State v. Barrett
| Decision Date | 12 August 2016 |
| Docket Number | 113,767 |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
| Parties | State of Kansas, Appellee, v. Howard Barrett, Appellant. |
NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION
Appeal from Riley District Court; David L. Stutzman, judge.
Michelle A. Davis, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.
Barry R. Wilkerson, county attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.
Before Arnold-Burger, P.J., Schroeder, J., and Jeffrey E. Goering District Judge, assigned.
Howard Barrett was convicted by a jury of reckless second-degree murder. He appeals from that conviction raising three issues (1) that the 6-year delay in bringing him to trial violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial; (2) that the district court committed error in failing to suppress incriminating statements made after Miranda warnings were read to him; and (3) that the district court committed error in failing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of imperfect self-defense voluntary manslaughter. Finding no reversible error, we affirm Barrett's conviction.
The facts of this case are truly tragic. Barrett has a lengthy history of mental illness. He has been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia and a personality disorder. Prior to the incident that gave rise to this case, Barrett had been hospitalized due to his mental illness on at least three different occasions.
Following an involuntary commitment to Osawatomie State Hospital (OSH), Barrett took up residence in an apartment in the small community of Leonardville, Kansas. The apartment complex where Barrett resided was sprayed monthly for bugs. On February 14, 2008, Thomas James, an exterminator, arrived at the apartment complex to perform his monthly bug spraying routine.
On that date, the property manager, Jeanette Hermann, knocked on the doors of each of 11 tenants of the apartment complex to remind them that James would be coming to spray their apartments. Barrett did not answer the knock on his door, so Hermann unlocked the door and let herself inside. Barrett was sitting in the lounge chair he would also use as his bed. Hermann told Barrett that James would be coming to spray his apartment. Barrett looked at her and said something that she was unable to understand, which was not unusual.
Hermann then left the apartment complex to run errands. When she returned approximately 10 minutes later, she noticed that James' truck was still parked at the complex. Hermann found this surprising since James normally left ahead of her to spray other apartments she managed in Clay Center. Hermann went inside the apartment complex and noticed the door to Barrett's apartment was partially open. When Hermann looked inside, she saw James' motionless body on the floor, propped up against the door. Barrett was also inside, talking loudly but not really making sense. Hermann was unable to get inside of Barrett's apartment, and she was not able to use her phone in the basement. Hermann called for Barrett's neighbor to take her phone and call 911.
Barrett had also called 911 asking for help for James. The conversation between Barrett and the 911 dispatcher was often off-topic and incoherent. Barrett pleaded with the dispatcher to send an ambulance immediately because there was an injured man who did not look like he was going to make it. At one point, Barrett mentioned civil permits for firearms, leading the dispatcher to wonder if there had been a shooting. Barrett eventually told the dispatcher he had to defend himself after the "bug man" came at him in his bedroom with a knife, pliers, and a bug sprayer, asking for a fight and attacking him.
Riley County Police Detective Julia Goggins was the first officer to arrive at Barrett's apartment. Goggins could see James' body through the partially open door. At her request, Barrett moved James' body away from the door so she could get inside. She asked Barrett to exit the apartment for safety reasons, but he became evasive. So Goggins grabbed him by the arm and took him into the hallway where she handcuffed him. Goggins asked Barrett's neighbor to stay with Barrett (who had calmed down) while she attempted lifesaving measures on James. Those efforts were not successful. Goggins notified dispatch that James was dead.
Goggins noted that the inside of the apartment was a "gruesome" scene. Blood was everywhere, including on the walls, floor, and tools that had been "haphazardly tossed around the room."
Officer Matt Gambrel eventually arrived on scene and took custody of Barrett. Ultimately, Barrett was transported to the Riley County Police Department for an interview. However prior to transport, Barrett made several statements about the event. When Goggins tried upon arrival to determine what had happened to James, Barrett told her that he woke up to find James in his apartment without permission. Later, after having been read his Miranda rights, Barrett told Gambrel calmly and coherently that he had stayed up the previous night fixing a typewriter. Barrett said that he later woke up to find a man spraying for bugs in his apartment. Barrett told Gambrel that his apartment was regularly sprayed but always with advance notice. According to Barrett, if such notice had been given by a knock at the door, he did not hear it because he was sleeping soundly. Barrett believed the man was in his apartment without permission. So without saying anything, Barrett got up, took a large steak knife from his closet, and used it to cut and stab James. At this point, Gambrel was informed that someone else would be taking Barrett to the police station for further questioning, so Gambrel stopped his questioning. Nevertheless, Barrett continued talking, telling Gambrel at one point that he was afraid that James would spray him, which "would affect him the way it affects the bugs and can make human beings more aggressive and possibly less intelligent."
Once at the police station, Detective William Schuck tried to interview Barrett. While Schuck attempted to advise Barrett of his Miranda warnings, Barrett repeatedly mumbled, sometimes incoherently, about off-topic matters. At various times during the interview, Barrett stated that he didn't hurt anyone, he just defended himself after someone came into his apartment and sprayed hazardous chemicals. At one point, Barrett asked to "reenact" in order to "get it out of [his] system." Barrett commented that he did not receive any notice that someone would be violating his privacy and coming in to spray. At several points during the interview, Barrett made statements that "[s]omebody must've attacked me"; "I didn't want to touch him so that's how I got him down to put him on the ground and defended myself from what he had in his hands"; and "I believe somebody just attacked me in my apartment."
When Schuck reached that part of the Miranda warnings which advised Barrett of his right to an attorney, Barrett expressed a desire to speak to an attorney. At that point, Schuck ended the interview. Later, when Barrett was told that he was being charged with murder, Barrett replied that he had to defend himself, stressing that he did not beat up or hit the man, he "just cut him." The following day the State charged Barrett with second-degree, unintentional murder.
Thereafter, significant delays in the prosecution of the case occurred after Barrett was declared incompetent to stand trial. Shortly after the charges were filed, efforts were made to restore Barrett's competency at Larned State Hospital (LSH). When those attempts failed, Barrett was involuntarily committed to OSH in separate civil proceedings.
OSH released Barrett in mid-2010 after he was deemed competent to stand trial. Barrett was then returned to the Riley County jail. Following a preliminary hearing, the district court bound Barrett over for trial on the amended charge of intentional second-degree murder. In the following year, Barrett's defense counsel requested continuances of the trial and sought further evaluations of Barrett's competency. In the meantime, Barrett decompensated, in part because he refused to take his medication while in jail. Ultimately, Barrett was again declared to be incompetent to stand trial in September 2011. He was again involuntarily committed to OSH.
In April 2014, the district court and the parties received notification from OSH that Barrett been restored to competency. The district court set the case for trial on July 7, 2014. On June 30, 2014, Barrett's attorney filed a motion to withdraw and to reset the jury trial. On July 1, 2014, the district court permitted Barrett's counsel to withdraw from the case. On the same date, the district court granted the request by Barrett's new counsel to continue the trial.
On September 14, 2014, Barrett's new counsel filed a motion to dismiss alleging that Barrett's constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. The district court conducted an evidentiary hearing on October 1, 2014. On October 27, 2014, the district court entered judgment denying Barrett's motion to dismiss.
The case finally proceeded to a jury trial on November 3, 2014. At trial, the parties presented conflicting evidence regarding Barrett's defense that his schizophrenia rendered him unable to form the requisite criminal intent. Ultimately, the jury rejected that defense and convicted Barrett of the lesser included offense of reckless second-degree murder. At sentencing, the district court imposed the standard presumptive sentence of 123 months in prison with a recommendation that the Kansas Department of Corrections provide Barrett the treatment necessary to help get him stabilized "so that when the day comes that he leaves KDOC supervision that he does not leave with more issues...
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