Arizona: Death penalty tossed against Mesa man in 2002 murder

The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out the death penalty against a Mesa man who pleaded guilty to a 2002 murder.

The high court ruled that despite a jury's decision, the prosecution did not prove the aggravating factors necessary to impose a death sentence. The case was sent back to Maricopa County Superior Court for another trial on the penalty.

Aaron Brian Gunches' convictions for murder and kidnapping will stand.

Gunches, 31, was convicted of murdering Ted Price after Price argued with his ex-wife. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and kidnapping, but stood trial so a jury could consider whether he deserved a death or life sentence. The jury sentenced Gunches to death in 2007.

According to court records, the murder took place in November 2002. Price went to visit his ex-wife in Mesa and the 2 began to argue. The woman struck Price in the face with a telephone and dazed him, but did not knock him out completely.

Gunches came to the apartment later, and had the ex-wife and her roommates help him load Price into his car, supposedly to take him to the bus station.

But when Gunches realized he did not have enough money for a bus ticket, he had one of the roommates drive them out into the desert. When Price got out of the car, Gunches shot him four times. He was not arrested until the following February, after shooting a state highway patrolman in La Paz County.

During Gunches' trial, prosecutors alleged 2 aggravators: that he had committed another serious crime - namely the LaPaz County shooting - and that Price's murder was especially heinous and depraved.

Gunches represented himself during the penalty trial and, according the Supreme Court ruling, he presented very little mitigation evidence. The Supreme Court decision, written by Justice Scott Bales, said that four rapid shots, each of which would have been fatal, did not indicate a cruel and depraved murder. Bales cited case law to say that Gunches "merely escalated his attacks until he succeeded in killing."

And though the other aggravating factor remained, the Supreme Court ruling said the jury's error merited another penalty trial.

Source: Arizona Republic, June 16, 2010