State v. Phillips

In State v. Phillips, 202 Ariz. 427, 441, P77, 46 P.3d 1048, 1062 (2002), the defendant committed robberies with another individual on April 12, 24, and 28 of 1998. On April 26, 1998, he committed a robbery alone. Id. He was convicted of the April 26 robbery first. Id. at P 78. He argued that because he had not been convicted of the April 26 robbery until after he committed the other three robberies, his conviction of the April 26 robbery could not be used to enhance the sentence for the other three robberies. Id. at P 77. The court applied Thompson and held that because the conviction for the April 26 robbery was entered before the convictions for the other robberies, the April 26 robbery conviction could be used to enhance the sentences for the two prior robberies committed on April 12 and 24 as well as the subsequent robbery on April 28. Id. at P 78. The defendant in Phillips only argued that because he had not been convicted of the April 26 robbery at the time that he committed the other three robberies, his conviction on the April 26 robbery could not be used to enhance the sentence for the non-homicide charges arising from the other three robberies. Id. The court, in citing Thompson, noted that "we have previously rejected this argument." Id. at P 78. It then held that because the conviction for the April 26 robbery was entered before the convictions for the other robberies, Phillips' conviction for the prior offense preceded the conviction for the offense for which Phillips was charged and was thus not disqualified from being an historical prior felony conviction. Id. In Phillips, the sentencing enhancement at issue pertained only to the non-homicide convictions. "The trial court relied on Phillips' prior felony convictions from the robbery he committed alone on April 26, 1998, to enhance his non-homicide convictions from the April 12, 24, and 28 robberies." Phillips, 202 Ariz. at 441, P 77, 46 P.3d at 1062.