In a recent opinion from an Arizona court, a defendant’s appeal was denied despite the multiple arguments he put forward asking for a new verdict. The defendant was charged after having robbed a smoke shop with a group of friends and killing the store clerk. On appeal, the defendant argued that the trial was conducted in error and that he was unfairly sentenced to time in prison. Ultimately, the court denied the defendant’s arguments and thus affirmed the original guilty conviction.
Facts of the Case
According to the opinion, the defendant and three friends were together in an apartment when they decided to rob a nearby smoke shop. The group took a gun, gathered an empty duffel bag, and set out for the smoke shop. En route, one of the defendant’s friends expressed that he intended to kill the store clerk upon arrival.
Security cameras captured the group walking into the shop, gathering merchandise, going through the cash drawers, and shooting the store clerk in the head. An autopsy of the clerk revealed that he had been shot eight times and that he died as a result. A duffel back with store merchandise was recovered from the scene of the crime with the defendant’s DNA. Several days later, police officers executed a search warrant at the apartment and found stolen merchandise with the defendant’s fingerprints on it. The officers arrested the defendant and indicted him on counts of conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, armed robbery, vehicle theft, and arson of an occupied structure.