Juan Carlos Vicente Sanchez, Petitioner v. the Honorable Tina R. Ainley, Judge of the Superior Court of the State…

Summary

The court held that a grand jury lacks authority to determine probable cause for capital-case aggravating circumstances and that such a determination cannot moot or displace a defendant's timely request for a Rule 13.5(c) hearing. Because the rule independently guarantees a capital defendant a judicial hearing to challenge the legal sufficiency of alleged aggravators, the court vacated the lower-court orders and directed that the hearing be held. Chief Justice Berch, concurring in the result, would have resolved the case solely on the defendant's right to the hearing without deciding the broader question of grand-jury authority.