State v. Hearron
| Decision Date | 06 December 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 51705,51705 |
| Citation | 619 P.2d 1157,228 Kan. 693 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. William R. HEARRON, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. Although K.S.A. 21-3401 does not specifically include, within the felony-murder rule, the killing of another during flight from the scene of the crime, a killing during flight may constitute felony murder.
2. Time, distance, and the causal relationship between the underlying felony and the killing are factors to be considered in determining whether the killing is a part of the felony and, therefore, subject to the felony-murder rule. Whether the underlying felony had been abandoned or completed prior to the killing so as to remove it from the ambit of the felony-murder rule is ordinarily a question of fact for the jury to decide.
Michael Lerner of Barnett & Lerner, Chartered, Kansas City, argued the cause and was on brief, for appellant.
Philip L. Sieve, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty., argued the cause and Robert T. Stephan, Atty. Gen. and Nick A. Tomasic, Dist. Atty., were with him on brief, for appellee.
This is a direct appeal in a criminal action involving convictions of one count of felony murder (K.S.A. 21-3401), one count of conspiracy to commit burglary (K.S.A. 21-3302 and 21-3715), two counts of felony theft (K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 21-3701), two counts of burglary (K.S.A. 21-3715), and one count of attempted burglary (K.S.A. 21-3301 and 21-3715). The defendant, William R. Hearron, appeals only from the conviction of felony murder and does not challenge the other convictions.
The facts in the case are undisputed and are essentially as follows: On the evening of January 22, 1979, Ann Terry, who resided on North 70th Street in Kansas City, Kansas, was looking out a window of her home and saw three black youths walk up the driveway. She saw and heard them try to open the garage doors. She advised her husband, Delmer Terry, who immediately turned on an outside light over the garage. The three youths then fled. After notifying the police, the Terrys decided to look for the youths. They got into their automobile and followed a white van which was driving slowly in front of their house. After two or three blocks, the van turned left. The Terrys turned right, spotting the youths who had attempted to break into their garage. Delmer Terry stopped the car, got out, and accused them of attempting to break into his house. The boys pulled firearms. Three shots were fired, wounding Terry. Terry fell back into the car and collapsed. A nearby resident came to the scene and then called an ambulance and the police. While Mrs. Terry remained with her husband, the white van again appeared. The van stopped across from the Terry vehicle. Ann Terry was able to see defendant, William Hearron, looking at their car, before slowly driving on. Defendant was the driver and sole occupant of the van. The whole episode lasted approximately five minutes. Delmer Terry later died from his wounds.
On February 1, 1979, Kansas City police officers obtained a search warrant and searched defendant's house. The police found two black youths hiding in the attic. One of the boys, James Scaife, was identified as the person who shot and killed Mr. Terry. The police also found goods stolen in other January 22, 1979, burglaries. Scaife and defendant were tried together. Scaife was convicted of felony murder. Defendant was also convicted of felony murder as an aider and abettor.
On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to establish felony murder. The defendant maintains, in substance, that the attempted burglary had been completed at the time the shooting occurred and, hence, the felony-murder rule should not be applied. We have concluded from the undisputed factual circumstances that this point is without merit. The decedent's widow, Ann Terry, saw the black youths walk on the driveway to the Terry's garage where they yanked on the garage doors in an attempt to open them. Delmer Terry turned on the garage lights, and the boys immediately fled from the scene. The Terrys immediately followed them in the family car and encountered them on the street approximately two or three blocks from the Terry home within a matter of minutes. Terry approached the boys and stated to them that he had just seen them at his home trying to break in. At that time, the fatal shots were fired. This evidence was sufficient to establish a killing during the commission of a felony, attempted burglary.
K.S.A. 21-3401 includes as murder the killing of a human being "committed in the perpetration or attempt to perpetrate any felony." Although that statute does not specifically include, within the felony-murder rule, the killing of another during flight from the scene of the crime, it is the established law of this state that flight from the scene of the crime may be considered as a part of the res gestae of the crime and a killing during flight may constitute felony murder. In State v. Boone, 124 Kan. 208, 257 Pac. 739 (1927), the defendant was a member of a conspiracy to burglarize a railroad station. The defendant positioned herself in the getaway vehicle several blocks away, while two of her cohorts proceeded to the railroad station to commit the crime. Her two associates attempted to break into the station but were discovered and had to flee the scene with the police in close pursuit. The defendant's associates and the...
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Bouwkamp v. State
...to the resulting homicide is frequently stated in terms of "time, distance, and the causal relationship * * *." State v. Hearron, 228 Kan. 693, 619 P.2d 1157, 1160 (1980). Id. See also Rider, 625 P.2d 425. It is stated as time, place and causal connection, State v. Corneau, 109 N.M. 81, 781......
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State v. Kleypas
...are temporal requirements delineating when a killing may occur and still be part of the underlying felony. See State v. Hearron, 228 Kan. 693, 694-96, 619 P.2d 1157 (1980). That a murder was committed to facilitate escape or to avoid or prevent arrest or prosecution are matters of intent an......
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State v. Beach
...of Jacques for felony murder." 270 Kan. at 191. See State v. Kaesontae, 260 Kan. 386, 390, 920 P.2d 959 (1996); State v. Hearron, 228 Kan. 693, 696, 619 P.2d 1157 (1980) ("Whether the underlying felony had been abandoned or completed prior to the killing so as to remove it from the ambit of......
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State v. Kunellis, 86,829.
...In refusing the instruction, the court noted: "The language that the Court has proposed here is straight from [State v.] Hearron [,228 Kan. 693, 696, 619 P.2d 1157 (1980)]. Language that the defendants have requested in addition to that really says nothing more than a combined application o......