Oench doctrine at issue, Western Savings and RTC raised the issue as soon as possible.
The purpose of the general rule preventing parties from raising issues for the first time on appeal is to prevent parties from “keeping certain issues in reserve, hoping to later overturn an unfavorable result.” Baumann, 984 F.2d at 1513. The court concluded that this concern did not exist in Baumann “because RTC was not a party to the suit at the trial level. Now that RTC is a proper party to the suit, it should not be penalized for not raising a defense it had no opportunity to present____ [I]t would be unfair to prevent RTC from raising a legitimate argument at the earliest time it was able to do so.” Id. In this action also, preventing RTC from raising a legitimate argument it asserted at the earliest opportunity, and certainly before final judgment was entered, would be unfair. See also Northwest Land and Investment, Inc. v. New West Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 64 Wash.App. 938, 827 P.2d 334, 338 (1992) (D’Oench may be raised for first time on appeal if that is the first stage at which the party could do so).
Other recent federal decisions leave to the court’s discretion the decision as to whether to permit the RTC to raise the D’Oench defense for the first time on appeal. In re 604 Columbus Avenue Realty Trust, 968 F.2d 1332 (1st Cir.1992); RTC v. McCrory, 951 F.2d 68, 71 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 113 S.Ct. 459, 121 L.Ed.2d 368 (1992) (citations omitted); Union Fed. Bank v. Minyard, 919 F.2d 335, 336 (5th Cir.1990).
Foust urges us to follow instead those federal decisions barring RTC from raising the D’Oench defense for the first time on appeal. The cases on which Foust relies, however, bar the defense on appeal because the lower courts had voided the assets upon which the FSLIC or FDIC based its claim. See, e.g., Thurman v. FDIC, 889 F.2d 1441, 1447 (5th Cir.1989) (void assets prevent FSLIC receiver from acquiring interest to raise D’Oench defense; also, new defense would not change outcome); Olney Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Trinity Banc Sav. Ass’n, 885 F.2d 266, 274-75 (5th Cir.1989) (district court found participation agreements were void and rescinded them so that FSLIC never acquired an asset protected by D’Oench); Grubb v. FDIC, 868 F.2d 1151, 1158-59 (10th Cir.1989) (district court judgment voided notes before FDIC receivership, thus preventing FDIC from acquiring any “right, title or interest” in the notes on which to base a D’Oench defense). We therefore do not find those decisions persuasive.
In Arizona, appellate courts generally will not review issues not argued or factually established in the trial court. Schoenfelder v. Arizona Bank, 165 Ariz. 79, 88, 796 P.2d 881, 890 (1990). As the Arizona Supreme Court has noted, however, this general rule and its exception are rules of procedure rather than jurisdiction, established “for the purpose of orderly administration and attainment of justice.” Hawkins v. Allstate Ins. Co., 152 Ariz. 490, 503, 733 P.2d 1073, 1086, cert. denied, 484 U.S. 874, 108 S.Ct. 212, 98 L.Ed.2d 177 reh’g denied, 484 U.S. 972, 108 S.Ct. 477, 98 L.Ed.2d 414 (1987). We recognize an exception to the general rule for issues of “general statewide importance,” particularly if the issues do not turn on disputed evidence and do not require the court to determine additional facts. Barrio v. San Manuel Div. Hosp. for Magma Copper Co., 143 Ariz. 101, 104, 692 P.2d 280, 283 (1984). Foust and RTC have stipulated to the facts needed to determine the impact of the D’Oench doctrine, and determining the rights of the RTC in its role as receiver for failed financial institutions is of statewide importance. For that reason, we elect to exercise our discretion to consider the D’Oench doctrine on appeal.
2.
Foust next contends that even if RTC may assert the D’Oench doctrine to bar his claims, other considerations prevent its application. Foust argues that section 1823(e) does not apply to claims when the parties contend that the asset at issue is invalid, see FDIC v. Blue Rock Shopping Center, 766 F.2d 744, 753 (3d Cir.1985), and asserts that his counterclaim involves two invalid assets: the promissory note and deed of trust on the property.
We agree with Foust that RTC may not raise the D’Oench doctrine as a defense when a trial court has rendered the asset at issue void or invalid. See Olney Sav. & Loan Ass’n, 885 F.2d at 275. That principle, however, does not assist Foust. Although he states that his counterclaim derives from the contested promissory note and deed of trust, the counterclaim actually arises from Foust’s allegation that Western Savings breached its commitment to loan him money. The trial court did not void this loan commitment.9 In fact, the jury found for Foust on the issue whether the loan commitment created an enforceable contract with Western Sayings. Thus, RTC acquired a “right, title or interest” in an asset that triggers the application of D’Oench and section 1823(e) to Foust’s counterclaim.
Next, citing Astrup v. Midwest Fed. Sav. Bank, 886 F.2d 1057 (8th Cir.1989) and Vernon v. RTC, 907 F.2d 1101 (11th Cir.1990), Foust contends that D’Oench and section 1823(e) bar only his contract claims and not his state tort law claims of negligent misrepresentation, fraud, and intentional interference with contract. In Astrup, the court held that D’Oench will not bar a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. Astrup, 886 F.2d at 1059. Astrup is inapposite, however, because the fiduciary duty claim arose out of a joint venture relationship between two parties and not from a secret agreement or other form of contract not reflected in bank records.
Similarly, the plaintiffs in Vernon sued for damages they allegedly sustained as stockholders due to the tortious actions of their savings and loan association, Old Freedom. Vernon, 907 F.2d at 1108. The plaintiffs alleged that Old Freedom induced their purchase of shares by misrepresentations sufficient to constitute common law fraud and to violate securities laws and RICO. Id. at 1103. Significantly, they did not base their claims on unrecorded agreements with Old Freedom. The court in Vernon refused to “extend the D’Oench doctrine to preserve all assets, ... from all claims tending to diminish those assets, save those claims clearly supported by the records of the insolvent bank.” Id. at 1108.
In contrast, other courts have held that D’Oench and section 1823(e) bar not only breach of contract claims against the RTC, but also tort claims arising from secret agreements. See, e.g., Langley, 484 U.S. 86, 108 S.Ct. 396 (section 1823(e) bars misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement claims against bank); Oliver v. RTC, 955 F.2d 583, 586 (8th Cir.1992) (D’Oench defense bars tort claims to the extent they are based on secret agreements); Timberland Design, Inc. v. First Serv. Bank for Sav., 932 F.2d 46, 50 (1st Cir.1991) (D’Oench bars both tort and contract claims that arise out of an alleged secret agreement); Armstrong, 175 Ill.Dec. at 204-05, 599 N.E.2d at 1218-19 (D’Oench bars tort claims based on secret oral agreements); see also Bartram v. FDIC, 235 Cal. App.3d 1749, 1 Cal.Rptr.2d 614, 618-19 (1991) (rejecting reasoning from both Vernon and Astrup).
The rationale for applying the D’Oench and section 1823(e) defenses to bar tort claims arising out of secret, unrecorded agreements is to prevent plaintiffs from circumventing the policy underlying those defenses. Timberland Design, Inc., 932 F.2d at 50. This policy serves two purposes: “to allow federal and state bank examiners to rely on a bank’s records in evaluating the worth of the bank’s assets” and to “ensure mature consideration of unusual loan transactions by senior bank officials, and prevent fraudulent insertion of new terms ... when a bank appears headed for failure.” Langley, 484 U.S. at 91-92, 108 S.Ct. at 401. Plaintiffs who could rely upon secret agreements to assert tort claims that they could not assert as breach of contract claims would undermine RTC’s justified reliance on bank records as reflecting considered transactions, free of fraud. We believe the better-reasoned view, and that which accords with public policy considerations, bars tort claims that arise out of secret agreements for which the bank has no record and permits those tort claims that do not arise out of such agreements.
Foust’s negligent misrepresentation and fraud claims arise out of Western Savings’ alleged failure to honor its unrecorded agreement to loan Foust money. These claims are barred. Foust’s claim of intentional interference with contract arises from his allegation that the loss of Western Savings financing caused Trunkett to cancel his purchase of the property, thereby damaging Foust. Indeed, Foust concedes that Western Savings’ breach of its loan commitment provides the basis of his intentional interference claim. That claim therefore also is barred. We conclude that none of Foust’s tort claims would exist but for the existence of the putative unrecorded agreement between Foust and Western Savings. The D’Oench doctrine and section 1823(e) therefore bar all of Foust’s tort claims.
3.
Because the D’Oench doctrine and 12 U.S.C. § 1823(e) bar Foust’s counterclaim against RTC, we vacate the judgment in favor of Foust and remand with instructions to enter judgment for RTC on Foust’s counterclaim.
III. FOUST’S CROSS-APPEAL
Foust asserts that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of Western Savings on its claim that Foust was liable under the terms of the promissory note. We agree that material issues of fact remain and preclude summary judgment and therefore reverse the order entering judgment for Western Savings.
A.
In November 1985, Western Savings loaned Foust and Fred Andrews $238,000, in return for which they signed a personal promissory note holding them jointly and severally liable. The note was due on May 20, 1986. Western Savings initially secured the note with deeds of trust on Foust’s and Andrews’ homes, and later replaced the lien on Foust’s home with a lien on the Pinnacle Peak property. On June 17,1986, Foust and Andrews signed a modification agreement that reflected an outstanding principal balance of $223,000, extended the payoff date to March 16,1987, and required quarterly interest payments.
On December 8, 1986, Western Savings wrote Foust a letter agreeing to release the lien on the property in return for payment of $112,500. On March 11, 1987, Cameron, acting on behalf of Western Savings, sent a letter to American Title Insurance stating that the payoff amount on the “Foust property” was $223,000, plus interest. On that same date, Western Savings executed a Deed of Full Release and Full Reconveyance (the Release) on the property. On March 30, 1987, Cameron sent a second letter to American Title stating that the new payoff figure for Foust’s property was $111,500, “principal for Foust,” plus interest. In the letter, Cameron requested that American Title “not record our release and reconveyance until you can submit the full payoff amount to Western Savings.”
In March, Andrews made an interest payment as required under the modification agreement. Then, on May 12, 1987, Foust paid Western Savings $125,446.91. In return, Western Savings released the deed of trust on the Pinnacle Peak property. On June 1, 1987, Andrews signed another extension and modification agreement with Western Savings for the outstanding principal balance of $111,500, the amount remaining after Foust’s payment, and received a reimbursement of approximately $5,220 for his previous interest payment, allegedly out of Foust’s May 12th payment. Foust refused to sign the modification agreement, contending that his May payment extinguished his obligation.
On August 25,1987, Western Savings filed suit against Foust and Andrews to recover the remaining amount on the promissory note, alleging the note was in default as of March 16,1987, and that Foust and Andrews were jointly liable on the note. Western Savings filed a motion for summary judgment against both Foust and Andrews on October 27, 1988. In a March 14, 1989 minute entry, the trial court granted summary judgment for Western Savings on its claim on the promissory note, but instructed Western Savings not to include language from Rule 54(b), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, in the order. On April 13, 1989, Andrews filed a motion seeking reconsideration of the order granting summary judgment, which the court denied. Foust neither joined in Andrews’ motion nor filed a supporting motion. After the jury trial, Foust moved for reconsideration of the order granting summary judgment, citing evidence admitted at trial that he alleged precluded summary judgment. The trial court denied Foust’s motion by minute entry on December 12, 1989. Foust filed this cross-appeal on March 5, 1990, requesting reversal of summary judgment.
B.
Foust argues that the evidence before the trial court when it considered Western Savings’ motion for summary judgment raises material issues of fact as to Foust’s liability for the remaining unpaid balance of the loan. If such issues exist, the trial court should not have entered summary judgment:
“Summary judgment is appropriate where the record shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact, that only one inference can be drawn from those facts, and that based upon the facts, the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” ... If there are material facts upon which reasonable people could reach different conclusions, summary judgment is inappropriate.
Nelson v. Nelson, 164 Ariz. 135, 137, 791 P.2d 661, 663 (App.1990) (citations omitted). We will view the facts in the light most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment was entered. Wagenseller v. Scottsdale Memorial Hospital, 147 Ariz. 370, 388, 710 P.2d 1025, 1043 (1985); Zuck v. State, 159 Ariz. 37, 39, 764 P.2d 772, 774 (App.1988).
Foust contends that language in the Release, concededly executed by Western Savings, indicates that Western Savings intended to discharge Foust’s debt when it accepted his payment in May 1987. Foust specifically refers to language in the Release that states: “WHEREAS, the Deed of Trust executed by Kenneth A. Foust, Trustor(s), to WESTERN SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION, ... together with the debt thereby secured, is fully paid, satisfied and discharged____” (Emphasis added.) He contends that language, considered with Western Savings’ December 8, 1986 letter to Foust offering to release the lien for $112,-500.00, Cameron’s two letters to American Title that adjusted the principal amount due for release of Foust’s lien, and Foust’s sworn affidavit, which states his understanding that Western Savings had released the lien on the property when he paid the $125,446.91, are sufficient to permit a reasonable person to infer that Western Savings had promised Foust that his May 1987 payment would release his liability on the note and that both intended that result.
We agree that a reasonable person, considering the evidence available to the trial court during summary judgment proceedings in the light most favorable to Foust, could infer that Western Savings intended to extinguish Foust’s debt under the promissory note when it accepted his payment in May 1987. We therefore reverse the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of Western Savings and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
IV. CONCLUSION
We hold that the appointment of RTC as receiver/conservator of Western Savings did not automatically divest the state court of subject matter jurisdiction over this action, which was filed prior to receivership or conservatorship. We vacate the verdict in favor of Foust on his counterclaim against RTC because the D’Oench doctrine and 12 U.S.C. § 1823(e) bar Foust’s claims. We remand with instructions to the trial court to enter judgment for RTC on Foust’s counterclaim. Finally, we reverse the trial court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of Western Savings with regard to its claim against Foust on the unpaid promissory note.
GERBER, P.J., and TOCI, J., concur.
. We discuss D’Oench, Duhme & Co. v. FDIC, 315 U.S. 447, 62 S.Ct. 676, 86 L.Ed. 956 (1942) in section II.C., infra. In that case, the Supreme Court held that in litigation between a claimant and the FDIC, as successor in interest to a financial institution, the claimant may not rely on any agreement not reflected in documents contained in the institution’s records to defeat a claim by the FDIC. Id. at 459, 62 S.Ct. at 680.
. Although RTC raised this issue late in the appellate process, questions of subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived and may be raised any at any stage of the proceedings. Rojas v. Kimble, 89 Ariz. 276, 279, 361 P.2d 403, 406 (1961); Swichtenberg v. Brimer, 171 Ariz. 77, 82, 828 P.2d 1218, 1223 (App.1991).
. We agree with RTC that a claimant must exhaust the FIRREA administrative claims procedure in order to proceed against RTC. Marquis v. FDIC, 965 F.2d 1148, 1151 (1st Cir.1992); RTC v. Mustang Partners, 946 F.2d 103, 106 (10th Cir.1991). The parties agree that Foust has done so.
. Under RTC’s interpretation, only those claimants with lawsuits already pending in the designated federal district courts could avail themselves of the right to continue an existing lawsuit. In contrast, if a claimant’s suit were pending in either a state or a non-designated federal court, that court would lose subject matter jurisdiction. Neither the statutory language nor, as we later discuss, the legislative history of FIRREA supports this distinction, especially in light of Congress’ stated purpose to dispose of claims against failed financial institutions "expeditiously and fairly,” H.R.Rep. No. 54(1), 101st Cong., 1st Sess. 1, 419 (1989), reprinted in 1989 U.S.C.C.A.N. 86, 215, without prejudice to a claimant's right "to continue any action which was filed before the appointment of the receiver.” 12 U.S.C. § 1821 (d)(5)(F)(ii).
. The Florida court’s order does not reveal whether the claimant filed suit before or after FDIC receivership.
. See also Circle Indus, v. City Fed. Sav. Bank, 749 F.Supp. 447, 454 (E.D.N.Y.1990), aff'd, 931 F.2d 7 (2nd Cir.1991) (court lacks subject matter jurisdiction if a claimant has not complied with FIRREA administrative claims procedures).
. In light of RTC’s failure to timely remove this case to federal court, we find it instructive that in all the preceding cases except Aliberti, the government receiver timely removed the case to federal court prior to requesting dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
. The Supreme Court has recognized that section 1823(e) reflects the same principles as does the D’Oench doctrine. See Langley v. FDIC, 484 U.S. 86, 90-93, 108 S.Ct. 396, 400-02, 98 L.Ed.2d 340 (1987); see also Olney Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Trinity Banc Sav. Ass’n, 885 F.2d 266, 274 (5th Cir.1989) (aims of section 1823(e) and D’Oench are identical and reasoning is applicable to both).
. Although the "corporation” in this section refers to the FDIC, FIRREA grants the same powers to the RTC pursuant to 12 U.S.C. § 1441a(b)(4).
. Additionally, the trial court entered summary judgment for Western Savings on the issue of Foust's liability on the promissory note and deed of trust. Thus, even if these assets were at issue in the counterclaim, because the trial court found the promissory note and deed of trust to be valid, RTC would still have acquired a "right, title or interest” sufficient to invoke the D’Oench defense and section 1823(e).
. In his brief on appeal, Foust summarily asserts that applying the D'Oench doctrine to bar his claims violates his rights under the fifth, seventh and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution. For support, Foust cites only Coit Independence Joint Venture v. FSLIC, 489 U.S. 561, 109 S.Ct. 1361, 103 L.Ed.2d 602 (1989). In Coit, the Supreme Court, considering FIRREA’s predecessor statute, held that Congress did not grant the FSLIC exclusive adjudicatory authority over state law claims asserted against failed savings and loan associations. The decision applies neither to D'Oench, itself a Supreme Court doctrine, nor to section 1823(e). We find no merit in this argument.
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OPINION
KLEINSCHMIDT, Judge.
This appeal from rulings in a paternity case raises an issue concerning a child’s surname as well as other questions relating to support for the child and the admissibility of evidence. The case arose as follows.
Vincent Pizziconi and Bonnie Yarbrough, to whom we will frequently refer to hereafter as the “Father” and the “Mother,” respectively, are the natural parents of a child who was born in 1986. They have never married. The Father initially filed a paternity action when he learned that the Mother’s current husband was interested in adopting the Child. This was consolidated with a paternity suit, which the Mother filed requesting that Pizziconi be declared the father of the Child and that he pay for the expenses associated with the birth of the Child and pay back child support.
Following a trial, the judge denied the Father’s request that the Child bear his surname and ruled that the Child’s surname should be “Yarbrough,” which was the name of the Mother’s former husband and the name used by the Mother and the Child’s half brother. The judge also ordered the Father to pay back child support in the amount of $6,959.00, monthly child support of $307.00, and the Mother’s attorney’s fees.
THE CHILD’S SURNAME
The Father argues that he and the Child have a protectable interest in having the Child bear the paternal surname and that the Child should use that name unless the Mother can prove that it would be harmful to the Child to do so. He relies primarily on the case of Laks v. Laks, 25 Ariz.App. 58, 540 P.2d 1277 (1975), in which a mother, following her divorce, changed the surnames of her three children to a hyphenated version of the father’s name and her own surname which she had used from birth. The mother argued that under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment she had a right equal with the father’s to give her children her own name unless the father could show that such change was not in the best interests of the children. Division Two of this court affirmed an order reinstating the paternal surname, noting that although a father does not have a legal right to have his child bear his surname, the “usual custom” gives him a protectable interest in such. The court observed that the bond between a child and its noncustodial father could be weakened or destroyed if the child’s name were changed.
Although the court in Laks acknowledged the mother’s argument that the father’s position was based upon a premise that the sexes are not equal, it said that where the issue was a name change, and not what the children were originally named, the best interests of the children were controlling. Since the mother had not filed a transcript of the hearing, the court presumed the record sustained the judgment with respect to the children’s best interests.
In this case, unlike in Laks, the Child has never borne her Father’s name. According to the Mother’s undisputed testimony, when she told the Father of the Child’s birth, he initially said that he did not want to be involved. Accordingly, the Mother could not have given the Child the Father’s name because under Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 36-322(F), an unmarried women who gives birth to a child may not use the putative father’s name on the birth certificate without his consent. See also A.R.S. § 36-338(D) (name on birth certificate may be changed to father’s surname if both parents acknowledge father’s paternity and request substitution of his name).
The court in Laks held that the father’s protectable interest was based on the custom of giving legitimate children their father’s surname. With respect to children born out of wedlock, however, the custom has been for the child to assume the mother’s surname. See Richard H. Thornton, Note, The Controversy over Children’s Surnames: Familial Autonomy, Equal Protection and the Child’s Best Interests, 1979 No. 2 Utah L.Rev. 303, 312. This custom undercuts the Father’s position. So too, the concern Laks expressed about weakening the link between a father and child by discontinuing the use of the father’s name has little weight in this case because the evidence shows that the Father and Child have bonded.
Finally, although the court in Laks recognized the father’s interest in having his children bear his name, it held that the best interests of the children was controlling. See Note, Whose Interest is Controlling in the Name Change of Minors—the Father’s, the Mother’s or the Child’s?, 18 Ariz.L.Rev. 725, 730-31 (1976). This rule, that the child’s best interests control, is consistent with the law in a number of jurisdictions. See Hamby v. Jacobson, 769 P.2d 273, 277 (Utah Ct.App. 1989) (citing Laks as among the decisions that follow the rule that a name change should be granted only if the court finds the change is in the best interests of the child); Hamman v. County Court in and for Jefferson County, 753 P.2d 743, 749 (Colo.1988); Ribeiro v. Monahan, 524 A.2d 586, 587 (R.I. 1987); Daves v. Nastos, 105 Wash.2d 24, 711 P.2d 314, 318 (1985); In re Schiffman, 28 Cal.3d 640, 169 Cal.Rptr. 918, 922, 620 P.2d. 579, 583 (1980).
The Laks court did not set forth any guidelines for deciding when a change of name will be in a child’s best interests, but other courts have considered such factors as: the child’s preference; the effect of the change on the preservation and development of the child’s relationship with each parent; the length of time the child has borne a given name; the difficulties, harassment, or embarrassment that the child may experience from bearing the present or proposed name; the motive of the parents and the possibility that the use of a different name will cause insecurity or a lack of identity. See Hamby, 769 P.2d at 277; In re Schiffman, 169 Cal.Rptr. at 922, 620 P.2d at 583.
We agree that all these factors may be relevant. Furthermore, courts should not give greater weight to the father’s interest in having the child bear the paternal surname because, as the Supreme Court of Utah recognized in Hamby, “our society no longer adheres to the notion that the husband is the sole legal representative of the family, and its property and children, and therefore able to unilaterally determine the surname of the couple’s children.” 769 P.2d at 276 (citation omitted). It went on to say: “In these times of parental equality, arguing that the child of unmarried parents should bear the paternal surname based on custom is another way of arguing that it is permissible to discriminate because the discrimination has endured for many years.” 769 P.2d at 278 (citation and footnote omitted).
A standard which gives greater weight to the paternal surname could implicate equal protection concerns. See Note, Whose Interest is Controlling in the Name Change of Minors—the Father’s, the Mother’s or the Child’s?, 18 Ariz.L.Rev. at 731-36; see also Roe v. Conn, 417 F.Supp. 769, 782-83 (M.D.Ala.1976) (statute giving father the right to determine surname of child following legitimation without due regard to mother’s desire or child’s individual interest violates equal protection guarantees). Such a standard is also inappropriate since the tradition of children bearing the father’s name has eroded as women have, with increasing frequency, opted to retain their birth names after marriage or to select a surname other than their husband’s. Hamby, 769 P.2d at 276.
Notwithstanding that the parties originally left this matter to the discretion of the trial judge, informed by the law which they argued, the Father now urges that we should remand this issue to the trial court to consider specific factors bearing on whether the Child’s name should be changed. Some courts have required an express finding as to whether the best interests of the child require the grant or denial of a request for a change of name. See Daves, 711 P.2d at 318; Hamby, 769 P.2d at 278. There is, however, no Arizona statute or case that requires such an express finding on this issue, and the Father did not request findings of fact pursuant to Rule 52(a), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. We therefore assume that the trial court found every controverted issue of fact necessary to sustain its decision and the judgment will be upheld if there is reasonable evidence to support it. Fleming v. Becker, 14 Ariz.App. 347, 350, 483 P.2d 579, 582 (1971).
There is sufficient evidence to support the inferential finding that a change of name was not in the Child’s best interest. The Child had used the name “Yarbrough” for four years, her half-brother uses that name, and the Mother avowed that she would not seek to change the name in the future. See Ribeiro, 524 A.2d at 587 (best interest of illegitimate three-year-old child to retain mother’s surname when that name was on birth certificate, child had grown up with the name, and siblings used that name).
THE AWARD OF PAST CHILD SUPPORT
The Father argues that there was insufficient evidence to support the award of past child support. He asserts that the trial judge improperly used the Arizona Child Support Guidelines adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court in computing the amount due. He argues that the award should be reversed or, in the alternative, that the case should be remanded for a determination of the amount the Mother actually spent on behalf of the Child from birth until the entry of the pendente lite support order which the court entered after the paternity actions were filed.
Except for evidence of amounts spent for the expenses of birth, health insurance premiums, and other costs of health care, the Mother never testified in detail regarding what she had spent on the Child. She did testify that she had borne all the expenses dating from the birth of the Child until the pendente lite order was entered and that the Child had lived with her continuously except for occasional visits with the Father. The affidavits detailing income and expenses for the years 1986,1987, and 1988, together with tax returns for those years, were also admitted in evidence.
The amounts awarded as back child support for the years 1986 through 1988 match the amounts calculated as the Father’s obligation under the Guidelines, although the amount for 1986 also includes some costs for medical insurance. The trial judge did give the Father credit for over $10,000 which he testified he had paid for the Child’s support over those years. The Father argues that it is implicit in A.R.S. section 12-849(A), the statute which sets forth the factors the court is to consider in setting the amount of child support, that amounts spent for past care be documented. He also argues that under the holding of Ortiz v. Rappeport, 169 Ariz. 449, 820 P.2d 313 (App.1991), it was improper to calculate the award for back support on the basis of the Guidelines. Ortiz held that it was not error to calculate past child support based on evidence of what was actually expended on behalf of the child as opposed to a larger amount that would have been awardable under the Guidelines. Id. at 452, 820 P.2d at 316.
In our opinion, the trial judge did not err in the way he determined past child support. We do not read Ortiz to hold that the only way of arriving at back child support is to document what was actually spent on the child’s behalf. It would be unreasonable to promulgate the strict rule for which the Father contends. The Guidelines are an estimate of the cost of providing for a child which take into account the financial circumstances of the parents. Here, the trial judge had information about the Parents’ income and expenses. Although the Father had the right to prove that the Mother’s past expenses on behalf of the Child were less than those indicated by the Guidelines work sheets, he did not attempt to do so.
The Father also argues that laches and/or equitable estoppel preclude any award of past child support. He asserts that the Mother never applied for such an award until he filed his paternity action and that the request for support in her own petition is not broad enough to call for an award of back child support. He also asserts that it is unfair to award support for the Child during the period of time the Mother was denying that he was the father.
A natural father is legally obligated to support his child. AR.S. § 12-2451(A); Barrett v. Barrett, 44 Ariz. 509, 514, 39 P.2d 621, 622 (1934). An action for support can be brought at any time during a child’s minority. Anonymous Wife v. Anonymous Husband, 153 Ariz. 573, 577, 739 P.2d 794, 798 (1987). Thus, neither laches nor estoppel will bar a claim for child support if the parent against whom the claim is asserted cannot demonstrate prejudice. See Anonymous Wife, 153 Ariz. at 577, 739 P.2d at 798; Ray v. Mangum, 163 Ariz. 329, 333, 788 P.2d 62, 66 (1989).
It is undisputed that the Mother originally told the Father that the Child was his. The Mother denied that she later told the Father differently, and the Mother testified that she filed her claim for child support as soon as she was financially able to do so. The Father conceded that many of the expenses of child care which he assumed voluntarily, and for which the trial judge gave him credit in the award, were paid during the period when he says the Mother was denying his paternity. The issue was fairly tried on its merits, and the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in inferring that the Father had not suffered sufficient prejudice from the delay to bring laches and/or estoppel into play.
STRIKING TRANSCRIPT OF TELEPHONE CALL
The Father’s final issue concerns a transcript of a telephone conversation between himself and the Mother, which he recorded. The problem arose as follows.
At trial, the Mother denied that she had ever told Pizziconi that he was not the father of the Child. On cross-examination, she conceded, in the context of discussing what to tell the Child in the event Pizziconi did not want to become involved, that she might have said that the Child could be told that someone in Texas was her father. On closer questioning by the judge, the Mother also conceded that on one occasion she had told Pizziconi that he was not the father. Counsel for the Father then began reading from a transcript of a telephone conversation between the Mother and the Father. Counsel for the Mother objected on the grounds that the transcript had not been timely provided in accordance with the rules and had not been included in the Father’s impeachment packet.
After counsel for the Father agreed to give a copy of the transcript to opposing counsel, the court allowed the transcript to be read into evidence. It revealed that the Mother had told Pizziconi he was not the Child’s father and that she wanted the Father out of their lives. In explanation, the Mother repeated that she had said this to the Father in the context of allowing the Father to disengage himself and in discussing how such could be explained to the Child.
After the trial and in response to a motion objecting to the admission of the transcript, the court struck the transcript from evidence because the Father had not disclosed it prior to trial as required by Rule V of the Uniform Rules of Practice for the Superior Court and Local Ride 6.5(b)(10), Local Rules of Maricopa County Superior Court, and because he had not provided the full tapes of the conversation to counsel for the Mother as he had been ordered to do during trial.
The Father argues that Local Rule 6.5(b)(10) does not apply because no pretrial statement was filed and that Rule V does not address evidence which is used only in connection with cross-examination. In this latter contention, he is wrong. Rule Y does not distinguish between evidence used in cross-examination settings compared to other settings. We need not embroil ourselves in . technicalities and a minute examination of who did what and when with respect to the transcript. The Father’s argument that the transcript was crucial because it bore on the credibility of the parties is a weak one. The trial judge obviously took pains to sift and evaluate the evidence, by no means accepting the Mother’s version on every point. Nothing in the transcript has much relevance to the Child’s best interests with respect to her surname. As to back child support, there was other evidence to prove that the defen dant had been told that the Child was not his, and most important, the Father acknowledged that, notwithstanding having been told that the Child was not his, he continued to pay the Child’s expenses on the basis of what he thought was reasonable. The trial judge was within his discretion in excluding the transcript, even if he erred in excluding the transcript, such would not justify a reversal. See Rimondi v. Briggs, 124 Ariz. 561, 565, 606 P.2d 412, 416 (1980) (absent prejudice, rulings on the admission or exclusion of evidence will not be reversed).
The orders of the trial court are affirmed.
CONTRERAS and JACOBSON, JJ., concur.
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OPINION
CORCORAN, Justice.
We accepted this petition for review to determine whether the amendment to AR.S. § 22-201 repealed jurisdiction of the superior courts granted in forfeiture actions pursuant to AR.S. § 13-4302 in cases involving property valued at $5,000 or less. We hold that it did not. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5(3), and rule 23, Arizona Rules of Civil Appellate Procedure.
LEGAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Legal Background,
This case presents a question of law. It involves construing two separate and seemingly conflicting statutes which respectively establish jurisdiction in the justice and superior courts.
Section 22-201 grants jurisdiction to justice courts. It was amended by Laws 1990, ch. 223, § 2, effective July 1,1991, and reads in part:
B. Justices of the peace have exclusive original jurisdiction of all civil actions when the amount involved, exclusive of interest, costs and awarded attorney’s fees when authorized by law, is five thousand dollars or less.
(Emphasis added.) Before this amendment, the exclusive original jurisdictional amount for justice court was less than $500. Laws 1972, ch. 145, § 1.
The other relevant statute, AR.S. § 13-4302, relates to forfeiture proceedings and is entitled “Jurisdiction.” It reads:
The state may commence a proceeding in the superior court if the property for which forfeiture is sought is within this state at the time of the filing of the action or if the courts of this state have in personam jurisdiction of an owner of or interest holder in the property.
(Emphasis added.)
Procedural Background
This petition for review stems from the dismissal of two forfeiture cases filed by the State of Arizona (petitioner) in Pima County Superior Court. The value of the property seized in each case was less than $5,000. The state seized a 1972 Ford Mustang valued at less that $5,000 and bank account proceeds worth $1,721. The respondent judge, sua sponte, dismissed both cases for lack of jurisdiction. He reasoned that § 22-201 granted justice court original and exclusive jurisdiction over civil actions, including forfeiture, where the amount involved is less than $5,000.
Petitioner filed a special action in the court of appeals seeking relief from the trial court’s ruling. The court of appeals denied relief in both cases in a consolidated opinion. State v. Brown, 173 Ariz. 104, 840 P.2d 280 (App.1992).
DISCUSSION
The court of appeals rested its opinion on the language of AR.S. §§ 22-201(B) and 13-4302. 173 Ariz. at 106, 840 P.2d at 282. It compared the wording of the two statutes and agreed with respondent judge that the § 22-201(B) language was mandatory and that of § 13-1302 was permissive. Thus, § 22-201(B) divested superior court of jurisdiction in forfeiture cases involving $5,000 or less. We find, however, that the permissive nature of § 13-4302 refers to the state’s optional authority to pursue forfeiture in a given case, rather than to the state’s option to choose between bringing the proceeding in superior court or justice court. The actual practice supports our reading of this statute because, before the court of ap peals’ ruling, all forfeiture proceedings in Arizona had been brought in superior court.
We do not believe that the law supports the court of appeals’ interpretation. We believe that § 13-4302 is an exception to § 22-201(B), pursuant to Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 14, rather than repealed or modified by it.
The superior courts are courts of general jurisdiction. Kemble v. Stanford, 86 Ariz. 392, 394, 347 P.2d 28, 29 (1959). The Arizona Constitution in part grants the superior court “original jurisdiction” of:
1. Cases and proceedings in which exclusive jurisdiction is not vested by law in another court.
3. Other cases in which the demand or value of property in controversy amounts to one thousand dollars or more, exclusive of interest and costs.
11. Special cases and proceedings not otherwise provided for, and such other jurisdiction as may be provided by law.
Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 14.
If we stopped reading the constitution after subsection 1, we might agree with the court of appeals’ result. The plain language of § 22-201 does appear to vest justice court with exclusive jurisdiction in civil matters with a jurisdictional amount of $5,000 or less. Subsections 3 and 11, however, create barriers to legislative divestiture of jurisdiction in superior court. We need only address subsection 11, the broader of the two provisions and thus dispositive, which provides for jurisdiction in the superior court of such special matters as are assigned to it by law. Section 13-4302 is such legislation and clearly vests the superior court with jurisdiction.
The provisions of art. 6, § 14(3) assign to the superior court “original jurisdiction” in all cases in which the amounts in controversy exceed $1,000. Given this, the legislature could not constitutionally grant the justice court “exclusive original jurisdiction” in forfeiture cases involving property having a value between $1,000 and $5,000, although, of course, it could give the justice court concurrent original jurisdiction in such cases. The only possible resolution therefore is to harmonize the statutes by concluding that in adopting § 22-201(B), the legislature left § 13-4302 in full force and effect, so that the superior court retained, as the constitution requires, at least concurrent original jurisdiction in forfeiture cases in which the property in issue has a value of between $1,000 and $5,000.
Our interpretation is further buttressed by the fact the several provisions of the forfeiture statutes make reference to proceedings in superior court without regard to the value of the property involved, in addition to § 13-4302. Section 13-4309(3)(c) regarding “Uncontested forfeiture” states:
An owner or interest holder in any property declared forfeited may file a claim as described in § 13-4311, subsections E and F in the superior court in the county in which the uncontested forfeiture was declared within thirty days after the mailing of the declaration of forfeiture.
(Emphasis added.) Section 13-4311(C) regarding “Judicial in rem forfeiture proceedings” reads:
On the filing of a civil in rem action by the state in superior court the clerk of the court in which the action is filed shall provide, and the attorney for the state may provide, the notice of pending forfeiture required by § 13—4307 unless the files of the clerk of the court reflect that such notice has previously been made.
(Emphasis added.) The provision regarding “Supplemental remedies,” § 13-4313(B), also contains a reference to superior court as follows:
In addition to any other remedy provided for by law, if property subject to forfeiture is conveyed, alienated, disposed of or otherwise rendered unavailable for forfeiture after the filing of a racketeering lien notice or provision of notice of pending forfeiture or after the filing and notice of a civil proceeding or criminal proceeding alleging forfeiture under this chapter, whichever is earlier, the state or seizing agency, on behalf of the state, may institute an action in superior court against the person named in the racketeering lien or notice of pending forfeiture or the defendant in the civil proceeding or criminal proceeding,....
(Emphasis added.) These provisions strengthen our conclusion that forfeiture proceedings are “special cases and proceedings” under Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 14(11).
CONCLUSION
Thus, we hold that the superior court has jurisdiction over forfeiture actions filed pursuant to A.R.S. § 18-4302 without regard to the value of the property involved. We therefore vacate the court of appeals’ opinion, reverse the trial court’s dismissal, and remand for further proceedings.
FELDMAN, C.J., and MOELLER, V.C.J., concur.
MARTONE, Justice, concurring in the judgment.
I .agree with the court that § A.R.S. 22-201(B) cannot divest the superior court of jurisdiction over forfeiture proceedings, but base my conclusion not on an attempt to harmonize § 22-20KB) with A.R.S. § 13-4302, but, rather, on the constitution itself.
Article 6, § 14 of the constitution grants to the superior court original jurisdiction in eleven categories. Article 6, § 15 grants the superior court exclusive jurisdiction over juvenile matters. If the legislature had the power to create exclusive jurisdiction in other courts over matters within the scope of the superior court’s original jurisdiction under § 14, then the legislature could reduce the superior court to a juvenile court under § 15. I am of the view that when the constitution grants original jurisdiction to a court, the legislature cannot take it away. I also believe, however, that when the constitutional grant is not exclusive, the legislature can grant concurrent jurisdiction to another court. Article 6, § 14(3) grants to the superior court jurisdiction over civil actions of $1,000 or more. Thus, the legislature can grant to the justice courts concurrent jurisdiction over civil actions of $5,000 or less but they cannot accord exclusive jurisdiction to the justice courts for such actions, except for those under $1,000.
Consider this. Article 6, § 5 of the constitution describes the jurisdiction of this court. With the exception of cases between counties, none of it is exclusive. If the legislature could divest the superior court of jurisdiction under § 14, where the grant is not exclusive, it could divest this court of its entire jurisdiction except actions between counties. This could not have been the intent of the persons who drafted the constitution. The legislature cannot divest constitutionally granted jurisdiction by granting exclusive jurisdiction in some other court.
If this were not enough, the constitutional grant to the legislature to define the jurisdiction of justice courts is quite express on this point. Article 6, § 32(C) of the constitution states that
[t]he civil jurisdiction of courts inferior to the superior court and of justice courts shall not exceed the sum of ten thousand dollars, exclusive of interest and costs. Criminal jurisdiction shall be limited to misdemeanors. The jurisdiction of such courts shall not encroach upon the jurisdiction of courts of record but may be made concurrent therewith, subject to the limitation provided in this section.
(Emphasis added.)
A.R.S. § 22-201(B) purports to grant the justice courts exclusive original jurisdiction of all civil actions where the amount in controversy is $5,000 or less. But art. 6, § 14 of the constitution grants to the superior court original jurisdiction over cases of $1,000 or more. And art. 6, § 32(C) of the constitution states that the jurisdiction of the justice courts shall not encroach upon the jurisdiction of courts of record but may be made concurrent. Therefore, as to actions between $1,000 and $5,000, the jurisdiction granted by § 22-201(B) must be concurrent. For amounts less than $1,000 the grant of exclusive jurisdiction can be valid (under art. 6, § 14(3)) unless, as here, some other provision of the constitution (art. 6, § 14(11)) provides for concurrent jurisdiction in the superior court for particular special proceedings without regard to the amount in controversy. A.R.S. § 13-4302 is such a special proceeding. Thus, forfeiture actions where the amount involved is $5,000 or less may be brought in both the justice court and in the superior court.
ZLAKET, J., concurs.
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OPINION
LANKFORD, Judge.
M.P. O’Dea, personal representative of the estate of Lloyd Francis Page, appeals from orders awarding appellee Joyce Litzenburg $35,670.00 and denying O’Dea’s motions for new trial and to vacate judgment. The appeal presents the following issues for our consideration:
(1) Whether the quantum meruit claim Litzenburg presented to the estate conferred jurisdiction on the trial court to award her recovery on an alleged oral contract with the decedent;
(2) Whether Litzenburg’s claim was barred in whole or in part by the three year limitations period of Ariz.Rev.Stat. Ann. (“A.R.S.”) section 12-543;
(3) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying O’Dea’s motion in limine to exclude Litzenburg’s testimony pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2251 (“the Dead Man’s Statute”);
(4) Whether Litzenburg’s testimony amounted to “clear and convincing” evidence on which a claim against the estate could be based; and
(5) Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying O’Dea’s motion for new trial or his motion to vacate judgment.
Lloyd Francis Page died in July 1988. On October 7, 1988, through her former counsel, Litzenburg filed an application for informal appointment as personal representative and for unsupervised administration of the estate. Litzenburg alleged that Page left no known heirs or devisees and that she had standing to be appointed personal representative as a creditor. See A.R.S. §§ 14^32-3, 14-3301. The court formally appointed Litzenburg personal representative. Immediately thereafter, through the same counsel, Litzenburg filed a creditor’s claim alleging:
That from November 1977 until March 1988, the decedent lived with her in her home paying neither rent nor utilities but on occasion buying food for himself and his wife. The fair value of such tenancy would be $10,000 per year.
Through current counsel, Litzenburg later filed an amended creditor’s claim that stated in part:
Claimant is informed and believes and upon such information and belief alleges that the fair value of such services would more accurately and properly be in the sum of $35,000 and herewith makes a claim against the estate for reimbursement in that amount.
On May 24, 1989, as personal representative, Litzenburg filed a final account and petition for a decree of distribution. This document asked the court to approve payment of $30,000.00 to Litzenburg individually based on her claim.
On June 1, 1989, appellant M.P. O’Dea made his first appearance in this litigation, filing a petition for adjudication of intestacy, determination of heirs and appointment of personal representative. The petition alleged that O’Dea was the nominee of Cecil King, the decedent’s first cousin and heir, and asked that O’Dea be appointed as successor personal representative. On O’Dea’s motion for summary judgment, the trial court transferred the estate to the formal probate calendar and adjudicated Cecil King as heir.
Litzenburg resigned as personal representative and O’Dea was appointed successor personal representative. The court’s order stated in part:
The resignation of Joyce Litzenburg shall not terminate the obligation of Joyce Litzenburg and her attorney, Harry Finks, to produce documents and respond to Cecil King’s first request for production of documents by Joyce Litzenburg, personal rep resentative, and her attorney, Harry Finks.
O’Dea sent interrogatories and requests for admissions to Litzenburg. O’Dea asked Litzenburg to admit there was no evidence to support her various claims against the estate. His interrogatories asked that she state the source of each fact on which she based any denial or refusal to admit, and identify each witness and each supporting or contradicting document.
Litzenburg’s responses denied a request for an admission that her claim was baseless; stated that the persons who knew the underlying facts were the decedent, his deceased wife, and Litzenburg; and stated that no documents either supported or contradicted the facts on which she based her refusal to admit.
Before trial, O’Dea filed a motion in limine to exclude Litzenburg’s testimony pursuant to the Deadman Statute, A.R.S. section 12-2251. The parties’ joint pretrial statement reflected that only Litzenburg would testify as a witness, and identified the following contested issues of fact:
(A) Whether Lloyd Francis Page and his wife resided in Joyce Litzenburg’s home without paying her for food, utilities, shelter, etc.
(B) Whether Lloyd Francis Page ever agreed to pay Joyce Litzenburg for such food, utilities, shelter, etc. either unconditionally or when out of debt.
The trial court denied the motion in limine.
At trial Litzenburg testified that she moved from Maryland to Sun City in 1976 or 1977. Decedent, who was her mother’s second husband, drove her to Arizona in her own car and returned to Maryland. A month later decedent and Litzenburg’s mother surprised her by appearing on her doorstep and asking to stay with her, saying they were broke and in debt and had nowhere to go. According to Litzenburg, she agreed to allow them to stay provided they pay $290 per month for rent and other living expenses. The rent was to accumulate monthly until decedent worked his way out of debt and could start paying her back.
Litzenburg testified that while decedent lived in her house he had no source of income to her knowledge other than from Social Security and from collecting and selling soft drink cans and old newspapers. He dressed cleanly but wore old, out-of-style clothes and sneakers with holes in them. She also testified' she saw decedent write checks on occasion, including one for $1,500.00 for his wife’s nursing home expenses.
Litzenburg testified that decedent and Litzenburg’s mother lived with her for ten years. Litzenburg provided all utilities and cooked most of the basic meals herself. Her mother died in 1987, and decedent left when Litzenburg asked him to do so in January of 1988. Litzenburg was npt aware that decedent had any relatives.
In October of 1988, Litzenburg learned from a representative of the Valley National Bank that decedent had died. Litzenburg consulted an attorney, Mr. Finks. Concerning the first claim she made against the estate, she testified, “Mr. Finks named a figure of $10,000. I didn’t know whether he was saying $10,000 for the whole thing or $10,000 per year. I just went along with him. I’m inclined to go along with attorney’s advice. It was a mistake.”
The court ultimately allowed Litzenburg’s claim against the estate in the amount of $35,670.00. The court’s minute entry ruling stated:
The court finds that the decedent, Lloyd Francis Page, lived in Joyce Litzenburg’s home from November 1977 until January 1988. He agreed to pay to Joyce Litzenburg rent in the amount of $290 per month. In consideration, Joyce Litzenburg was to provide shelter, utilities, and basic meals.
The decedent appeared to have no money and was in debt. The decedent and Joyce Litzenburg agreed that the rent would continue to accrue until he “got on his feet,” was out of debt, and could pay past due rent.
Joyce Litzenburg’s testimony regarding the agreement and her distant relationship to the decedent has overcome any presumption of gratuity arising from her furnishing food and housing to a relative.
O’Dea filed a motion to vacate and for a new trial, and later an amended motion for a new trial. O’Dea’s amended motion requested a new trial based on newly discovered material evidence.
The amended motion was supported by the affidavit of Frank Redman and Joni Redman, which stated that Frank Redman was the stepson of the decedent Lloyd Francis Page and the brother of Joyce Litzenburg. The Redmans had lived with Joyce Litzenburg and the decedent in Arizona from March 1987 to January 1988. During that time, the decedent had paid one fourth of household expenses such as utilities and provisions, the Redmans had paid one half of such expenses, and Litzenburg had paid the remaining one fourth. Decedent Page and his wife had told the Redmans on numerous occasions that the Pages had moved into the Litzenburg household pursuant to an agreement under which the Pages would perform all housekeeping tasks including cooking, laundry and cleaning in exchange for housing.
At the same time, O’Dea submitted his counsel’s affidavit that counsel had attempted to contact Frank Redman and Joni Redman by telephone prior to the trial of this cause but had not been able to find a telephone listing for them. The Redmans had not responded to notices mailed to them concerning the estate. Counsel had assumed that the Redmans would provide no evidence helpful to the estate’s contest of the claim of Joyce Litzenburg because Frank Redman is the brother of Joyce Litzenburg. After learning of the minute order of November 28, 1990, counsel wrote to the Redmans. Joni Red-man telephoned counsel and advised him that the decedent and his wife had told the Red-mans on several occasions that the decedent and his wife were provided housing by Joyce Litzenburg in return for the performance of household services and that the decedent had paid one fourth of the household expenses while the Redmans and the decedent lived at Joyce Litzenburg’s house.
O’Dea’s counsel subpoenaed the decedent’s canceled cheeks and bank statements. He also submitted an additional affidavit of Frank and Joni Redman stating that shortly after Page’s death, they turned over to Litzenburg’s attorney all of Page’s bank records which included canceled checks, check stubs and bank statements and showed his calculations dividing the gross household expenses and reflecting that he bore one fourth of the expenses. Litzenburg responded with an affidavit stating the Redmans had lived with her until January of 1988 when they were asked to leave, and that the Redmans’ affidavit was incorrect regarding payments of household expenses made by decedent and regarding any agreement that the Pages would perform “all housekeeping tasks including cooking, laundry and cleaning.”
At the hearing on O’Dea’s motion and amended motion, the trial court admitted into evidence a letter from Valley National Corporation. The letter attached a copy of a canceled $100 check dated January 5, 1988, from Lloyd F. Page to Joyce M. Litzenburg for “Dec. groceries -I- rent—Jan.” The check was endorsed for deposit by Joyce M. Litzenburg. The court also admitted a post-trial deposition of attorney Harry Finks.
The court later denied O’Dea’s motions, on the ground that the exhibits and affidavit of Frank Redman and Joni Redman did not constitute “newly discovered evidence” warranting relief. The court determined that counsel had failed to demonstrate that he could not have discovered such evidence pri- or to trial through the exercise of due diligence.
On May 22, 1991, the trial court entered a formal order granting Litzenburg’s claim against the estate in the amount of $35,670.00 and denying her an award of attorney’s fees. By signed minute entry order dated May 23, 1991, the trial court denied O’Dea’s motion for new trial, amended motion for new trial and motion to vacate judgment.
Also on May 23, 1991, O’Dea filed a “Rule 60(C) Motion to Set Aside Final Judgment.” On June 24,1991, O’Dea filed a timely notice of appeal from the judgment and signed minute entry order. The trial court thereafter denied O’Dea’s motion to set aside final judgment “for the reasons cited by this court in its minute entry order of May 23, 1991.”
This court suspended the appeal and reverted jurisdiction in the trial court to con sider and rule on O’Dea’s Ariz.R.Civ.P. 60(c) motion. Pursuant to that order, the trial court entered a formal order denying the motion on the grounds previously stated in its minute entry ruling. O’Dea thereafter filed an amended notice of appeal appealing from the order denying the Rule 60(c) motion.
We have jurisdiction in the appeal pursuant to A.R.S. section 12-2101(C), (F)(1), and (J).
I.
We first consider whether Litzenburg’s quantum merit claim was sufficient to support an award based on a different theory, breach of an oral contract. Both Litzenburg’s initial and amended claims against the estate sought recovery of the “fair value” of decedent’s stay in her home from 1977 to 1988. To establish her claim at trial, however, Litzenburg relied exclusively on evidence of an express oral agreement that decedent and his wife would be allowed to live in Litzenburg’s home and receive basic meals for $290 per month, which would accumulate and become due once decedent was out of debt and able to pay. The issue is whether Litzenburg’s oral contract claim, upon which she recovered, materially varied from the quantum meruit claim she actually presented against the estate. O’Dea urges that because the real “claim” on which Litzenburg ultimately, recovered was never presented to the personal representative as required, the claim was time-barred by AR.S. section 14-3803.
The claim was not barred because a creditor’s claim against an estate need not specify in detail the legal theory underpinning it. In Davey v. Janson, 62 Ariz. 39, 153 P.2d 158 (1944), our supreme court rejected a personal representative’s contention that the claim on which a creditor had obtained relief differed from the claim previously presented against the estate. The creditor’s failure to initially set forth the special oral agreement later pleaded in the complaint did not render the claim insufficient. The court held that a creditor’s claim need not be drafted with precision and completeness, but need only state such facts as will inform the personal representative of the amount of the demand. Accord Barnett v. Hitching Post Lodge, Inc., 101 Ariz. 488, 421 P.2d 507 (1966).
The Uniform Probate Code enacted in Arizona after the decisions discussed above, adopts the same “notice pleading” approach. The decision of the Utah Court of Appeals in Dementas v. Estate of Tallas, 764 P.2d 628 (Utah App.1988), review pending 101 Utah Adv.Rep. 3 (1989), exemplifies the application of this approach on facts similar to those in the instant case. In Dementas a close friend of the decedent submitted a claim against the estate based on a memorandum from the decedent. The memorandum stated that the decedent owed the claimant $50,000 for his help over the years, and would change his will to make the claimant an “heir for the sum of $50,000.” 764 P.2d at 629.
The decedent never changed his will to include any gift to the claimant. The personal representative denied the claim, and the claimant brought an action in the probate court to recover $50,000 on theories of quantum meruit; contract to make, change or modify a will; gift causa mortis; and account stated.
The probate court ruled against the claimant. Although the Utah appellate court ultimately affirmed, it disagreed with the pro bate court’s determination that the initial claim was inadequate to preserve the “account stated” theory:
This position reflects an unduly restrictive view of the requirements for validly making claims on personal representatives in Utah....
We conclude that the claim tendered by Dementas met this notice pleading standard for an “account stated” theory as well as no doubt others. The claim recited that “the estate of the above-named decedent is indebted to the claimant in the amount of $50,000. Such indebtedness is based upon services rendered an acknowledgment by deceased, that the $50,000.00 is due and owing dated December 18, 1982.” Moreover, a complete copy of the memorandum ... was attached to and incorporated by reference in the claim.
If a claim acquaints a personal representative with a specific amount allegedly due and the general nature of the obligation, the purpose of the statute has been satisfied. Here, the claim was for $50,000 pursuant to a document executed by the deceased, which document was appended to the claim. The personal representative had all the information it needed to investigate the claim and decide whether to pay it, fight it, or settle it. It is inconsequential that the claim did not articulate particular legal theories upon which payment of the claim would be most appropriately be premised.
764 P.2d at 680-31.
Litzenburg’s amended claim sought $35,-000 as the “fair value” of lodging, utilities, food, laundry and personal care, while her claim before the trial court was for payment in approximately the same amount under an alleged oral contract by which the decedent agreed to pay for living expenses. The factual bases and approximate amounts were the same. Litzenburg’s amended claim gave O’Dea all the information he needed to investigate and decide whether to pay the claim, dispute it or settle it. Litzenburg’s oral contract claim was not barred for failure adequately to comply with A.R.S. section 14-3803(A).
II.
We next consider whether Litzenburg’s claim was wholly or partly barred by the three-year limitation period imposed by A.R.S. section 12-543. That statute provides in part:
There shall be commenced and prosecuted within three years after the cause of action accrues, and not afterward, the following actions:
1. For debt where the indebtedness is not evidenced by a contract in writing.
Two distinct lines of cases consider the interpretation of similar contracts. Annotation, When Statute Of Limitations Commences To Run Against Promise To Pay Debt: When Able, When Convenient, Or The Like, 28 A.L.R.2d 786 (1953). The annotation indicates that a small minority of decisions holds that a promise to pay “when able” or “when convenient” is too indefinite to constitute a true conditional promise, and therefore is deemed an absolute promise to pay within a reasonable time. Id. at 788-91. The large majority of cases hold that such a promise is genuinely conditional, and no cause of action accrues until the promisor in fact becomes able to pay. See In re Clover’s Estate, 171 Kan. 697, 237 P.2d 391, 28 A.L.R.2d 779 (1951). Further, under this view, the question of when the statute commences to run does not depend on when the promisee actually learned that the promisor became able to pay, but upon when his ability to pay became a fact. Id.; 28 A.L.R.2d at 791-92. Accord Guerin v. Cassidy, 38 N.J.Super. 454, 119 A2d 780 (1955); Lorenzo v. Bussin, 7 A.D.2d 731, 180 N.Y.S.2d 625 (1958), amended 7 A.D.2d 1019, 185 N.Y.S.2d 242 (1959); Estate of Buckingham, 9 Ohio App.2d 305, 224 N.E.2d 383 (1967).
We consider the majority view better reasoned and more in accord with the intent of the parties in such situations. Accordingly, Litzenburg’s contract claim accrued, and the three-year statutory limitation period commenced to run, when the decedent was “out of debt” and able to pay under the contract as a matter of fact, whether or not Litzenburg was aware of it.
We reject O’Dea’s argument that Litzenburg was obligated to defeat the statute of limitations defense by offering proof that the decedent only became able to pay at a time within the three years preceding Litzenburg’s assertion of her claim. O’Dea’s reliance on Engle Brothers, Inc. v. Superior Court, 23 Ariz.App. 406, 533 P.2d 714 (1975) on this point betrays a fundamental confusion between “commencement” and “tolling” of a statutory limitations period.
The statute of limitations is an affirmative defense. Ariz.R.Civ.P. 8(b). Because that is so, the defendant bears the burden of proof in establishing it. Selby v. Karman, 20 Ariz. App. 206, 511 P.2d 650 (1973), vacated on other grounds, 110 Ariz. 522, 521 P.2d 609 (1974). This burden includes establishing when the claim accrued. It is only after the defendant demonstrates that the complaint was filed beyond the expiration of the statutory limitations period after the claim accrued that the burden shifts to the plaintiff to prove, if he can, that for some legally sufficient reason the running of the statute of limitations was tolled. Selby v. Karman, 20 ArizApp. at 207-8, 511 P.2d at 651-2.
Of course, when the face of the complaint itself demonstrates that it was filed beyond the expiration of the limitations period after the plaintiffs claim accrued, the defendant’s initial burden of proof is discharged, and the issue becomes whether the plaintiff can prove that the statutory limitations period was tolled. See Engle Brothers, Inc., 23 Ariz. App. at 408, 533 P.2d at 716. However, nothing filed by Litzenburg alleged or demonstrated when her claim against the decedent actually accrued. Accordingly, O’Dea was required to show affirmatively that Litzenburg’s claim accrued at a time more than three years before Litzenburg asserted her claim. O’Dea produced no meaningful evidence on this point. Accordingly, O’Dea failed to establish a limitations defense.
III.
The third issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion in permitting Litzenburg to testify despite the Dead Man’s Statute. The Dead Man’s Statute, AR.S. section 12-2251, provides:
In an action by or against personal representatives, administrators, guardians or conservators in which judgment may be given for or against them as such, neither party shall be allowed to testify against the other as to any transaction with or statement by the testator, intestate or ward unless called to testify thereto by the opposite party, or required to testify thereto by the court. The provisions of this section shall extend to and include all actions by or against the heirs, devisees, legatees or legal representatives of a decedent arising out of any transaction with the decedent.
The trial court has discretion in admitting or excluding testimony concerning transactions with or statements by a decedent within A.R.S. section 12-2251. Estate of Mustonen, 130 Ariz. 283, 635 P.2d 876 (App.1981); Cachenos v. Baumann, 25 Ariz. App. 502, 544 P.2d 1103 (1976). The trial court’s discretion will be upheld when injustice will result if the testimony is rejected or when independent evidence corroborates the transaction with the decedent. In Mustonen we held that corroboration and avoiding injustice were not truly separate concerns. “[T]he doing of justice is the real concern while the presence or absence of corroboration is only an indicator of the needs of justice.” 130 Ariz. at 285, 635 P.2d at 878.
Given the state of discovery at the time of trial, the trial court could reasonably have determined that it would be unfair to Litzenburg to preclude her from introducing the only evidence available to support her claim. The decision to admit this testimony was not an abuse of discretion.
IV.
We also reject O’Dea’s contention that Litzenburg’s testimony did not constitute “clear and convincing” evidence as required by Johnson v. Moilanen, 23 Ariz. 86, 201 P. 634 (1921). The determination of whether evidence is “clear and convincing” is committed to the trial court. Even when the required standard of proof is clear and convincing evidence, the trial court’s findings will be sustained on appeal as long as the record contains substantial evidence to support them. Hopper v. Industrial Comm’n, 27 ArizApp. 732, 558 P.2d 927 (1976). Litzenburg’s testimony constituted substantial evidence supporting the trial court’s findings.
y.
The final question presented is whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying O’Dea’s motion for new trial or his motion to vacate the judgment.
O’Dea moved for a new trial pursuant to Ariz.R.Civ.P. 59(a) in part because of “newly discovered material evidence.” He moved for relief under Rule 60(c) on the ground of “fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct of an adverse party.” The trial court denied O’Dea’s amended motion for new trial on the ground that his counsel had failed to demonstrate he could not have discovered the new evidence before trial through the exercise of due diligence. The trial court denied O’Dea’s Rule 60(c) motion for the same reasons.
O’Dea now contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial because Litzenburg successfully misled the estate. O’Dea argues the trial court erred in denying his Rule 60(c) motion because relief under Rule 60(c)(3) does not require due diligence, and relief may be granted whenever misconduct of an adverse party has prevented a losing party from fully and fairly presenting his case or defense.
Motion For New Trial
Ariz.R.Civ.P. 59(a)(4) authorizes the trial court to vacate its judgment and grant a new trial based on “material evidence, newly discovered, which with reasonable diligence could not have been discovered and produced at the trial.” Whether or not the aggrieved party exercised due diligence is a question of fact for the trial court. Falcon v. Beverly Hills Mortgage Corp., 168 Ariz. 527, 815 P.2d 896 (1991).
In this case, whether decedent and his wife had resided in Litzenburg’s home without paying her for their living expenses was one of only two contested issues of fact presented in the parties’ joint pretrial statement. O’Dea’s counsel admitted that he had been unable to contact the Redmans earlier in connection with their own separate claim against the estate. He also acknowledged that in any event he had believed their testi mony would be favorable to Litzenburg, and made no effort to contact them before trial to call them as witnesses.
The following exchange also occurred during argument on the motion:
THE COURT: Wasn’t that check or the account or checks from that account, or statements, available to the personal representative before the trial?
MR. ARKULES: We had no reason to believe that Mrs. Litzenburg—we couldn’t conceive of the fact Mrs. Litzenburg would be nothing more than a bare-faced schemer. We didn’t believe she would go so far as to file a claim against the estate for services for which she had been paid. The theory of the case was a moral one, ... we felt that she had a moral claim against the estate. We just couldn’t conceive of the fact that this very nice looking lady would go so far as to assert a completely fraudulent claim against the estate.
THE COURT: But those checks and bank statements were available to the personal representative prior to the trial?
MR. ARKULES: They were, your Honor, if we had thought they fitted in with the theory of the ease.
THE COURT: I don’t understand.
MR. ARKULES: Our theory was Mrs. Litzenburg was asserting a case originally based on a moral consideration. She later alleged that she had a contract with the decedent. We couldn’t imagine that she also, she, in fact, had been paid by the decedent. We thought perhaps she might have conceived the idea of alleging she had a contract, but didn’t imagine that she would go so far as to allege she had not been paid when, in fact, she had been paid.
The trial court could have found that the record did not demonstrate due diligence. It therefore did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for a new trial.
Motion For Relief Under Rule 60(c)
Ariz.R.Civ.P. 60(c)(3) is identical to Rule 60(b)(3), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Arizona courts give great weight to federal court interpretations of the rules of procedure. Edwards v. Young, 107 Ariz. 283, 486 P.2d 181 (1971). The prerequisites to relief under this provision are as follows:
To obtain relief under Fed.R.Civ.P. 60(b)(3), the movant must (1) have a meritorious defense, (2) that he was prevented from fully presenting before judgment, (3) because of the adverse party’s fraud, misrepresentation, or misconduct. Square Construction Co. v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Auth., 657 F.2d 68 (4th Cir.1981). In considering those requirements, “the court must balance the competing policies favoring the finality of judgments and justice being done in view of all the facts.”
Green v. Foley, 856 F.2d 660, 665 (4th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1031, 109 S.Ct. 1769, 104 L.Ed.2d 204 (1989). “Misconduct” within the rule need not amount to fraud or misrepresentation, but may include even accidental omissions. Anderson v. Cryovac, Inc., 862 F.2d 910 (1st Cir.1988). “Because [Federal] Rule 60(b) is remedial and to be construed liberally, and because of the comprehensive sweep of 60(b)(3) any fraud, misrepresentation, circumvention or other wrongful act of a party in obtaining a judgment so that it is inequitable for him to retain the benefit thereof, constitute grounds for relief within the intendment of 60(b)(3).” 7 Moore’s Federal Practice section 60-24(5), p. 60-211 (2d ed. 1993). The Anderson court further stated:
[I]n motions for a new trial under the misconduct prong of Rule 60(b)(3), the movant must show the opponent’s misconduct by clear and convincing evidence. Next, the moving party must show that the misconduct substantially interfered with its ability fully and fairly to prepare for, and proceed at, trial. This burden may be shouldered either by establishing the material’s likely worth as trial evidence or by elucidating its value as a tool for obtaining meaningful discovery. The burden can also be met by presumption or inference, if the movant can successfully demonstrate that the misconduct was knowing or deliberate. Once a presumption of substantial interference arises, it can alone carry the day, unless defeated by a clear and convincing demonstration that the consequences of the misconduct were nugacious. Alternatively, if unaided by a presumption—that is, if the movant is unable to prove that the misconduct was knowing or deliberate—it may still prevail as long as it proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the nondisclosure worked some substantial interference with the full and fair preparation or presentation of the case.
862 F.2d at 926.
In this case, the misconduct on which O’Dea relies was Litzenburg’s false answer to O’Dea’s interrogatory concerning the existence of any documents that might undermine her claim against the estate, and her allegedly perjurious testimony that the decedent paid her nothing under their alleged oral contract. We are greatly troubled by the implications of the testimonial and documentary evidence O’Dea’s counsel belatedly uncovered. It is certainly true that Litzenburg did not have sole custody of decedent’s bank records, and could not have prevented O’Dea from examining them. It is also true that the single canceled check obtained by O’Dea does not itself demonstrate that decedent and his wife fully compensated Litzenburg for their living expenses over their 11-year stay. On the other hand, decedent’s canceled check, identified on its face as covering rent and expenses and personally endorsed by Litzenburg, was plainly evidence that would have been valuable at trial. Further, the existence of that check raises a conspicuous inference that Litzenburg engaged in knowing or deliberate misconduct that would support a presumption of substantial interference with O’Dea’s ability fully and fairly to prepare for and proceed at trial within the Anderson analysis. The failure to disclose or produce evidence requested in discovery can constitute misconduct justifying relief under the rule. Stridiron v. Stridiron, 698 F.2d 204, 207 (3d Cir.1983).
The trial court denied O’Dea’s motion for relief under Rule 60(c)(3) strictly on the ground that his counsel had failed to demonstrate that he could not have discovered the rent check and the Redmans’ testimony through due diligence before trial. As we have held, this was a sufficient basis for denying a new trial but insufficient to support a denial of Rule 60(c) relief. See Harre v. A.H. Robins Co., 750 F.2d 1501 (11th Cir.1985), modified 866 F.2d 1303 (11th Cir. 1989) (failure to discover expert’s misstatements on cross-examination at trial was not bar to Rule 60 relief). The trial court’s denial of Rule 60(c) relief therefore rested on an error of law. We reverse the trial court’s order denying O’Dea’s motion for Rule 60(c) relief and remand for reconsideration of that motion in light of the analysis and standards set forth in Anderson, 862 F.2d at 910, and Green, 856 F.2d at 660.
CONCLUSION
The trial court’s order denying O’Dea’s motion for new trial and amended motion for new trial is affirmed. The trial court’s order granting Litzenburg’s claim in the amount of $35,670.00 against the estate is affirmed subject to further proceedings pursuant to Ariz. R.Civ.P. 60(c)(3). The trial court’s order denying O’Dea’s motion to set aside final judgment is reversed and remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Affirmed in part; reversed in part; remanded with directions.
VOSS, P.J., and GERBER, J., concur.
. At all times material to this litigation, A.R.S. section 14-3803(A) provided:
All claims against a decedent’s estate which arose before the death of the decedent, including claims of the state and any subdivision thereof, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract, tort or other legal basis, if not barred earlier by other statute of limitations, are barred against the estate, the personal representative and the heirs and devisees of the decedent, unless presented as follows:
(1) Within four months after the date of the first publication of notice to creditors if notice is given in compliance with section 14-3801, except claims barred by the nonclaim statute at the decedent’s domicile before the first publication for claims in this state are also barred in this state.
(2) Within three years after the decedent’s death, if notice to creditors has not been published.
. 1973 Ariz.Sess.Laws Ch. 75.
. O’Dea’s reliance on Brown v. Taylor, 500 So.2d 309 (Fla.App.1986) is misplaced. There the appellee presented evidence newly seeking recovery of $10,000 from the estate in the probate court, and moved successfully to amend his complaint to conform to the evidence. On appeal, the court observed that the $10,000 claim had never been included in appellee's initial claim against the estate, and understandably reversed.
O'Dea also relies on a line of Montana decisions that considers the "scope of the claim” in determining whether a creditor’s proof in court "materially varies” from the claim he previously presented to the executor. See Ziegler v. Kramer, 175 Mont. 236, 573 P.2d 644, 646 (1977) (contract claim vs. claim of gift causa mortis); Brown v. Midland Nat’l Bank, 150 Mont. 422, 435 P.2d 878 (1967) (debt claim vs. suit for breach of oral contract to bequeath); Brion v. Brown, 135 Mont. 356, 340 P.2d 539 (1959) (quantum meruit claim vs. action on contract to deed or devise real property). Even apart from the question from whether the "scope of the claim” test that those cases apply is too narrow to accord with the prevailing Arizona and Uniform Probate Code approach, these cases involve situations in which the difference between the initial claim and that later pursued in court was considerably greater than that in the instant case.
. Litzenburg incorrectly relies on Healey v. Coury, 162 Ariz. 349, 783 P.2d 795 (App. 1989) for the proposition that when the payment of a contractual debt is conditioned on the occurrence of a future event, the statute of limitations does not begin to run until payment is demanded and refused. The Healey opinion actually indicates that the limitations period began when a condition precedent to the obligation—the profitability of an RV park—was fulfilled. When the condition was satisfied, the cause of action accrued.
On the other hand, O’Dea mistakenly relies on Estate of Musgrove, 144 Ariz. 168, 696 P.2d 720 (App. 1985) for the proposition that the three-year limitations period commenced to run upon the formation of the agreement between Litzenburg and the decedent. Musgrove holds that where a contract is silent as to the time of repayment, and demand for performance is not an express condition precedent to the duty to perform, the statute of limitations begins to run when the contract is made. The contract here was not silent on the time of repayment, but instead expressly conditioned repayment on decedent’s getting himself out of debt.
. In re M/V Peacock, 809 F.2d 1403 (9th Cir. 1987), cited by Litzenburg, is distinguishable. In that case, the misstatements were made in a trial brief, "after [claimant] had almost two years to prepare her case”; the misstatements were not made in discovery. Id. at 1405.
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OPINION
WEISBERG, Judge.
James Paul Lautzenheiser (“defendant”) appeals his conviction and sentence. Viewed from the totality of circumstances, we find that the jury was not subject to impermissible coercion. We, therefore, affirm the trial court.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On March 11,1991, defendant was charged by indictment with one count of aggravated driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquor, a class 5 felony. Trial commenced on September 30, 1991. The trial court declared a mistrial on October 3, 1991, because the jury could not agree on a verdict. Retrial commenced on December 30, 1991.
Counsel presented closing arguments in the second trial on December 31, 1991. At 3:27 p.m., the jury retired to begin deliberations. At 4:20 p.m., the jury announced that it had reached a guilty verdict. At the request of defense counsel, the trial court polled the jury. The first juror polled indicated that she had changed her mind and that guilty was no longer her true verdict. After polling the other jurors, the trial court again asked the dissenting juror whether her verdict was guilty. She responded that it was not.
The trial court asked the jury foreman whether further deliberations would be helpful. The jury foreman responded that he did not think so. The court then asked the jury foreman whether the jurors would be able to reach a verdict if sent back to the jury room. The jury foreman responded that they could try. The trial court ordered the jury to return to the jury room and, approximately twenty minutes later, the jury returned a guilty verdict. The trial court again polled the jury and they all indicated guilty verdicts.
The trial court sentenced defendant to probation for three years, including a six month prison term. The trial court also imposed a $700.00 fine and $180.00 in statutory assessments. Defendant timely appealed.
DISCUSSION
Defendant argues that the trial court made three errors that had a coercive effect on the jury: (1) when the trial court repeated the question about whether the dissenting juror’s verdict was guilty, (2) when the judge rephrased his question to the jury foreman about whether the jury would reach a verdict if they deliberated more, and (3) when the judge failed to instruct the jury to not surrender their honest convictions. Defendant alleges that these circumstances, taken together with the fact that the jury deliberated on New Year’s Eve, caused the guilty verdict to be coerced.
A Standard of Review
Defendant concedes that he made no objection during the proceedings at the trial court. Failure to raise the issue below waives any objection, unless the alleged error is fundamental error. See State v. McCutcheon, 162 Ariz. 54, 60, 781 P.2d 31, 37 (1989) (citing State v. Schrock, 149 Ariz. 433, 440, 719 P.2d 1049, 1056 (1986)). Fundamental error is defined as “error that goes to the foundation of the case or takes from the defendant a right essential to his defense.” Id. (quoting State v. Burton, 144 Ariz. 248, 251, 697 P.2d 331, 334 (1985)).
The Arizona Supreme Court has adopted the “totality of the circumstances” rule for analyzing coerciveness surrounding guilty verdicts. “Under the totality of the circumstances rule, convictions will be reversed if the cumulative effect of the trial court’s actions had a coercive influence upon the jury.” State v. Roberts, 131 Ariz. 513, 515, 642 P.2d 858, 860 (1982). In other words, “[t]he test of coerciveness is whether the trial court’s actions or remarks, viewed in the totality of the circumstances, displaced the independent judgment of the jurors.” State v. McCutcheon, 150 Ariz. 317, 320, 723 P.2d 666, 669 (1986). We must look to the unique facts of this case to determine whether the verdict was coerced. See Roberts, 131 Ariz. at 515, 642 P.2d at 860.
B. Circumstances
1. Requestioning the Dissenting Juror
The trial court polled the dissenting juror a second time after ascertaining that the other jurors had reached guilty verdicts. She again responded that her verdict was not guilty. Defendant claims that the second question put undue pressure on the dissenter. He argues that requestioning could have had no other purpose but to embarrass and humiliate the dissenting juror. We disagree. A more plausible explanation would be that, since the dissenter was equivocal on the issue, the trial court prudently made sure that her verdict was indeed not guilty before proceeding. Although at some point repeated questioning might have been particularly embarrassing, we conclude that simply asking for the juror’s verdict a second time did not place undue pressure on the dissenting juror.
Defendant also claims that the simple fact that the judge knew the jury was divided seven to one for conviction is a factor indicating coercion. The Arizona Supreme Court has noted that “[wjhen the numerical division is known, particularly if the division is lopsid- ' ed, encouraging the jury to decide can amount to coercion.” McCutcheon, 150 Ariz. at 320, 723 P.2d at 669. While we agree that knowledge of the division and the identity of the individual dissenter is an indicia of coerciveness, we note that this knowledge resulted from the trial court correctly following Rule 23.4, requiring a jury poll on request. In polling the jury, the trial court did nothing but what it was required to do. Therefore, we do not conclude that the knowledge gained from the proper jury poll constituted coercion. See also State v. Cipriano, 24 Ariz. App. 478, 479, 539 P.2d 952, 953 (1975) (upholding unanimous verdict after jury returned to deliberate because poll revealed one dissenting juror).
2. Questioning the Jury Foreman
After determining that the jury had not returned a unanimous verdict, the trial court asked the jury foreman whether further deliberations would be useful. The jury foreman responded that they would not. The trial court then asked whether the jury foreman thought the jurors could reach a unanimous verdict. The jury foreman responded that they could try. Defendant alleges that these questions had a coercive effect.
When a jury does not reach a unanimous verdict, the trial court has the discretion to order more deliberations or to discharge the jury. Rule 23.4. The trial court is not allowed, however, to indicate any anxiety for some verdict. See State v, Thomas, 86 Ariz. 161, 165, 342 P.2d 197, 200 (1959). The Arizona Supreme Court, in disapproving of Voeckell! Smith or “dynamite” instructions, noted that when returning a jury to deliberate, a trial court “should not overemphasize the importance of an agreement, suggest that any juror surrender his independent judgment, or say or do anything from which the jury could possibly infer that the court is indicating anxiety for or demanding some verdict, or subjecting the jury to the hardships of long deliberations.” Id. The trial court’s questions do not violate this directive at all.
The trial judge did not indicate any anxiety for a verdict or emphasize the importance of a verdict; he simply inquired into the likelihood of a unanimous verdict. The jury had agreed on a guilty verdict at one point and the judge apparently concluded that a unanimous verdict was possible; this jury was not “deadlocked.” Based on the circumstances, the trial court could have ordered the jury to resume deliberations without any inquiry, or to resume deliberations after the jury foreman’s first negative response. By inquiring a second time into the jury’s likelihood of agreement, the trial court did not create any impermissible anxiety.
3. New Year’s Eve/Time of Deliberations
Defendant takes care to note that these proceedings took place in the late afternoon on New Year’s Eve. Although he does not expressly argue the point, defendant impliedly encourages us to consider the late hour before a pending holiday as a factor indicating coercion. We agree that “subjecting the jury to the hardships of long deliberations” can be coercive. See id. We conclude that in the present case, however, no such coercive effect was present.
The trial court did not indicate that the jury would be forced to deliberate late into the evening or for any unreasonable time. The jury first retired at 3:27 p.m. The fact that the jury returned its final verdict within twenty minutes after retiring the second time is not extraordinary since it had reached an almost unanimous verdict after only fifty-five minutes of deliberation. Under different facts, such as a jury having deliberated for many hours or even days, and then returning a verdict only twenty minutes after the courtroom proceeding, we would be more likely to find the presence of impermissible coercion. But in the instant case, the jury’s deliberations totaled less than seventy-five minutes. The second twenty-minute deliberation was proportionately consistent with its first deliberation.
It can be speculated that New Year’s Eve provided some jurors with motivation to reach an early conclusion. Although other jurors may therefore have pressured the dissenting juror to change her verdict, pressure from other jurors does not constitute coercion. See State v. Hutton, 143 Ariz. 386, 391, 694 P.2d 216, 221 (1985). We therefore find that the timing of the proceedings did not constitute coercion.
4. Failure to Give Cautionary Instruction
Defendant also points out that, when sending the jury back for further deliberations, the trial court did not give an instruction cautioning the jurors “not to surrender their honest convictions.” See Roberts, 131 Ariz. at 518, 642 P.2d at 863 (Feldman, J., dissenting). Although this instruction would have mitigated any arguable coercive effect, it is not mandatory. See id. at 516, 642 P.2d at 861. While we encourage the use of such a cautionary instruction and note that, in a closer case, the use of such an instruction might cure an otherwise coercive situation, we hold that the lack of such instruction does not necessarily require a finding of coercion. Specifically, its absence in this case is not determinative.
C. Comparison to Previous Case Law
Comparing this case with State v. McCutcheon, 162 Ariz. 54, 781 P.2d 31 (1989), is instructive. In McCutcheon, the jury began deliberating at 3:15 p.m. on a Friday. At 5:47 p.m., the jury informed the judge that it was not able to reach a verdict. The judge made several comments on the circumstances:
In this particular case I don’t believe the fact that you have had just barely over two hours to deliberate here is sufficient time, in light of the evidence before you.
So I am going to say to you I believe that it would be of some assistance to you to deliberate further.
And I am going to ask then that all of you return on Monday morning at 9:00 to do so.
And then I will ask that you come back and at that time consider again all of the evidence before you, because you have sufficient evidence to be able to do your job in this case.
Id. at 59, 781 P.2d at 36 (emphasis in original). The jury reconvened on Monday at 9:30 a.m. and returned a guilty verdict at 10:55 a.m.
The instructions given in McCutcheon specifically refer to the sufficiency of evidence before the jury and were certainly more prejudicial than the instructions given in the instant case. In McCutcheon, as in the present case, the defendant did not object to the trial court’s instructions. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled, however, that the instructions in McCutcheon did not rise to the level of fundamental error. Id. at 60, 781 P.2dat 37. The supreme court noted that, absent objection, reversal is rare unless the trial court gives a Smith instruction. Id. (citing State v. Zaragoza, 135 Ariz. 63, 66, 659 P.2d 22, 25, cert. denied, 462 U.S. 1124, 103 S.Ct. 3097, 77 L.Ed.2d 1356 (1983)).
In the instant case, the judge’s comments were less prejudicial than those in McCutcheon; they were certainly not Smith instructions. The deliberation time, before and after the judge’s comments, was proportionately similar in both cases. In McCutcheon, the jury deliberated approximately 2.5 hours before and 1.5 hours after the judge addressed the jury. Id., 162 Ariz. at 59, 781 P.2d at 36. In the present ease, the jury deliberated fifty-three minutes before and twenty-four minutes after the judge addressed the jury. The circumstances of this case indicate less coercion than in McCutcheon, yet the supreme court found that the facts in McCutcheon did not constitute fundamental error. Accordingly, we find no fundamental error in the present case.
CONCLUSION
Considering the “totality of the circumstances,” we hold that the trial court’s actions did not constitute fundamental error. Pursuant to AR.S. section 13-4035, we have searched the record for fundamental error and have found none. Accordingly, defendant’s conviction and sentence are affirmed.
JACOBSON, P.J., concurs.
. Voeckell instructions, originally approved in State v. Voeckell, 69 Ariz. 145, 150, 210 P.2d 972, 975 (1949), are instructions that encourage a jury to reach a verdict, that encourage dissenting jurors to consider the fact that a majority of a jury is disagreeing with them, or that point out the importance of agreement or the cost of disagreement. Smith instructions are limited versions of Voeckell instructions. See State v. Smith, 108 Ariz. 121, 123, 493 P.2d 904, 906 (1972). Such instructions are also called "dynamite” instructions because they are used to " ‘blast’ a verdict out of a deadlocked jury.” United States v. Mason, 658 F.2d 1263, 1265 n. 1 (9th Cir. 1981). For examples of these instructions, see Thomas, 86 Ariz. at 163-64, 342 P.2d at 199, and Smith, 108 Ariz. at 123, 493 P.2d at 906.
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OPINION
WEISBERG, Judge.
Perri S. Victor (“wife”) appeals from a judgment and denial of motion for a new trial in dissolution proceedings with Warren H. Victor (“husband”). We affirm the trial court’s refusal to order husband to take part in a separate religious divorce proceeding.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In 1976, wife and husband were married in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony held in Florida. As part of their marriage, and in accordance with Jewish law, wife and husband entered into a ketubah. A ketubah is a document recording the financial obligations that the husband undertakes toward his wife in respect of, and consequent to, their marriage—obligations that, in principle, are imposed on him by Jewish law. 10 Encyclopedia Judaica 926 (1972). The ketubah provides in part that the parties will comply with the “laws of Moses and Israel” and that a husband will fulfill his obligations to cherish, honor, and support his wife in accordance with those laws. In this case, the ketubah was a general, standardized document without any provisions tailored to these parties. Both parties signed the ketubah, but it was not acknowledged.
Under Jewish law, a marriage officially ends when a divorce document, called a get, is delivered to the wife. As is customary, the ketubah in this case did not refer to a get, nor did it specifically require husband’s cooperation to secure a get upon the civil termination of the marriage. To obtain a get, a husband generally must initiate proceedings before a Jewish tribunal. The get must be given voluntarily after the husband is satisfied with the financial, custody, and support arrangements that have been made, and the wife must voluntarily accept it. According to Jewish law, a wife who does not receive a get is still married, notwithstanding civil dissolution; she cannot remarry and, if she does, any children of the subsequent marriage are considered illegitimate.
Husband refused wife’s repeated requests for a get. As a result, wife requested that the trial court order husband to grant her a get as part of the dissolution proceedings. In the judgment and decree, the trial court stated the following:
The Court concludes that it is without jurisdiction to order the respondent to grant an orthodox “Get.” While the Court finds [husband’s] actions with respect to the “Get” to be improper, it cannot intrude upon his understanding of the religious principles surrounding the granting of a “Get.” Based on the testimony of the two Rabbis, respondent’s refusal is not consistent with the proper exercise of his religion. This is, however, a decision which he must make and live with, and as the State should not seek to direct his religious practice, it should not interfere in that exercise, misguided though it may be.
The only issue raised on appeal is whether the trial court in this dissolution proceeding could order husband to grant a get.
DISCUSSION
Jurisdiction
A. Equitable Powers
Wife argues that the trial court has jurisdiction to order husband to cooperate in granting her a get because it has the statutory authority and accompanying equitable power necessary to resolve all disputes related to a divorce. We begin with the proposition that “[e]very power that the superior court exercises in a dissolution proceeding must find its source in the supporting statutory framework.” Fenn v. Fenn, 174 Ariz. 84, 87, 847 P.2d 129, 132 (App.1993) (citing Anonymous Wife v. Anonymous Husband, 153 Ariz. 573, 575, 739 P.2d 794, 796 (1987)). The Arizona Supreme Court has described the limits of the domestic relations court’s equitable powers:
Despite the application of equitable standards in a dissolution proceeding, it remains a statutory action, and the trial court has only such jurisdiction as is granted by statute____ A.R.S. § 25-311 vests the superior court “with original jurisdiction to hear and decide all matters pursuant to this chapter.” Thus, Title 25 defines the boundaries of a dissolution court’s jurisdiction and the court may not exceed its jurisdiction even when exercising its equitable powers.
Weaver v. Weaver, 131 Ariz. 586, 587, 643 P.2d 499, 500 (1982) (citations omitted). In Anonymous Wife, the supreme court held that the domestic relations court’s jurisdiction extended to matters germane to statutory subject matter. 153 Ariz. at 576 n. 3, 739 P.2d at 797 n. 3 (“we see no reason to preclude the trial court from resolving the child support issue and all germane issues in the divorce proceeding, rather than in multiple proceedings”).
According to Arizona statute, the trial court must enter a decree of dissolution. of marriage if it finds that “[t]o the extent it has jurisdiction to do so, the court has considered, approved and made provision for child custody, the support of any natural or adopted child common to the parties of the marriage entitled to support, the maintenance of either spouse and the disposition of the property.” Ariz.Rev.Stat.Ann. (“A.R.S.”) § 25-312(4) (1991). Accordingly, title 25 authorizes the trial court to assign each spouse his or her sole and separate property and to divide community or other jointly-owned property, A.R.S. § 25-318, to grant a spousal maintenance order, A.R.S. § 25-319, to decide custody matters, A.R.S. § 25-332, and to fix child support awards, A.R.S. § 25-320. We find nothing in our statutes that gives the trial court authority to order a husband to grant a religious divorce document based on equitable considerations; the religious divorce is not germane to the civil dissolution. See Turner v. Turner, 192 So.2d 787 (Fla. App.1966) (Florida statute that provides for only civil divorce does not authorize chancellor to require parties to secure religious divorce). Our domestic relations court has no underlying power to grant equitable relief outside of the statutory framework from which it derives its authority.
B. Ketubah as an Antenuptial Agreement
Citing cases from other states, wife implies that the ketubah itself, which obligates the parties to live in accordance with the moral precepts of Jewish law, is a premarital contract that can be specifically enforced “as would be the case in any other type of settlement between litigants.” See, e.g., Minkin v. Minkin, 180 N.J.Super. 260, 434 A.2d 665 (1981) (“a court of equity will enforce a contract between husband and wife if it is not unconscionable to do so and if the performance to be compelled is not contrary to public policy”); Avitzur v. Avitzur, 58 N.Y.2d 108, 459 N.Y.S.2d 572, 446 N.E.2d 136, (promise to submit to rabbinical court was secular and could be specifically enforced), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 817, 104 S.Ct. 76, 78 L.Ed.2d 88 (1983); In re Marriage of Goldman, 196 Ill.App.3d 785, 143 Ill.Dec. 944, 554 N.E.2d 1016 (1990) (terms of ketubah not vague and could be specifically enforced). Husband responds that the ketubah is a traditional document that should not be interpreted to require him to furnish a get, that his First Amendment protections prohibit the court from requiring a religious act, and that the ketubah is not entered into with sufficient formality to constitute an enforceable antenuptial agreement. We agree with husband that this ketubah is not an enforceable agreement.
1. Formality
The record indicates that the ketubah was signed by the parties, but not acknowledged. Arizona law at the time of the marriage required acknowledgment. A.R.S. § 25-201 (amended 1991). The Restatement, however, states the following: “Formalities which meet the requirements of the place where the parties execute the contract will usually be acceptable.” Restatement (Second) of Conflict of Laws § 199(2) (1971); see also Bryant v. Silverman, 146 Ariz. 41, 42, 703 P.2d 1190, 1191 (1985) (adopting Restatement for analyzing conflicts questions). The ketubah was executed in Florida, which has never required that an antenuptial agreement be acknowledged to be valid. We therefore conclude that the ketubah meets any formality requirements.
2. Specificity
Provisions of an antenuptial agreement must be sufficiently specific to be enforceable. See, e.g., Pyeatte v. Pyeatte, 135 Ariz. 346, 661 P.2d 196 (App.1983). In Pyeatte, a wife claimed in a dissolution proceeding that the parties had orally agreed that she would support her husband while he was in law school and, when he finished, he would support her while she finished her master of arts degree. This court found that the agreement was not binding because it was not sufficiently definite: “Although the terms and requirements of an enforceable contract need not be stated in minute detail, it is fundamental that, in order to be binding, an agreement must be definite and certain so that the liability of the parties may be exactly fixed.” Id. at 350, 661 P.2d at 200 (citations omitted).
In the instant case, the only specific provisions in the ketubah relate to financial obligations. Wife cites language that the parties will comply with the “laws of Moses and Israel.” Such a vague provision has no specific terms describing a mutual understanding that husband would secure a Jewish divorce. Cf Lynch v. Uhlenhopp, 248 Iowa 68, 78 N.W.2d 491, 496-98 (1956) (decree requiring wife to rear child in “Roman Catholic Religion” is too indefinite to support a contempt conviction). If this court were to rule on whether the ketubah, given its indefinite language, includes an unwritten mandate that a husband under these circumstances is required to grant his wife a get, we would be overstepping our authority and assuming the role of a religious court. This we decline to do. We hold that, in this case, as a matter of law, the ketubah does not constitute an enforceable antenuptial agreement.
We note that under A.R.S. section 25-202, parties may enter into written premarital agreements that are enforceable without consideration if entered into knowingly and voluntarily and if they are not unconscionable. Under AR.S. section 25-203(A)(8), the parties to a premarital agreement may contract with respect to “any ... matter, including their personal rights and obligations, not in violation of public policy or a statute imposing a criminal penalty.” See Williams v. Williams, 166 Adz. 260, 262, 801 P.2d 495, 497 (App.1990) (parties may enter into premarital agreements if not against public poli- • cy). We are not presented with, and do not decide, whether and to what extent a premarital agreement that contains a promise to grant a get at the time of divorce is enforceable in Arizona courts. Similarly, we do not decide whether and to what extent a court could enforce such a provision in an otherwise valid separation agreement that is approved by the court as part of a dissolution. Finally, because of our resolution of this matter, we need not decide whether enforcement by a court of such a provision would violate the First Amendment. See, e.g., School Dist. No. 26 (Bouse Elementary) of Yuma County v. Strohm, 106 Ariz. 7, 9, 469 P.2d 826, 828 (1970) (the court does not determine constitutional issues unless the decision is necessary to determine the merits of the action).
CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
GARBARINO, P.J., and McGREGOR, J., concur.
|
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OPINION
ESPINOSA, Presiding Judge.
Appellant Nancy Louise Mendoza appeals from the trial court’s order dismissing her petition against appellee Joseph Robert Mendoza seeking financial support for their mentally retarded adult twin children. Because we find that Nancy’s petition stated a claim which the trial court had jurisdiction to entertain, we reverse.
The 1985 divorce decree, entered after both parties appeared pro se, apparently ordered Joseph to pay child support for the then-minor twins until their eighteenth birthday, but was silent as to their disability or any post-minority support. Joseph continued to make irregular payments after the twins turned eighteen in 1991, but stopped making payments when Nancy asked for an increased amount of support in July 1992. Nancy filed a petition seeking support in December 1992 and the trial court appointed her guardian ad litem for the proceedings. Joseph filed a motion to dismiss and to quash the order of temporary guardianship, arguing that the domestic relations court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The trial court granted Joseph’s motion, finding that Nancy “has no legal claim which can be enforced either as a Domestic Relations matter or as a contract matter.”
As a general rule, there is no duty to support a child who has reached the age of majority, see A.R.S. § 12-2451(A), and the superior court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate the question of liability for support of a child who has reached majority. Solomon v. Findley, 167 Ariz. 409, 808 P.2d 294 (1991). In 1973, however, the Arizona legislature enacted A.R.S. § 25-320(B) which gave the trial courts jurisdiction to order, in the court’s discretion, support of a disabled child “to continue past the age of majority____” In Provinzano v. Provinzano, 116 Ariz. 571, 570 P.2d 513 (App.1977), Division One of this court held that, based on the words “may order support to continue,” the authority of the court to order support under § 25-320(B) was limited to situations in which the domestic relations court had acquired jurisdiction before the child reached the age of majority.
Perhaps in response to Provinzano, the legislature amended § 25-320(B) in 1980 to allow the court to order support for a disabled child to continue past the age of majority, even if the court acquired jurisdiction after the child was no longer a minor. Ferrer v. Ferrer, 138 Ariz. 138, 673 P.2d 336 (App.1983). The statute now reads as follows:
In the ease of a mentally or physically disabled child, if the court, after considering the factors set forth in subsection A, deems it appropriate, the court may order support to continue past the age of majority and to be paid to the custodial parent, guardian or child, even if at the time of the filing of a petition or at the time of the final decree, the child has reached the age of majority. (Emphasis added.)
We believe the statute as amended reflects the legislature’s intent to broaden the scope of the court’s jurisdiction to order support of an adult, disabled child where the court deems it appropriate. In accord with that intent, we can see no reason why the court would not also have jurisdiction to entertain a petition, such as Nancy’s, asking for support for disabled post-minority children who were the subjects of a prior support order. We conclude that a “petition,” as used in the 1980 amendment to § 25-320(B), is not limited solely to the petition for dissolution resulting in the initial support order, but can include a new petition for support of a disabled child. Indeed, subsection A of § 25-320, in identifying the proceedings to which it applies, refers to proceedings for “dissolution of marriage, legal separation, maintenance, or child support.”
Joseph suggests that Nancy is bound by her failure to include the issue of post-minority support in the decree. However, even an intentional waiver of child support is not binding on the courts and will be enforced only if the child’s interests are not adversely affected. Albins v. Elovitz, 164 Ariz. 99, 791 P.2d 366 (App.1990). We note that there is no evidence in the record to suggest an intentional or knowing waiver. See Ray v. Mangum, 163 Ariz. 329, 788 P.2d 62 (1989); Cordova v. Lucero, 129 Ariz. 184, 629 P.2d 1020 (App.1981) (waiver of child support arrearages must be shown by clear and compelling evidence of voluntary and intentional abandonment of known right). On the contrary, Nancy asserts that the failure to address the issue of any post-minority support was a matter of oversight rather than intent.
The analysis, however, does not end here. There must further be “a contemporaneous or prior award of custody of the emancipated child to one of the parents at a proceeding wherein the emancipated child is a party and the issues of the mental or physical disability of the child are presented to the court by appropriate pleadings.” Provinzano 116 Ariz. at 575, 570 P.2d at 517; see Ferrer v. Ferrer, supra. Although Nancy asserts that she was named sole guardian, conservator, and custodian of the twins in Pinal County Case P-12951, we are unable to confirm that claim from the record before us.
We conclude that Nancy’s petition stated a cognizable claim under § 25-320(B) and the trial court had jurisdiction to consider her request for post-minority support of the disabled children. On remand, the trial court should determine 1) whether Nancy is in fact the custodian of the children, 2) whether Nancy’s failure to seek post-minority support was intended by the parties and approved by the dissolution court, and 3) whether further support is warranted after considering the factors in § 25-320(A). We decline to grant either party’s request for attorney’s fees.
Reversed and remanded.
DRUKE, C.J., and HATHAWAY, J., concur.
. The decree was not made part of the record on appeal, however both parties agree as to its contents.
|
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OPINION
GRANT, Acting Presiding Judge.
This is an appeal from a summary judgment dismissing objections to a will. We affirm the trial court.
Louise Kerr died on October 8,1978. She had executed a will on September 27, 1948, which named as principal beneficiaries her three brothers and two sisters, all of whom survived her. On July 7, 1978, Louise Kerr set up a trust which gave a life estate in certain pieces of real property to two close friends and retained a life estate in the remainder of the trust property. The residuary of the trust was for the benefit of Arizona State University.
Along with the trust, Louise Kerr executed another will, revoking the 1948 one, and directed that her personal and household belongings be divided up equally among her brothers and sisters. The remainder of her estate was to be placed in the aforementioned trust.
Appellee, Valley National Bank, was appointed personal representative pursuant to court order, and filed the July 7, 1978, second will in the superior court. The will was admitted to informal probate on October 18, 1978.
On February 16, 1979, appellant, Rosemary Dykstra, one of Louise Kerr’s sisters, filed objections to the probate of this will and the appointment of appellee as personal representative. Appellant alleged that the decedent lacked testamentary intent or capacity, that undue influence was exerted on the decedent in preparation of the will, that the will was the result of mistake on the part of decedent both as to the identity and contents of the will, that the will was the product of fraudulent misrepresentations made to the decedent, and that the signature on the will was not, in fact, that of Louise Kerr.
On December 8, 1980, appellee filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss appellant’s claims against the will. The court entered a minute entry requiring a response to the motion for summary judgment by December 26,1980. A copy of this minute entry was sent to appellant, but no response was filed. The hearing on the summary judgment motion was held as scheduled on January 15, 1981. An attorney appeared on behalf of appellant, stating that he was there only to request a continuance of the hearing and not to oppose the motion for summary judgment. The court denied the motion for continuance and, after oral argument was heard, granted the motion for summary judgment.
On March 14, 1979, the personal representative filed a petition for formal probate of the 1978 will. On January 27, 1981, the hearing on this petition was held. No one appeared in opposition to the petition. The court heard testimony regarding the execution of the will and granted the petition for formal probate.
I. JURISDICTION
On February 17, 1981, appellant filed a timely notice of appeal from the summary judgment dismissing her claims against the will. Appellant has not appealed from the order admitting the will to formal probate. Appellee claims that because appellant did not object to and has not appealed from the admission of the will to formal probate, this appeal is moot. We must examine our jurisdiction to hear this appeal. Stevens v. Mehagian’s Home Furnishings, Inc., 90 Ariz. 42, 365 P.2d 208 (1961); Searles v. Haldiman, 3 Ariz.App. 294, 413 P.2d 860 (1966).
The power of the Court of Appeals to review actions of the superior court is limited by statute, specifically, A.R.S. § 12-2101 and § 12-120.21. Hanania v. City of Tucson, 123 Ariz. 37, 597 P.2d 190 (App.1979). Searles v. Haldiman. The specific provision which prescribes our jurisdiction over probate matters is A.R.S. § 12-2101(J), which states that an appeal may be taken “[f]rom a judgment, decree or order entered in any formal proceedings under title 14.” (emphasis added) Title 14 covers decedents’ estates, guardianships, protective proceedings and trusts. In the case of Matter of Estate of Torstenson, 125 Ariz. 373, 375, 609 P.2d 1073, 1075 (App.1980) this court held:
“Informal probate is conclusive as to all persons until superseded by an order [entered] in a formal testacy proceeding,” (A.R.S. § 14-3302) (see Uniform Probate Code (U.L.A.) § 3-302). Thus an informal probate order can only be set aside by an order entered in a formal testacy proceeding. Effland, Arizona Probate Code Practice Manual, § 5-6 at page 5-10 (1973).
In interpreting A.R.S. § 12-2101(J), we are guided by language in Ivancovich v. Meier, 122 Ariz. 346, 595 P.2d 24 (1979), in which our supreme court stated that an “order” for purposes of A.R.S. § 12-2101(J) means “an order similar to a final judgment or decree entered in any formal proceedings under title 14.” Id. at 353, 595 P.2d at 31. Our supreme court has also determined that “judgment,” “decree” and “order” are synonyms and designate a final disposition of a litigant’s rights rather than a decision on an intermediate point which does not dispose of the principal issues in the cause. State v. Birmingham, 96 Ariz. 109, 392 P.2d 775 (1964).
The summary judgment in this matter did not admit the will to probate; rather, it merely dismissed the objections to probate of the will which had been raised as of that date by appellant. See Boone v. Estate of Nelson, 264 N.W.2d 881 (N.D.1978). The judgment was in the nature of an interlocutory order, not a final judgment. Ulan v. Kay, 5 Ariz.App. 395, 427 P.2d 376 (1967). We conclude, therefore, that the summary judgment entered by the superior court was not a final judgment under A.R.S. § 12-2101(J). As we have already observed, the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals, with certain exceptions, is limited to appeals from final judgments. Cordoba v. Wiswall, 5 Ariz.App. 265, 425 P.2d 576 (1967). Further, there was no express determination by the trial court that there was no just reason for delay and an expressed direction for the entry of judgment pursuant to rule 54(b), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. Maricopa Co. v. Maricopa Co. Superior Court, 15 Ariz.App. 149, 486 P.2d 829 (1971). The authors of the Arizona Appellate Handbook foresaw potential problems in this area. In discussing A.R.S. § 12-2101(J) they said:
Construing the present subsection, the supreme court has held in Ivancovich v. Meier, 122 Ariz. 346, 595 P.2d 24 (1979), that the word “order” as used in A.R.S. § 12-2101(J) means “an order similar to a final judgment or decree” entered in any formal probate proceedings. The precise scope of this phrase is uncertain. Nevertheless, it would seem that to be appealable an order should at least be of the same general importance as those orders specified in the previous statute. Ivancovich also indicates that to be appealable an order should finally adjudicate some particular aspect of the probate proceeding or affect some substantial right of a party of the same nature as those involved in the other appealable orders specified in A.R.S. § 12-2101. In any event, a party desiring to appeal from any given order in a probate proceeding should consider seeking a Rule 54(b) determination from the superior court to7 increase the likelihood that the order will be held appealable.
§ 3.2.1.1, 1981 Supp. p. 3-3, 3^1.
Although the summary judgment is not an appealable order under A.R.S. § 12-2101(J) absent a rule 54(b) determination, we hold that the order admitting the will to probate, filed January 27, 1981, is an appealable order. This is an order entered in a formal proceeding under title 14. See Ivancovich v. Meier. It is also an order specified in the previous statute as an appealable order. The order indicates that the decedent died testate leaving a will dated July 7,1978, which will is valid, unrevoked and the last will of the decedent. The order lists the heirs and devisees of decedent, and indicates that notice has been given as required by law for the hearing. Finally, the order states that “the will of Louise Kerr, dated July 7, 1978, is admitted to formal probate.” As of the date of this final judgment, appellant could appeal. See Dean v. Powell, 111 Ariz. 219, 526 P.2d 1241 (1974); Connolly v. Great Basin Ins. Co., 5 Ariz.App. 117, 423 P.2d 732 (1967).
On February 17, 1981, appellant appealed from the January 15, 1981, summary judgment rather than from the final order entered January 27, 1981, apparently because she believed she could not appeal from the final judgment of probate as she was no longer a party to the case. This is clearly not the ease, however, since on appeal from a final judgment, this court must review all orders and rulings assigned as error. Dean v. Powell. Thus, appellant could have appealed from the order admitting the will to probate as this would have necessarily included an appeal from the summary judgment which dismissed her objections to the will.
Instead, appellant appealed from the interlocutory summary judgment. Since this is not a final judgment, as previously indicated, this presents a rule 54(b) problem. Appellant could have requested the requisite 54(b) language in the order, thereby rendering it immediately appealable. The fact that she failed to do so does not render her notice of appeal defective in this case, however, since the notice of appeal from the summary judgment followed the filing of the final order admitting the will to probate. Had she filed the notice of appeal from the summary judgment prior to the filing of the final order admitting the will to probate, her notice of appeal would have been premature. In conclusion, we hold that where a valid appealable order in a formal proceeding under title 14 has been filed, a timely notice of appeal is not defective merely because it indicates the nonappealable interlocutory order rather than the final appealable order.
II. DENIAL OF CONTINUANCE
The appellant claims that the trial court committed error in refusing to grant her motion for continuance of the hearing on appellee’s motion for summary judgment. She asserts that she did not receive notice of the hearing until too late to acquire counsel and submit a response. Appellant lives near Mormon Lake in northern Arizona. Because of winter snows the mailman on her route leaves her mail at a restaurant motel where residents can pick it up from the motel desk. Appellant does not claim notice was not sent but simply that she did not pick up her mail. She did manage to retain an attorney to appear at the hearing and argue for a continuance. These “facts” were alleged by appellant’s counsel at the hearing and again in her brief on appeal.
A motion for continuance is directed to the discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion. Anderson Aviation Sales Co., Inc. v. Perez, 19 Ariz.App. 422, 508 P.2d 87 (1973); Modla v. Parker, 17 Ariz.App. 54, 495 P.2d 494, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1038, 93 S.Ct. 516, 34 L.Ed.2d 487 (1972). Appellant was sent copies of all pleadings and relevant minute orders to the address which was left on file with the court and to her address at Mormon Lake. Service by mail is a proper method of service. Service by mail is complete upon mailing and is not dependent on receipt. Rule 5(c), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure; Phoenix Metals Corp. v. Roth, 79 Ariz. 106, 284 P.2d 645 (1955); Blickenstaff v. Industrial Comm’n of Arizona, 116 Ariz. 335, 569 P.2d 277 (App.1977). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the continuance.
III. SUMMARY JUDGMENT
The appellant claims that the lower court committed error in not considering any evidence other than that contained in appellee’s motion for summary judgment. This allowed the probate of the contested will upon a summary judgment because of lack of opposition at the hearing according to appellant. The appellant argues that the trial court cannot grant a motion for summary judgment solely on the fact that a response was not filed, but rather must consider the entire record. Nemec v. Rollo, 114 Ariz. 589, 562 P.2d 1087 (App.1977). Choisser v. State ex rel. Herman, 12 Ariz.App. 259, 469 P.2d 493 (1970). Appellant is correct as to this legal principle; however, appellee points out that the trial court’s minute entry reflects that it considered the “motion and file in the matter.” The judgment in the case reflects that the trial court granted the motion “after considering the motion, memorandum, affidavits, depositions, and pleadings on their merits ...” Pursuant to rule 56(c), Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure, the trial court must do so. Chanay v. Chittenden, 115 Ariz. 32, 563 P.2d 287 (1977).
In reviewing a summary judgment, the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the losing party, with that party being given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence. Wisener v. State, 123 Ariz. 148, 598 P.2d 511 (1979); Mobile Home Estates v. Levitt Mobile Home Systems, 118 Ariz. 219, 575 P.2d 1245 (1978); Poggi v. Kates, 115 Ariz. 157, 564 P.2d 380 (1977). If, when viewed in this manner, there is the slightest doubt as to the material facts, the judgment will be reversed for a trial on the merits. Grain Dealers Mut. Ins. Co. v. James, 118 Ariz. 116, 575 P.2d 315 (1978); Sellers v. Allstate Ins. Co., 113 Ariz. 419, 555 P.2d 1113 (1976). It is with these principles in mind that we review the issue.
Appellant also implies that summary judgment is not appropriate in a will contest case. However, this court has previously upheld the granting of the motion for summary judgment in a will contest. In re Estate of Sherer, 10 Ariz.App. 31, 455 P.2d 480 (1969). See also Stevens v. Anderson, 75 Ariz. 331, 256 P.2d 712 (1953).
Appellant failed to present any evidence to the trial court and has alleged none on appeal to challenge the propriety of the granting of summary judgment. Allegations that decedent lacked testamentary intent and capacity; that undue influence was exerted on the decedent in preparation of the will; that the will was the result of mistake on the part of decedent, both as to the identity and contents; that the will was the product of fraudulent misrepresentations made to decedent and that the signature on the will was not that of Louise Kerr, were merely unsupported allegations. A party may not resist a motion for summary judgment by general statements or allegations of counsel. Chanay v. Chitten-den, supra; W.J. Kroeger Co. v. Travelers Indem. Co., 112 Ariz. 285, 541 P.2d 385 (1975); Dobson v. Grand International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 101 Ariz. 501, 421 P.2d 520 (1966).
The evidence before the trial court refuted the allegations of appellant. The record demonstrates that there are no material questions of fact and that as a matter of law the moving party is entitled to summary judgment. Therefore the motion was properly granted. Town of Paradise Valley v. Gulf Leisure Corp., 27 Ariz.App. 600, 557 P.2d 532 (1976).
The judgment is affirmed.
GREER and KLEIN SCHMIDT, JJ., concur.
. Preston Kerr, one of decedent’s brothers, also filed an objection to the probate of the will, alleging basically the same grounds as appellant, and asking for formal testacy proceedings. The objections were subsequently settled.
. Former A.R.S. § 12 — 2101(J) provided that an appeal may be taken from a judgment or order:
2. Admitting or refusing to admit a will to probate ....
|
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FELDMAN, Justice.
Petitioner (the City) brings this special action proceeding alleging that the respondent trial judge acted in excess of his authority and jurisdiction or abused his discretion in a condemnation action by denying the City’s application for immediate possession of land owned or possessed by the real parties in interest (property owners). Finding that the petition presented important questions of general public interest and that there is no remedy by appeal, we accepted jurisdiction. We have such jurisdiction under Ariz. Const, art. 6, § 5, and Ariz.R.Sp.Act. 4, 17A A.R.S.
The City sought to condemn the property in issue under authority granted in A.R.S. §§ 36-1471 to -1491 for slum clearance and redevelopment and to gain immediate possession of the property under § 12-1116. A prerequisite to the exercise of the powers of eminent domain for slum clearance and redevelopment is that the municipality adopt a resolution finding that a slum or blighted area exists, § 36-1473, and that the property to be condemned is “necessary for or in connection with a redevelopment project,” § 36-1478. The City Council adopted such a resolution, but the trial judge refused to grant the City’s application for immediate possession, ruling that:
Upon evidence presented to the Court, the Court finds that the subject property is not a part of a blighted area, nor part of a slum area....
The ultimate issue before this court, therefore, is whether the trial judge acted properly in finding that the subject property was not a part of a slum or blighted area in the face of the City’s adoption of a resolution to the contrary. This issue poses the question of whether the determination that property is within a slum or blighted area is a legislative or judicial question.
The City argues here that it is empowered by law to condemn property for redevelopment of slum or blighted areas and the subject property is necessary for such a redevelopment project. The City Council had made an express finding to that effect and claims that the determination of the existence of blight is essentially a determination of the necessity of the taking and is a legislative question subject to only extremely limited review by the courts. Thus, the City contends that the trial court abused its discretion in finding that there was no blight and that, therefore, the prop erty could not be condemned. The property owners, on the other hand, argue that the City is not empowered to condemn land unless it is used for a public purpose, and that if there is no blight, redevelopment is not for a public purpose. They contend, therefore, that the determination of the existence of “blight” essentially puts in question the existence of public purpose, which is a judicial and not a legislative question. We disagree with both positions. A review of the division of judicial and legislative authority in eminent domain proceedings is helpful in the resolution of this issue and other minor issues raised in this special action.
At the outset, we note that generally no condemning body may exercise the power of eminent domain unless the property which is to be taken is to be put to a “public use.” Ariz. Const., art. 2, § 17. If put in issue, “the question whether the contemplated use be really public shall be a judicial question, and determined as such without regard to any legislative assertion that the use is public.” Id.
As stated above, municipalities are empowered to acquire property for “slum clearance and redevelopment.” See A.R.S. §§ 36-1471 to —1491. The legislature has asserted that acquisition of property pursuant to the eited slum clearance and redevelopment provisions “are public uses and purposes for which public money may be expended and the power of eminent domain exercised.” A.R.S. § 36-1472(4). Since the statutory assertion directly contradicts the constitutional injunction that the question of public use “shall be a judicial question” determined “without regard to any legislative assertion that the use is public,” we shall proceed to do as the constitution commands and disregard the quoted provisions of A.R.S. § 36-1472(4). It is generally accepted, however, that the taking of property in a so-called slum or blighted area for the purpose of clearing and “redevelopment,” including sale before or after reconstruction to a private person or entity for operation of a public or private business, is a “public use.” See Cordova v. City of Tucson, 16 Ariz.App. 447, 449, 494 P.2d 52, 54 (1972); 2A Nichols, Eminent Domain § 7.51561 (3d ed. 1981). We see no reason to depart from this rule.
Although not expressed in our constitution, the exercise of the power of eminent domain is also conditioned upon a showing that the property is “needed” for that use. A.R.S. § 12-1116(C); 1 Nichols, supra, § 4.11[1]. With respect to “slum clearance,” the legislature has expressly conditioned the exercise of the power of eminent domain upon a determination that the property is “necessary for or in connection with a redevelopment project.” A.R.S. § 36-1478. To help in the process, the legislature has declared that there exist within our municipalities “slum and blighted areas,” that these are “a serious and growing menace, injurious and inimical to the public health, safety, morals and welfare” (A.R.S. § 36-1472(1)) and contribute to the “spread of disease and crime,” thus requiring excessive expenditures of public money and constituting “an economic and social liability” which “substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of municipalities . ... ” Id., subsec. (2). Therefore, the legislature has declared that the necessity for the statute’s authorizing taking of property for redevelopment of slum and blighted areas is “a matter of legislative determination.” Id., subsec. (5).
Of course, the legislature’s statement that something is “a matter of legislative determination” does not make it so if it is a matter of judicial determination. However, we agree with the legislature that the question of necessity of a taking is essentially legislative in nature and that a legislative declaration of necessity should be given weight. Citizens Utilities Water Co. v. Superior Court, 108 Ariz. 296, 299, 497 P.2d 55, 58, cert. denied, 409 U.S. 1022, 93 S.Ct. 462, 34 L.Ed.2d 314 (1972); Mosher v. City of Phoenix, 39 Ariz. 470, 482, 7 P.2d 622, 626 (1932), modified, In re Forsstrom, 44 Ariz. 472, 38 P.2d 878 (1934); City of Phoenix v. McCullough, 24 Ariz.App. 109, 114, 536 P.2d 230, 235 (1975); 1 Nichols, supra, § 4.11[1]. Notwithstanding this rule, however, the courts have reviewed the evidence presented to determine whether a municipality’s declaration of necessity was arbitrary or capricious. Citizens Utilities Water Co. v. Superior Court, supra. Our court of appeals correctly stated the rule as follows:
[A] condemnor’s determination of necessity should not be disturbed on judicial review in the absence of fraud or arbitrary and capricious conduct.
City of Phoenix v. McCullough, 24 Ariz.App. at 114, 536 P.2d at 235. See also 1 Nichols, supra, §§ 4.11[2] and [3].
The trial judge, however, did not hold that the acquisition of the parcel at issue was for a private rather than a public use, nor that the acquisition of the property was unnecessary. He held, rather, that the property “is not a part of a blighted area, nor part of a slum area as those terms are defined [in the statute].” We believe that the finding that an area is a slum or blighted is an inquiry somewhat different from the issues of public use or necessity. By the very wording of the statute the municipality is required to make an express “finding” that a slum or blighted area exists as a prerequisite to the municipality’s use of any of the powers conferred by the slum clearance and redevelopment act. A.R.S. § 36-1473.
Is this a determination analogous to that determination of “necessity”, so that it is a legislative, rather than judicial, question? We note that the express words of the statute charge the governing body of the municipality, and not the judiciary, with the obligation and power to make the “finding” that is a prerequisite for the exercise of the power to condemn. In this connection, we agree with the words of the Washington Supreme Court:
[T]he conclusion of the trial court on the issue of blight (likewise, the conclusion of this court) is not material, as neither this court nor the superior court has been designated by the legislature to determine from the evidence submitted whether or not an area is “blighted.” The legislature has designated “the local governing body” (City Council) to make that determination.
Apostle v. City of Seattle, 70 Wash.2d 59, 64, 422 P.2d 289, 292 (1966). See also Tucson Community Development and Design Center, Inc. v. City of Tucson, 131 Ariz. 454, 459, 641 P.2d 1298, 1303 (App.1982).
Moreover, we believe that the nature of the determination is better suited to legislative than judicial resolution. Essentially, the determination of such questions as whether an area is blighted and requires development, is arid and requires reclamation, is subject to flooding and requires a flood control project, or has inadequate air service and requires construction of an airport facility, involves knowledge of a wide range of social and economic circumstances and the application of broad measures of public policy; they are therefore much more suitable to legislative determination than they are to determination by a judicial tribunal which is bound by rules circumscribing the sources of its knowledge and by evidentiary rules which are not truly suited to determine such broad and imprecise questions as whether an area is a “slum” or is “blighted.” The City Council is not bound by such restrictions and is permitted and expected to talk to a variety of people, walk through the proposed project, and gather information from all sources. When legislators decide that a neighborhood is blighted or a slum, they decide a matter of policy for which there is always a remedy by election of those who will change the policy. When judges make such decisions as matters of law, one must wait for change in fact or in the common law, at best a slow process, in order to obtain redress.
Thus we find that the determination of whether an area is a slum or blighted is analogous to the question of necessity and is a legislative question. Tucson Community Development and Design Center, Inc. v. City of Tucson, supra. Cf. 2A Nichols, supra, § 7.51561[1], p. 7-223, citing Apostle v. City of Seattle, supra. This does not mean, however, that the courts are necessarily forbidden to undertake any review of the actions of the Council. The statute clearly sets out the factors which define a slum or blighted area and the Council must base its finding upon a consideration of those factors. In our view, however, the fact that, unlike the succeeding sections dealing with adoption of the plan (see, eg., § 36-1479), § 36-1473 does not require hearings is indicative that the Council need not sit as a quasi-judicial body and hold a formal evidentiary hearing before making the requisite finding. It may make that finding on the basis of information provided it by its staff, reports filed with it, the evidence of the eyes and ears of the members of the Council, and all other sources that legislative bodies generally rely upon in reaching conclusions. No formal hearing is required. Tucson Community Development and Design Center, 131 Ariz. at 459, 641 P.2d at 1303. Nevertheless, the statute requires findings; therefore, whatever the basis or method they use to reach their conclusion, the governing body must state the ultimate findings.
[EJven where the law expressly defines the removal or prevention of “blight” as a public purpose and leaves to the agencies wide discretion in deciding what constitutes blight, facts supporting such a determination should be spelled out.
Yonkers Community Development Agcy. v. Morris, 37 N.Y.2d 478, 484, 373 N.Y.S.2d 112, 119, 335 N.E.2d 327, 332 (1975).
We believe that Courts “are required to be more than rubber stamps in the determination of the existence of substandard conditions in urban renewal condemnation cases.” Id. at 485, 373 N.Y.S.2d at 120, 335 N.E.2d at 333. The court, therefore, is not precluded from reviewing the findings expressed in the City’s resolution. The court of appeals has previously considered the proper standard of review and we adopt their language.
The legislative requirement that these findings [of a slum or blighted area] be made by the governmental body is analogous to the requirement that the condemning body make findings of necessity in eminent domain. The proper scope of judicial review is ... [that] “... a con-demnor’s determination of necessity should not be disturbed on judicial review in the absence of fraud or arbitrary and capricious conduct.” ...
This does not mean that the court reviews the evidence, if any, which was before the governmental body when it adopted the initial resolution of necessity. It means that the court may receive evidence at trial on the issue of necessity vel non and may determine, from that evidence, whether the resolution of necessity was arbitrary. If the evidence is such that the city could reasonably have found necessity, or in the case before us, a condition of blight, the resolution is not arbitrary. “Even if the City’s action ... is reasonably doubtful ... or even fairly debatable, we cannot substitute our judgment for that of the City Council.”
Tucson City Development and Design Center, 131 Ariz. at 459, 651 P.2d at 1303 (citations omitted), quoting from City of Phoenix v. McCullough, 24 Ariz.App. at 114, 536 P.2d at 235, and Parking Systems, Inc. v. Kansas City Downtown Redevelopment Corp., 518 S.W.2d 11, 16 (Mo.1974) (question on review is limited to whether the legislative act of declaring the area blighted was arbitrary or induced by fraud, collusion or bad faith. Id. at 15.).
We must, then, apply this standard of review to the facts of the case at bench. We note first that in adopting Resolution No. 15431, entitled “A Resolution Finding the Existence of a Slum and Blighted Area in the City of Phoenix; Declaring the Necessity for Redevelopment ...,” the City Council quite properly made express findings in the “whereas” clauses of the resolution. See Yonkers Community Development Agcy, supra. We consider next the evidence presented at the hearing for immediate possession to determine whether the City Council’s findings were arbitrary or capricious.
The evidence before the trial court showed that the “blighted area” being taken for this redevelopment project generally surrounded the Good Samaritan Hospital facilities in central Phoenix. The area was bounded on the north by a line approximately one-half block north of McDowell Road (a main east-west artery) and on the south by the right-of-way for the proposed Papago Expressway project. The east and west boundaries were approximately fixed at 13th Street and 7th Street. The area encompassed approximately thirty to thirty-five square blocks. It was surrounded on three sides by existing redevelopment projects. The property in question is located in the northwest quadrant of the area at the southeast corner of McDowell Road and 9th Street; it is a small lot, approximately 63 feet by 100 feet in size, improved with a small commercial building. The building is vacant, but previously was used as a flower and gift shop. The redevelopment plan which was subsequently adopted by the City Council anticipated that the lot would be acquired, the improvements demolished, and the lot sold to a private developer with the requirement that it be a part of the construction of a complex of medical office buildings.
The City offered the testimony of Mr. Theodore P. Brookhart, the supervisor of the neighborhood development section of the Planning Department of the City of Phoenix. Mr. Brookhart testified that the appropriate agencies had investigated and surveyed the area and had reported to the City Council prior to the adoption of the resolution declaring the area was blighted. The information given the City Council pertained to structural conditions in the area, crime statistics, land use, deterioration of units, street layout, degree of building overcrowding, age and obsolescence of buildings, lot layouts as they related to current development standards, information on ownership of property and like matters. Included in the information were statistics which indicated that 60% to 80% of the residential properties in the area as a whole were in absentee ownership, some of that ownership being for the purpose of specula tion and eventual conversion of property to nonresidential use when and if the zoning was changed. Crime statistics reported to the Council indicated that for the two years prior to the adoption of the resolution, crimes in the area had ranged from 74% to 116% higher than the City average, the adult arrest rate was from 34% to 116% higher than the City average, that much of the former residential area had been “cleaned out” by the proposed freeway takings, that many of the structures were in a state of “disrepair,” that over 60% of the structures were not “sound,” that 47% needed minor repairs and 18% needed major repairs and 1% “you couldn’t do anything with.” Further information indicated that street layouts were “undesirable from a planning perspective,” and that nonresidential exterior traffic was using residential streets in the area for “short-cutting.”
Many factors to which Brookhart testified and which were reported to the City Council before adoption of the resolution were unquestioned in the evidence before the trial judge. Even if there was some question about many of the factors and much question about some of them, we must bear in mind the extremely broad definitions of “slum area” and “blighted area” contained in the statutes quoted in note 4, supra. Further, case law “universally” endorses the following principles pertaining to the determination of “blight”:
Many factors and interrelationships of factors may be significant. These may include such diverse matters as irregularity of the plots, inadequacy of the streets, diversity of land ownership making assemblage of property difficult, incompatibility of the existing mixture of residential and industrial property, overcrowding, the incidence of crime, lack of sanitation, the drain an area makes on municipal services, fire hazards, traffic congestion, and pollution. It can encompass areas in the process of deterioration or threatened with it as well as ones already rendered useless, prevention being an important purpose. It is “something more than deteriorated structures. It involves improper land use. Therefore its causes, originating many years ago, include not only outmoded and deteriorated structures, but unwise planning and zoning, poor regulatory code provisions and inadequate provisions for the flow of traffic.”
Yonkers Community Development Agcy., 37 N.Y.2d at 483, 373 N.Y.S.2d at 118-119, 335 N.E.2d at 332, citing Cook, Battle Against Blight, 43 Marquette L.Rev. 444, 445 (1960). We believe that the evidence presented to the trial judge established that there were facts which tended to support the findings of the City Council that the area in question was a slum and blighted.
Nevertheless, the trial judge divided the area into five sub-areas (as had the City for study purposes) and found that neither the subject property nor its immediate two sub-neighborhoods qualified as “blighted.” Even if this finding were supported by evidence, we must bear in mind that:
Property may of course be taken for this redevelopment which, standing by itself, is innocuous and unoffending.... [I]t is the need of the area as a whole which Congress and its agencies are evaluating. If owner after owner were permitted to resist these redevelopment programs on the ground that his particular property was not being used against the public interest, integrated plans for redevelopment would suffer greatly.... But as we have already stated, community redevelopment programs need not, by force of the Constitution be on a piecemeal basis — lot by lot, building by building.
It is not for the courts to oversee the choice of the boundary line nor to sit in review on the size of a particular project area. Once the question of the public purpose has been decided, the amount and character of the land to be taken for the project and the need for a particular tract to complete the integrated plan rests in the discretion of the legislative branch.
Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26, 35, 75 S.Ct. 98, 104, 99 L.Ed. 27 (1954) (emphasis supplied). The question deals “with the area concept and not with whether any particular property was standard or substandard.” Apostle v. City of Seattle, 70 Wash.2d at 62, 422 P.2d at 291, citing Miller v. City of Tacoma, 61 Wash.2d 374, 392, 378 P.2d 464, 475 (1963), and Berman v. Parker, supra.
We hold, therefore, that the function of the judiciary in determining whether an area is a slum or blighted area is to review the findings of the governing body, rather than to make an original determination. We hold further that the standard of review is limited to questions of fraud, collusion, bad faith or arbitrary and capricious conduct by the governing body. If evidence taken at the hearing before the trial court indicates that the findings of the governing body have some reasonable support in the facts, even though those findings may be reasonably doubtful or fairly debatable, the findings of the governing body must be sustained. Resolution No. 15431, declaring the area which included the subject property was a slum or blighted area, set forth specific grounds for the Council’s ultimate finding. From the evidence before him, the trial judge could not properly have found that the Council’s determination of blight was arbitrary. Accordingly, we hold that the trial judge exceeded his legal authority and erred in refusing to grant the City’s application for setting of a bond and taking immediate possession in accordance with A.R.S. § 12-1116(C).
Petitioners prayer for relief is granted; the trial court’s order of April 5,1983, denying the City’s “Application to be Let into Possession”, is vacated; the Respondent judge is instructed to allow the Petitioner, City of Phoenix, to take possession pursuant to A.R.S. § 12-1116, and to proceed thereafter in a manner not inconsistent with this opinion.
HOLOHAN, C.J., GORDON, V.C.J., and HAYS and CAMERON, JJ., concur.
. A.R.S. § 12-1116 permits a governmental body which has filed an action to condemn real property to acquire possession of that property in advance of trial, providing that the condemn- or can show that the taking is “necessary” and posts a bond to cover the “probable damages.”
. § 36-1473 provides:
No municipality shall exercise any of the powers conferred upon municipalities by this article until its local governing body adopts a resolution finding that:
1. One or more slum or blighted areas exist in the municipality, and
2. The redevelopment of such area or areas is necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, morals or welfare of the residents of the municipality.
(Emphasis supplied.)
. We recognize, for instance, that the solution of many of such issues lies in the eyes of the beholder. Thus, what one person sees as arid land in need of reclamation, another sees an unspoiled desert, providing the natural habitat of desert plants and animals. What one city dweller sees as a slum, another may consider an historical neighborhood. What some describe as urban redevelopment, others consider “gentrification”. What some see as construction of badly needed freeways, others see as a wasteful boondoggle creating more traffic while further destroying established neighborhoods. Much can be said for either side of each argument.
. Blighted and slum areas are defined by A.R.S. § 36-1471 as follows:
2. “Blighted area” means an area, other than a slum area, which by reason of the predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility or usefulness, unsanitary or unsafe conditions, deterioration of site or other improvements, diversity of ownership, tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land, defective or unusual conditions of title, improper subdivision or obsolete platting, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of a municipality, retards the provision of housing accommodations or constitutes an economic or social liability and is a menace to the
public health, safety, morals or welfare in its present condition and use.
18. “Slum area” means an area in which a majority of the structures are residential, or an area in which there is a predominance of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential, and which, by reason of dilapidation, deterioration, age or obsolescence, inadequate provision of ventilation, light, air, sanitation, or open spaces, high density of population and overcrowding, or the existence of conditions which endanger life or property by fire and other causes, or any combination of such factors, is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency or crime, and is detrimental to the public health, safety, morals or welfare.
. The language used by the trial judge was as follows: “... The court finds that the subject property is not part of a blighted area, nor part of a slum area.... ” The order does not indicate that the court limited itself to review to determine whether the council’s findings were arbitrary, fraudulent, collusive or in bad faith. If we take the court’s language at face value, it made an independent finding based on the weight of the evidence before it. This would be improper, as noted above, since the court is not charged with the responsibility to make a de novo determination of the existence of blight or slum conditions.
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