State v. Mitchell

• Decision Date: 28 March 2008
• Docket Number: No. 98,512.,98,512.
• Citation: 179 P.3d 394
• Parties: STATE of Kansas, Appellant, v. Mario Larenzo MITCHELL, Appellee.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

179 P.3d 394

STATE of Kansas, Appellant, v. Mario Larenzo MITCHELL, Appellee.

No. 98,512.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

March 28, 2008.

Edmond D. Brancart, deputy district attorney, argued the cause, and Jerome A. Gorman, district attorney, and Paul J. Morrison, attorney general, were with him on the brief for appellant.

William P. Mahoney, of Kansas City, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellee.

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

The State brings an interlocutory appeal in this criminal proceeding, questioning the district court's decision regarding a stipulation to a prior offense. The prior offense was a necessary element to establish that defendant Mario Larenzo Mitchell illegally possessed a firearm in violation of K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(2).

Mitchell was charged with one count of first-degree, premeditated murder or, in the alternative, one count of felony murder based on the underlying felony of aggravated assault; two counts of aggravated assault; and one count of unlawfully possessing a firearm for acts that occurred on or about January 8, 2005. At his first trial in September 2005, Mitchell stipulated that he had previously been adjudicated as a juvenile offender for discharging a firearm at an occupied vehicle. The district court determined that the jury was unduly prejudiced by the stipulation and ordered a mistrial on September 15, 2005.

Mitchell was shot the same day the district court declared a mistrial. As a result of his injuries, Mitchell waived his right to a speedy trial and continued his trial date until March 26, 2007.

Jury selection began on March 26, 2007, as scheduled. On March 27, 2007, the district court held a hearing to finalize the stipulation for Mitchell's status as a prior offender prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm. Mitchell offered to stipulate that he had been adjudicated a juvenile offender in Wyandotte County District Court in April 2004 and that this adjudication prohibited him from owning or possessing a firearm on January 8, 2005. The State opposed Mitchell's stipulation, requesting the following language for its proposed stipulation:

"1. That the defendant, Mario Lorenzo [sic] Mitchell, is the same person who was adjudicated a juvenile offender in the District Court of Wyandotte County, Kansas, Juvenile Department in case no. 2004-JV-0006, on a finding that he committed an act that if done by an adult would constitute the commission of a person felony, and was found to have been in possession of a firearm at the time of the commission of such preceding offense.

"2. That the aforementioned act was committed in December 2003. The aforementioned adjudication happened on April 1, 2004. The defendant held the status of juvenile offender stemming from the aforementioned case at all times on January 8, 2005."

The district court denied the State's request and ordered two separate stipulations, one for the jury and one for the court. The district court ordered the stipulation for the jury to follow Mitchell's proposed stipulation, which did not include any information about the nature of Mitchell's prior juvenile adjudication. However, the district court ordered the stipulation for the court to include the information about the nature of Mitchell's prior juvenile adjudication to establish for the record that he had been adjudicated for an act that, if done by an adult, would constitute a person felony and that he was in possession of a firearm at the time of the commission of the act. The district court further barred the State from submitting any evidence to the jury regarding Mitchell's adjudication for a person felony while in possession of a firearm.

In response to the district court's order, the State filed a notice of interlocutory appeal to the Court of Appeals. The district court then suspended the proceedings pending the State's appeal and dismissed the jury. Mitchell requested to be released on bond. The district court set Mitchell's bond at $125,000. On March 28, 2007, Mitchell filed an objection to the State's interlocutory appeal, claiming that it was without statutory support and reasserting his right to a speedy trial. Although the State's interlocutory appeal was docketed with the Court of Appeals, we transferred the matter to this court on our own motion pursuant to K.S.A. 20-3018(c).

Analysis

The State contends that the district court erroneously suppressed evidence of Mitchell's prior juvenile adjudication, thereby preventing the State from proving all of the elements for the crime of unlawfully possessing a firearm. Mitchell asserts that this court does not have jurisdiction over the State's interlocutory appeal.

The right to appeal is entirely statutory. The right is not included in the United States Constitution or the Kansas Constitution. This court's jurisdiction over an appeal is controlled by statute. State v. Ji, 255 Kan. 101, 102-03, 872 P.2d 748 (1994). When the record reveals a lack of jurisdiction, this court has a duty to dismiss the appeal. Whether appellate jurisdiction exists is a question of law subject to unlimited review. State v. Thomas, 283 Kan. 796, 805, 156 P.3d 1261 (2007).

Mitchell relies on K.S.A. 22-3603, which limits the State's right to an interlocutory appeal, providing:

"When a judge of the district court, prior to the commencement of trial of a criminal action, makes an order quashing a warrant or a search warrant, suppressing evidence or suppressing a confession or admission an appeal may be taken by the prosecution from such order if notice of appeal is filed within ten (10) days after entry of the order. Further proceedings in the trial court shall be stayed pending determination of the appeal."

This court has interpreted K.S.A. 22-3603 broadly to include any of the district court's evidentiary rulings that would substantially impair the State's ability to prosecute the case. State v. Kleypas, 282 Kan. 560, 563-65, 147 P.3d 1058 (2006); State v. Griffin, 246 Kan. 320, 323, 787 P.2d 701 (1990).

The district court ordered the State to enter into the following stipulation with Mitchell for presentation to the jury:

"COMES NOW the Defendant Mario Lorenzo [sic] Mitchell, personally, and by and through his attorney William P. Mahoney, to stipulate for the purpose of admission into evidence at the jury trial in the above-captioned case as follows:

"That the Defendant Mario Lorenzo [sic] Mitchell was adjudicated a juvenile offender in Wyandotte County District Court on April 2004, and that this adjudication prohibited him from owning and possessing a firearm on January 8, 2005."

The district court ordered Mitchell to stipulate to the court for the purposes of the record that the prior conviction was one which if committed by an adult would have constituted a person felony and that Mitchell was in possession of a gun at the time of the prior offense.

The State argues that the district court's ruling prevents it from presenting sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements of criminal in possession of a firearm in violation of K.S.A. 21-4204(a)(2). When reviewing the district court's decision regarding the admission or exclusion of evidence, an appellate court must first consider whether the evidence is relevant to any material fact. State v. Patton, 280 Kan. 146, 156, 120 P.3d 760 (2005). All relevant evidence is admissible unless otherwise precluded by statute. K.S.A. 60-407(f). Relevant evidence is "evidence having any tendency in reason to prove any material fact." K.S.A. 60-401(b). Because Mitchell was charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm in violation of K.S.A. 21-4204, his status as a juvenile offender with an adjudication for a person felony while in possession of a firearm is relevant to prove an element of the crime.

After determining that the evidence is relevant, an appellate court must apply the rules of evidence either as a matter or law or in the district court's discretion to determine whether the evidence is admissible. Patton, 280 Kan. at 156, 120 P.3d 760. There are no evidentiary rules specifically addressing the admission of stipulations. Consequently, the only applicable rule is K.S.A. 60-445, which gives the district court discretion to exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice. State v. Trotter, 280 Kan. 800, 810, 127 P.3d 972 (2006); see State v. Lee, 266 Kan. 804, 813, 977 P.2d 263 (1999). Under this statute, an appellate court reviews the district court's decision using an abuse of discretion standard. Trotter, 280 Kan. at 810, 127 P.3d 972.

In Lee, this court established the following rules regarding the admission of evidence to prove the predicate felony for unlawfully possessing a firearm:

"(1) When requested by a defendant in a criminal possession of a firearm case, the district court must approve a stipulation whereby the parties acknowledge that the defendant is, without further elaboration, a prior convicted felon. (2) At the same time, the State may place into the record, at its discretion, the actual judgment(s) and sentence(s) of the prior felony conviction(s). (3) Neither these documents nor the number and nature of the prior convictions should be disclosed to the trial jury. (4) Out of the jury's presence and after consultation with counsel, the defendant should be required to personally acknowledge the stipulation and his or her voluntary waiver of his or her right to have the State otherwise prove the convicted felon status element beyond a reasonable doubt. (5) The defendant's stipulation of convicted felon status satisfies the prosecution's burden of proof for that element of the crime. (6) If the element of `convicted felon' is established by stipulation, `the judge may thereafter instruct the jury that it can consider the convicted felon status of the crime as proven by agreement of the parties in the form of a stipulation.'[Citation...