State v. Williams

• Decision Date: 19 March 2004
• Docket Number: No. 87,252.,87,252.
• Citation: 85 P.3d 697,277 Kan. 338
• Parties: STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. RONELL WILLIAMS, Appellant.
• Court: Kansas Supreme Court

277 Kan. 338

85 P.3d 697

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. RONELL WILLIAMS, Appellant.

No. 87,252.

Supreme Court of Kansas.

Opinion filed March 19, 2004.

Patrick H. Dunn, assistant appellate defender, argued the cause and was on the brief for appellant.

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 of the court was delivered by

ALLEGRUCCI, J.:

Ronell Williams was convicted by a jury of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder, one count of aggravated robbery, and one count of aggravated burglary. He was sentenced to two hard 50 terms, a term of 59 months, and a term of 32 months, all to run concurrently. He appeals his convictions and sentences.

At approximately 6 p.m. on August 4, 1999, their daughter and granddaughter found Wilbur and Wilma Williams, who were not related to the defendant, lying on their kitchen floor. An emergency medical technician who was dispatched to the Williams' house in response to the daughter's 911 call determined that both victims were dead. The bodies were lying in pools of blood that had begun to dry at the edges, which indicated that the injuries had occurred some time earlier.

Police were dispatched to the Williamses' residence shortly after 6 p.m. No sign of forced entry was found, and the house had not been ransacked. Police found seven spent 7.65 mm. shell casings in the kitchen area. One additional spent shell casing of the same kind was found in the body bag in which Wilma Williams' body was transported from the scene.

An autopsy showed that Wilma Williams had suffered four gunshot wounds — two to the right side of her face, one to the left side of her neck, and a graze wound across her left hand. Three bullets were recovered from Wilma Williams' body during the autopsy. The pathologist testified that in his opinion she died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, which caused a combination of blood loss, shock, and stress on her heart rather than immediate death.

An autopsy of Wilbur Williams' body showed that he suffered five gunshot wounds — one to the left side of his face, one to the left side of his head behind the ear, one to the left side of the back chest, one to his left hand, and one to his right upper arm. Four bullets were recovered from Wilbur Williams' body during the autopsy. The pathologist testified that in his opinion Wilbur Williams died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds, which caused blood loss rather than immediate death.

Police found that the door from the kitchen to the basement stairs was open and that the basement door to the outside also was open. Outside there was an empty carport. Mr. and Mrs. Williams owned a 1992 white Dodge Spirit, which their son had seen there a few days earlier. On August 3, the day before the bodies of Wilbur and Wilma Williams were found, a woman who lived approximately 2 blocks away from the Williamses arrived home and found that her back door had been pried open. The house had been unoccupied only about an hour. Several diamond rings, three cameras, a .32 caliber pistol, and a full box of Fiocchi brand .32 caliber automatic ammunition were missing.

During the afternoon of August 3, the Williamses' next door neighbor, who was going into his house through the back door, heard what he thought were firecrackers. Minutes later he heard the squealing of tires. A young man who had grown up two houses away from the Williamses was coming home in the afternoon when he saw two young, black male teenagers driving the Williamses' car out of their driveway.

At approximately 2 a.m. on August 5, 1999, the car that had belonged to the Williamses was found burned out in a parking lot. On August 7, an informant told police that Michael Elias, Kendall Elias (Kendall), Jeffery Brown (Jeffery), and Jeremy Brown had been in the car. Jeffery and Kendall told police that they had been picked up by identical twins named Ronell and Donell.

Jeffery, who was 16 at the time of trial in December 2000, testified that he and Kendall rode around with the Williams twins until the twins said they had to go home before their mother woke up. The twins told Jeffery and Kendall to keep the car and meet them back at their house with it the next night. Jeffery and Kendall drove the car to Kendall's house, Jeffery went home and gave his brother, Jeremy, the keys. Jeremy and Jeffery picked up Michael Elias and drove around in the car the next morning, but did not drive it back to the twins' house later because by then they had seen on television that the car was stolen. Michael Elias gave the car to someone named "Jay".

On August 8, police officers searched the Williams twins' house, which lay approximately a half mile from Wilbur and Wilma Williams' house. A 7.65 mm. live round was found in the twins' room. An empty box which had held Fiocchi .32 caliber shells was found along the fence line separating the suspects' house from the neighboring property. Four shell casings and four gauge tokens were found in the back and side yards.

A firearms examiner testified that all the shell casings recovered by the police were of the Fiocchi brand, of the same caliber—7.65 mm. or .32 caliber automatic, and were fired from the same gun—most likely a .32 caliber automatic or semiautomatic handgun.

In a statement to police, Ronell Williams said that Donell had burglarized a house and stolen a .32 caliber pistol, which they fired in their own backyard. They walked over to the house of a friend and were walking back home when they saw Wilbur Williams out by his mailbox. Ronell took the gun from Donell and put it to Mr. Williams' head and ordered him to the backyard where Mrs. Williams was working in the garden. Ronell told Mr. Williams that they were planning to rob him, and they ordered Mr. and Mrs. Williams to go into the house through the back door and up the stairs. In the kitchen, the couple whispered to one another and Mrs. Williams picked up their cordless telephone. Donell took the telephone from her and put it in the southwest bedroom, where police later found it. Donell rummaged through the house trying to find something of value and found car keys in Mrs. Williams' purse. Ronell told his brother to go get the car because he was going to have to kill the old people. Donell went down the stairs to get the car. Because Mr. Williams grabbed for a knife, Ronell fired the gun. No one was hit, but it made Mr. Williams drop the knife. Mr. Williams fell to his hands and knees, and Ronell shot him four times. Mrs. Williams became hysterical and laid down on the floor on her back screaming. Ronell shot her in the face from close range. Ronell left the house, got into Mr. and Mrs. Williams' white Dodge, and left the scene.

Williams first argues that his evidence as to mental disease or defect should not have been limited to the mental examination report filed pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3219(2).

The required notice and procedure for a defense of mental disease or defect that would exclude criminal responsibility are set out in K.S.A. 22-3219. Subsection (1) requires service and filing within 30 days after entry of a not guilty plea of a written notice of a defendant's intention to assert a defense of mental disease or defect. Subsection (2) sets out the procedures governing mental examination of a defendant who files a notice of intention to assert a defense of mental disease or defect. It provides that "[a] report of each mental examination of the defendant shall be filed in the court and copies thereof shall be supplied to the defendant and the prosecuting attorney." K.S.A. 22-3219(2).

During trial, after the State had called its final witness and the trial court overruled defendant's motion for judgment of acquittal, the State argued that Dr. Roosa, a clinical psychologist, should not be allowed to testify for defendant for several reasons, one reason being that his report did not bear on the issue of mental disease or defect that would exclude criminal responsibility. It was stated during the discussion of the State's request to exclude or limit Roosa's testimony that, at the time Roosa made his report, he had not interviewed the defendant. According to defense counsel, Roosa interviewed the defendant after the report was made. The trial court noted that no supplementary report had been submitted stating Roosa's conclusions after interviewing the defendant. The State further objected to Roosa's proposed testimony on the ground that its cross-examination of the witness would be seriously hampered by the lack of an addendum to his report.

In order to give the State an opportunity to interview Dr. Roosa with regard to his post-report meetings with the defendant and conclusions, the trial court recessed the trial proceedings at 3:15 p.m. on December 6th to reconvene at 9 a.m. the next morning. After the jury had been excused, the trial court questioned Roosa about what had occurred after his report was filed. Roosa said that a new psychological examination had been done at the University of Kansas Medical Center, he had examined the report of the new testing, he had examined notes of Dr. Logan that he had not had before, and he had conducted at least 3 hours of clinical interviews with the defendant. Roosa also mentioned examining the defendant's school records and a letter from the defendant's mother. Roosa said that he had not compiled a second report. Asked if his findings changed after the initial report was submitted, Roosa said: "I think to be added onto, yes, I think there are factors seen and been able to look at more closer that I don't suspicion somewhat." Roosa said that he did not recall being asked by defense counsel to submit a report after finishing his evaluation of the defendant. The trial court said to Roosa:

"I guess my problem is we are in the middle of trial and the State and,

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