Opinion
1 CA-CR 22-0064 PRPC
09-01-2022
STATE OF ARIZONA, Respondent, v. JONATHAN ANDREW ARIAS, Petitioner.
Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Phoenix By Julie A. Done, Ellen Dahl Counsel for Respondent Maricopa County Public Defender's Office, Phoenix By Kevin D. Heade, Eleanor Knowles, Emily Wolkowicz Counsel for Petitioner Coppersmith Brockelman PLC, Phoenix By Scott M. Bennett, Andrew T. Fox Counsel for Amicus Curiae Arizona Justice Project and Juvenile Law Center
Not for Publication - Rule 111(c), Rules of the Arizona Supreme Court
Petition for Review from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR1999-012663-002 The Honorable Patricia A. Starr, Judge
Maricopa County Attorney's Office, Phoenix
By Julie A. Done, Ellen Dahl
Counsel for Respondent
Maricopa County Public Defender's Office, Phoenix
By Kevin D. Heade, Eleanor Knowles, Emily Wolkowicz
Counsel for Petitioner
Coppersmith Brockelman PLC, Phoenix
By Scott M. Bennett, Andrew T. Fox
Counsel for Amicus Curiae Arizona Justice Project and Juvenile Law Center
Vice Chief Judge David B. Gass delivered the decision of the court, in which Presiding Judge Paul J. McMurdie and Judge Angela K. Paton joined.
MEMORANDUM DECISION
GASS, VICE CHIEF JUDGE
¶1 Jonathan Andrew Arias petitions for review of the superior court's summary dismissal of his petition for post-conviction relief. We grant review and relief.
¶2 In 2001, Arias pled guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for offenses he committed when he was 16 years old. The superior court imposed two consecutive terms of natural life in prison without the possibility of release.
¶3 Following the United States Supreme Court opinion in Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), Arias challenged the constitutionality of his natural life sentences through post-conviction relief. The superior court summarily dismissed the proceeding, finding Miller did not apply to Arias's natural life sentences because they were not mandatory and the sentencing judge considered his age as a mitigating factor. This court granted review of the dismissal but denied relief. See State v. Arias, 1 CA-CR 13-0548 PRPC, 2015 WL 2453175, at *1, ¶ 1 (Ariz. App. May 21, 2015) (mem. decision), vacated sub nom. Arias v. Arizona, 137 S.Ct. 370 (2016).
¶4 The United States Supreme Court vacated this court's decision and remanded for reconsideration based on its opinion in Montgomery v. Louisiana, 577 U.S. 190 (2016) declaring Miller retroactive. See Arias v. Arizona, 137 S.Ct. 370. On remand, this court requested supplemental briefing on the Arizona Supreme Court's opinion in State v. Valencia, 241 Ariz. 206 (2016), which set forth the standard in Arizona for resentencing under Miller and Montgomery. The State waived further briefing and stipulated the matter should be remanded to the superior court for resentencing. This court accepted the stipulation, granted relief, and remanded for resentencing.
¶5 Before Arias was resentenced, the United States Supreme Court issued Jones v. Mississippi, 141 S.Ct. 1307 (2021). Based on Jones, the State moved to withdraw its stipulation to resentencing, vacate resentencing, and dismiss the post-conviction relief proceeding. The superior court granted the motion and summarily dismissed Arias's petition for post-conviction relief. In doing so, the superior court found Jones disavowed the Valencia court's application of Miller and Montgomery, the legal basis for the State's stipulation had changed, and the current law no longer required resentencing. Arias timely petitioned for review.
¶6 This court recently held Jones neither modified nor implicitly overruled the Valencia court's application of Miller and Montgomery. State v. Wagner, 253 Ariz. 201, 205, ¶¶ 20-21 (App. 2022). Because the procedural background and circumstances of Wagner closely parallel those here, that opinion is dispositive of this case. The State, therefore, remains bound by its previous stipulation to resentencing. See Pulliam v. Pulliam, 139 Ariz. 343, 345 (App. 1984) ("parties are bound by their stipulation unless relieved therefrom by the court").
¶7 We vacate the superior court's dismissal of Arias's petition for post-conviction relief and remand for resentencing in accordance with Miller and Montgomery.