State of Arizona v. Julio Pedroza-Perez

Summary

The Arizona Supreme Court held that the trial court erred by preventing the defendant from mentioning his anticipated duress defense and supporting testimony during opening statements. The court determined that the error was non-structural and vacated the court of appeals’ decision, remanding for a harmless-error determination.

Holdings

1. The trial court erred by limiting Pedroza-Perez's opening statement on the ground that he might change his mind and decline to testify. A party may reference anticipated evidence in opening statement when the party has a good-faith basis to believe the evidence exists and will be admissible.
2. The trial court's restriction was nonstructural error subject to harmless-error review, rather than structural error requiring automatic reversal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court abused its discretion by preventing defense counsel from mentioning Pedroza-Perez's duress defense and anticipated testimony in the opening statement.
2. Whether the trial court's error was structural error requiring reversal or nonstructural error subject to harmless-error review.

Disposition

vacated