2021 | Arizona Law Group

Blood Test Was Voluntary Under Arizona Implied Consent Law

Driver’s consent to blood testing upon DUI arrest was voluntary. Police advised driver of Arizona implied consent law. Looking at the totality of the circumstances, the driver’s consent was neither coerced nor given under duress. The trial court did not err in denying defendant’s motion to suppress the blood test results. Affirmed. Arizona v….

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Husband Testifies About Wife’s DUI Under Crime Exception to Anti-Marital Fact Privilege

Crime exception to Arizona anti-marital fact privilege allowed husband to testify in Phoenix Municipal Court as a witness against his wife about her DUI crime arising from the same unitary event as her domestic violence crime against him. Phoenix City Prosecutor v. Hon. Lowery/Claudette Craig (real party in interest) DUI Committed in Same Unitary…

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Arizona Armed Robbery Not a Violent Felony Under Armed Career Criminal Act

Share in the discussion with an experienced gun crime attorney. Learn about potential defenses in Arizona law to charges of robbery, grand theft, larceny, shoplifting, and theft crimes generally. Arizona armed robbery held not a violent felony for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act, a federal statute imposing minimum mandatory sentencing for repeat…

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Solicitation to Sell Drugs Not a Strike Against Mandatory Probation

Mandatory probation in Arizona sentencing is for people convicted of non-violent drug crimes, so long as they do not have three prior narcotics convictions for personal possession. If three strikes, then no probation. Prior conviction for solicitation to sell narcotics did not disqualify defendant for mandatory probation. Nor was it a personal possession conviction…

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Arizona DUI Law Just Got Tougher, Wrong Way DUI

Arizona’s reckless and aggressive driving law and DUI law just got tougher for anyone driving the wrong way on a controlled access highway (to learn more about this new legislation, contact a DUI criminal defense attorney with Arizona Law Group). Governor Doug Ducey signed HB 2243 into law on March 27, 2018, making it…

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Police Must Obtain a Warrant to GPS Track a Vehicle Surreptitiously

For police to surreptitiously track a motor vehicle using GPS technology requires a warrant; and a passenger traveling with the vehicle-owner has a reasonable expectation of privacy under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Arizona v. Emilio Jean The defendant, Emilio Jean, was a passenger in the tractor-trailer stopped by police. Defendant was…

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Unlawfully Obtained DUI Blood Sample Admissible as Evidence When Police Acted in Good Faith

Defendant appealed her aggravated DUI convictions arguing the trial court erred in not suppressing blood-alcohol test results because police obtained the blood sample without valid consent or warrant. Affirmed. Although the blood sample was unlawfully obtained, the BAC test evidence was admissible proof of guilt under the good-faith exception to the exclusionary rule of…

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Knowingly Possessing Cellphone Was Arizona Felony Promoting Prison Contraband

In this appeal from two felony convictions of promoting prison contraband, defendant knowingly possessed a cellphone in the jail or prison facility, but claimed he did not know it was contraband. After harmonizing five statutes, the Arizona Supreme Court held the State must only prove the defendant “knowingly” possessed a cellphone. The prosecution need…

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Arizona Cold Expert Witness on Domestic Violence Not Impermissible Offender Profiling

Arizona Supreme Court affirmed felony domestic violence conviction. Trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing “cold” expert witness testimony on why domestic violence victims often stay in abusive relationships. Expert testimony was not impermissible offender profiling. Arizona v. Mark Haskie, Jr. Felony Domestic Violence in Arizona Law The defendant was convicted of…

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Felony Fraudulent Schemes and Arson of Defendant’s Arizona Home

In Arson case, evidence of a previous fire was admitted to show a common plan or scheme in the burning of an occupied structure which was defendant’s house. Evidence from an anonymous informant was also admitted. Defendant was convicted of arson, a class 2 dangerous felony, and attempted fraudulent schemes and artifices, a class…

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