State v. Love, 387 P.3d 820

Troy Love II was convicted of felony murder and child abuse for injuries causing the death of 18‑month‑old Bre'Elle after evidence showed multiple blunt‑force traumas, acute intracranial hemorrhaging, retinal hemorrhages, and a fractured cervical vertebra; he was acquitted of an earlier abuse charge and sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years plus a consecutive term for child abuse.
Medical examiner Dr. Scott Kipper testified about fatal and prior healing injuries consistent with violent shaking; the State introduced 14 autopsy photographs while Kipper explained injuries.
Love testified he found the child unresponsive and denied causing the injuries; defense sought to introduce evidence of a medical malpractice civil suit filed by the mother based on the April 7 ER visit.
The district court admitted the autopsy photos over a general defense objection, excluded evidence of the mother's malpractice suit as irrelevant and because defense made an inadequate proffer, and did not instruct the jury on intentional second‑degree murder as a lesser related offense of felony murder.
Love also asserted prosecutorial error for alleged vouching for the mother; he did not contemporaneously object to the testimony he later challenged on appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Love)	Held
Admission of 14 autopsy photographs	Photos were relevant to cause of death and prior injuries; aided medical testimony	Photos were cumulative, gruesome, inflammatory, and unduly prejudicial	Admission not an abuse of discretion; photos aided examiner and were not unduly repetitious
Exclusion of mother's malpractice lawsuit	Lawsuit was irrelevant to criminal causation and credibility; proffer insufficient	Lawsuit showed alternative cause of death and impeached mother's credibility	Exclusion not an abuse of discretion; proffer inadequate and lay testimony from mother/extrinsic expert opinion inadmissible
Prosecutorial vouching for mother's credibility	Prosecutor’s opening and questions merely outlined expected testimony	Statements and questions impermissibly vouched for and bolstered witness	No manifest error in opening; prosecutorial‑error claims on witness exchanges not considered due to failure to object contemporaneously
Failure to instruct on intentional second‑degree murder as lesser of felony murder	N/A (State opposed)	Statutory elimination of lesser included offenses for felony murder violated due process and Kansas Constitution Section 5; instruction warranted	Statutes valid; no federal/state constitutional violation; court properly refused instruction (no lesser included offense exists)

State v. Rodriguez, 295 Kan. 1146 (2012) (standard for photographic evidence relevance and prejudicial repetition)
State v. Riojas, 288 Kan. 379 (2009) (photographs inadmissible when only inflammatory)
State v. Hilt, 299 Kan. 176 (2014) (cumulative evidence reviewed for abuse of discretion)
State v. Dupree, 304 Kan. 43 (2016) (photographs showing manner of death material)
Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967) (harmless‑beyond‑a‑reasonable‑doubt standard for constitutional error)
Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625 (1980) (capital‑case requirement to give lesser included instruction under extreme statutory scheme)
Hopkins v. Reeves, 524 U.S. 88 (1998) (no constitutional requirement to instruct on offenses not lesser included under state law)
State v. Hudgins, 301 Kan. 629 (2015) (insufficient proffer precludes appellate review)
State v. Sherman, 305 Kan. 88 (2016) (modern framework for assessing prosecutorial error)