Lead Opinion
Harold Hawkins appeals his convictions of aggravated assault, aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer, and criminal possession of a firearm, arguing reversal of the aggravated assault conviction is required because of an erroneous response from the district court to a jury question, multiplicity, insufficiency of the evidence, cumulative trial errors, and sentencing errors. Concluding the district court erred in its response to a jury question, we reverse Hawkins’ conviction for aggravated assault and remand for new trial on that charge, but we affirm the remaining convictions.
Factual and Procedural Overview
Off-duty Police Officers Carl Lemons and Fongvilay Phommachanh were working security in full uniform at a restaurant in Wichita when they were approached about a skirmish in the parking lot. As the officers moved in response, Phommachanh observed a man walking toward him lifting his hand when he heard a loud bang and saw a flash come from an apparent firearm. Phommachanh called for Lemons and began to chase the man with the gun, identifying himself as a police officer and demanding the man stop and drop the weapon. As the man continued to flee, Phommachanh saw him turn around several times and motion like he was going to shoot at Phommachanh again. Lemons joined the chase, heard gunfire from Phommachanh’s service weapon, and eventually shot the fleeing man in the back. The man was identified as Hawkins.
As a result of these events, the State charged Hawkins with four counts: Count I, aggravated assault of Phommachanh as an individual; Count II, aggravated assault of Phommachanh as a law enforcement officer; Count III, aggravated assault of Lemons as a law enforcement officer; and Count IV, criminal possession of a firearm. The jury found Hawkins guilty of Counts I, II, and IV but acquitted him of Count III.
Hawkins moved for a judgment of acquittal and new trial. After allowing argument, the trial court denied both motions. The trial
Were Hawkins’ Convictions of Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer Supported by Sufficient Evidence?
Hawkins challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his convictions of aggravated assault and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. “When the sufficiency of the evidence is reviewed in a criminal case, [an appellate] court must consider all of the evidence, viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution, and determine whether a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. Parker,
From our review of the record, we conclude there was some conflicting evidence of the details of the incident, but Hawkins’ involvement was not placed in serious doubt. The officers testified clearly regarding the Hawkins’ movements, shots fired, and being placed in fear of bodily harm as a result of Hawkins’ actions. Additionally, a partially loaded but jammed semiautomatic handgun was found on die floor of the vehicle Hawkins was entering as he was shot by Lemons. Ballistics matched one of the six cartridges or shell casings found at the crime scene to that handgun, and a bullet hole was found in the top of the windshield of a car in the parking lot in the vicinity where Phommachanh first observed someone shoot at him. One witness, who was in front of the restaurant at the time of the first shot, heard the shot, testified generally consistent with the officers, and specifically stated that the
Hawkins’ arguments on appeal highlight evidence suggesting his innocence. For example, he points to evidence presented in his defense which tended to contradict Phommachanh’s testimony on direct examination that he thought Hawkins was shooting at him, as opposed to a car. He maintains that Phommachanh’s conflicting statements in that regard were insufficient for the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of aggravated assault. His claim is similar with regard to evidence of the events that led to the charge of aggravated assault against Phommachanh as a law enforcement officer, which included conflicting witness accounts of Hawkins’ actions as he ran from the officers.
We conclude that Hawkins’ arguments go to the weight of the respective evidence and the assessment of credibility. We decline to resolve such issues. See Pham,
Did the District Court Err in Responding to a Jury Question on Aggravated Assault, and if so, Was the Error Harmless?
Hawkins argues the district court erroneously responded to a question from the jury during its deliberations and the erroneous response entitles him to a new trial on his aggravated assault conviction. He makes no similar challenge as to his remaining convictions. This court generally reviews a trial court’s response to a jury’s question for abuse of discretion. Our appellate courts will find an abuse of judicial discretion only when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. State v. Kendall,
Instruction 9 directed the juiy that to find Hawkins guilty of the aggravated assault of Phommachanh as an individual, the jury had to find, in pertinent part, that “Mr. Hawkins intentionally placed Fongvilay Phommachanh in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm.” Both parties focused in their closing arguments upon what the jury had to find — or not find — that Hawkins intended. More than an hour into deliberations, the jury sent a note to the court referencing “Instruction 9, item 1” and asking: “Does aggravated assault require Mr. Hawkins [’] target specifically to be Officer Phommachanh?”
The State argued the doctrine of transferred intent applied and suggested the trial court simply refer to its instructions already given. Hawkins argued the question mandated a “yes” response because the jury had to find this was an intentional act against Phommachanh specifically.
Relying on State v. Eichman,
We fundamentally disagree with the district court in its belief that the intent necessary “does not have to be the intent to place someone in immediate apprehension of bodily harm.” This was a serious misstatement of die law. See K.S.A. 21-3408 (assault). Although aggravated assault is a general intent crime, the general intent necessary requires proof that the defendant intentionally
Instructive to our analysis is our court’s decision in State v. Campbell,
At issue in Campbell was the propriety of the trial court’s aggravated battery instruction. The instruction included language generally tracking the battery statute in that it provided the State had to prove Campbell “intentionally caused physical contact with [Deputy] Magdaleno in a rude, insulting or angry manner.” The source of controversy was the trial court’s addition of a paragraph to the instruction that provided: “ ‘As used in this instruction, the
The Campbell court defined the ultimate legal question before it as: “What, exactly, must a battery defendant have had a general intent to do?”
“must have possessed the general intent to ‘caus[e] physical contact with another person.’ K.S.A. 2000 Supp. 21-3412(a)(2). Mere recklessness is not enough . . ., but neither must the State have to prove that the defendant had physical contact with a specific individual in mind. . . . [The defendant] need not have possessed the intention for the liquid to hit Magdaleno specifically.”30 Kan. App. 2d at 73 .
Because the jury could reasonably have been misled, this court reversed the defendant’s battery against a law enforcement officer conviction and remanded the case.
Similarly, we must conclude that the district court’s response to the jury’s question was not harmless. Here, the court’s response misstated the intent element required for aggravated assault and likely misled the jury. See State v. Kunellis,
Were Hawkins’ Convictions of Aggravated Assault and Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer MultiplicitousP
Hawkins next contends that his convictions for the aggravated assault against Phommachanh as an individual and the aggravated assault against Phommachanh as a law enforcement officer violated his constitutional right to be free from double jeopardy. We address this issue despite our reversal of the aggravated assault conviction because if it is meritorious, no retrial would be necessary.
Hawkins acknowledges that he did not raise the multiplicity issue at trial. Nonetheless, he properly notes that our appellate courts consider multiplicity issues raised for the first time on appeal to serve the ends of justice or to prevent a denial of a fundamental
Whether the State violated Hawkins’ protections against double jeopardy and multiplicity are questions of law subject to unlimited review. State v. Schoonover,
To answer the first question, “[i]f the conduct is discrete, i.e., committed separately and severally, the convictions do not arise from the same offense and there is no double jeopardy violation.”
“(1) [W]hether the acts occur at or near the same time; (2) whether the acts occur at the same location; (3) whether there is a causal relationship between the acts, in particular whether there was an intervening event; and (4) whether there is a fresh impulse motivating some of the conduct.”281 Kan. at 497 .
Hawkins summarily argues the charges against him for the aggravated assault of Phommachanh as an individual and against Phommachanh as a law enforcement officer stemmed from one uninterrupted incident that lasted only a few minutes so the charges “were undoubtedly based on the same unitary conduct.”
We reject Hawkins’ multiplicity argument because the challenged convictions did not proceed from the same conduct. Rather, the facts detailed above demonstrate that discrete conduct resulted
Hawkins’ actions clearly did not occur at the same time or location. Moreover, there was an intervening event — Phommachanh identified himself as a police officer and Hawkins turned around to run away. Hawkins’ subsequent decision to turn around while running and motion as though he was going to shoot Phommachanh was a fresh impulse beyond the earlier event of frightening Phommachanh by shooting toward him as he stood in front of the Denny’s. Accord State v. Gomez,
Because Hawkins’ actions did not proceed from the same conduct, his convictions were not for the same offense so there was no violation of the Double Jeopardy Clause.
Was Hawkins Denied a Fair Trial by Reason of Cumulative Error?
Hawkins next claims that cumulative trial error denied him a fair trial as guaranteed by the United States Constitution. We recognize that cumulative trial errors, when considered collectively, may be so great as to require reversal of the defendant’s conviction. The test is whether the totality of circumstances substantially prejudiced the defendant and denied him or her a fair trial. State v. Lumbrera,
Here, the only error we have found among Hawkins’ challenges was an error related specifically to his conviction for aggravated assault. Based upon that error, we have reversed his conviction for
Did the District Court Err in Sentencing Hawkins Based on a Criminal History Not Proven to a Jury Beyond a Reasonable Doubt?
Hawkins also contends the trial court erred by considering his prior convictions to score his criminal history for sentencing purposes without submitting those convictions to a jury to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. He claims such a practice violates the principles of Apprendi v. New Jersey,
Hawkins acknowledges this same argument was rejected in State v. Ivory,
Absent some indication that the Kansas Supreme Court is departing from its position in Ivory, this court is duty bound to follow that precedent. See State v. Beck,
Does this Court Have Jurisdiction to Consider Hawkins’Remaining Challenge to his Presumptive Sentences?
Hawkins next argues the trial court violated his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution by
Pursuant to K.S.A. 21-4704(f), the three numbers contained within a sentencing guidelines grid box constitute the range for a presumptive sentence. K.S.A. 21-4721(c)(1) expressly forbids this court from reviewing a presumptive sentence. In State v. Lewis,
In summary, we reverse Hawkins’ conviction and sentence for aggravated assault, we affirm his remaining convictions, we reject his Apprendi argument, and we dismiss his challenge to his presumptive sentences. We remand for a new trial on the aggravated assault charge. Because the conviction reversed was not the primary crime among multiple convictions, we conclude K.S.A. 21-4720(b)(5) is inapplicable, and there need be no resentencing on the convictions affirmed. See State v. Heath,
Convictions affirmed in part and reversed in part, appeal dismissed in part, and case remanded with directions.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting in part: Under K.S.A. 21-4720(b), a district judge has discretion to make the sentences either concurrent or consecutive in a multiple-conviction case. Concurrent sentences all share the same clock; the defendant serves only the longest sentence as less serious ones tick away alongside it. Consecutive sentences are a string of separate clocks; time doesn’t begin to count on a second sentence until the first one is fully served, which results in a lengthier time in custody.
Despite the importance of this issue, the district court is not required to give reasons for it- — and the district court’s decision to make sentences consecutive ordinarily is not appealable. See State v. Flores,
I cannot agree with the majority on the single issue of whether the district court must resentence the defendant after one of the underlying convictions has been reversed. We do not know — and the district court is not required to explain- — why Hawkins received consecutive sentences. Perhaps the district judge concluded that two aggravated-assault convictions and the illegal possession of a firearm merited consecutive sentences, but perhaps that same district judge would conclude that one aggravated-assault conviction and the conviction for the illegal possession of a firearm did not merit consecutive sentences. Kansas law has long recognized that whether to issue consecutive sentences in a multiple-conviction case is all part of a single sentencing decision. I would include an explicit direction for resentencing Hawkins on remand here so the district judge could reconsider consecutive or concurrent sentencing as it is within the district judge’s discretion, not ours, to decide that.
To place the issue in context, let’s review the procedure for how Hawkins’ sentence was determined with his multiple convictions.
In a multiple-conviction case, the sentencing range for convictions other than the base sentence is generally determined without regard to the defendant’s criminal history. Hawkins, then, was treated as if he had a criminal-history score of I for the other offenses, which gave him a sentencing range from 11 to 13 months for aggravated assault and from 7 to 9 months for illegal possession of a firearm. The district judge has the discretion to choose a sentence within that range for each offense and to then decide whether the sentences will run concurrently or consecutively. The district judge in this case gave Hawkins the maximum sentence for each offense and ran all of the sentences consecutively.
If Hawkins had only been convicted of two of the charges, would the judge have still run the sentences consecutively? We have no way of knowing. But we can say with certainty that the judge would have acted well within his discretion whichever way he had decided.
After a judge has exercised that discretion, a defendant with multiple convictions may still appeal from the underlying convictions, and there are several possible situations when one or even two of those convictions are reversed on that appeal. Let’s consider those possibilities, and then we can place both Hawkins’ case and a situation that’s explicitly covered by statute in context. In the examples listed below, I have accounted for either affirmance or reversal and for either concurrent or consecutive sentences for each of three offenses:
Resentencing would be needed when the base-sentence conviction is reversed (examples C, D, G, and H) because the defendant’s full criminal-history score is only applied against that base sentence. If Hawkins’ base-sentence conviction had been reversed, he would need to be resentenced so that his new base sentence, the aggravated-assault conviction, could be recalculated with his full criminal history. In that case, the new sentencing range for that conviction would have been from 27 to 31 months rather than 11 to 13 months, which was previously used when Hawkins was sentenced with a different base-sentence conviction.
The legislature has explicitly provided for resentencing when the base-conviction sentence is reversed in K.S.A. 21-4720(b)(5):
“In the event a conviction designated as the primary crime in a multiple conviction case is reversed on appeal, the appellate court shall remand the multiple conviction case for resentencing. Upon resentencing, if the case remains a multiple conviction case the court shall follow all of the provisions of this section concerning the sentencing of multiple conviction cases.”
So the legislature has required resentencing in the examples I’ve labeled C, D, G, and H. But does this mean that a remand for resentencing is prohibited in all other cases? I think not.
Two of the remaining situations — -examples E and F — would not need to be remanded for resentencing. In these cases, the district court chose concurrent sentences from the outset. There is no rea
But in the other two remaining hypothetical situations — examples A and B — a remand for resentencing still makes sense. Like Hawkins’ case, the base-sentence conviction was affirmed in both cases, but one other conviction was reversed. In addition, the sentences had run consecutively. In this circumstance, there is simply no way to know whether the district court would have acted differently had there been fewer convictions because the district court is not required to explain the use of its own discretion in making that choice.
The majority would conclude that the legislature considered all of the possible hypothetical cases and intended a remand only when the base-sentence conviction was reversed. When one considers all of the possible hypotheticals in multiple-conviction cases — including the additional possibilities with more than 3 convictions or when some, but not all, sentences are run consecutively — it makes no sense for the legislature to try to cover all of the possibilities by statute. We should not conclude that it tried to do so from the language it used in K.S.A. 21-4720(b)(5).
This conclusion is supported by Kansas caselaw. A 1931 Kansas Supreme Court case, State v. Woodbury,
“the sentence on any or all of the counts running concurrently or consecutively must apply to a single sentence delivered at one time only and covering all the counts on which conviction was had. Whatever concurrent or consecutive features or elements there may be prescribed by the court must all be a part of the one sentence imposed and pronounced by the court on one date only and at one time.”133 Kan. at 2 .
The result I would reach is consistent with the teaching of Wood-bury. In any situation in which a resentencing might make sense,
Although Woodbury arose under earlier statutes, its rationale is still valid, and the case was cited as recently as 2 years ago in State v. Snow,
The cases cited by the majority do not trump Woodbury. State v. Heath,
On remand, the district court should be required to resentence Hawkins once any retrial on the aggravated-assault charge has been completed. At that time, if Hawkins is acquitted of this charge, the district judge should consider whether consecutive sentences would be appropriate with only two convictions, a situation not previously considered. If Hawkins is again convicted of the aggravated-assault charge, the district judge still should resentence and use the additional knowledge gained at retrial, which is a result consistent with the teaching of Woodbury and Snow. Sentencing in a multiple-conviction case comprises but a single judgment, and that single judgment should be rendered at a single time, with full consideration of the information available to the court.
