Peo v. Morgan

Colorado Court of Appeals·Decided October 2, 2025·No. 22CA1580·Unpublished

Opinion

22CA1580 Peo v Morgan 10-02-2025 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS

Court of Appeals No. 22CA1580 Weld County District Court No. 20CR496 Honorable Timothy Kerns, Judge

The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kaman Michael Morgan, Defendant-Appellant.

JUDGMENT AFFIRMED

Division V

Opinion by JUDGE FREYRE

Pawar and Yun, JJ., concur

NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e)

Announced October 2, 2025

Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, William G. Kozeliski, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee

Casey J. Mulligan, Alternate Defense Counsel, Boulder, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant

¶1 Defendant, Kaman Michael Morgan, appeals his conviction for first degree murder. We affirm.

I. Background

¶2 Morgan and B.B. dated on and off for three years and had a child together. ¶3 On February 24, 2020, police responded to a report of a shooting at Morgan’s house. Upon arrival, they found B.B. lying face down in the driveway, with blood coming from her head. The windshield of B.B.’s car had five bullet holes. B.B. had been shot six times — five times from the front or side, and once in the back of the head. ¶4 Multiple neighbors testified that they heard gunshots on the night of the shooting. One neighbor testified that when she went outside, she heard a man yell, “That’s what you get, you bitch.” ¶5 After the shooting, Morgan called his mother and confessed to shooting B.B. A few hours later, he arrived at his mother’s house and asked her to drive him to the police station. Morgan told his mother that B.B. “said the wrong thing one last time,” so he retrieved his gun from the house and shot B.B. through the front windshield of her car.

¶6 Earlier on the day of the shooting, Morgan and B.B. exchanged text messages about B.B. picking up their infant son from Morgan’s house. Morgan wrote, “I’m just so done with your fucking shit[,] it gives me a headache even talking to you. Actions speak louder than words! When you come my dad will [hand] him off to you[,] I don’t even want to see you ever again. Or speak to you if I don’t have to.” Morgan then called B.B. a “cunt.” ¶7 The trial evidence further showed that Morgan had threatened to kill B.B. during a phone call in January 2020 and again the day before the shooting. ¶8 Morgan testified at trial. Morgan admitted that he had repeatedly threatened to kill B.B., though he claimed that they were empty threats. Morgan said that B.B. arrived at his house around 8 p.m. to pick up their son. He said they argued and B.B. hit him in the leg with the car seat. She then said, “Say good-bye to your son. You’re never [going to] see him again[,] . . . at least alive.” Morgan testified that he went inside to get his cell phone to call the police and, while inside, also grabbed his gun. He returned outside and claimed he saw B.B. shaking their son while putting him in the car seat. Morgan then shot B.B. five times through the car’s

windshield. When she fell out of the car, Morgan said he accidentally shot her a sixth time. ¶9 Police recovered a .357 magnum revolver from the front lawn. All six bullets had been fired. They also recovered a box of .357 magnum ammunition that was missing six bullets. ¶ 10 The jury convicted Morgan of first degree murder (after deliberation) as an act of domestic violence, and the trial court sentenced him to life without parole. ¶ 11 On appeal, Morgan contends that the trial court (1) impermissibly permitted prosecutorial misconduct during voir dire; (2) erroneously refused to give the jury a curative instruction defense counsel requested after deliberations had begun; and (3) erroneously precluded the defense from eliciting exculpatory testimony from Morgan’s brother. He also asserts these errors cumulatively deprived him of a fair trial. We address and reject each of his contentions.

II. Prosecutorial Misconduct and Curative Instruction ¶ 12 Morgan contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct when he used an analogy to explain the concept of “after deliberation.” He further contends that the trial court erred when it

denied his request for a curative instruction on “after deliberation” after the jury began deliberating. We discern no error.

A. Additional Background Information ¶ 13 During voir dire, the prosecutor questioned the panel about inferring intent from an individual’s action. He used the example of someone using their turn signal, indicating their intent to turn. He then asked two jurors about using their turn signals.

[PROSECUTOR]: On your way to court, did you change lanes?

JUROR NO. 10: Yes.

[PROSECUTOR]: And can you describe for me how you did it? And he’s not going to write you a ticket if you —did you use your turn signal?

JUROR NO. 10: No, I just used my turn signal and used my mirrors to make sure I can get over.

[PROSECUTOR]: Okay. How long did that take you?

JUROR NO. 10: A few seconds, I guess.

[PROSECUTOR]: Would you say it was a hasty decision you made?

JUROR NO. 10: No.

[PROSECUTOR]: Okay. Was it — or it wasn’t impulsive either, was it?

JUROR NO. 10: No.

[PROSECUTOR]: Okay. It’s something you thought about and did relatively quickly?

JUROR NO. 10: Yes.

[PROSECUTOR]: And you did it safely?

JUROR NO. 10: Yes.

....

[PROSECUTOR]: Juror Number 9, same question.

JUROR NO. 9: Yeah, I just turn my turn signal on and change lanes, and made it on time.

[PROSECUTOR]: Okay. And, again, it wasn’t an impulsive decision —

JUROR NO. 9: No.

[PROSEUCTOR]: -- or hasty; is that fair?

JUROR NO. 9: Right.

[PROSECUTOR]: And it was a relatively quick decision?

JUROR NO. 9: Yes.

¶ 14 In closing argument, the prosecutor referenced this analogy without objection, saying the following regarding the element of after deliberation:

After deliberation, you guys heard a lot of talk about that when we were doing jury selection

and things like that. The judge talked to you about it, I talked to you about it, defense counsel talked to you about it. But this definition doesn’t mean you have to think for days and days and weeks and weeks about a plan, you know, like, in a movie plot or something like that. That’s why I talked to you guys in jury selection about changing lanes in a car. It’s something that if you don’t do safely, it can have huge ramifications. But you do it quickly. You look in your mirror, you signal and you go or don’t go because it’s not safe yet. It can be a very quick decision.

We talked about it can’t be hasty or impulsive, right? Just like changing a lane. Here, you have him telling her the day before he’s going to kill her. Him telling her to come to their house and get [their child] that night right then and there . . . . He’s not happy about her moving in with her new boyfriend. His mom tells her —tells you guys, or at least the cops do, that he’s been saying he wanted to kill her for weeks. . . . [He] threatens to murder her the day before. The day of the murder he tells her how much [he] hates her and doesn’t want her moving in with [her boyfriend]. That shows deliberation, ladies and gentlemen. That shows that this was intentional.

¶ 15 Defense counsel then responded:

So first, let’s look at the element of after deliberation. After deliberation has a specific definition.

....

In jury selection, and then even in close, the prosecution asked you about changing lanes.

How many people changed lanes when they’re driving to court today? Using their turn signal when you’ve changed lanes. Changing lanes?

How many times have you changed lanes in your life? It’s an automatic look, signal, move.

Where do you have to sit there thinking about how do I change lanes? Where is my turn signal? Am I supposed to look or just move?

No. Changing lanes is so ingrained that it’s a habit.

That is not after deliberation. And [Morgan]

did not shoot [B.B.] after deliberation.

[Morgan] shot [B.B.] to stop the threat to his son. He quickly reacted.

¶ 16 In rebuttal closing, the prosecutor responded:

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