State of Arizona v. Ricky Alonzo Hippensteel

── State of Arizona v. Ricky Alonzo Hippensteel ── Court: Arizona Supreme Court Date: June 01, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee, v. RICKY ALONZO HIPPENSTEEL, Appellant. No. CR-25-0203-PR Filed June 1, 2026 Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County The Honorable Justin Beresky, Judge No. CR2021-123897-001 AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART AND REMANDED Opinion of the Court of Appeals, Division One 572 P.3d 579 (App. 2025) VACATED COUNSEL: Damon A. Rossi (argued), Deputy Public Defender, Maricopa County Office of the Public Defender, Phoenix, Attorneys for Ricky Alonzo Hippensteel Kristin K. Mayes, Arizona Attorney General, Alice M. Jones (argued), Deputy Solicitor General/Section Chief of Criminal Appeals, Phoenix, Attorneys for State of Arizona  STATE v. HIPPENSTEEL Opinion of the Court Kevin D. Heade, Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice, Florence, Attorneys for Amicus Curiae Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice CHIEF JUSTICE TIMMER authored the Opinion of the Court, in which VICE CHIEF JUSTICE LOPEZ, JUSTICES BOLICK, BEENE, KING, and CRUZ joined. JUSTICE MONTGOMERY dissented. CHIEF JUSTICE TIMMER, Opinion of the Court: ¶1 A jury convicted Ricky Alonzo Hippensteel of second degree murder after he stabbed Derek Joseph Odle. Without objection, the trial court incorrectly instructed the jury on the crime of provocation manslaughter, see A.R.S. § 13-1103(A)(2), and provided a flawed verdict form. The issue here is whether these errors constituted fundamental, prejudicial errors requiring a new trial. We conclude they did. BACKGROUND ¶2 In June 2021, Hippensteel and Odle were friends living in Tonopah, Arizona. In the early morning hours of June 25, Hippensteel sought out Odle in an informal compound of mobile homes and other structures. The two men fought outside a trailer where Odle was staying, and Odle was stabbed to death. The State indicted Hippensteel for first degree murder and related lesser offenses. ¶3 At trial, Hippensteel testified and did not deny stabbing Odle but asserted he acted in self-defense and to prevent a crime (assault). According to Hippensteel, he approached Odle outside Odle’s trailer to discuss a missing tractor while Odle was using a knife to scrape or cut wires. The two began arguing, and at some point, Hippensteel looked away. When he turned back, he saw Odle raise the knife toward him, prompting Hippensteel to react immediately by blocking the knife, thereby sustaining a stab wound to his hand. The confrontation then escalated into a physical fight involving “grabbing, hitting, throwing, [and] punching,” during which Odle was fatally stabbed. Hippensteel told jurors that he did not remember stabbing Odle, and that when he left the 2  STATE v. HIPPENSTEEL Opinion of the Court scene, Odle was “standing alive.” The prosecutor impeached Hippensteel with evidence that he previously told a detective he had not seen Odle for two weeks or been to the compound for years. Hippensteel admitted lying to the detective but claimed he was telling the truth to the jury. ¶4 Kathleen Abrigo, Odle’s girlfriend, provided the jury with a different version of events. Abrigo testified that she and Odle were asleep in the trailer when Hippensteel stood outside yelling about taking Odle’s car. Abrigo woke Odle and told him to go talk to Hippensteel, and Odle did so, asking “what’s up?” From inside the trailer, Abrigo watched the exchange through a window and saw Hippensteel apparently punching Odle until Odle