State of Arizona, Appellee v. Pete J. Vanwinkle, Appellant

Summary

The court affirmed VanWinkle’s murder conviction and death sentence. It held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying continuances, that sufficient evidence supported premeditation, and that evidence of other violent acts and a later inmate attack was admissible to rebut his defenses and mitigation. Although the jury instruction defining gratuitous violence was incomplete, the error was harmless because VanWinkle admitted continuing the attack after determining that the victim had died.