State v. Bradford

• Decision Date: 10 December 1993
• Docket Number: No. 68,600,68,600
• Citation: 864 P.2d 680,254 Kan. 133
• Parties: STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Watson Kevin BRADFORD, Appellant.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Page 680

864 P.2d 680

254 Kan. 133

STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Watson Kevin BRADFORD, Appellant.

No. 68,600.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

Dec. 10, 1993.

Syllabus by the Court

1. Evidence independent of a defendant's confession is required to prove an underlying felony in a felony-murder case. Such evidence need not, however, be sufficient by itself to prove the underlying felony. The quantum of independent evidence necessary to corroborate the corpus delicti in a criminal prosecution relying upon the extrajudicial confession of an accused need not be great. So long as there is some evidence which renders the corpus delicti more probable than it would be without the evidence, the essential purposes of the independent evidence rule have been served.

2. A conviction of even the gravest offense may be sustained by circumstantial evidence. Proving the corpus delicti does not require the State in a felony-murder case arising from an alleged attempted robbery to prove that the attempted robbery was committed by the defendant. The State merely needs to corroborate the fact that, given the evidence, it is more probable than not that the victim was killed during the course of an attempted robbery.

3. The standard of review on sufficiency of the evidence is whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the appellate court is convinced that a rational factfinder could have found defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

4. The declaration of a mistrial is a matter entrusted to the trial court's discretion. The test of whether the trial court abused its discretion is whether no reasonable person would agree with the trial court.

Stephen C. Moss, Asst. Appellate Defender, argued the cause, and B. Kay Huff, Asst. Appellate Defender, and Jessica Kunen, Chief Appellate Defender, were on the brief for appellant.

Frank E. Kohl, County Atty., argued the cause, and Robert T. Stephan, Atty. Gen., was with him on the brief for appellee.

SIX, Justice:

This felony-murder case concerns the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a conviction of attempted aggravated robbery as the underlying felony and whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant's motion for a mistrial.

Watson Kevin Bradford appeals his convictions of felony murder (K.S.A.1992 Supp. 21-3401[a] and attempted aggravated robbery (K.S.A.1992 Supp. 21-3301 and K.S.A. 21-3427). He asserts that the State failed to prove the underlying felony to establish the corpus delicti for felony murder. Bradford's mistrial motion was based on asserted prejudice resulting from buttons depicting the victim's photo being worn in the courtroom by the victim's family and the appearance of a defense witness who was escorted to court from the jail wearing chains. We have jurisdiction under K.S.A.1992 Supp. 22-3601(b)(1) (direct appeal where a defendant is convicted of a class A felony or if a maximum sentence of life imprisonment is imposed). We find no error and affirm.

Facts

The police responded to a 4:00 a.m. call and found Angela Conard's body lying outside the rear door of the Lansing Pizza Hut where she was employed. Sergeant Smith, who investigated the scene, saw a bloodstain approximately 25 feet north of the back door in the parking lot and scuff marks on the ground. Bradford and the State agree that these scuff marks were consistent with the body being dragged back from the parking lot to the rear door.

Sergeant Smith observed a large amount of blood on the floor inside the Pizza Hut, creating a path to the back door. A stack of bills and two money bags were on the cash register. Angela's purse and car keys were nearby. All doors and windows were secure. No signs of tampering were visible. The back door, which locked automatically, could be opened from the inside by pushing a "panic bar." Clothing, fingerprints, blood samples, an ice pick, and the money were gathered as evidence at the crime scene and sent to the KBI for analysis. None of the fingerprints were identified as Bradford's.

An autopsy was conducted by a forensic pathologist. He determined that death was caused by a gunshot wound to the chest. Additional gunshot wounds were identified in Angela's right arm, chest, buttock, thigh, and left heel. Angela's jaw was fractured.

The State explains that Angela's duties included accounting for and securing the day's receipts. Although Bradford was not employed at the Pizza Hut, he had worked there with Angela between 1988 and 1990. A Pizza Hut employee testified that on two occasions Bradford phoned to order a pizza and began cussing the employee. Angela intercepted the call. Angela told Bradford to quit harassing the employees. According to the employee, Bradford made a harassing call on August 16, three days before Angela's death.

Bradford's father testified that his .22 caliber RG pistol was stolen from the family home in Lansing between August 14 and August 20, 1990, while the family was on vacation. Bradford no longer lived with his father and did not accompany the family on vacation. The pistol and ammunition were the only items taken. Valuables such as money and electronic equipment were not disturbed. Bradford's father told the officer who investigated the burglary that the family members, including Bradford, knew where the pistol was kept and that he believed his son had taken the pistol. At trial, the father testified that he had never spoken to the investigating officers, nor had he voiced speculations to the police concerning the weapon. He testified that only his wife knew where the pistol was kept.

A Kansas Bureau of Investigation firearms examiner explained that the bullets recovered from Angela's body were bullets which would be fired from a .22 caliber weapon. He stated that the manner in which the bullets were damaged was "typical of what we see with R.G.'s." The examiner conceded that a number of other weapon models could not be eliminated as the murder weapon. The State never produced the actual murder weapon.

Bradford was arrested and charged with felony murder and attempted aggravated robbery. At trial, the State introduced Bradford's extrajudicial admissions, including a statement given to the police by Tammy Thompson, Bradford's girlfriend. Tammy described Bradford's confession to the murder and attempted robbery. Tammy recanted the statement at trial. She testified that she had related "gossip," giving the police "what they wanted to hear" in the original statement. Tammy explained that she did so because the police had threatened her, telling her that she "would lose everything, including [her] kids." She said the police had contacted her on several occasions and at odd hours. According to Tammy, Officer Lincoln became her "constant companion."

The State introduced Tammy's three-page signed statement of her police interview, transcribed from the tape recording. Tammy testified that the last two pages were blank when she signed them. The Lansing Chief of Police admitted that Tammy could possibly have signed blank pages but explained that he did not believe that blank page signing had occurred.

The State also called two jailhouse informants to testify. Both of the informants provided a detailed account of Bradford's confession. The content of each statement is essentially the same. Informant Brown testified that Bradford stated he had gone to the Pizza Hut to commit a robbery and had killed Angela. Bradford's admission to Brown occurred in July 1991. Brown did not give a statement to the police until December 1991. Brown testified, however, that he notified the jailer in July. Bradford says that the jailer did not corroborate Brown's claim. Brown was released from jail the day he gave the police his statement. He testified that he was not released because of the statement and that he had never been threatened or promised anything in return for the statement.

Bradford also confessed in a conversation in June 1991 with his cellmate, Todd Gardner. Gardner had been charged with second-degree murder. He was acquitted. After his acquittal, Gardner's attorney contacted the prosecutor in the case at bar. Gardner personally spoke with the prosecutor on the Sunday and Monday before Bradford's trial. Gardner explained that he came forward with Bradford's confession because a woman with kids had been shot. Bradford countered with his testimony that he did not kill Angela and did not know why jail inmates testified that he had confessed to the crime.

Timothy Wright, a cellmate of Bradford's at the Leavenworth County Jail, testified for the defense. Before the direct examination began, defense counsel approached the bench and moved for a mistrial based on the fact that Wright had been escorted into the courtroom in leg and hand chains. Counsel argued that it "makes [Wright] look heinous to be paraded in front of the jury in chains." The trial court, in denying the motion, explained that the "[o]rdinary method of transporting [was] in leg and belly chains. I had no request he be transported in any other manner. If you wish to have his chains removed, we can have them removed now." Defense counsel replied: "A little bit after the fact, Your Honor."

Wright testified that while he has in jail an officer approached him about making a statement against Bradford. According to Wright, the officer promised that if Wright gave a statement he would either receive a reduced sentence or the charges against him would be dropped. Wright stated that he had heard rumors that other inmates had been promised concessions in exchange for their testimony.

Defense counsel also moved for a mistrial based on the fact that Angela's family had been wearing buttons in the courtroom containing Angela's photograph. The trial court denied the motion and directed court personnel to advise those persons wearing the buttons to remove them during further court proceedings.

Corpus...