State v. Knighten, 347 P.3d 1200

Late-night shooting at a Wichita nightclub parking lot left Brown dead and Meridy wounded; Knighten was in the SUV from which shots were fired.
Police recovered a Toyota FJ Cruiser and identified Addison Buck as the vehicle’s owner; Buck believed her boyfriend Arthur Gary had driven the SUV.
Gary testified Knighten was in the front passenger seat and fired the shots; Gary later died before trial; other SUV occupants corroborated Knighten’s presence and actions.
Knighten requested a voluntary manslaughter instruction; the district court denied it; trial included Batson challenges over juror strikes.
During deliberations, the court answered jury questions in writing after a chambers conference; Knighten was reportedly present for the later record but not for the initial conference.
Sentencing used Knighten’s criminal history score; Knighten argued Apprendi issues; some claims were deemed nonjurisdictional or procedurally barred on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Batson challenge adequacy at first steps	Knighten contends the court failed to perform the primafacie and race-neutral steps.	State argues the court denied both Batson challenges based on its assessment of the record.	Remanded for a proper Batson hearing to determine race-neutral reasons.
Knighten's presence at critical stages	Verser requires presence at critical stages; absence potentially harmful.	Written jury responses and chambers discussions unaffected; presence not dispositive.	Harmless error; no reversal on presence grounds.
Instruction on voluntary manslaughter	Error for not instructing on lesser included offense if evidence supported it.	No legally adequate provocation; instruction inappropriate.	No error; voluntary manslaughter instruction not factually appropriate.
Criminal history and Apprendi concerns in sentencing	Apprendi requires proof beyond reasonable doubt for aggravating factors.	Kansas precedent ( Ivory) rejects claim; preserved for federal review.	Claims dismissed; no constitutional error found.
Use of criminal history within sentencing grid box	Highest grid-box sentence implies aggravating factors proven beyond a reasonable doubt.	Grid-box within-presumptive sentencing; appellate court lacks jurisdiction to review; discretionary.	No reversible error; issue dismissed.

State v. McCullough, 293 Kan. 970 (2012) (three-step Batson framework; burden shifting)
Bolton, 271 Kan. 538 (2001) (remand for Batson hearing when state reasons not shown on record)
Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352 (1991) (Urges discrimination analysis in Batson context)
State v. Verser, 299 Kan. 776 (2014) (presence rights at jury-related proceedings; retroactivity considerations)
State v. Ward, 292 Kan. 541 (2011) (harmless error factors in post-trial procedures)
State v. Maestas, 298 Kan. 765 (2014) (duty to instruct on lesser included offenses when some evidence exists)
State v. Armstrong, 299 Kan. 405 (2014) (test for sufficiency of lesser-included instruction; objective provocation standard)
State v. Ivory, 273 Kan. 44 (2002) (Apprendi-style sentencing concerns in Kansas)