State v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 15 April 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 69645,69645 |
| Citation | 255 Kan. 140,871 P.2d 1246 |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Richard P. JOHNSON, Appellant. |
Syllabus by the Court
1. When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, the standard of review on appeal 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 the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
2. The notice provisions of K.S.A.1993 Supp. 21-4624, the first-degree murder "hard-40" sentencing statute, are mandatory. Failure of the State to comply with such provisions requires a sentence imposed thereunder to be vacated.
3. If, during custodial interrogation, the accused invokes the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, the accused is not subject to further interrogation absent counsel being made available unless further communications, conversations, or interrogation is initiated by the accused.
4. The record is examined and it is held that there is sufficient evidence to support the convictions of aggravated robbery and felony theft, and the district court did not err in (1) limiting defendant's cross-examination, (2) admitting into evidence the defendant's statement, (3) permitting testimony of the victim's contemporaneous statements, and (4) admitting into evidence the amount of money the victim had in her possession three days prior to her murder. It is further held that the district court erred in sentencing the defendant pursuant to K.S.A.1993 Supp. 21-4624.
Gary W. Long, II, Kansas City, argued the cause and was on the brief, for appellant.
Larry C. Hoffman, Asst. Dist. Atty., argued the cause, and Nick A. Tomasic, Dist. Atty., and Robert T. Stephan, Atty. Gen., were with him on the brief, for appellee.
Richard P. Johnson appeals his convictions by a jury of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and felony theft. He also appeals from the imposition of a mandatory term of imprisonment pursuant to K.S.A.1993 Supp. 21-4624.
Richard Johnson was convicted of murdering Kina Caldwell. On January 9, 1992, Johnson was living with Caldwell and her two young children in a duplex. Johnson described Caldwell as his "very dear friend," like a sister, and explained that they had separate sleeping quarters. He had been released from prison in December 1991 and had been living with Caldwell approximately two weeks.
Caldwell was found dead in her living room the morning of January 10, 1992. She had bled to death from 27 knife wounds.
Fanny Crafton lived in the other half of the duplex with Caldwell. After arriving home about 10:00 p.m. on January 9, 1992, Crafton talked on the telephone for several hours. While on the telephone, she heard Caldwell scream. Crafton testified that Caldwell was upstairs when she first screamed, and then Crafton heard a loud noise as something hit the common wall along the stairway. Crafton heard Caldwell say, "Oh, God help me," and "Richard, why you doing this to me?" and then she heard Caldwell fall down the stairs. She heard someone else go down the stairs and a male voice calling someone a "bitch." Again Caldwell asked, "Why you doing this to me?" and then her voice faded away. After the noise subsided, Crafton went to sleep.
Kenesha, Caldwell's six-year-old daughter, testified that she had been sleeping in the room with her mother that night. When Kenesha woke up during the night, her mother was not there and there was blood on the light switch. Kenesha went downstairs and found her mother on the floor. It was still dark. Kenesha went to a neighbor's house. She did not see her mother's car at that time.
Officer Brandon arrived at Caldwell's apartment shortly after 5:00 a.m. the morning of January 10, 1992. Caldwell was lying dead on the floor of the living room, and the floor was covered with blood. There was blood throughout the apartment. Caldwell's car was missing. Crafton testified that the car had been parked in front of Caldwell's apartment when she arrived home the night of January 9.
Several people who were at the residence of Chris Charles the night of January 9 testified that Johnson arrived there at approximately 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. Johnson had blood and scratches all over him. Caldwell's car was parked in front of Charles' residence when Johnson was there, and Johnson was seen driving her car that night.
Charles testified that Johnson told him that he had killed someone that night. Johnson asked Charles' brother, Raymond, if he knew where he could get a gun. Johnson was told to "chill out," and he asked Lance Williams to dig in Johnson's pocket for his cigarettes. Williams pulled some folded $20 bills out of Johnson's pocket along with his cigarettes. The money had blood on it. Williams guessed that there was $300 in $20 bills in a wad in Johnson's pocket. Charles described it as "a pretty nice sum of money."
Caldwell's car was found by the police the following day. The car was a 1982 model Toyota, which Caldwell had purchased for $1,100 with the income tax refund she received in 1991.
A black jacket was found in the car. It had a small purse with Caldwell's identification cards in the pocket. Caldwell's mother testified that Caldwell usually kept her money in a small leather pouch in her black jacket and that she had $200 in the pouch on January 6. Kenesha testified that her mother usually kept her billfold in her jacket.
Johnson raises numerous issues on appeal. He contends there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions of aggravated robbery and felony theft. He alleges the trial court erred in limiting his cross-examination of several witnesses, failing to suppress his statement, admitting into evidence Fanny Crafton's statement and evidence of the money the victim possessed prior to her death, and finding the State complied with the provisions of K.S.A.1993 Supp. 21-4624(1).
We first consider if the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction of aggravated robbery. With regard to the sufficiency of the evidence, this court has stated:
State v. Evans, 251 Kan. 132, Syl. p 1, 834 P.2d 335 (1992).
Johnson contends that the State failed to show that he ever exercised control over Caldwell's money, wallet, or jacket and failed to show that "any of the property was present on the person of Kina Caldwell on January 9, 1992."
The State was required to prove:
(1) that Johnson intentionally took property from the presence of Caldwell;
(2) that the taking was by force; and
(3) that Johnson inflicted bodily harm on Caldwell in the course of such conduct. PIK Crim.3d 56.31.
The evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was that Caldwell bled to death from knife wounds. On the night of her murder, Johnson was scratched and covered with blood, he was driving her car, and he had a wad of bloody money. Caldwell customarily kept her money in a small purse in her jacket pocket. When her car was found the day following her death, Caldwell's jacket and empty purse were found in it. From this evidence, a rational factfinder could have found Johnson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of aggravated robbery.
Johnson next contends that the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction of felony theft. K.S.A. 21-3701, which was in effect at the time of Caldwell's murder, provided that theft could be a misdemeanor or a felony offense depending on the value of the property involved. "Theft of property of the value of at least $500 but less than $50,000 is a class E felony." K.S.A. 21-3701.
Johnson argues that the State failed to establish the value of Caldwell's car at the time it was taken. He concedes that the State showed that Caldwell had paid $1,100 for the car approximately one year earlier, and he concedes that evidence of the purchase price of property generally may be used to establish value. He argues, however, that in the intervening year Caldwell's car was damaged in an accident and that there was no evidence of the value of the car at the time it was taken or of the diminution in value from which the jury could compute the January 1992 value.
Johnson relied on the testimony of Crafton to support his argument. On cross-examination of Crafton, the following questions were asked and answered:
From Crafton's testimony, the jurors knew that a taillight of the car had been damaged since Caldwell bought it. In its brief, the State asserts that it introduced nine pictures of the car which gave the jurors "a clear picture" of the car's condition at the time it was taken.
The evidence consists of testimony that the 1982 Toyota had been purchased approximately one year earlier for $1,100 and that there was damage to the rear end, probably confined to a taillight. In addition, there were pictures reflecting the condition of the car, although none showed the damage to the taillight. Johnson cites State v. Towner, 202 Kan. 25, 446 P.2d 719 (1968), as a case in which this...
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