State v. Kettler, 299 Kan. 448

Dyer was killed by gunshot in Topeka on August 10, 2007; Kettler and three co-defendants—Williams, Phillips, Armstrong—were charged and tried together for murder, conspiracy, and firearm offenses.
Armstrong cooperated with the State, sought a plea, and later testified at a joint preliminary hearing, then recanted; Armstrong’s testimony and affidavits produced divergent versions of events.
The joint trial produced multiple, conflicting accounts of the shooting from Williams, Phillips, Armstrong, and witnesses, with Kettler choosing not to testify.
Armstrong testified at trial that there was an agreement to kill Dyer; other versions suggested a drug/debt motive and varying roles in the shooting.
The jury convicted Kettler of premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy, and criminal possession of a firearm; on appeal, Batson challenges, sufficiency of the evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct were raised.
The court affirmed, recognizing a prosecutorial misstatement regarding premeditation but finding it did not deny a fair trial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Batson challenge to peremptory strikes	Kettler asserted race-based strikes violated Batson.	Kettler claimed the State struck African-Americans to pattern-discriminate.	Trial court did not abuse discretion; strikes race-neutral and no proven purposeful discrimination.
Sufficiency of evidence—premeditation	State proved premeditation via circumstantial and direct evidence.	Evidence insufficient to prove premeditation beyond reasonable doubt.	Sufficient evidence supported premeditated murder under aiding-and-abetting theory.
Sufficiency of evidence—conspiracy	Armstrong’s statements showed an agreement to kill Dyer.	Defense attacked credibility of Armstrong and alternative theories.	Record supported a tacit agreement to kill; sufficient evidence for conspiracy.
Prosecutorial misconduct in closing	Prosecutor misstated premeditation as instantaneous/half-second thinking.	Misstatement deprived Kettler of fair trial.	Misstatement found, but not reversible error given instructions and weight of evidence; no reversal.

Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (U.S. Supreme Court (1986)) (established Batson three-step framework for race-based jury strikes)
State v. Hill, 290 Kan. 339 (2010) (three-step Batson standard applied in Kansas)
State v. Pham, 281 Kan. 1227 (2006) (clarified Batson standard in Kansas appellate review)
State v. McCullough, 293 Kan. 970 (2012) (abuse-of-discretion standard for credibility/mitigating factors in Batson)
State v. Holmes, 272 Kan. 491 (2001) (prosecutor cannot state that premeditation can be instantaneous)
State v. Hall, 292 Kan. 841 (2011) (warning against improper language regarding premeditation in closing)
State v. Cosby, 285 Kan. 230 (2007) (premeditation language misuse in closing; reversible error when appropriate)
State v. Morton, 277 Kan. 575 (2004) (premeditation discussion in closing must be careful)
State v. Pabst, 273 Kan. 658 (1997) (caution against implying instantaneous premeditation)
State v. Moncla, 262 Kan. 58 (1997) (avoidance of language that suggests instant premeditation)
State v. Jamison, 269 Kan. 564 (2000) (proper jury instructions on premeditation)
State v. Raskie, 293 Kan. 906 (2012) (standard for credibility and circumstantial evidence in sufficiency review)