A Maricopa County man serving 23 years in prison for shooting at a state trooper in 2017 was properly convicted of attempted second-degree murder and three other felonies, but he should have been sentenced to a longer prison term, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled last week.
Luis Aldana shot at an Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper on March 2, 2017 during a routine traffic stop in Avondale involving an excessive window tint violation. The trooper was unharmed, but his patrol vehicle was struck by three bullets. Aldana required surgery for injuries sustained when the trooper returned fire.
Aldana, 33, was sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court in February 2020 to serve 23 years in state prison, to be followed by one-year for a marijuana conviction. The Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) shows Aldana is ineligible for early release, putting his release date in March 2041.
But that date will change once Aldana is resentenced per an Aug. 12 order from the court of appeals.
Prior to trial, Aldana argued he was improperly interrogated by police, also known as a Miranda violation, while in the hospital. The trial judge suppressed some of Aldana’s statements to investigators but allowed others to be admitted into evidence.
On appeal, Aldana challenged the statements which were presented to the jury. In a unanimous appellate opinion, Judge Randall Howe noted investigators did not violate Aldana’s rights. However, the opinion requires Aldana to be resentenced to a more severe prison term mandated by ARS 13-708(B).
“The failure to impose a sentence in conformity with mandatory sentencing statutes makes the resulting sentence illegal,” Howe wrote.
The issue of Aldana’s sentencing was brought up as a cross-appeal by Michael O’Toole of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. O’Toole argued the trial judge erred by not imposing at least the maximum sentence required under ARS 13-708(B) for someone like Aldana who has been convicted of committing a dangerous crime while “on release” for an earlier serious crime.
Public records show Aldana was released from ADC’s custody in February 2016 after serving most of a 9.5-year sentence for a 2007 armed robbery. He was to complete the remainder of the armed robbery sentence on community supervision -formerly called parole- out of custody.
Under ARS 13-708(B), Aldana’s community supervision status at the time he fired at the trooper required a sentence of several more years in prison. Aldana has until mid-September to petition for review by the Arizona Supreme Court. Otherwise, his resentencing is expected to happen this fall.
In a separate matter, other public records show Aldana was classified as a medium custody risk and a moderate internal risk when returned to ADC custody. He is now in maximum security with a highest internal risk after being found guilty of two major disciplinary infractions, the most serious being aggravated assault on an inmate late last year.
