S allen/J Allen v. Hon. sanders/state of Arizona, 382 P.3d 784

Sammantha and John Allen were indicted for first-degree felony murder and concurrently charged with multiple counts of child abuse.
The State filed a notice seeking the death penalty and alleged the concurrently charged child-abuse counts as (F)(2) "serious offense" aggravators under A.R.S. § 13-751(F)(2).
The Allens requested a Chronis hearing under Ariz. R. Crim. P. 13.5(c) to challenge the legal sufficiency of the (F)(2) aggravator; the trial court found the child-abuse counts qualified as serious offenses and accepted the grand jury’s finding of probable cause for those counts.
The Allens sought special action relief; the court of appeals (majority) held the trial court must independently determine probable cause for concurrently charged offenses at a Chronis hearing; a dissent disagreed.
The Arizona Supreme Court granted review to resolve whether, in a Chronis proceeding challenging an (F)(2) aggravator based on concurrently charged offenses, the trial court must independently reassess probable cause for those offenses or may accept the grand jury’s probable-cause findings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether a trial court must independently determine probable cause for concurrently charged offenses underpinning an (F)(2) aggravator at a Chronis hearing	Allen: Trial court must allow a Chronis evidentiary hearing to contest the State’s evidence and independently find probable cause for the underlying counts	State: Trial court may accept the grand jury’s probable-cause finding for the concurrently charged offenses while still assessing legal sufficiency of the (F)(2) aggravator	The court held: trial court must independently determine that the offense qualifies as a "serious offense," but should accept the grand jury’s probable-cause determination for the concurrently charged offense in the (F)(2) context

Chronis v. Steinle, 220 Ariz. 559 (Ariz. 2009) (interpreting Rule 13.5(c) to permit a defendant to request a probable-cause determination as to alleged aggravating circumstances)
Sanchez v. Ainley, 234 Ariz. 250 (Ariz. 2014) (holding a defendant is entitled to a Chronis hearing even if a grand jury has previously found probable cause for alleged aggravators)
State ex rel. Preimsberg v. Rosenblatt, 112 Ariz. 461 (Ariz. 1975) (indictment valid on its face cannot be attacked based on insufficiency of grand jury evidence)
Crimmins v. Superior Court, 137 Ariz. 39 (Ariz. 1983) (trial court may not weigh the nature, weight, or sufficiency of evidence presented to a grand jury)
State ex rel. Collins v. Kamin, 151 Ariz. 70 (Ariz. 1986) (trial court erred by weighing grand jury evidence)
Allen v. Sanders, 239 Ariz. 360 (App. 2016) (court of appeals panel granted relief requiring independent probable-cause determination for concurrently charged offenses)