CRUZ v. BLAIR

No. CR-22-0123-PR.

532 P.3d 327 (2023)

Carlos Tercero CRUZ, Petitioner, v. The Honorable Michael BLAIR, Judge of the Superior Court of the State of Arizona, in and for the County of Maricopa, Respondent Judge, State of Arizona, Ex Rel. Rachel Mitchell, Maricopa County Attorney, Real Party in Interest.

Supreme Court of Arizona.

Filed July 11, 2023.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Brent E. Graham (argued), Law Office of Brent E. Graham PLLC, Dolores, Colorado; Robyn Greenberg Varcoe , Varcoe Law Firm, PLLC, Phoenix; Jennifer L. Willmott , Willmott and Associates, PLC, Phoenix, Attorneys for Carlos Tercero Cruz.

Rachel H. Mitchell , Maricopa County Attorney, Julie A. Done , Deputy County Attorney, Krista Wood , Deputy County Attorney, Ellen M. Dahl , Catherine Ferguson-Gilbert , Nicholas Klingerman (argued), Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Phoenix, Attorneys for State of Arizona.

David J. Euchner (argued), Pima County Public Defender's Office, Tucson; Lisa R. Bivens , Mitchel Stein Carey Chapman PC, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice.

Mark Brnovich , Arizona Attorney General, Linley Wilson , Deputy Solicitor General, Section Chief of Criminal Appeals, Michael T. O'Toole , Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Appeals Section, Phoenix, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae for Arizona Attorney General.

JUSTICE KING authored the Opinion of the Court, in which CHIEF JUSTICE BRUTINEL, VICE CHIEF JUSTICE TIMMER, and JUSTICES BOLICK, LOPEZ, BEENE, and PELANDER (RETIRED) joined.


¶1 In this case we are asked to address whether the trial court properly precluded Carlos Tercero Cruz from presenting at trial expert and lay witness testimony about his intellectual disability. To defend charges that he abused, kidnapped, and murdered his young daughter, Cruz seeks to proffer that testimony...

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