State of Arizona, Appellee v. Erick Antonio Escalante, Appellant.

Summary

The court clarified that fundamental error is established when an unobjected-to error satisfies any one of three disjunctive conditions: it goes to the foundation of the case, deprives the defendant of an essential defense right, or is so egregious that a fair trial was impossible. It held that pervasive drug-courier profile evidence was improperly admitted as substantive proof of guilt, constituted fundamental error, and prejudiced the convictions on the possession-for-sale, tampering, and weapon-related counts. The court reversed those convictions and sentences for a new trial but affirmed the drug-paraphernalia conviction and sentence.