State v. DePiano

ZLAKET, Vice Chief Justice,

concurring in part, dissenting in part.

I concur in Justice Martone’s application of A.R.S. § 13-4087(B) to this case but disagree with his conclusion that DePiano’s sentence is not cruel and unusual. I also find the “informed speculation” with which he analyzes this issue to be most peculiar and highly problematic. Whether a majority of the present United States Supreme Court would agree with the plurality opinion in Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836 (1991), is not at issue here. Furthermore, “whether the majority or the minority…