State v. Patterson
| Decision Date | 09 December 1967 |
| Docket Number | No. 44909,44909 |
| Citation | 200 Kan. 176,434 P.2d 808 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Douglas McArthur PATTERSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The granting or denial of a continuance in a criminal prosecution is largely within the sound discretion of the trial court, whose ruling will not be disturbed in the absence of a showing that there has been an abuse of discretion which has prejudiced the defendant's substantial rights.
2. In a case of marital homicide, evidence of a discordant marital relationship, and of the defendant's previous ill treatment of his wife, including his prior threats to kill her, is competent as bearing on the defendant's motive and intent.
3. The function of this court on appeal, when considering the sufficiency of circumstantial evidence to sustain a criminal conviction, is limited to ascertaining whether there was a basis in the evidence for a reasonable inference of guilt.
4. Before a verdict of guilty which has been approved by the trial court may be set aside because of insufficiency of evidence, it must clearly be made to appear that upon no hypothesis whatever is there substantial evidence to support the conclusion reached in the trial court.
5. In a criminal prosecution wherein the defendant was convicted of first degree manslaughter (K.S.A. 21-407) for shooting and killing his wife, the record is examined, and as more fully explained in the opinion, it is held: the trial court did not err in (1) denying defendant's motion for continuance; (2) its rulings on the admissibility of certain evidence; (3) giving an instruction relating to first degree manslaughter; and (4) overruling defendant's motion for new trial.
Donald A. Jones, Manhattan, argued the cause, and David K. Clark, Manhattan, was with him on the brief, for appellant.
John C. Fay, County Atty., argued the cause, and Robert C. Londerholm, Atty. Gen., was with him on the brief, for appellee.
The defendant, Douglas McArthur Patterson, although charged with second degree murder (K.S.A. 21-402), was convicted by a jury of the lesser offense of first degree manslaughter (K.S.A. 21-407) upon evidence that on April 3, 1965, he shot and killed his wife, Anneliese. Following denial of a motion for new trial and imposition of sentence to the state reformatory, defendant filed notice of appeal and requested the appointment of counsel. Present counsel, who by court appointment had represented the defendant at trial, was appointed for this appeal.
The questions raised relate to alleged trial errors as well as the propriety of the court's overruling of defendant's motion for new trial.
There were no eyewitnesses to the shooting, but the following sequence of events and circumstances surrounding the incident were shown by the evidence at trial:
The defendant was a soldier living with his wife and two children in a duplex in Manhattan. Sgt. Jon Hosford and his family were occupants of the other half of the building. On Arpil 2, 1965, the day preceding the shooting, the Hosfords' dog was struck by a car. That evening Hosford borrowed defendant's revolver in order to end the dog's life. The defendant got the gun out of his car, where it was kept in a holster under the front seat on the driver's side. Since the revolver was not loaded, defendant and Hosford went into defendant's home, got a box of shells out of a desk drawner, and defendant placed three shells into the gun's chamber. Defendant cautioned Hosford that the safety device on the revolver did not function properly. Hosford used two bullets to kill his dog, and so advised the defendant upon returning the revolver about an hour later. Hosford also told him he could not open the chamber to remove the two spent cartridges, and thus they, plus the one unexpended cartridge, were left in the gun. Before retiring for the night, the defendant laid the revolver on top of the refrigerator in the kitchen of his home.
The next day, as defendant was preparing lunch, he noticed the revolver still lying on top of the refrigerator. He took the gun down, pulled the hammer back, opened the cylinder and removed the two spent cartridges. At this time the telephone rang, and defendant laid the gun down to answer the call. Upon completing his conversation, defendant picked up the gun, put it back on top of the refrigerator, and left the house.
After spending the afternoon drinking at several different clubs, defendant returned to his home about 6:30 p. m. Anneliese was preparing dinner, working near the refrigerator. She started to take something out of the refrigerator and, as she did so, asked the defendant to remove several miscellaneous items-among them the revolver-from atop it. According to defendant's testimony, he complied with his wife's request, and as he was removing the articles, his wife turned and bumped him and the gun accidentally discharged, the bullet striking Anneliese in the head. Defendant telephoned for an ambulance, and also called his friend, Sgt. Clarence Wise, asked him and Mrs. Wise to come to his home, and told them he had shot his wife. When the Wises arrived, about 6:45, the defendant was sitting beside his wife's body and crying. Sgt. Hosford and his wife were already there.
Shortly before 6:30 that evening Sgt. Hosford heard 'some argument' and 'loud voices' coming from the Patterson household. Hosford had gone outside and was working on his car when he heard what he termed an 'explosion.' His wife came out of the house to see what had happened. Two or three minutes later the defendant ran to Hosfords' back door, knocked, and returned to his apartment. Hosford went to defendant's back door to inquire what he wanted. Defendant told Hosford he needed Mrs. Hosford to take care of the Pattersons' children, that he'd shot his wife. Defendant asked Hosford if he had left a bullet in the chamber of the gun. Hosford replied, 'Yes, didn't you remember?' Defendant acknowledged that he remembered but 'not until after I'd shot her.' The two men then went into the Pattersons' apartment. Defendant was sobbing and asking if his wife was dead. Inside the apartment Hosford noticed a gun lying beside the kitchen sink on the counter top. He grabbed the weapon, took it to his own apartment, and hid it in some boxes to prevent the defendant from shooting himself-as he had threatened to do.
The ambulance and police officers arrived approximately an hour later. Hosford told Thomas L. Ennis, a military policeman, about having the gun at his apartment. The M.P. went with Hosford to his apartment, got the revolver, and gave it to a police officer who took it back to the Pattersons' apartment. From there it was taken to the police station where the one spent cartridge case was removed.
After arrival of the police officers the defendant was taken to the city jail where he was held pending investigation of the shooting. Subsequently, a complaint was filed charging defendant with second degree murder. Following a preliminary hearing at which he was represented by Mr. Robert Abbott, defendant was bound over to the district court for trial.
In refutation of defendant's version that the shooting was accidental, the state introduced evidence of the turbulent married life of the Pattersons during the months immediately presceding Anneliese's death. On more than one occasion there had been heated arguments between them in which the defendant had displayed a violent temper. Anneliese bore physical evidence on at least two occasions of having been mistreated by her husband. In the presence of the Wises the defendant had twice threatened to kill his wife, and during the two months preceding the shooting similar threats were overheard by a neighbor residing in the downstairs apartment of the duplex. The defendant himself acknowledged in his testimony that he had told his wife several times that if she ever tried to leave him he would 'probably kill her.'
Defendant sets forth five specifications of error for our consideration. He first complains that the district court erred in failing to grant his request for continuance of the trial, and as a result he was denied 'full and fair representation' by counsel, as required by K.S.A. 62-1304. The record reflects that the preliminary hearing was held on April 22, 1965. The defendant appeared in district court on May 3, at which time Mr. Abbott withdrew as counsel, Mr. Clark was appointed as the defendant's attorney, and the case was set for trial on May 18. On May 10, Mr. Clark filed a motion requesting additional time to prepare the defendant's case. The motion was supported by Clark's affidavit stating that he had not been counsel at the preliminary hearing, that he had not received a copy of the transcript of testimony given at said hearing, that he was scheduled to defend another criminal case on May 17, and that he would not have time to interview witnesses and prepare a defense. On the morning of trial (May 18) the motion was heard and denied by the district court. At the hearing the court noted that on May 14 Mr. Clark had received a copy of the preliminary hearing transcript, which consisted of approximately sixty-eight pages. The court observed further that there was no showing that any witnesses the defendant might want to use lived outside the immediate geographical area, and that if during the trial a situation arose where Mr. Clark would like to have a few minutes' time to talk to a witness, the court would declare a recess and give him opportunity to do so. The court, in overruling the motion, concluded that it did not appear defendant's rights would be prejudiced by proceeding with the trial. After trial, and at the hearing on the motion for new trial where the matter was again raised, the court found there had been no showing the defendant was prejudiced by his being compelled to go to trial on May 18.
The well-established rule in this jurisdiction is that...
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State v. Whitesell, No. 82,610.
...1355 (1975) (holding that evidence of marital discord was admissible as it showed the intent of the defendant); State v. Patterson, 200 Kan. 176, 182, 434 P.2d 808 (1967) (holding that trial court did not error where it allowed testimony of "marital discord" to show motive and The trial cou......
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State v. Gunby
...Kan. 314, Syl. ¶ 1, 536 P.2d 1355 (1975) (evidence of prior physical mistreatment of wife introduced to show motive and intent); State v. Patterson, 200 Kan. 176, Syl. ¶ 2, 434 P.2d 808 (1967) (same). All were directly in issue. Indeed, the challenged testimony ran directly contrary to the ......
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State v. Doyle
...of this court to determine whether there is a basis in the evidence for a reasonable inference of the defendant's guilt. (State v. Patterson, 200 Kan. 176, 434 P.2d 808; State v. Scoggins, 199 Kan. 108, 427 P.2d 603.) Out law recognizes that the jury shall be the exclusive judge of all mate......
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State v. Drach, 80,691.
...courts have held evidence of marital discord is admissible when it has a bearing on intent of defendant); and State v. Patterson, 200 Kan. 176, 182, 434 P.2d 808 (1967) (allowing testimony that defendant had threatened his wife's life as evidence of marital discord as it had a bearing on de......