State v. Cameron, 300 Kan. 384

Background

Defendant DeWhite Cameron lived with Shaneekwa Saunders and her children, including twins Damion and Trayvion (age 2) and older child Sedrick; physical abuse of the twins was observed and multiple witnesses reported Sedrick saying Cameron had hurt his brothers.
On Sept. 19, 2008 emergency responders found Damion unresponsive with extensive head trauma; he was later declared brain dead and autopsy showed multiple blunt-force injuries to the head (at least 20) causing death.
Trayvion exhibited numerous injuries (black eyes, lip cuts, scratch on neck), a healing liver laceration, fractured rib, and bruised lung; medical testimony indicated injuries occurred over time and some were severe.
Police found a trash bag in Cameron’s backyard containing a towel with fresh blood; neighbors reported Cameron offering varying explanations (fell off potty, bathtub) and children’s out-of-court statements implicated him.
Cameron was charged with felony murder (death of Damion) and aggravated battery (injuries to Trayvion); a jury convicted on both counts and the court imposed a life sentence and a consecutive high-end guideline term.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Cameron)	Held
Whether involuntary manslaughter is a lesser included of felony murder	N/A (statute bars lesser-included for felony murder)	Trial court should have instructed involuntary manslaughter as lesser-included because evidence supported reckless conduct	Court: No; legislative amendment (K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 21-5402) eliminated lesser-included offenses for felony murder and applies retroactively (citing State v. Todd) — claim without merit
Whether jury should have been instructed on reckless aggravated battery as lesser of intentional aggravated battery	Reckless battery instruction unnecessary given evidence of intentional conduct	Trial court erred by not giving reckless aggravated battery instruction	Court: Not reversible. Defendant failed to preserve the specific lesser-included objection; even under clear-error review, evidence supported intentional conduct and omission was not clearly erroneous
Admissibility/use of Sedrick’s out-of-court statements and competency	Statements admissible because Sedrick was available and defense had opportunity to cross-examine; trial court properly found him competent	Statements were hearsay and Sedrick incompetent/unavailable for cross-examination; trial court erred in admitting them	Court: No reversible error. Pretrial competency hearing and in-court testimony supported competency; defense waived cross-examination and did not contemporaneously object to admission of the out-of-court statements
Jury instructions/burden of proof and prosecutorial comments	Instructions as a whole properly stated presumption of innocence and burden beyond a reasonable doubt; prosecutor’s comments within proper latitude	Instruction No. 8 and prosecutor’s voir dire/closing remarks shifted burden and improperly defined reasonable doubt	Court: No reversible error. Other instructions (Instructions 2 and 4) correctly stated burden and presumption; prosecutor’s comments did not lower burden and stayed within acceptable bounds

Key Cases Cited

State v. Todd, 299 Kan. 263, 323 P.3d 829 (2014) (held statutory amendments eliminated lesser included offenses for felony murder and applied retroactively)
State v. McCarley, 287 Kan. 167, 195 P.3d 230 (2008) (recognized reckless aggravated battery as lesser included of intentional aggravated battery)
State v. Johnson, 297 Kan. 210, 301 P.3d 287 (2013) (out-of-court statements inadmissible unless declarant unavailable and defendant had prior opportunity to cross-examine)
State v. Raskie, 293 Kan. 906, 269 P.3d 1268 (2012) (instructional challenges must be read in context of all jury instructions; burden-of-proof instructions considered together)
State v. Berry, 292 Kan. 493, 254 P.3d 1276 (2011) (defines res gestae and direct causal connection for felony murder causation analysis)
State v. Phillips, 295 Kan. 929, 287 P.3d 245 (2012) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence in criminal convictions)
State v. Novotny, 297 Kan. 1174, 307 P.3d 1278 (2013) (framework for reviewing prosecutorial misconduct and cumulative error)
State v. Finley, 273 Kan. 237, 42 P.3d 723 (2002) (permissible jury argument definitions of reasonable doubt may rely on reason and common sense)