State v. Baughman

242 P.3d 196, 44 Kan. App. 2d 878, 2010 Kan. App. LEXIS 209
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 28, 2010
Docket100,604
StatusPublished

This text of 242 P.3d 196 (State v. Baughman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Baughman, 242 P.3d 196, 44 Kan. App. 2d 878, 2010 Kan. App. LEXIS 209 (kan 2010).

Opinions

Larson, J.:

This is Clifford Baughman’s direct appeal from his conviction in a jury trial of aggravated indecent liberties with a child in violation of K.S.A. 21-3504(a)(l).

Baughman alleges on appeal that the district court erred (1) in giving the “deadlocked” jury instruction over his specific objection; (2) in failing to require an election or giving an instruction in a multiple acts situation; (3) by excluding evidence of the victim’s previous sexual history for the purpose of impeachment; and (4) by refusing to remove Baughman’s appointed counsel on the morning of the jury trial.

We reverse and remand for further proceedings because the district court erred in giving, over Baughman’s specific objection, a deadlocked jury instruction which had been disapproved by our appellate court in State v. Salts, 288 Kan. 263, 200 P.3d 464 (2009), State v. Scott-Herring, 284 Kan. 172, 180-81, 159 P.3d 1028 (2007), State v. Turner, 34 Kan. App. 2d 131, 132-36, 115 P.3d 776 (2005), and other cases.

We will briefly set forth trial testimony in commenting on other issues, but such a discussion is not necessary to resolve the dispositive issue in this appeal.

The Allen v. United States, 164 U.S. 492, 41 L. Ed. 528, 17 S. Ct. 154 (1896), “deadlocked jury instruction” was given in this case, along with other jury instructions, and reads as follows:

“No. 14
“This is an important case. If you should fail to reach a decision, the case is left open and undecided. Like all cases, it must be decided sometime. Another trial would be a heavy burden on both sides.
“There is no reason to believe that the case can be tried again any better or more exhaustively than it has been. There is no reason to believe that more evidence or clearer evidence would be produced on behalf of either side.
“Also, there is no reason to believe that the case would ever be submitted to 12 people more intelligent or more impartial or more reasonable than you. Any future jury must be selected in the same manner that you were.
“This does not mean that those favoring any particular position should surrender their honest convictions as to the weight or effect of any evidence solely [880]*880because of the opinion of other jurors or because of the importance of arriving at a decision.
“This does mean that you should give respectful consideration to each other’s views and talk over any differences of opinion in a spirit of fairness and candor. If at all possible, you should resolve any differences and come to a common conclusion. You may be as leisurely in your deliberations as die occasion may require and take all the time you feel necessary.”

Because Baughman objected to instruction No. 14, the instructions are to be considered by an appellate court as a whole and not isolate any one instruction. Even if erroneous in some way, instructions are not reversible error if they properly and fairly state the law as applied to the facts of the case and could not have reasonably misled the jury. State v. McKissack, 283 Kan. 721, 732, 156 P.3d 1249 (2007).

Baughman, in a Supreme Court Rule 6.09 letter (2009 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 47) following oral argument, suggests that this standard has been stated another way in a recent case, State v. Williams, 42 Kan. App. 2d 725, Syl. ¶ 1, 216 P.3d 707 (2009): “An appellate court examines jury instructions as a whole, without focusing on any single instruction, in order to determine whether they properly and fairly state the applicable law or whether it is reasonable to conclude that they could have misled the jury.” We will follow the standard of review most recently set forth in a Supreme Court opinion, State v. Appleby, 289 Kan. 1017, 1059, 221 P.3d 525 (2009), which states:

“When a party has objected to an instruction at trial, the instruction will be examined on appeal to determine if it properly and fairly states the law as applied to the facts of the case and could not have reasonably misled the jury. In making this determination an appellate court is required to consider the instructions as a whole and not isolate any one instruction. [Citations omitted.]”

In his appeal, Baughman argues the instruction is unduly coercive, misleading, confusing, and legally infirm because it allows the jury to consider matters outside the evidence produced at trial and improperly appeals to the financial interests of jurors. He further argues instruction No. 14 is in direct conflict with instruction No. 11. Specific language in instruction No. 14 has been disapproved in prior appellate opinions, and the instruction given follows exactly [881]*881the pre-2005 version of PIK Crim. 3d 68.12, which our Supreme Court in State v. Scott-Herring, 284 Kan. at 181, specifically directed that trial judges should discontinue using.

The State recognizes the holdings of the several cases which Baughman cites but argues they do not require reversal in our case. The State points out that while “like all cases, it must be decided sometime” is an inaccurate statement of law, State v. Scott-Herring did not require reversal and under the standard of review proper and fair instructions were required rather than “technically perfect instructions.” The State further points to the fact there was no objection in the State v. Salts case, which required a clearly erroneous standard of review, and the court concluded there was no reversible error because there was no real possibility the juiy would have reached a different verdict absent the error. 288 Kan. at 266-67.

The State distinguishes the recent case of State v. Page, 41 Kan. App. 2d 584, 203 P.3d 1277 (2009), where giving the deadlocked juiy instruction was objected to and deemed to be reversible error because the jury had informed the court it was deadlocked on count II but continued deliberations the following day and eventually found Page guilty. The State argues Baughman’s case is different as there were no deadlock or hung juiy announcements and, in fact, the juiy came back with a split verdict, finding Baughman not guilty on count I and guilty on count II.

The problems with the language of PIK Crim. 3d 68.12 was first set forth in Judge Malone’s opinion in State v. Turner where the “Like all cases, it must be decided sometime” language was held to be an inaccurate statement of law because the case might not be retried and could be dismissed without prejudice and never decided. 34 Kan. App. 2d at 134. The Turner opinion stated there was nothing to support a pressured verdict and the juiy could not reasonably have been misled by the instructions. 34 Kan. App. 2d at 136.

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Related

State v. Baughman
242 P.3d 196 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
242 P.3d 196, 44 Kan. App. 2d 878, 2010 Kan. App. LEXIS 209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baughman-kan-2010.