State v. Garcia-Martinez, 546 P.3d 750

Jose Garcia-Martinez was convicted of felony murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, and battery after participating in the violent confinement and eventual killing of Roy Hayden in Wichita, Kansas.
The incident began when Hayden was brought to a residence, where he was beaten, restrained, and ultimately killed by members of a group, including Garcia-Martinez.
The State relied on evidence that Garcia-Martinez helped physically assault, confine, transport, and ultimately suffocate Hayden, whose body was later found in a car trunk.
Garcia-Martinez argued at trial that he acted under compulsion, fearing for his life, but admitted to carrying out many of the acts described.
On appeal, Garcia-Martinez challenged the sufficiency of the evidence regarding "taking or confining" as alternative means of kidnapping, and argued a unanimity instruction was required due to alleged multiple acts.
The Supreme Court of Kansas affirmed the convictions, specifically clarifying the interpretation of statutory language in the kidnapping statute.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether "taking or confining" in K.S.A. 21-5408(a) are alternative means or options within a means	Garcia-Martinez: State presented alternative means and failed to provide sufficient evidence for each	State: "Taking or confining" are not alternative means, just factual options within a means	"Taking or confining" are options within a means, not alternative means
Whether a unanimity instruction was required for aggravated kidnapping	Garcia-Martinez: Multiple acts occurred; jury could disagree on act constituting kidnapping	State: Evidence showed a single continuous incident, not separable into multiple acts	No unanimity instruction required; incident was unitary, not multiple acts

State v. Haberlein, 296 Kan. 195 (Kan. 2012) (previous dicta suggesting "taking or confining" are alternative means disapproved)
State v. Brown, 295 Kan. 181 (Kan. 2012) (sets framework for distinguishing alternative means from options within a means)
State v. Rucker, 309 Kan. 1090 (Kan. 2019) (explains alternative-means crimes)
State v. Sasser, 305 Kan. 1231 (Kan. 2017) (explains jury instructions in alternative-means cases)
State v. Harris, 310 Kan. 1026 (Kan. 2019) (lays out multiple acts analysis and jury unanimity requirement)