State v. Kaiser
| Decision Date | 07 June 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 73166,73166 |
| Citation | 918 P.2d 629,260 Kan. 235 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Joshua Brandon KAISER, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, an appellate court's standard of review is whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the court is convinced that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
2. To be convicted as an aider and abettor, the law requires that the accused knowingly associated with the unlawful venture and participated in a way which indicated that such person was furthering the success of the venture.
3. All crimes in Kansas are statutory. K.S.A. 21-3102. In addition to statutorily defining the crimes, the legislature has set out the principles of criminal liability and specified the defenses to criminal liability. K.S.A. 21-3201 et seq. The specific defenses to criminal liability are not guilty; intoxication, K.S.A. 21-3208; compulsion, K.S.A. 21-3209; entrapment, K.S.A. 21-3210; and the use of force in defense of a person, dwelling, and property other than a dwelling. K.S.A. 21-3211, K.S.A. 21-3212, and K.S.A. 21-3213.
4. The procedure to question the validity of a jury verdict is statutory. K.S.A. 60-444(a) states that a juror is not exempt "from testifying as a witness to conditions or occurrences either within or outside of the jury room having a material bearing on the validity of the verdict ..., except as expressly 5. The court may authorize prosecution as an adult of a juvenile who is 16 years old at the time of the offense if there is substantial evidence that the juvenile should be prosecuted as an adult. K.S.A. 38-1636(f)(3). K.S.A. 38-1636(e) sets forth eight factors which shall be considered in determining whether a juvenile should be prosecuted as an adult. The insufficiency of evidence pertaining to any one or more of the factors listed in K.S.A.38-1636(e) shall not in and of itself be determinative of the issue.
limited by K.S.A. 60-441." K.S.A. 60-441 prohibits testimony concerning the mental processes of the jury: "Upon an inquiry as to the validity of a verdict ... no evidence shall be received to show the effect of any statement, conduct, event or condition upon the mind of a juror as influencing him or her to assent to or dissent from the verdict ... or concerning the mental processes by which it was determined."
6. When an expert witness is required to specify the data upon which the expert opinion is based, and that data includes statements made by a criminal defendant during a psychiatric evaluation or information from other sources, the information from the defendant or other sources is not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted and thus is not hearsay.
7. It is the well-established law in Kansas that multiple convictions and punishments for both felony murder and the underlying felony are not a violation of double jeopardy.
Jessica R. Kunen, Chief Appellate Defender, argued the cause and was on the brief, for appellant.
Michelle V. Hostetler, Assistant District Attorney, argued the cause, and Joan M. Hamilton, District Attorney, and Carla J. Stovall, Attorney General, were with her on the brief, for appellee.
Defendant Joshua Kaiser appeals from his convictions for first-degree felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and unlawful use of a weapon. Defendant claims (1) insufficiency of evidence; (2) error in jury instructions; (3) juror misconduct; (4) improper certification for prosecution as an adult; and (5) double jeopardy.
Kaiser, who was 17 years old at the time, was charged with aiding and abetting Jason Schaeffer in several offenses culminating in the shooting death of Tim Riley. The facts are largely undisputed and are based primarily on defendant's statements to the police and the testimony of a witness.
Kaiser and Schaeffer were AWOL from a juvenile drug and alcohol treatment facility. During the early morning hours of March 1, 1993, Kaiser and Schaeffer left the house of a friend, T.J. Solis. In his statements to the police, Kaiser admitted that he and Schaeffer, who had an unloaded sawed-off .410 shotgun and two shells, left Solis' house to steal a vehicle. Around 3 a.m. they observed Tim Riley start his car and then return to his house. Kaiser suggested they steal the car. Because Schaeffer was concerned Riley would call the police to report the car stolen, Schaeffer decided they should wait for Riley to return and take him hostage. As they waited, Kaiser stated, he informed Schaeffer that he did not want to do it. As Kaiser started walking away, Riley came out of the house. Kaiser looked back and heard Schaeffer "cock" the gun and tell Riley that his friend had a .45 pistol. Riley was forced into the driver's seat. As Kaiser continued to walk away, the car pulled up and Schaeffer told him to get into the front seat of the car. Schaeffer forced Riley into the trunk of the car, and Riley asked them to take care of the car.
Solis became aware they had returned to his house when Kaiser threw snowballs against a window. Solis went outside. Kaiser was sitting in the passenger seat of a car, and Schaeffer was in the driver's seat. A shotgun that a friend had left at Solis' house several days earlier was on the back seat. Schaeffer told Solis they had "jacked" a guy. Solis understood that to mean a carjacking. Schaeffer informed Solis that the owner of the car was in the trunk. Because Solis was skeptical, Schaeffer said toward the back of Five minutes after Schaeffer and Kaiser departed, Solis called the police and spoke to an officer. Solis told the officer that a person was in the trunk of a car. He gave the officer the make of the car and the license number. He informed the officer that Schaeffer and Kaiser would return to his house to pick up clothes that they had left at his house.
the car, "Are you all right back there, sir?" Solis was surprised by a voice responding from the trunk, "Yeah, I'm all right." Schaeffer told Solis to get into the car, but Solis declined. Schaeffer drove away with Kaiser in the passenger seat and Riley in the trunk
After leaving Solis' house, Schaeffer and Kaiser drove to the country. Schaeffer suggested to Kaiser that they kill Riley. Kaiser said he told Schaeffer he was not killing anyone and requested Schaeffer to drop him off and allow him to walk home. Kaiser said he later told Schaeffer not to kill Riley or he would get the hard 40, but Schaeffer ignored him. Schaeffer stopped the car, let Riley out of the trunk, and told Riley to stand near a fence post with his back to him. Kaiser said he remained in the car with the window open, smoking a cigarette. Schaeffer asked Riley how the ride was, and Riley replied that it was a little bumpy. Schaeffer then shot Riley in the back of the head. After the shooting, Kaiser exited the car and walked to the body. Kaiser observed blood coming from Riley's mouth and head. Schaeffer took Riley's watch and ring. Kaiser indicated he felt sad and was in a daze.
Later, Solis again heard Kaiser throwing snowballs against a window. Solis notified the police by telephone that Schaeffer and Kaiser had returned. Solis met Kaiser at the back door of the house. Kaiser asked for clothes he and Schaeffer had left at the house, and Solis retrieved the clothes. Nothing was said about the man in the trunk of the car. Solis said that either Schaeffer or Kaiser told him that they were leaving for Texas. After Schaeffer and Kaiser drove away, Solis again telephoned the police.
The police located the car and a chase ensued, ending when the car crashed into a tree. After a foot chase, Kaiser and Schaeffer were apprehended hiding in a car several blocks from the scene of the crash. Kaiser gave audiotaped and videotaped statements. Kaiser stated to the police, "It was me or him [Riley], or both of us." Kaiser did not inform the police that they had stopped at Solis' house before taking Riley into the country. Kaiser later admitted that they had stopped at Solis' house after Schaeffer killed Riley. Kaiser indicated to the police that Schaeffer was acting crazy. After giving the statements Kaiser directed the police to a field where Riley's body was found. Riley had died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head fired from a distance of less than 4 feet.
The State's motion to waive juvenile jurisdiction was granted, and Kaiser was tried as an adult. The jury convicted Kaiser of unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated robbery, aggravated kidnapping, and felony murder based on the underlying crime of aggravated robbery. Kaiser was sentenced to life (murder), life (aggravated kidnapping), 15 years to life (aggravated robbery), and 1 to 5 years (unlawful use of a weapon). All sentences were imposed concurrently except the 15 to life sentence for aggravated robbery. Kaiser appeals.
The defendant's first claim is that there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions because the State's evidence was that he was not involved in the crimes, but merely was present, and he was not an aider and abettor. He further claims the conviction was improperly based on speculation, conjecture, and suspicion. Because each claim is based on sufficiency of the evidence, we will analyze each claim separately and then review the evidence.
When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, an appellate court's standard of review is whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the court is convinced that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Timley, 255 Kan. 286, Syl. p 13, 875 P.2d 242 (1994).
This court will not reweigh the evidence; rather, it looks only to the evidence which...
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State v. Jackson
...as an aider and abettor to murder. Kansas does not recognize the defense of withdrawal from aiding and abetting. State v. Kaiser, 260 Kan. 235, 248-49, 918 P.2d 629 (1996). Although Jackson asks us to overturn Kaiser, he fails to argue any reason for reversing that decision. We have reaffir......
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State v. Speed
...withdrawal is a defense to a charge of conspiracy, it is not a defense to a charge of aiding and abetting. See State v. Kaiser, 260 Kan. 235, 247-49, 918 P.2d 629 (1996). As a result, the district court did not err in failing to instruct on withdrawal as a defense to aiding and The defendan......
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State v. Cook
...impeach the verdict by showing the mental processes by which the verdict was reached." 264 Kan. at 504, 958 P.2d 611. State v. Kaiser, 260 Kan. 235, 918 P.2d 629 (1996), also illustrates the operation of the two statutes. Kaiser filed a motion for new trial based on the affidavit of a juror......
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State v. Smallwood
...for both felony murder and certain underlying felonies have been determined not to be violations of double jeopardy. See, e.g., State v. Kaiser, 260 Kan. 235, Syl. p 7, 918 P.2d 629 (1996) (aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery); State v. Johnson, 258 Kan. 475, 905 P.2d 94 (1995) (ag......
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On the Admissibility of Expert Testimony in Kansas
...able to rely on inadmissible testimony appears to be dictum, because the court held that the material involved was not hearsay. [FN74]. 260 Kan. 235, 260, 918 P.2d 629, 645 (1996). [FN75]. Id. at 260, 918 P.2d at 645. [FN76]. Id. at 254, 918 P.2d at 642. [FN77]. 252 kan. 494, 500-01, 847 P.......
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Appellate Decisions
...hung jury, and (3) failure to inquire into accuracy of jury's verdict HELD: Under State v. Cook, 281 Kan. 961 (2006), and State v. Kaiser, 260 Kan. 235 (1996), evidence of what other jurors said can be considered under K.S.A. 60-444(a). Johnson's analogy to evidence of prior bad acts under ......