STATE OF ARIZONA v. JOHN JOSEPH BERGEN

Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS DIVISION TWO THE STATE OF ARIZONA, Appellee, v. JOHN JOSEPH BERGEN, Appellant. No. 2 CA-CR 2017-0049 Filed July 25, 2017 THIS DECISION DOES NOT CREATE LEGAL PRECEDENT AND MAY NOT BE CITED EXCEPT AS AUTHORIZED BY APPLICABLE RULES. NOT FOR PUBLICATION See Ariz. R. Sup. Ct. 111(c)(1); Ariz. R. Crim. P. 31.24. Appeal from the Superior Court in Pima County No. CR20152813001 The Honorable Howard Fell, Judge Pro Tempore AFFIRMED COUNSEL West, Elsberry, Longenbaugh & Zickerman, PLLC, Tucson By Anne Elsberry Counsel for Appellant STATE v. BERGEN Decision of the Court MEMORANDUM DECISION Presiding Judge Vásquez authored the decision of the Court, in which Chief Judge Eckerstrom and Judge Kelly1 concurred. V Á S Q U E Z, Presiding Judge: ¶1 After a jury trial, John Bergen was convicted of fraudulent scheme and artifice. The trial court sentenced him to a four-year prison term. ¶2 Counsel has filed a brief in compliance with Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), and State v. Clark, 196 Ariz. 530, 2 P.3d 89 (App. 1999), asserting she had reviewed the record but found no arguably meritorious issue to raise on appeal. Consistent with Clark, 196 Ariz. 530, ¶ 32, 2 P.3d at 97, she provided “a detailed factual and procedural history of the case with citations to the record” and asked this court to search the record for error. ¶3 Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to sustaining the jury’s verdict, see State v. Tamplin, 195 Ariz. 246, ¶ 2, 986 P.2d 914, 914 (App. 1999), sufficient evidence supports it here. In September 2014, Bergen obtained goods and services from three victims using six checks for which his account lacked sufficient funds to pay and ignored subsequent demands for payment. A.R.S. § 13-2310(A). And sufficient evidence supports the trial court’s finding that Bergen had one previous felony conviction. His sentence is within the statutory range and was properly imposed. §§ A.R.S. 13-703(A), (H), 13-2310(A). 1The Hon. Virginia C. Kelly, a retired judge of this court, is called back to active duty to serve on this case pursuant to orders of this court and our supreme court. 2 STATE v. BERGEN Decision of the Court ¶4 Pursuant to our obligation under Anders, we have searched the record for fundamental, reversible error and found none. See State v. Fuller, 143 Ariz. 571, 575, 694 P.2d 1185, 1189 (1985) (stating Anders requires court to search record for fundamental error). Accordingly, we affirm Bergen’s conviction and sentence. 3

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.