Kinchion v. State

2003 OK CR 28, 81 P.3d 681, 74 O.B.A.J. 3537, 2003 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 25, 2003 WL 22930618
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 12, 2003
DocketF-2002-601
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 2003 OK CR 28 (Kinchion v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Kinchion v. State, 2003 OK CR 28, 81 P.3d 681, 74 O.B.A.J. 3537, 2003 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 25, 2003 WL 22930618 (Okla. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

SUMMARY OPINION

LUMPKIN, Judge.

T1 Appellant Kenneth Ray Kinchion was tried by jury and found guilty of Conspiracy [683]*683to Commit a Felony, Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon (Counts 1 and 8) (21 0.S8.1991, §§ 421 & 801); First Degree Murder (Count 2) (21 0.8.1991, § 701.7); Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon (Count 4) (21 0.8.Supp. 1997, § 801); and Felonious Possession of a Firearm (Counts 5 and 7), Case No. CF-2000-6468, in the District Court of Oklahoma County. The jury recommended as punishment twenty five (25) years imprisonment in each of Counts 1 and 3, life imprisonment in Count 2, fifty (50) years imprisonment in Count 4, and ten (10) years imprisonment in each of Counts 5 and 7. The trial court sentenced accordingly. It is from this judgment and sentence that Appellant appeals.

T2 On November 8, 2000, Appellant also known as Peanut, DeWayne Shirley also known as Pudgy, and Teron Armstrong, also known as T-Noc, members of the Oak Grove Posse, robbed two convenience stores in Oklahoma City. The first armed robbery was committed at Coker's Corner, on South Kentucky Street, at approximately 10:00 a.m. The second armed robbery was attempted shortly after 8:00 p.m. at Tran's Food Mart on South May. Appellant carried the gun in the first robbery. However, in the second robbery, Armstrong carried the gun. After Armstrong threatened the owner of the store, Han Vo, with the gun, Han Vo shot and killed Armstrong with a .38 caliber revolver he kept under the counter.

T3 Appellant raises the following propositions of error in support of his appeal:

I. The statutory offense of Felony Murder does not arise from the shooting death of a co-felon by a robbery victim during a convenience store robbery.
II. The evidence was insufficient to prove the conspiracy allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
III. Two counts of conspiracy violate the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy.
IV. There was no evidence that Appellant possessed a firearm at the robbery at Tran's Food Mart.
V. The trial court erred in refusing defense counsel's request for a jury instruction on the exculpatory statement doctrine.
VI. Appellant's sentences on the conspiracy and robbery convictions were improperly enhanced under the Habitual Criminal Statute.
VII. When considered eumulatively, the multiple errors addressed herein denied Appellant due process and fundamental fairness.

14 At the request of the Court, oral argument was held September 17, 2003. After a thorough consideration of these propositions and the entire record before us on appeal including the original record, transcripts, and briefs of the parties, we have determined that reversal is warranted only as to Count 5, Felonious Possession of a Firearm.

15 In Proposition I, the issue of the criminal responsibility of a defendant for the death of a co-felon was first addressed by this Court in State v. Jones, 859 P.2d 514, 515 (Okl.Cr.1993). This Court found that under 21 O.S.1991, § 701.7(B) a defendant could not be charged with and convicted of felony-murder for the death of a co-felon who was shot by the intended victim of a burglary. Title 21 0.8.1991, § 701.7(B) read as follows:

A person also commits the crime of murder in the first degree when he takes the life of a human being, regardless of malice, in the commission of forcible rape, robbery with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, escape from lawful custody, first degree burglary, first degree arson, unlawful distributing or dispensing of controlled dangerous substances, or trafficking in illegal drugs.

T6 This Court held that the express language of the felony-murder statute precluded prosecutions where the victim was killed by someone other than the defendant or an accomplice. In 1996, section 701.7(B) was amended and the language broadened to include deaths, which occur at the hands of the intended victim of the underlying felony, police officers, or innocent bystanders. The 1996 amendment provided:

B. A person also commits the crime of murder in the first degree, regardless of malice, when that person or any other [684]*684person takes the life of a human being during, or if the death of a human being results from, the commission or attempted commission of murder of another person, shooting or discharge of a firearm or crossbow with intent to kill, intentional discharge of a firearm or other deadly weapon into any dwelling or building as provided in Section 1289.17 of this title, forcible rape, robbery with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, escape from lawful custody, first degree burglary, first degree arson, unlawful distributing or dispensing of controlled dangerous substances, or trafficking in illegal drugs. -

T7 The amended language is consistent with our long-standing interpretation of the felony-murder doctrine. In Hatch v. State, 662 P.2d 1377 (Okl.Cr.1983), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1073, 106 S.Ct. 834, 88 L.Ed.2d 805 (1986) this Court stated:

The legislature's definition of murder in 701.7(B) is a reflection of the policy that one who, by his willful criminal conduct, sets in motion a chain of events so perilous to the sanctity of human life that death results therefrom; must bear the ultimate responsibility for his actions. We agree with the legislature that murders effected in such a manner are as abhorrent as those, which are premeditated. Proserib-ing such actions under our first-degree murder statutes performs the rational function of deterring the commission of felonies so inherently dangerous as to create foreseeable risks of death.

662 P.2d at 1884.

8 Although the Court was addressing the language of the pre-1996 statute in Hatch, the policy expressed remains valid in the 1996 amendment. Indeed, the felony-murder statute, and particularly the 1996 amendment, were designed to apply to just such a situation as we have in the present case. Here, the evidence showed Appellant planned and actively participated in two armed robberies. During the first armed robbery, Appellant carried the weapon. During the second robbery, Appellant acted as the lookout and Armstrong carried the weapon. It can be reasonably inferred from the evidence that Appellant knew Armstrong was going to carry the loaded gun in the second robbery. Further, it is reasonably foreseeable that threatened with a weapon, the store clerk might shoot at his assailant. While Appellant did not personally carry the loaded gun into the store during the second robbery, his criminal conduct of planning and carrying out the armed robbery, set in motion "a chain of events so perilous to the sanctity of human life" that the likelihood of death resulting was foreseeable. Therefore, Appellant should bear the ultimate responsibility for his actions, which in this case means prosecution for first degree murder.

T 9 In his appellate brief and in oral argument before this Court Appellant argued that under the law of imputed intent, the unintended death of his co-felon cannot be imputed to him. The doctrine of imputed intent is a common law principle. The common law has been abrogated by state statute in Oklahoma. See 22 00.98.2001, § 9.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2003 OK CR 28, 81 P.3d 681, 74 O.B.A.J. 3537, 2003 Okla. Crim. App. LEXIS 25, 2003 WL 22930618, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kinchion-v-state-oklacrimapp-2003.