State v. Lee

── State v. Lee ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arizona Date: May 22, 2026 Category: General NOTICE: NOT FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATION. UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE. IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION ONE STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee, v. ROBERT ALLEN LEE, Appellant. No. 1 CA-CR 24-0687 FILED 05-22-2026 Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR2024-006141-001 The Honorable Pamela Hearn Dunne, Judge, Retired AFFIRMED COUNSEL Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix By Joseph E. Begun Counsel for Appellee Bain & Lauritano PLC, Glendale By Amy E. Bain Counsel for Appellant  STATE v. LEE Decision of the Court MEMORANDUM DECISION Judge Brian Y. Furuya delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Andrew M. Jacobs and Judge James B. Morse Jr. joined. F U R U Y A, Judge: ¶1 Robert Allen Lee appeals from his convictions and sentences. Lee contends the superior court violated the Sixth Amendment by admitting pretrial statements through testimony at trial and erred in failing to sever several of his charges. For the following reasons, we affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¶2 “We view the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury’s verdict and resolve all reasonable inferences against the defendant.” State v. Fierro, 254 Ariz. 35, 38 ¶ 2 (2022). ¶3 Lee was married to his wife in 2017 and lived with her and her stepdaughter Amanda1 until 2021. When Amanda was nine years old, Lee began sexually assaulting her. The abuse continued until Amanda was fifteen years old. ¶4 Amanda and Gabby2 were friends and Lee provided the two girls with marijuana for their personal use. In October 2021, Gabby was visiting Amanda at her house when Lee sexually assaulted Gabby. Gabby shared the details of her assault with another friend, whose mother then reported the assault to the Peoria Police Department. An officer responded and recommended Gabby participate in a forensic nurse examination (“FNE”) at the Glendale Advocacy Center, which Gabby agreed to do. At the advocacy center, a forensic nurse asked Gabby about the assault, performed an FNE, and prescribed oral antibiotics. During her exam, Gabby explained the events of the assault to the nurse. ¶5 Lee was arrested in December 2021. The following month, while Lee was incarcerated, Gabby contacted Lee for a “confrontation call” to elicit an admission of the events of her assault. 1 We use the pseudonym “Amanda” to protect the victim’s privacy. See Ariz. R. Sup. Ct. 111(i). 2 We use “Gabby” as a pseudonym to protect the friend’s privacy. Id. 2  STATE v. LEE Decision of the Court ¶6 Lee was later charged in a sixteen-count indictment. Counts 1 through 7 charged Lee with sexual conduct relating to his stepdaughter Amanda. Count 8 charged Lee with transferring marijuana to Amanda and Count 9 charged him with transferring marijuana to Gabby. Counts 10 and 11 charged Lee with sexual conduct relating to Gabby. Lastly, Counts 12 through 16 charged Lee with various instances of witness tampering involving Amanda or her mother, thereby affecting proceedings on the first seven counts. All sixteen counts were charged and tried together in the same proceeding. Lee did not move to sever any of the counts. ¶7 Before trial, the State disclosed its intent to use the statements Gabby made to the forensic nurse at the advoc