State v. Moncla
| Decision Date | 21 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. 81,584.,81,584. |
| Parties | STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. DAVID A. MONCLA, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Mary D. Prewitt, assistant appellate defender, and Jessica R. Kunen, chief appellate defender, were on the brief for appellant.
Elizabeth Rogers, assistant district attorney, Nola Foulston, district attorney, and Carla J. Stovall, attorney general, were on the brief for appellee.
The opinion of the was delivered by
This is a newly discovered evidence case. David A. Moncla was convicted of first-degree murder, K.S.A. 21-3401. His conviction was upheld on appeal. See State v. Moncla, 262 Kan. 58, 936 P.2d 727 (1997). Shortly after the direct appeal mandate was filed, Moncla moved for a new trial under K.S.A. 22-3501 based on newly discovered evidence. He submitted two affidavits from prison inmates. The affidavits stated another person admitted involvement in and/or knowledge of the murder for which Moncla was convicted. The district court conducted a nonevidentiary hearing, heard arguments, and summarily "overruled" (denied) the motion. Moncla appeals.
Our jurisdiction is under K.S.A. 22-3601(b)(1) ().
The question before us is whether the district court abused its discretion by denying Moncla's motion for new trial. In answering the question, we narrow the focus to whether a district court can deny the motion without evaluating the credibility and materiality of the paper evidence. The answer is "no"; thus, we find abuse of discretion and reverse.
Moncla received a "hard-40" sentence for the murder of Diane Swinney. See K.S.A. 21-4638. Swinney died after sustaining 18 blows to the head with a hammer. An employee of Swinney's named Kevin Robertson discovered her body. Swinney owned a bar. She lived just a few blocks away from her bar in the upstairs apartment of a home. Moncla and two other individuals had been staying at the home. Moncla sometimes slept on a recliner in Swinney's room. On the night of her death, Swinney closed her bar around 2 a.m. The next morning Moncla left Swinney's house on foot. He told one of the other house occupants he was late for work. He also said Swinney was having sex with someone and he did not wish to watch. Moncla went to John Bayliff's house. He told Bayliff he was awakened that morning by a man hitting him over the head with a gun. According to Moncla, three men were in the room. Moncla was pushed into a bathroom. He could not see Swinney, but heard several slaps or hits and heard someone say, "[W]e're going to have to take a loss on this one." Moncla, 262 Kan. at 62. He also heard the name Kevin. After the men left, Moncla went into the bedroom and saw Swinney on the floor. She was beaten up, crying, and holding a pillow over her head. Swinney told Moncla to "stay out of it," so he left. 262 Kan. at 62. Bayliff related this story at trial.
In Moncla's direct appeal, his defense was described as follows:
262 Kan. at 63.
Moncla filed a motion for new trial based on affidavits from Scott Staggs and Allen Richards, two inmates at the El Dorado Correctional Facility. Staggs stated that he was a cellmate with Robertson at El Dorado, during which time Robertson claimed to be involved in the death of Swinney. According to Staggs, Robertson specifically admitted being with Swinney on the night of her death. Robertson told Staggs he was there "partying" with his brother. Robertson and his brother asked Swinney for some "dope." When Swinney did not comply, they began to threaten her, and soon Robertson's brother hit Swinney in the head with a hammer. The brother continued to hit Swinney about 18 times. The two then put a pillow over Swinney's head. They washed their hands in the kitchen sink and left through the back door.
In the second affidavit, Allen Richards explained that he met Robertson in the EI Dorado infirmary while Robertson was recovering from knee surgery. According to Richards, Robinson said he knew of the Swinney murder and how the police had put the wrong man in jail. Robertson said there was no way Moncla could have committed the murder. Richards believed Robertson was suggesting that he had committed the crime. Then Robertson explained to Richards that he had used a hammer as his weapon and that Swinney had died from being hit in the head. When Robertson realized that Richards knew Moncla, the discussion ended.
The record does not explain Robertson's presence at El Dorado Correctional Facility. Presumably he is serving time on unrelated charges.
Moncla was not present at the motion hearing, but he was represented by counsel. After brief arguments, the district judge, who also was the judge at Moncla's trial, said:
Our standard of review here is abuse of discretion. See State v. Thomas, 257 Kan. 228, Syl. ¶ 3, 891 P.2d 417 (1995). We said in Thomas: "`Although defendants are tireless in seeking new trials on the ground of newly discovered evidence, motions on this ground are not favored by the courts and are viewed with great caution.'" 257 Kan. at 233 (quoting 3 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure: Criminal 2d § 557, p. 315 [1982]). The test for determining whether a new trial is warranted based on newly discovered evidence has two parts: (1) The defendant bears the burden of establishing the newly proffered evidence is indeed "new"—that is, it could not, with reasonable diligence, have been produced at trial; and (2) the evidence must be of such materiality that there is a reasonable probability it would produce a different result upon retrial. Thomas, 257 Kan. at 231.
Moncla takes issue with the district court's failure to analyze the newly discovered evidence under the two-part test of Thomas. Moncla points out that there was no issue as to whether the evidence was "newly discovered," yet the district court did not analyze the credibility or materiality of the two affidavits. Moncla argues the district court should have at least held an evidentiary hearing to explore the credibility and materiality of the new evidence. The key inquiry is whether the affidavits in this case were credible and of such materiality that there is a reasonable probability they would produce a different result upon retrial. See Thomas, 257 Kan. at 231.
Moncla had no automatic right to a full evidentiary hearing on his motion. See State v. Dunn, 243...
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Appellate Decisions
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