State v. Hughes
| Decision Date | 22 August 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 95,256.,95,256. |
| Citation | 191 P.3d 268 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Jason Cole HUGHES, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Randall L. Hodgkinson, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause and was on the briefs for the appellant.
Amy L. Aranda, assistant county attorney, argued the cause, and Mark Goodman, county attorney, and Paul J. Morrison, attorney general, were on the brief for the appellee.
Jason Cole Hughes appeals his convictions for felony murder and aggravated burglary. Hughes contends the district court erroneously admitted evidence in violation of his constitutional rights and the rules of evidence. This court concludes that prejudicial error occurred in the course of the trial, and the case is remanded for retrial.
Hughes and Marcy Carapezza were charged as codefendants with the homicide of Mary Clark. They were tried separately, and both were convicted and have appealed their convictions. Because the facts are the same for both cases, we are not repeating all the facts in this opinion. For a detailed statement of the facts, see the companion case of State v. Carapezza, ___ Kan. ___, 191 P.3d 256, this day decided.
Clark was murdered in May 2004. In July 2004, Hughes testified before an inquisition into Clark's death under a grant of immunity. He was later arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder or, in the alternative, felony murder; aggravated burglary; aggravated robbery; and misdemeanor theft. The State presented a theory that Hughes and his codefendants robbed and killed Clark to fuel their crack cocaine addictions. With no physical evidence connecting Hughes with the crime scene, the State relied on testimony from Mollie Paico, one of Hughes' codefendants. Paico testified that she had seen Hughes standing over Clark with a hammer. The State also presented testimony from two of Carapezza's cellmates, revealing that Carapezza admitted to participating in Clark's robbery and murder. The State presented additional testimony from several of Hughes' associates in the crack community, who testified about Hughes', Carapezza's, and Paico's use of crack cocaine. In order to establish drug use as the motive for Clark's murder, the State presented testimony from Dr. Eljorn Don Nelson, an expert on drug addiction, regarding the use of crack cocaine, the effects of using crack cocaine, and the behaviors associated with addiction to crack cocaine.
Although the jury found Hughes guilty of felony murder and aggravated burglary, it acquitted him of aggravated robbery and misdemeanor theft. The district court sentenced Hughes to serve life in prison for felony murder and 32 months for aggravated burglary. The district court ordered the aggravated burglary sentence to run consecutive to Hughes' life sentence. Hughes now appeals his convictions directly to this court pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3601(b)(1).
Hughes asserts that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation by admitting Carapezza's hearsay statements she made to police officers and her cellmates. The State subpoenaed Carapezza to testify at Hughes' trial after she was convicted of felony murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, and theft in Clark's death. Carapezza appeared at trial outside the presence of the jury and invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. In response, the State gave her use and derivative-use immunity, and the district court ordered Carapezza to testify. Carapezza still refused to testify, and the district court found her in direct contempt and ordered her to remain in the Lyon County jail until she testified or until the end of her life. She continued her refusal to testify until the jury had begun its deliberations, when she informed jail staff that she was willing to testify. Carapezza then told Hughes' counsel that her testimony would aid Hughes. Upon receiving that information, the State withdrew its grant of immunity, and the district court withdrew both the order to testify and the contempt citation. Hughes' counsel was given an opportunity to interview Carapezza regarding her possible testimony but apparently elected not to call Carapezza as a witness. The State likewise elected not to reopen its case to include Carapezza's testimony.
The Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause requires that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to be confronted with the witnesses against him." When hearsay statements are testimonial, they may be admitted in accordance with the Confrontation Clause only if the declarant was unavailable at trial and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 59, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004); State v. Henderson, 284 Kan. 267, 277, 160 P.3d 776 (2007). Whether a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confrontation has been violated is a question of law subject to de novo review. 284 Kan. at 276, 160 P.3d 776.
Hughes contends that Carapezza's statements to police officers and her cellmates were testimonial. The Crawford court defined testimonial statements to include Crawford, 541 U.S. at 52, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Statements made by a witness to a police officer during an interview conducted as part of an investigation are testimonial. State v. Lackey, 280 Kan. 190, 201, 120 P.3d 332 (2005), cert. denied 547 U.S. 1056, 126 S.Ct. 1653, 164 L.Ed.2d 399 (2006). We have not, however, determined whether a codefendant's confession to a cellmate or another accomplice is testimonial in nature.
Statements to police officers
Hughes first argues that the district court erred when it allowed Detective Schondelmaier to testify regarding statements that Carapezza made during an interview with him. Hughes specifically objects to the following portion of Detective Schondelmaier's testimony:
Hughes correctly asserts and the State concedes that Carapezza's statements to Detective Schondelmaier were testimonial and admitted in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation. Such a violation is subject to a constitutional harmless error analysis, however, which requires us to declare beyond a reasonable doubt that the error had little, if any, likelihood of changing the result of the trial. Henderson, 284 Kan. at 294, 160 P.3d 776. In this case, the admission of the preceding statements did not affect any material issues. Hughes argues that the statements "were critical connecting pieces for the State's case against [Hughes]." This argument overstates, however, the importance of the limited testimony given. A substantial amount of testimony linked Paico, Carapezza, and Hughes. We therefore conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the erroneous admission of these statements had little, if any, likelihood of changing the result of Hughes' trial.
Statements to others
Hughes relies on dicta from Crawford for his assertion that jailhouse confessions are testimonial. The Crawford Court referred to the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh as a notorious example of convicting a defendant without allowing the defendant to confront the witnesses against him. Sir Walter Raleigh's alleged accomplice had implicated Raleigh during an examination by the Privy Council and in a letter. The Crawford Court criticized the trial, stating that it "has long been thought a paradigmatic confrontation violation." 541 U.S. at 52, 124 S.Ct. 1354. Hughes takes this quotation from Crawford and applies it out of context to an accomplice's confession. The accomplice confession at issue in Sir Walter Raleigh's trial was directly to the Privy Council, rather than indirectly through a jail cellmate.
Hughes also cites Lilly v. Virginia, 527 U.S. 116, 119 S.Ct. 1887, 144 L.Ed.2d 117 (1999) (); White v. Illinois, 502 U.S. 346, 112 S.Ct. 736, 116 L.Ed.2d 848 (1992) (); and California v. Green, 399 U.S. 149, 90 S.Ct. 1930, 26 L.Ed.2d 489 (1970) (). All of these cases were decided before Crawford and none of them are factually on point. We consequently do not find them helpful in analyzing this issue.
Hughes additionally cites State v. Mechling, 219 W.Va. 366, 633 S.E.2d 311 (2006), State v. Calliham, 55 P.3d 573 (Utah 2002), and Commonwealth v. Robins, 571 Pa. 248, 812 A.2d 514 (2002). Mechling involves the admission of a victim's statements to law enforcement officers and a neighbor. The Mechling court held that the victim's statements to law enforcement officers were testimonial, and their admission violated the defendant's right to confrontation. However, the Mechling court did not specifically rule that the victim's statements to a neighbor were...
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