State v. Britt

287 P.3d 905, 295 Kan. 1018, 2012 WL 5377653, 2012 Kan. LEXIS 503
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedNovember 2, 2012
DocketNo. 103,727
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 287 P.3d 905 (State v. Britt) 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. Britt, 287 P.3d 905, 295 Kan. 1018, 2012 WL 5377653, 2012 Kan. LEXIS 503 (kan 2012).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Moritz, J.:

Christopher D. Britt appeals his Jessica’s Law convictions for rape, aggravated sodomy, and aggravated indecent liberties. He contends all three convictions must be reversed because the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of guilt on each of the alternative means for committing the crime on which the jury was instructed. Applying State v. Brown, 295 Kan. 181, 284 P.3d 977 (2012), we conclude none of the complained of jury instructions included alternative means. Britt also argues that three separate statements by the prosecutor constitute misconduct. While we conclude one of the complained of statements was improper, we find the error is not reversible.

Britt also raises a constitutional challenge to his life sentence, arguing it violates § 9 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights. Applying the three-part test of State v. Freeman, 273 Kan. 362, 367, 574 P.2d 950 (1978), we conclude Britt’s sentence does not violate our constitution. Finally, we agree that the district court erred in imposing lifetime postrelease. We affirm Britt’s convictions but vacate the imposition of lifetime postrelease supervision.

[1021]*1021Facts and Procedural History

On July 16, 2006, D.B. married Christopher Britt. Around December 12, 2006, D.B., her two children, and Britt moved to Overland Park, Kansas from Kansas City, Missouri. In March of 2007, Britt apparently was unemployed and took over household duties while D.B. worked.

On December 31, 2007, D.B. and Britt had a domestic dispute. During the dispute Britt threatened to kill D.B. and slammed a car door on her leg. Britt was charged with and eventually pled guilty to criminal threat, domestic battery, and misdemeanor assault.

In early January 2008, while Britt was in jail on domestic dispute charges, D.B.’s 9-year-old daughter, A.C., disclosed to her mother that Britt tried to kiss her and rub her genitals. A.C. gave her mother a piece of paper on which she had written that Britt made her “suck his middle part.” D.B. took her daughter for a sexual assault examination and later a “safe talk” interview at Sunflower House on January 7, 2008.

Jennifer Coughlin, a forensics interviewer, conducted the Sunflower House interview. During the interview, A.C. stated that Britt touched die inside of her middle part approximately 6 to 10 times; placed his middle part in her middle part approximately 20 times, and made her suck his middle part approximately 30 times. Occasionally, A.C. would elect to write out her answers to Cough-lin’s questions. Her written answers were admitted into evidence at trial. Some of A.C.’s most graphic statements were made in writing, e.g., Britt made her “suck his middle part” and it was “nasty stuff that I don’t want to taste.” A.C. also wrote that during the forced fellatio “[Britt’s] body [was] jumping like [a] grasshopper.”

The State charged Britt with rape, aggravated criminal sodomy, and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. At trial, A.C., now 11 years old, testified that Britt touched the inside and outside of her middle part, made her suck his middle part, and kissed her breasts and mouth. A.C. stated that Britt’s penis never penetrated her vagina. But she stated that Britt rubbed his penis “on the outside, on the edge” of her “private part.”

[1022]*1022Stephanie Strout conducted A.C.’s sexual assault examination which revealed no signs of trauma or healed trauma. But Strout testified that the hymen usually heals within 72 hours of trauma, leaving no sign of the prior trauma. Because A.C.’s sexual assault examination was completed more than 72 hours after the last alleged assault, Strout opined that the lack of trauma was not probative of whether an assault occurred. Britt’s expert witness, Dr. William Logan, reviewed the examination report and largely agreed with Strout. He concluded that the examination “[d]oesn’t prove anything one way or the other, standing alone.”

Britt testified and denied that any abuse occurred. The jury returned a guilty verdict on all charges.

The rape instruction required the jury to find that Britt was over the age of 18. But no age element was included in the instructions for the two other charged crimes. Consequently, at sentencing the State asked the court to sentence Britt to the grid for the nonrape counts under this court’s reasoning in State v. Bello, 289 Kan. 191, 211 P.3d 139 (2009). The district court obliged and imposed consecutive sentences of life with a mandatory minimum sentence of 618 months for the Jessica’s Law rape charge, and grid sentences of 123 months and 61 months for the sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties charges, respectively. At the time of his sentencing, Britt’s criminal histoxy score was a B. Therefore, under K.S.A. 21-4643(a)(2)(B), Britt’s mandatory minimum sentence was between 554 and 618 months. Britt timely appealed.

Alternative Means

Britt raises alternative means challenges to his aggravated sodomy, aggravated indecent liberties, and rape convictions. “Issues of statutory interpretation and construction, including issues of whether a statute creates alternative means, raise questions of law reviewable de novo on appeal.” Brown, 295 Kan. 181, Syl. ¶ 6.

Aggravated Sodomy

Britt argues his aggravated sodomy conviction must be reversed because the evidence was insufficient to support a finding of guilt [1023]*1023on each of die alternative means for committing the crime on which the jury was instructed.

We recently analyzed and developed a framework for considering sufficiency of the evidence claims when the defendant asserts the evidence of alternative means was insufficient to establish each alternative means. Brown, 295 Kan. at 200-01. In Brown, we noted that in past decisions we have applied a “super-sufficiency” requirement for evidence in alternative means cases. Under that analysis, when a single criminal offense may be committed by alternative means, jury unanimity is not required as to the means by which the crime was committed as long as substantial evidence supports each alternative means set out in the jury instructions. If the evidence is insufficient on one or more of the means on which the jury has been instructed, the conviction must be reversed. Brown, 295 Kan. at 200-02.

But in Broton, we recognized a preliminary step to be applied before considering the super-sufficiency requirement. That preliminary step requires that we identify whether the criminal statute supporting die charged crime is an alternative means statute. 295 Kan. at 200. To make that determination, we first consider whether an “or” separates alternative means or separates “options within a means.” 295 Kan. at 201. Only if that language is ambiguous do we rely on legislative history or background considerations that speak to legislative purpose, or apply canons of statutoiy construction. See 295 Kan. at 201; Double M Constr. v. Kansas Corporation Comm'n, 288 Kan. 268, 271-72, 202 P.3d 7 (2009). We held in Brown:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
287 P.3d 905, 295 Kan. 1018, 2012 WL 5377653, 2012 Kan. LEXIS 503, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-britt-kan-2012.