A Nogales man sentenced to two life terms for acts of sexual abuse of a child under age 12 must be resentenced by a Santa Cruz judge, the Arizona Court of Appeals announced Friday.
Carlos Valentin Munoz was convicted in August 2018 of four felonies related to continuous sexual abuse, sexual assault, child molestation, and sexual conduct with a minor. He was ordered to serve two life sentences, a 27-year term, and a 24-term by Judge Thomas Fink, who said the life sentences were mandated by state law.
On Aug. 21, the court of appeals unanimously vacated the life sentences, agreeing with Munoz, 38, that Arizona’s sentencing guidelines was misapplied in his case. Instead, the offenses called for prison terms of 13 to 37 years each, with no early release options.
The court of appeals also ordered Fink to state on the record during the new sentencing hearing what order the four individual sentences are to be served. The case will be sent back to Fink for resentencing in 30 days unless the Arizona Attorney General’s Office petitions the Arizona Supreme Court for review.
Despite the re-sentencing decision, the appellate court unanimously rejected four other issues addressed in Munoz’s appeal. Those issues included alleged misstatements by the prosecutor to the jury, misuse of consecutive prison terms instead of concurrent terms, and that Munoz was not properly advised by Fink prior to trial of what sentences he faced if convicted by the jury.
As to what the judge told Munoz about possible sentencing outcomes, the court of appeals said that issue is not one to be addressed on appeal. Instead, Munoz can request a court-appointed attorney to help file a petition for post-conviction relief with Fink.
Court records show the victim testified she was repeatedly molested by Munoz starting in June 2015. She initially didn’t report the abuse due to threats Munoz -who was a member of the household- made against the girl’s family.
The girl eventually told an aunt about the abuse in 2017. Munoz stood trial in the case once before, but a mistrial was ordered. He went back on trial in June 2018.
The Arizona Department of Corrections shows Munoz being housed in a maximum security complex in Florence.
