State v. Hart

── State v. Hart ── Court: Court of Appeals of Arizona Date: June 04, 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 UNDER ARIZONA RULE OF THE SUPREME COURT 111(c), THIS DECISION IS NOT PRECEDENTIAL AND MAY BE CITED ONLY AS AUTHORIZED BY RULE.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. STEFANO ROBERT HART, Appellant. No. 1 CA-CR 25-0243 FILED 06-04-2026 Appeal from the Superior Court in Maricopa County No. CR2024-126721-001 The Honorable Max H. Covil, Judge AFFIRMED COUNSEL Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Phoenix By Joshua C. Smith Counsel for Appellee Maricopa County Public Defender’s Office, Phoenix By Mikel Steinfeld Counsel for Appellant  STATE v. HART Decision of the Court MEMORANDUM DECISION Judge Andrew J. Becke delivered the decision of the Court, in which Presiding Judge Samuel A. Thumma and Judge Kent E. Cattani joined. B E C K E, Judge: ¶1 Defendant Stefano Robert Hart appeals his convictions and sentences for aggravated assault, assault, and criminal damage. For the following reasons, we affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¶2 On June 3, 2024, Phoenix police responded to a 911 call from a woman stating her apartment front door had been kicked in. Dispatch heard “what sounded like a physical struggle or screaming” and the woman yelling “stop” and “he’s going to hurt me.” Upon arrival, police observed the front door was closed, but the doorjamb was “completely splintered” and the locking mechanism had been broken off. From outside the door, police heard a woman screaming and pleading for help from upstairs. Police announced their presence and ordered everybody to vacate the apartment, but the screaming continued and no one exited the premises. ¶3 Police entered the apartment, and in the upstairs master bathroom, saw Hart grabbing Lauren (a pseudonym) with one hand and pouring bleach on her with the other. Police ordered Hart to stop, he complied, and they took him into custody. Lauren was “hyperventilating, crying” with red eyes and a flushed face. Police also observed bruising on Lauren’s forehead. Lauren later played a video recording from her front doorbell camera for police, showing Hart demanding a cellphone and forcing his way through the door. Police also saw a laptop broken in half, a hole in the wall in the master bedroom, and a broken closet door handle in the master bathroom. ¶4 Three hours later, Lauren underwent a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner examination at an advocacy center. During the examination, Lauren vomited and told the forensic nurse she was “very dizzy” and did not feel well. The forensic nurse ended the exam, called 911, and paramedics arrived. Based on Lauren’s vitals and her narrative of the 2  STATE v. HART Decision of the Court attack, paramedics transported her to an emergency room for treatment by a doctor. ¶5 Hart was indicted for one count of aggravated assault, a class four felony; one count of assault, a class one misdemeanor; and one count of criminal damage, a class one misdemeanor. The aggravated assault was charged under A.R.S. § 13-1204(B), which requires proof both that Hart was in a domestic relationship with the victim and that he “intentionally or knowingly impede[d] the normal breathing or circulation of blood . . . by applying pressure to the throat or neck or by obstructing the nose and mouth . . . .“ See A.R.S. §§ 13-1204(B), -3601(A). ¶6 The State filed a pretrial motion seeking t