State v. Salazar (1975)

In State v. Salazar, 112 Ariz. 355, 541 P.2d 1157 (1975), the defendant was the passenger in the automobile that left the scene of the crime in a normal fashion. After traveling a few blocks the police signaled the vehicle to stop. Immediately thereafter a high speed chase ensued which ended when the car hit a concrete abutment. Apparently tried alone and convicted of second degree burglary, the defendant complained that the giving of the flight instruction was error. The Salazar court agreed saying "The fact that the defendant is present as a passenger in the vehicle involved in the flight is not sufficient in and of itself to support the giving of an instruction on the ramifications of flight." (Id. at p. 1158.) "If appellant had been the driver of the vehicle the resultant police chase would support an instruction on flight. However, to impute the actions of the driver to a passenger without evidence to show that he encouraged the flight would be creating a presumption which is controverted by the evidence." (Id. at p. 1159.)