State v. Smith
| Decision Date | 10 December 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 48757,48757 |
| Citation | 223 Kan. 203,574 P.2d 548 |
| Parties | STATE of Kansas, Appellee, v. David Earl SMITH, Appellant. |
| Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
The record on appeal in a criminal action is examined and it is held : The trial court did not err in instructing the jury regarding the defendant's insanity defense by using the M'Naghten test rather than the proposed American Law Institute Model Penal Code test requested by the defendant.
Ray L. Borth, of Ballweg, Borth & Wilson, Prairie Village, argued the cause, and Kim Daniel Richey, Prairie Village, was with him on the brief for the appellant.
Michael E. Baker, Asst. Dist. Atty., argued the cause, and Curt T. Schneider, Atty. Gen., and Dennis W. Moore, Dist. Atty., were with him on the brief for the appellee.
This is an appeal in a criminal action from a jury verdict which found David Earl Smith (defendant-appellant) guilty of one count of felony murder (K.S.A. 21-3401), one count of burglary (K.S.A. 21-3412), and one count of felony theft (K.S.A. 21-3701).
The sole question on appeal is whether it was error for the trial court to instruct the jury regarding the defendant's insanity defense using the M'Naghten rule, and overruling the defendant's requested instruction using the American Law Institute Model Penal Code test.
On January 20, 1976, Greta Edwards was brutally beaten to death at her home in Overland Park, Kansas, by the defendant, who was her next door neighbor. The evidence is largely undisputed.
The defendant is a seventeen-year-old juvenile who was living at home with his parents and enrolled in a trade school in Kansas City, Missouri, when the murder occurred. On the day of the murder he left school shortly before noon and purchased an eight pack of seven-ounce beer. Thereafter, he consumed the entire eight pack in addition to taking "three hits" of amphetamines.
The defendant was next seen at a novelty store in a shopping area several blocks from his home around 1:15 P.M. While browsing in the store, he had no difficulty walking or speaking. The clerk became suspicious of him, however, and summoned the Mission, Kansas, police to the store. Officer Edwin McClain testified he did not notice anything unusual about the defendant at the time which was around 2:20 in the afternoon.
At approximately 3:15 P.M. the defendant's father, Bobby Smith, had just awakened and was dressing in order to pick his wife up at work. He testified when he went outside to his car he noticed several items of property lying on the ground in front of his son's car including a coin collection, a C.B. radio, a lighted dresser mirror, and a small stereo. They appeared to have blood on them. These items were later identified at the trial as belonging to the Edwards family. Also at this time Mr. Smith saw his son in the backyard of the Edwards' home, and he was walking in a northerly direction away from him.
Shortly thereafter, the defendant appeared from the north and walked down the street into his own home. His father testified he was walking in an uncharacteristic manner described as "bouncy and jumpy, faster than usual," and his appearance was disheveled and unkempt. He had blood on himself and his clothing and cuts on his left hand.
The defendant told his father Mrs. Edwards was hurt and bleeding. He then proceeded to call the police and handed the telephone receiver to his father. Mr. Smith told the police dispatcher that officers should be sent to his home. The defendant then emptied his pockets and took a Colt pistol from under his belt. Mr. Smith went next door to the Edwards' home and discovered Mrs. Edwards lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the front entryway.
The Overland Park Police Department arrested the defendant without any incident of resistance. Apparently, he originally entered the Edwards' home with the intent to commit a burglary when he was discovered by Mrs. Edwards. In his statement to the police he admitted breaking into the Edwards' home and related how Mrs. Edwards came home and called out "David" referring to her own son by the same name. The defendant liked Mrs. Edwards and had no reason for killing her. He stated, His explanation for hitting Mrs. Edwards was that the last time he had been to juvenile court his probation officer told him he would be put in a mental institution.
The defendant was certified to stand trial as an adult. At his trial the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Greta Edwards testified the cause of death was innumerable blows with a blunt object to the scalp area causing compound fractures of the skull, lacerations and avulsion of the brain. Mrs. Edwards' hands were covered with lacerations and her left index finger was fractured. Mrs. Edwards' wrist watch had stopped at 3:20. This fact, viewed in the light of the record, which disclosed devastating and forceful blows to the head area together with Mrs. Edwards' obvious attempts to protect herself, rather solidly set the time of death.
The defendant offered testimony from a clinical psychologist, Dr. Edward P. Neufeld; an osteopathic physician specializing in general psychiatry, Dr. Donald Curran; and a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry, Dr. J. Scott Morrison, to support his defense of legal insanity at the time of the offense.
Dr. Neufeld first saw the defendant on January 27, 1976, when he administered a series of psychological tests to him. He testified the defendant had elevated feelings of people being against him which could be described as paranoid in nature. He said the defendant also had feelings of being strange or different from others, a fear of going crazy and suffered from "personality disorders." When asked his opinion whether the defendant could have stopped himself from hitting Mrs. Edwards he stated, "(G)iven the very unique circumstances, hypothesized anger with his outburst of rage, given his lack of internal controls, given the panic of the situation, given the nature of the crime, no, . . . he could not have stopped on his own."
Dr. Neufeld was unable to describe the defendant's condition as "a disease of the mind" because in his professional usage that term meant an organic malady. He testified the defendant did know the nature and quality of his actions on some level, and on an "intellectual level" he did know the difference between right and wrong.
Dr. Curran agreed the defendant knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of the murder. It was his opinion, however, the defendant could not control his behavior during the passion of the moment. He testified the added elements of beer and speed "compounded his poor capacity to delay and then to do what is culturally or socially right."
Finally, Dr. Morrison conducted an extensive clinical psychological interview with the defendant. He testified about various incidents the defendant had related to him in which the defendant felt he had no control over himself. Dr. Morrison described this psychological state as "dissociation." He stated in such a condition the defendant's awareness of what he is doing is there but his ability to alter what he is doing is not there. Dr. Morrison admitted on cross-examination, however, "dissociation" is considered an ego defense and is not considered a classically defined mental disease. Dr. Morrison testified he presumed the combination of the defendant's personalty type, specifically the dissociative aspects of it, with the drugs converged at the moment he began to hit Mrs. Edwards and rendered him incapable of conforming his behavior with the law and with ethical and moral values. While he felt the defendant knew the burglary and theft were wrong and striking Mrs. Edwards was wrong, Dr. Morrison was not convinced the defendant knew he was killing Mrs. Edwards.
After the defendant's experts testified, the state called Dr. William McKnelly, Jr., as its expert. Dr. McKnelly interviewed the defendant in order to determine his competency to stand trial and his legal insanity status under the M'Naghten test.
Dr. McKnelly testified in his opinion the defendant had characterological problems, but he did not find a mental disease in the legal sense. He too felt the defendant knew the nature and quality of his acts and knew his acts were wrong.
At the close of the state's evidence and at the close of his own evidence, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal. On both occasions, the trial court overruled the defendant's motion which was based upon the American Law Institute Model Penal Code test of insanity. The trial court also overruled the defendant's objection to instructions setting out the M'Naghten rule.
During its deliberation, the jury asked the trial court for special instructions. Two questions were specifically presented:
The trial court refused to give any additional instructions and referred the jury to its original instructions. The jury subsequently returned a verdict of guilty on all three counts. The defendant's motion for a new trial was denied, and appeal was thereafter duly perfected.
The sole point argued by the appellant is that the rule in this state as to criminal responsibility should be changed. He asks this court to adopt the American Law Institute Model Penal Code definition which provides:
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