tempt failed when Merrill intentionally swerved the car off the road to avoid becoming a party to the murder, allowing Redmond to drive away. In a rage, Hooper shouted obscenities at Merrill, and threatened to kill him. Bracy and Hooper left town shortly thereafter. After the failed attempt, Merrill feared retaliation from Cruz and his associates.
Two days after the attempt on Redmond’s life, Merrill was standing in the reception area outside Arthur Ross’s office in Sunview Development. Joyce Lukezic, her face livid with anger, walked by Merrill into Ross’s office without acknowledging his greeting. Fearing the conversation was about him, Merrill tiptoed into an adjacent room to overhear the conversation. He overheard the following exchange between Robert Cruz and appellee:
Lukezic: “Why hasn’t Redmond been taken care of yet?”
Cruz: “Redmond will be dead by Christmas.”
Louis Campanogni was Arnold Merrill’s friend. Campanogni was also an accomplice, along with Merrill and McCall, in a series of thefts, burglaries and robberies that predated these events. On December 28, 1980, Campanogni picked up Bracy and Hooper from the airport and drove them to Merrill’s house to stay for several days. Both Merrill and Campanogni were present in the early morning hours of January 1, 1980, when Bracy, Hooper and McCall returned to Merrill’s home with the jewelry taken from the Redmond home and the weapons used in the crime.
The key state witness, linking Joyce Lukezic to the murder conspiracy, was Arnold Merrill. The defense directly attacked Merrill's testimony. They argued that Merrill masterminded the robbery at the Redmond home and invented this story to cover up his own involvement in these crimes. In support of this theory, the defense attempted to show that Merrill planned the earlier string of thefts, burglaries and robberies involving McCall and Campanogni. Another defense tactic was to suggest that Merrill concocted his story of appellee’s participation in the conspiracy in order to have something to barter in plea bargain discussions with the state. The state rebutted this defense charge of the fabrication of Merrill’s conspiracy account with the testimony of George Campanogni. Campanogni testified that, a few days after the murders at the Redmond home, Merrill revealed to him the existence of a secret organized crime conspiracy to kill Patrick Redmond which involved Cruz and Joyce Lukezic.
I. THERE WAS NO ABUSE OF DISCRETION IN ORDERING A NEW TRIAL
In reviewing a decision to grant a new trial, we will not reverse the trial court unless there is a clear abuse of discretion. State v. Fisher, 141 Ariz. 227, 251, 686 P.2d 750, 774 (1984); Taylor v. Southern Pacific, 130 Ariz. 516, 637 P.2d 726 (1981). One reason for allowing the trial judge such broad discretion is that:
The judge sees the witnesses, hears the testimony, and t has a special perspective of the relationship between the evidence and the verdict which cannot be recreated by a reviewing court from the printed record.
Reeves v. Markle, 119 Ariz. 159, 163, 579 P.2d 1382, 1386 (1978). Another reason for our narrow standard of review is that a motion for new trial is not favorably looked upon by the trial judge, and will generally only be granted with great caution. State v. Guthrie, 108 Ariz. 280, 496 P.2d 580 (1972). We find no abuse of discretion in this case.
On August 6, 1982, two days after the jury’s verdict, appellee filed a motion for new trial based on the existence of newly discovered evidence. 17 A.R.S., Rules of Criminal Procedure, rules 24.1, 32.1(e).1 This newly discovered evidence concerned certain benefits given by the state to two witnesses, Arnold Merrill and George Cam
1
17 A.R.S., Rules of Criminal Procedure, will hereinafter be referred to as "rule" followed by the number.