State v. Reynolds
| Decision Date | 17 June 2022 |
| Docket Number | 121,504 |
| Citation | 511 P.3d 301 (Table) |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. Ryan David REYNOLDS, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Court of Appeals |
Kai Tate Mann, of Kansas Appellate Defender Officer, for appellant.
Jodi Litfin, assistant solicitor general, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.
Before Bruns, P.J., Hurst, J., and Patrick D. McAnany, S.J.
A jury convicted Ryan David Reynolds of two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of criminal damage to property, one count of aggravated burglary, criminal threat, aggravated endangering a child, interference with law enforcement, and stalking. The district court sentenced Reynolds to 180 months' imprisonment followed by 36 months' postrelease supervision and ordered him to pay $529.77 in restitution. On appeal, Reynolds argues (1) his conviction for criminal threat requires reversal under State v. Boettger , 310 Kan. 800, 822, 450 P.3d 805 (2019) ; (2) the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support each of the various alternative means of aggravated burglary; (3) the State failed to present sufficient evidence of each alternative means of aggravated endangering a child; (4) the aggravated burglary instruction was clearly erroneous; (5) cumulative error deprived him of his right to a fair trial; and (6) Kansas' restitution statutes violate both section 5 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This court finds that Reynolds' conviction for criminal threat must be reversed and remanded for further proceedings, but otherwise affirms his convictions and sentence.
Ryan Reynolds married his wife, K.R., in 2011; they bought a house in 2012 and welcomed a daughter, E.R., shortly thereafter. Reynolds' behavior grew more erratic and violent over the years and K.R. moved out in April 2017 and eventually filed for divorce in July 2017. E.R. lived with K.R. during the separation and Reynolds had visitation. After moving out, K.R., who worked as a cosmetologist, continued to maintain her beauty salon in the remodeled bottom floor of the split-level home she had shared with Reynolds.
One example of Reynolds' aggressive behavior occurred on July 18, 2017, while K.R. was in the salon working and Reynolds repeatedly came down from the residential portion of the house to interrupt her. Reynolds had been served divorce papers the day before and wanted to discuss potential child support payments and K.R.'s request for maintenance. Reynolds, who was holding E.R. at the time, became frustrated because K.R. refused to talk while she was with her customer. After she finished with her client, K.R. attempted to leave with E.R., but Reynolds would not let them leave. Reynolds, while still holding E.R., punched a hole in the wall of the salon and according to K.R., threatened to kill her parents and burn down the house. Reynolds denied making this threat. K.R. eventually got E.R. away from Reynolds and tried to leave but he prevented her from leaving when he tried to pull E.R. from the backseat and punched the back window of the car. A friend of K.R.'s called the police, and Reynolds got in his car and drove off but returned to the house by the time the police arrived.
About a month after this incident, K.R. was awarded possession of the house and residential custody of E.R. Reynolds received parenting time with E.R., but it did not include overnights. Soon after Reynolds moved out, K.R. filed a protection from abuse order—which she later dismissed because she did not want to "come across as whining."
Shortly thereafter, on October 19, 2017, police responded to K.R.'s house due to another incident involving Reynolds. While dropping E.R. off after a visit, Reynolds grew angry about a ring that he had purchased for K.R. and wanted back. K.R. refused to go outside and speak to Reynolds and then she heard several gunshots—although she did not see Reynolds fire a gun, she had no doubt it was him and feared for her life. K.R. later testified that Reynolds had previously threatened to kill her if she ever divorced him. Police later found numerous shell casings outside the house that matched Reynolds' handgun.
Reynolds' erratic and aggressive behavior came to a head in the early morning hours of November 4, 2017. The prior evening, Reynolds attempted to contact K.R. several times, and one of Reynolds' texts read: "Can you answer or I will come over." K.R. testified that she remembered being relieved that she was not at home with E.R. at that time. While on the way home, K.R.'s neighbor texted her that Reynolds had pulled into her driveway and then driven off. K.R. testified she was "freaked out" by this and picked up E.R. from her mother's and went home. That night, K.R.'s sister-in-law, L.R., spent the night on the couch in the living room.
At about 6 a.m. the next morning, K.R. heard a loud pounding on the front door. L.R. recognized Reynolds' voice yelling at the door and ran to K.R.'s room where they locked themselves inside and immediately called 911. The pounding at the front door suddenly stopped as Reynolds went around the back of the house, up the porch steps, and banged on K.R.'s bedroom window, shouting at her not to call the police. Reynolds left the bedroom window and K.R. soon heard a loud "crashing downstairs," followed by footsteps coming up the stairs and into the residential floor of the house. K.R. testified that she recalled The alarm system in the house notified K.R.'s mother of the break-in, and the alarm company called the police at K.R.'s mother's request.
Reynolds broke the lock and shattered the door frame as he entered K.R.'s bedroom. K.R. testified that Reynolds appeared completely out of control, and that she grabbed E.R. and held her tight. Reynolds drew his handgun, waved it around, and began Reynolds stood in front of the door, blocking the only way out of the small bedroom; both K.R. and L.R. testified they were terrified that Reynolds' gun might go off as he wildly waved it around the room. They recalled that Reynolds repeatedly dropped the magazine out of his handgun as he ranted at them. According to K.R., Reynolds was shouting "[a] lot of crazy things," that Reynolds continued waving the gun around and repeatedly stated he was going to kill "everyone." K.R. and L.R. both testified that they feared for their safety.
K.R. had remained on the phone with 911 as Reynolds broke into her bedroom and threatened to kill the dispatcher. Around this time, K.R.'s mother began repeatedly calling her, and Reynolds eventually answered K.R.'s cellphone pretending to be a man named "Mario Lopez." K.R.'s mother immediately feared the worst, thinking Reynolds had "probably killed them and they were gone." While Reynolds never specifically said that he was going to kill K.R., he repeatedly yelled that he was going to kill "everyone"—and K.R. believed he meant he was going to kill everyone in the house. However, K.R. later clarified that she did not think Reynolds would have shot them on purpose, "[b]ut out of carelessness, and how crazy he was, it could've easily happened."
About 13 minutes after Reynolds broke down K.R.'s bedroom door, K.R, E.R., and L.R. managed to escape. K.R. later explained that Reynolds was standing in front of the door with the gun and she did not feel safe trying to escape the room any earlier. As they got out of the house, Reynolds followed them across the lawn and over to a neighbor's home. K.R. could not tell if the police had arrived when they made it outside, but an officer saw them enter the neighbor's house where they hid until police arrived.
Numerous police eventually arrived at the scene as Reynolds got into his car with his dog and attempted to back out of the driveway. The police blocked him in the driveway, and one officer noted that Reynolds was "[e]xtremely agitated, very animated, almost to a point I would say out of control." Reynolds yelled at the officers, and refused to turn the car off or get out and surrender. Officers later discovered Reynolds still had his loaded handgun with him in the car, although officers never stated that Reynolds brandished it at them. During the standoff, Reynolds shouted at the officers about the Mexican Mafia, saying they were after his family and telling the officers that he was going to kill anyone who would hurt his family, and accused the officers of covering for the Mexican Mafia. In all, it took about 2 hours, 16 police officers, and a SWAT team to get Reynolds out of his vehicle.
Reynolds proceeded to trial, where he testified in his own defense. On the stand, Reynolds explained that he had become involved with dangerous people and he believed he had upset members of the Mexican Mafia and that his family was in danger. According to Reynolds, he was simply checking on his family to ensure their safety. Just hours before arriving at K.R.'s house, Reynolds had an encounter with his mother where she said that he appeared to be drunk and high—Reynolds admitted at trial that he was under the influence....
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