State v. Lloyd

• Decision Date: 30 May 2014
• Docket Number: No. 104,392.,104,392.
• Citation: 325 P.3d 1122,299 Kan. 620
• Parties: STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Jonell LLOYD, Appellant.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

299 Kan. 620

325 P.3d 1122

STATE of Kansas, Appellee,

v.Jonell LLOYD, Appellant.

No. 104,392.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

May 30, 2014.

Recognized as Unconstitutional

West's K.S.A. 21–4635

Syllabus by the Court

1. Subject to exclusionary rules, an appellate court reviews the grant or denial of a motion to strike concerning the admission or exclusion of evidence for abuse of discretion.

2. A district court abuses its discretion when: (a) no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the judge; (b) a ruling is based on an error of law; or (c) substantial competent evidence does not support a finding of fact on which the exercise of discretion is based.

3. When sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, an appellate court's standard of review is whether, after reviewing all the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, the reviewing court is convinced a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Appellate courts do not reweigh evidence, resolve evidentiary conflicts, or make determinations regarding witness credibility.

4. Premeditation does not necessarily mean an act is planned, contrived, or schemed beforehand; rather, premeditation indicates a time of reflection or deliberation. Premeditation and deliberation may be inferred from the established circumstances of a case when the inference is reasonable.

5. Factors to consider when determining whether the evidence gives rise to an inference of premeditation include: (a) the nature of the weapon used; (b) lack of provocation; (c) the defendant's conduct before and after the killing; (d) the defendant's threats and declarations before and during the occurrence; and (e) the dealing of lethal blows after the deceased was felled and rendered helpless. But such a determination is not driven simply by the number of factors present because in some cases one factor alone may be compelling evidence of premeditation.

6. Death by manual strangulation can be strong evidence of premeditation because the defendant had an opportunity to deliberate.

7. Under K.S.A. 2009 Supp. 60–455, evidence of other uncharged crimes is admissible only if: (a) the evidence was relevant to prove a material fact; (b) the material fact was disputed; and (c) the probative value of evidence was not substantially outweighed by the risk of undue prejudice. An appellate court reviews a district court's materiality determination de novo. It applies an abuse of discretion standard of review on the existence of probative value and the weighing of that value against the potential for undue prejudice.

8. The statutory procedure for imposing a hard 50 sentence as provided in K.S.A. 21–4635 violates the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution as interpreted in Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 2155, 2160–63, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013), because it permits a judge to find by a preponderance of the evidence the existence of one or more aggravating factors necessary to impose an increased mandatory minimum sentence, rather than requiring a jury to find the existence of the aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt.

Debra J. Wilson, Capital and Conflicts Appellate Defender, argued the cause and was on the briefs for appellant.

Lesley A. Isherwood, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Nola Tedesco Foulston, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were with her on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by BILES, J.:

A jury convicted Jonell Lloyd of first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, and abuse of a 17–month–old child. He appeals his convictions, arguing: (1) reversible error in denying his belated motion to strike a prosecution witness' pretrial statement and trial testimony; (2) insufficient evidence to support premeditated first-degree murder; and (3) reversible error in admitting evidence of another crime contrary to K.S.A. 2009 Supp. 60–455. We affirm his convictions.

Lloyd also challenges his life sentence, claiming the district court erred by imposing a life sentence without possibility of parole for 50 years (hard 50). He contends the hard 50 sentencing procedure set out in K.S.A. 21–4635 is unconstitutional in light of Alleyne v. United States, 570 U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 2151, 186 L.Ed.2d 314 (2013). We agree. See State v. Soto, 299 Kan. 102, Syl. ¶ 9, 322 P.3d 334 (2014) (concluding hard 50 sentencing scheme that permits a judge—rather than a jury—to find aggravating circumstances necessary to impose an increased mandatory minimum sentence violates the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution under Alleyne ).

In Lloyd's case, after conducting an evidentiary hearing on the matter, the trial judge found by a preponderance of evidence two statutory aggravating circumstances to justify increasing Lloyd's mandatory minimum sentence: (1) existence of a prior felony conviction in which the defendant inflicted great bodily harm or disfigurement (K.S.A. 21–4636[a] ); and (2) defendant committed the crime of conviction in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner (K.S.A. 21–4636[f] ). The judge also found the mitigating evidence offered by Lloyd did not outweigh those aggravating circumstances.

Accordingly, we must vacate Lloyd's hard 50 life sentence based on Alleyne and Soto and remand for resentencing.

Factual and Procedural Background

Chavira Brown was 17 months old when she was found dead in the attic of Lloyd's house. She was born to Jessica Jackson, who believed Lloyd was the child's father, so he occasionally watched Chavira. Lloyd lived with his girlfriend, Tameika Loudermilk, and their 8–month–old son.

As Jackson testified at trial, Lloyd left her a voicemail message on July 31, 2008, saying he had lost Chavira at a city park. Jackson and her sister went to Lloyd's house, where he explained he had taken Chavira and his son to the park but lost her while changing the boy's diaper. Lloyd would later admit he fabricated this explanation. He later testified he lost Chavira at his house but did not want to say so because he sold drugs there. Jackson testified Lloyd asked the two women not to call the police because he had outstanding arrest warrants. Jackson's sister, however, reported the child missing, and then the two women went to the park to look for Chavira. Lloyd admits he left the house.

When Jackson arrived at the park about 8 p.m., police officers were already there. After speaking with her, an officer drove Jackson to Lloyd's house, where the officer talked with Loudermilk, who initially denied knowing Lloyd. But after another person told officers Lloyd lived there, Loudermilk admitted Lloyd had been at the house, but she did not know his whereabouts and had not seen Chavira recently. Police arrested Loudermilk for obstruction and took her into custody, which led to a series of interviews at the police station that began after midnight. Loudermilk's statements to investigators and her trial testimony were central to the investigation and prosecution and play prominently in the conviction-related issues on appeal.

Detective Brian Hightower first interviewed Loudermilk. She initially repeated that she did not know Chavira's whereabouts, but she did describe how Lloyd had shouted at Chavira because she wet herself. At 2:53 a.m., Officer Michael John Nagy took over the interview and admits he was “pretty rough” in his questioning in order to get Loudermilk to tell where Chavira was. Nagy was aware Loudermilk's infant son was in protective custody after her arrest, so he told Loudermilk he would help get her son back from protective custody if she cooperated. He also told her she would “be in a world of hurt” if she did not help locate Chavira. But Loudermilk offered no additional information. Nagy then changed tactics.

Nagy told Loudermilk she would go to jail for a long time if something bad happened to Chavira; and, if that happened, her son would go into “the system” and she would be unable to see him. Toward the end of this interview, Nagy told Loudermilk he was going to get the truth from another witness who had talked to Lloyd and knew what happened. Nagy told her to think about whether charging her with murder was fair to her and her son. He then left the room and Detective Lennie Rose entered. At around 4:45 a.m., Loudermilk made statements incriminating Lloyd—most critically, she said she thought Chavira was in the attic of the house.

Officers secured a search warrant and discovered in the attic what they initially described as a black bag, which was actually a sofa cushion cover filled with three black plastic trash bags, one bag inside the other, and “knotted, tied.” The innermost bag contained Chavira's body.

The State charged Lloyd alternatively with first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder with the underlying felony of child abuse. It also charged him with child abuse.

At trial, Loudermilk testified as a State witness. She said she was at home the day Chavira died and mainly stayed in her bedroom. She said she saw Lloyd in the living room hitting Chavira with a belt for about 20 minutes because the child had wet herself. Loudermilk did nothing to stop him. She said she walked through the living room later and saw Lloyd with his hand around the backside of Chavira's neck and heard her crying. Loudermilk returned to the bedroom, leaving the door partially open. She continued to hear Chavira crying. Loudermilk said she heard Chavira making noise for 10 to 15 minutes, as if Chavira could hardly breathe.

Loudermilk said Lloyd then carried Chavira to the den at the back of the house. She said she did not know but thought Chavira was dead. Lloyd returned to the front of the house without Chavira, took trash bags from under the kitchen sink, and then went to Loudermilk's room, took her phone, and went back to the kitchen to make a call. Loudermilk said Lloyd paced back and forth...