State v. Mays, No. 87,519

• Decision Date: 19 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 87,519
• Citation: 85 P.3d 1208,277 Kan. 359
• Parties: STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. SHAWNDELL MAYS, Appellant.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

277 Kan. 359

85 P.3d 1208

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. SHAWNDELL MAYS, Appellant.

No. 87,519

Supreme Court of Kansas.

Opinion filed March 19, 2004.

Michael G. Highland, of Bonner Springs, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant. Shawndell Mays, appellant, was on a supplemental brief pro se.

Jerome A. Gorman, assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Nick A. Tomasic, district attorney, and Phill Kline, attorney general, were with him on the brief for appellee.

The opinion was delivered by

LUCKERT, J.:

Shawndell Mays appeals from his convictions and sentences for two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a firearm by a juvenile, and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Mays was sentenced to a controlling term of two consecutive life sentences.

On direct appeal to this court, Mays raises eight issues in his brief filed by counsel: (1) Was the juvenile court's decision to authorize prosecution as an adult supported by substantial evidence? (2) Did the juvenile court proceeding used to authorize prosecution as an adult violate Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 147 L.Ed.2d 435, 120 S.Ct. 2348 (2000), and State v. Gould, 271 Kan. 394, 23 P.3d 801 (2001)? (3) Did the delay between Mays' arrest and preliminary hearing violate his right to a speedy trial? (4) Did the more than 8-month delay between Mays' arraignment and trial violate his right to a speedy trial? (5) Did the trial court err in failing to suppress evidence of Mays' statement to police because Mays was incompetent to waive his Miranda rights? (6) Did the doctor's testimony regarding the proximate cause of a victim's death negate a necessary element of Mays' conviction of first-degree murder? (7) Did the trial court err in instructing the jury? and (8) Did cumulative error deny Mays a fair trial? In his supplemental brief filed pro se, Mays raises four issues: (1) Did the trial court err in denying Mays' motion for severance? (2) Did the trial court err in denying Mays' motion to suppress his statement to police? (3) Did the trial court err in admitting into evidence the codefendants' redacted statements? and (4) Did the trial court err in admitting a codefendant's statement because it was inadmissible as to Mays and violated his right to confront witnesses?

We affirm his convictions and sentences.

This case involved two separate drive-by shootings in January 2000. The first occurred on the night of January 24, 2000. According to the testimony of Marcus Quinn, he and Joseph Morton were sitting and talking in a car parked in an empty lot across the street from Quinn's home near 20th Street and Longwood in Kansas City, Kansas. While sitting there, Quinn saw a red truck. About 30 minutes later, Quinn saw the same red truck followed by a car. This time the truck stopped and its occupants shot multiple times at the Chevrolet Caprice in which Morton and Quinn were sitting. Quinn testified that the right side of his head was grazed, but he was not seriously injured. Morton ran away from the scene, but later died at a hospital. The second shooting occurred on the afternoon of January 26, 2000. Christopher Union and Lee Brooks were driving a white pickup truck near 30th and Spring when gunshots were fired at the truck. Both Brooks and Union were injured; Union died from his injuries.

The police investigation of the two shooting incidents eventually led to the custodial interrogations of Michael White, Shawndell Mays, Keith Mays, Peter Davis, and Carvell England on January 27, 2000. (Shawndell Mays will be referred to throughout this opinion as Mays; Keith Mays will be referred to by first and last name.) All of them talked to the investigators, describing the events of the two shootings to various degrees, with Mays and White admitting to firing shots during both incidents and all of them admitting to being a witness to one or both occurrences. Mays was 16 years old at the time of the shootings; he turned age 17 on January 29, 3 days after the second shooting.

In the same information, the State charged White, Mays, Davis, Keith Mays, and England with various charges relating to the shootings on January 24, January 26, or both. Three of the codefendants, including Mays, were juveniles. The court authorized the State to prosecute the three as adults pursuant to K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2). The five codefendants'joint trial lasted nearly 3 weeks, during which 39 witnesses testified. The redacted statements of each of the five codefendants were played for the jury over defense counsels' objections. Generally, all of the codefendants denied the allegations and, through cross-examination of the State's witnesses, sought to create reasonable doubt. Each codefendant also generally relied upon a self-defense theory.

The jury convicted Mays of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a firearm by a juvenile, and one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The jury also convicted Davis and White of various charges but acquitted Keith Mays and England of all charges.

This court affirmed the convictions of two codefendants in State v. White, 275 Kan. 580, 67 P.3d 138 (2003), and State v. Davis, 277 Kan. 231, 83 P.3d 182 (2004).

Was the Juvenile Court's Decision to Authorize Prosecution as an Adult Supported by Substantial Evidence?

In stating his first issue on appeal, Mays recognizes that an appellate court reviews the district court's decision to allow the State to prosecute a juvenile as an adult to determine if the decision is supported by substantial evidence. State v. Jones, 273 Kan. 756, Syl. ¶ 2, 47 P.3d 783, cert. denied 537 U.S. 980 (2002). As we explained in Jones:

"Substantial evidence is evidence which possesses both relevance and substance and which furnishes a substantial basis of fact from which the issues can reasonably be resolved. It is not for this court to reweigh the evidence, substitute its evaluation of the evidence for that of the trial court, or pass upon the credibility of the witnesses." 273 Kan. 756, Syl. ¶ 2.

Our review of whether there was substantial competent evidence to support the district court's decision must be based upon the standards and procedures delineated in K.S.A. 38-1636 which, in turn, governed the district court's consideration of the State's motion to prosecute Mays as an adult. A court considering or reviewing such a motion must determine which statutory presumption created by K.S.A. 38-1636(a) applies. K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(1) provides that the "respondent shall be presumed to be a juvenile unless good cause is shown to prosecute the respondent as an adult." However, if the exceptions specified in K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2) apply, the "respondent shall be presumed to be an adult." In this case, the district court correctly found that both exceptions applied to the prosecution of Mays. First, because Mays was "14, 15, 16 or 17 years of age at the time of the offense or offenses alleged in the complaint" and the charged offenses were crimes which, "if committed by an adult, would constitute" offgrid or person felonies, the exception stated in K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2)(A)(i) applied. Second, because Mays was "14, 15, 16 or 17 years of age at the time of the offense or offenses alleged in the complaint" and the crime was "committed while in possession of a firearm," the exception stated in K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2)(A)(ii) applied.

Because there was a presumption that Mays was an adult, the burden of proof was upon Mays to rebut the presumption. K.S.A. 38-1636(a)(2).

Even where the presumption is that the accused is an adult, the factors listed in K.S.A. 38-1636(e) must be considered. State v. Medrano, 271 Kan. 504, 507, 23 P.3d 836 (2001). Those factors are:

"(1) The seriousness of the alleged offense and whether the protection of the community requires prosecution as an adult or designating the proceeding as an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution; (2) whether the alleged offense was committed in an aggressive, violent, premeditated or willful manner; (3) whether the offense was against a person or against property. Greater weight shall be given to offenses against persons, especially if personal injury resulted; (4) the number of alleged offenses unadjudicated and pending against the respondent; (5) the previous history of the respondent, including whether the respondent had been adjudicated a juvenile offender under this code and, if so, whether the offenses were against persons or property, and any other previous history of antisocial behavior or patterns of physical violence; (6) the sophistication or maturity of the respondent as determined by consideration of the respondent's home, environment, emotional attitude, pattern of living or desire to be treated as an adult; (7) whether there are facilities or programs available to the court which are likely to rehabilitate the respondent prior to the expiration of the court's jurisdiction under this code; and (8) whether the interests of the respondent or of the community would be better served by criminal prosecution or extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution." K.S.A. 38-1636(e).

At the hearing, after the judge announced that the burden was on Mays and the two other juveniles to show why they should not be prosecuted as adults, Mays and the other juveniles presented evidence. Mays' mother testified that he had experienced difficulty in coping with the shooting death of a 10-year-old cousin which he had witnessed. She indicated his family was unable to obtain counseling or other assistance for Mays other than what those programs provided at a neighborhood center. Jean Bridgewater, the center's minister and director, testified that Mays was a "fairly decent kid" and a follower, and "we could have an effect on him and work with him." Additionally, evidence was presented...