State v. Cobb

Decision Date28 January 2022
Docket Number123,381
PartiesState of Kansas, Appellee, v. Taimak Lee Cobb, Appellant.
CourtKansas Court of Appeals

State of Kansas, Appellee,
v.
Taimak Lee Cobb, Appellant.

No. 123, 381

Court of Appeals of Kansas

January 28, 2022


NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

Appeal from Leavenworth District Court; Gerald R. Kuckelman, judge

Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Todd Thompson, county attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before Powell, P.J., Atcheson, J., and Richard B. Walker, S.J.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

PER CURIAM

Taimak Lee Cobb was convicted by a jury of felony interference with law enforcement for actions he took while being arrested by Leavenworth Police Department officers on April 23, 2019. Cobb has appealed, asserting the State provided insufficient evidence to convict him of interference with law enforcement and insufficient evidence to classify his interference charge as a felony rather than a misdemeanor. Cobb further asserts that the district court erred in determining his criminal history score. He seeks reversal of his interference conviction and discharge from further prosecution on the matter. After careful review, we find sufficient evidence existed to convict Cobb of

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felony interference with law enforcement and the district court did not err in establishing his criminal history. Thus, we affirm.

Facts

Officer Jasmin Crowder of the Leavenworth Police Department was on duty April 23, 2019, when the department received multiple calls reporting that a woman was pushed out of a moving vehicle. Crowder arrived at the scene and found Ashley Kearney, who was bleeding from her head and had multiple injuries. Kearney told the officer she had gone on a date with Cobb on Sunday, April 21 but that Cobb refused to take her home and held her against her will. Kearney said she tried to leave Cobb's house, but he "found her and told her to get in [his] car." Kearney said she refused, but Cobb "drug her into the car" and began threatening her life. Kearney said she knew Cobb owned a gun and she thought he would kill her, so she jumped out of the car.

After talking with Kearney, Officer Crowder and additional officers went to Cobb's residence in Leavenworth to try to contact him. Officers knocked on Cobb's front door and announced they were with the Leavenworth Police Department. Officer Benjamin Heath testified that officers made initial contact with Cobb through a window, but when Sergeant Ted Glass asked Cobb to go to the front door to speak with the officers about what happened that evening, Cobb refused and told Sergeant Glass to get a search warrant. Officer Crowder then returned to her patrol car to obtain a search warrant, and the remaining officers set up a perimeter around the house.

Officer Heath was stationed at the back of the house. When Cobb exited the back of the house, Heath drew his weapon, announced he was with the Leavenworth Police Department and instructed Cobb to get down. Cobb did not stop and ran to the front of the house. Officer Heath yelled to alert the other officers that Cobb was running to the front and followed Cobb around the side of the house into the front yard.

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Sergeant Glass and Officer Sarah Moreno were at the front of the house and detained Cobb after he entered the front yard. Sergeant Glass and Officer Moreno both had their weapons drawn and Sergeant Glass instructed Cobb to get down. Cobb complied, getting onto the ground, but asked the officers what was happening. Sergeant Glass handcuffed Cobb; then he, Officer Moreno, and Officer Linda Whitelaw escorted Cobb to the front porch.

Sergeant Glass asked Cobb what happened with Kearney earlier that evening. Cobb said he did not know what happened and that Kearney was "drunk and jumped out the car." Sergeant Glass began to read Cobb his Miranda rights, but Cobb interrupted and told the officers to "take [him] in." Sergeant Glass then told Cobb he was under arrest and Cobb asked, "Under arrest for what?" Sergeant Glass and Officers Moreno and Whitelaw began to escort Cobb from the porch to a patrol car in front of the house.

While Cobb remained handcuffed outside the patrol car, Officer Moreno, Sergeant Glass, and Officer Whitelaw searched Cobb before placing him into the car. Officer Whitelaw searched Cobb's right hand, which was holding a set of keys, and instructed Cobb to give her the keys. He refused. A small struggle ensued, and Officer Moreno stepped in and put Cobb's wrist in a "wrist lock" to force him to drop the keys. Officer Moreno testified the keys were a concern because Cobb could use them to harm an officer or escape. Cobb said he could not drop the keys because of how Officer Moreno was twisting his hand. The keys eventually dropped to the ground. Officer Moreno testified she maintained the wrist lock after the keys dropped because Cobb was still "tensing . . . all of his muscles in his arm" and being combative toward her and Officer Whitelaw. Testimony indicated that Cobb tried to remove Officer Moreno's hand from his with his left hand. Cobb then asked why the officers were still "twisting [his] hand"; Officer Heath responded, saying it was because Cobb was not complying. Cobb continued to complain about his hand as the officers completed their search of his person.

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The officers then asked Cobb to get in the patrol car and to stop resisting. Sergeant Glass testified that "muscling and force" had to be used to get Cobb into the patrol car.

Cobb was charged with felony criminal threat and misdemeanor domestic battery against Kearney and felony interference with law enforcement involving Officer Moreno. At the jury trial, Cobb was convicted of felony interference with law enforcement. However, the jury found him not guilty of domestic battery and could not reach a unanimous verdict as to his criminal threat charge. The district court sentenced Cobb to a prison term of 14 months and one year of...

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