Dominguez v. Foster
Dominguez v. Foster
Opinion of the Court
¶ 1 A grand jury indicted Edgar Alonzo Dominguez on a charge of first-degree murder. Dominguez asked the superior court to remand the charge for redetermination, arguing the prosecutor violated his due-process rights by failing to properly instruct the grand jury on premeditation. The superior court denied the motion. We accept jurisdiction of Dominguez's petition for special action and grant relief insofar as we hold that when a grand jury is considering a first-degree murder charge, the prosecutor may not instruct the jury on "premeditation" by simply reciting the statutory definition of that term. Instead, due process requires the prosecutor to instruct the jury as the supreme court mandated in State v. Thompson ,
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
¶ 2 On May 10, 2017, a grand jury indicted Dominguez on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated assault stemming from incidents in which he allegedly stabbed two men, killing one and seriously injuring the other. At the outset of the grand jury proceeding that day, the prosecutor instructed the grand jury as follows:
This is the investigation of Edgar A. Dominguez. This investigation involves alleged first degree murder and aggravated assault, both of which occurred on or about May 1st of 2017 in Maricopa County, Arizona.
To assist you in determining whether or not probable cause exists in this matter, the following statutes may be appropriate: ARS Section 13-105, 13-1105, 13-1101, 13-1203, and 13-1204.
Each of these statutes has been previously read to the grand jury panel with all members present according to Maricopa County attorney records on February 6th of 2017. Copies of these statutes have been provided to all members of the grand jury.
Are there any grand jurors who would like to have any of these statutes re-read or clarified at this time?
I take it by your silence the answer is no.
¶ 3 Dominguez filed a timely motion to have the murder charge remanded to the grand jury for redetermination of probable cause. He argued the Arizona Supreme Court ruled in Thompson that due process barred the use in a first-degree murder trial of a jury instruction that merely recites the *1251definition of "premeditation" in Arizona Revised Statutes ("A.R.S.") section 13-1101 (2018).
¶ 4 The State opposed Dominguez's motion to remand, and after hearing oral argument, the superior court denied the motion. Dominguez then filed this petition for special action.
¶ 5 Although our special action jurisdiction is discretionary, State ex rel. Romley v. Martin ,
DISCUSSION
A. The Supreme Court's Ruling in Thompson .
¶ 6 By statute, Arizona law defines "premeditation" for purposes of a first-degree murder charge as follows:
"Premeditation" means that the defendant acts with either the intention or the knowledge that he will kill another human being, when such intention or knowledge precedes the killing by any length of time to permit reflection. Proof of actual reflection is not required, but an act is not done with premeditation if it is the instant effect of a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.
A.R.S. § 13-1101(1).
¶ 7 In Thompson , the superior court had instructed the jury at trial on the definition of "premeditation" solely by reciting the term's statutory definition. The defendant challenged his conviction, arguing that instructing the jury that "[p]roof of actual reflection is not required" relieved the State of its constitutional burden to prove premeditation and eliminated any meaningful distinction between first- and second-degree murder.
Our decision today distinguishes the element of premeditation from the evidence that might establish that element. Although the mere passage of time suggests that a defendant premeditated-and the state might be able to convince a jury to make that inference-the passage of time is not, in and of itself, premeditation. To allow the state to establish the element of premeditation by merely proving that sufficient time passed to permit reflection would be to essentially relieve the state of its burden to establish the sole element that distinguishes between first and second degree murder.
* * *
*1252In short, the passage of time is but one factor that can show that the defendant actually reflected. The key is that the evidence, whether direct or circumstantial, must convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant actually reflected.
¶ 8 The court then announced an instruction that "trial judges should, in future cases" use to instruct juries:
"Premeditation" means that the defendant intended to kill another human being [knew he/she would kill another human being], and that after forming that intent [knowledge], reflected on the decision before killing. It is this reflection, regardless of the length of time in which it occurs, that distinguishes first degree murder from second degree murder. An act is not done with premeditation if it is the instant effect of a sudden quarrel or heat of passion.
B. Thompson 's Applicability to Grand Juries.
¶ 9 Thompson addressed an instruction given to a petit jury in a murder trial; Dominguez argues due process likewise requires that a grand jury considering a first-degree murder charge be given the expanded and clarified definition the supreme court mandated in that case. The State argues to the contrary, citing O'Meara v. Gottsfield ,
¶ 10 It cannot be denied "that an accused is entitled to due process during grand jury proceedings." Crimmins v. Super. Ct. ,
¶ 11 In O'Meara , the defendant challenged the Maricopa County Attorney's practice of reading "all relevant statutes to the grand jury at the commencement of its term, provid[ing] the grand jurors with a copy of all relevant statutes for reference, and ask[ing] the grand jurors if they later want statutes reread or clarified," without necessarily re-instructing the grand jury in any detail when it convenes later to consider a particular charge.
¶ 12 The State offers no cogent reason why due process does not require a prosecutor to give a grand jury that is considering a first-degree murder charge the same expanded and clarified instruction that Thompson directed *1253be given to a petit jury in such a case. The risk the Thompson court identified in the statutory definition of "premeditation" is that the words of the statute alone may allow "no meaningful distinction between first and second degree murder," thus "render[ing] the first degree murder statute impermissibly vague and therefore unconstitutional under the United States and Arizona Constitutions."
¶ 13 We therefore hold that due process requires that, when instructing a grand jury on the definition of "premeditation" for purposes of first-degree murder, the prosecutor must instruct the jury as Thompson requires and, consistent with O'Meara ,
¶ 14 In its response to Dominguez's petition for special action, the State asserted for the first time that when the grand jury that indicted Dominguez first convened on February 6, 2017, the prosecutor did indeed provide the grand jurors with a definition of "premeditation" that satisfied Thompson's mandate. Dominguez disputes that the instruction satisfied the due-process concerns that Thompson addressed. The superior court has not had an opportunity to consider that issue because that court was not presented with a transcript of the February 6 proceeding in connection with the motion to remand.
¶ 15 Additionally, the transcript of the beginning of the May 10 proceeding at which the grand jury indicted Dominguez shows that the prosecutor referred the grand jury to a handful of statutes, including § 13-1101, without mentioning any expanded and clarified definition of "premeditation." See ¶ 2, supra. Although the transcript reflects that the prosecutor reminded the grand jurors that they had received written copies of the relevant statutes, including § 13-1101, the transcript does not reflect whether the grand jurors also were given written copies of any clarification pertaining to "premeditation" that the prosecutor provided to the grand jury when it first convened. Accordingly, on this record alone, we are unable to determine whether the prosecutor properly complied with Thompson and O'Meara. See Cespedes v. Lee ,
*1254CONCLUSION
¶ 16 We accept jurisdiction of this special action petition. We grant relief in part, ruling that due process requires that a grand jury considering a first-degree murder charge may not be instructed on the definition of "premeditation" solely using the language of A.R.S. § 13-1101(1). Instead, to avoid the constitutional infirmities in the statutory definition, the prosecutor must give the grand jury an expanded and clarified definition of "premeditation" as set out in Thompson . We remand this matter to the superior court so that it can determine whether the instructions the prosecutor gave to the grand jury that indicted Dominguez complied with Thompson and O'Meara .
Absent material revision after the relevant date, we cite a statute's most current version.
Upon deciding to exercise our discretion, we issued an order accepting jurisdiction and granting partial relief to Dominguez, advising that an opinion would follow. This is that opinion.
The State does not argue that any due-process violation here was harmless. See Pitts v. Adams ,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.