State v. Betts
Decision Date | 29 July 2022 |
Docket Number | 122,268 |
Citation | 514 P.3d 341 |
Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellant, v. Dexter BETTS, Appellee. |
Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Matt J. Maloney, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were with him on the brief for appellant.
Jess W. Hoeme, of Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC, of Wichita, argued the cause, and Carrie E. Parker, of the same firm, of Topeka, was with him on the briefs for appellee.
While securing the interior of a family home during a domestic violence investigation, Wichita Police Officer Dexter Betts fired two gunshots in quick succession at a fast-approaching dog he thought was attacking him. He missed, and bullet fragments struck a young girl sitting nearby. The State charged the officer with reckless aggravated battery for injuring her. Betts moved to dismiss the charge before trial. He argued state law immunizes his use of deadly force in self-defense—even if he acted recklessly and regardless of who got hurt. The district court agreed and dismissed the case. When the State appealed, a Court of Appeals panel affirmed. State v. Betts , 60 Kan. App. 2d 269, 489 P.3d 866 (2021). On review, we reverse the grant of statutory immunity and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings.
This appeal presents facts we have not considered before. In the typical self-defense immunity case, the State charges a defendant with an intentional crime committed against a person claimed to be the aggressor. And when the defendant invokes statutory immunity from prosecution in a case involving the use of deadly force against the alleged aggressor, we determine whether the defendant had a reasonable belief such force was necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to the defendant or a third person. See, e.g., State v. Collins , 311 Kan. 418, 461 P.3d 828 (2020) (two-prong test applies).
But what about a circumstance like this when the crime charged involves an innocent bystander who was unintentionally injured during the defendant's allegedly reckless conduct while engaging in self-defense? To answer that, we begin with the statute. State v. Hardy , 305 Kan. 1001, 1008, 390 P.3d 30 (2017) (). K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5231(a)'s text explicitly ties its privilege to yet another statute, K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5222, which provides only that a person is "justified in the use of force against another ... to defend ... against such other's imminent use of unlawful force ." (Emphasis added.) So on its face, the statutory grant of immunity is confined to the use of force against a person or thing reasonably believed to be an aggressor.
We hold K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5231(a) does not extend its immunity to a defendant's reckless acts while engaged in self-defense that result in unintended injury to an innocent bystander as alleged here.
The parties do not dispute the district court's factual findings, so we quote from its written order:
The State charged Betts with reckless aggravated battery under K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 21-5413(b)(2)(B) (). K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5202(j) explains that "[a] person acts ‘recklessly’ or is ‘reckless,’ when such person consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that circumstances exist or that a result will follow, and such disregard constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would exercise in the situation."
The State's case alleges Betts consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of injury by firing his handgun twice at the dog while the girl sat nearby on the living room floor. At the preliminary hearing, the district court found probable cause to believe the charged crime had occurred and probable cause to believe Betts committed it. In its ruling, the court noted, "the child that was ultimately injured ... is right next to the dog." See State v. Washington , 293 Kan. 732, 733-34, 268 P.3d 475 (2012) ( ).
Betts filed a pretrial motion to dismiss seeking self-defense immunity under K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5231(a). It provides:
K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5222, which K.S.A. 2021 Supp. 21-5231 references, adds detail:
In his motion, Betts argued that so long as his use of deadly force against the dog was justified under this statutory scheme, any unintended harm to an innocent bystander should not change his entitlement to immunity. The State responded with three arguments: (1) self-defense immunity is never available to those who act recklessly; (2) a reasonable person in Betts' circumstances would not believe firing a handgun in the living room was justified because he saw the children and knew a dog was on the premises before he arrived; and (3) self-defense immunity is reserved for deadly force applied against a person, but not an animal.
Three witnesses testified for the State at an evidentiary hearing on the motion to dismiss. Officer Corliss described the incident, while Officer Hannah Holley, a crime scene investigator, explained how the bullets fragmented when they struck the floor and hit the girl. Wichita Police Lieutenant Christopher Halloran, a former range master in charge of the department's firearms training, described the policy on use of deadly force in self-defense against animals. He explained the policy allows WPD officers to use firearms to defend themselves against a charging or dangerous animal. He said: "[T]he fact that Officer Betts used his weapon to defend himself against a dog is not uncommon." He added: WPD "does shoot dogs pretty regularly." He presented a video simulator used to train recruits that includes scenarios with dog attacks. The defense introduced evidence summarizing 21 incidents of officers shooting at dogs between 2014 and 2018.
In ruling, the district court limited itself to the State's arguments, rejecting each. First, the court decided a defendant can assert self-defense immunity when charged with a recklessness crime. It relied on Hardy , 305 Kan. at 1010...
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