State v. Hensley

313 P.3d 814, 298 Kan. 422, 2013 WL 6383039, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 1300
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedDecember 6, 2013
DocketNo. 102,055
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 313 P.3d 814 (State v. Hensley) 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. Hensley, 313 P.3d 814, 298 Kan. 422, 2013 WL 6383039, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 1300 (kan 2013).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Moritz, J.:

We granted Michael Rae Hensleys petition for review seeking reversal of a Court of Appeals decision affirming his convictions of possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with no tax stamp affixed, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hensley argues the panel erred in affirming the district court’s conclusion that probable cause supported the issuance of a warrant to search his home and in rejecting his challenge to the district court’s failure to compel the appearance of a witness. Additionally, he asserts the panel erred in rejecting his claim that his convictions of possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with no tax stamp were multiplicitous.

[424]*424We reject Hensley’s assertions that the probable cause affidavit was insufficient and conclude Hensley’s compulsory process claim of error fails because the district court never refused to issue process. However, we agree with Hensley that his convictions for possession of marijuana and possession of marijuana with no tax stamp are multiplicitous and reverse his conviction for possession of marijuana.

Factual and Procedural Background

Hensley’s ex-girlfriend, Crystal Post, telephoned tire Saline County Sheriffs Office in April 2007 and reported having seen a large amount of marijuana in Hensley’s freezer the previous day and said she believed Hensley had a handgun. Post advised that she feared Hensley because they had previously had physical confrontations and Hensley had threatened her. A few days before Post contacted the sheriff s office, an unidentified woman advised an officer that there was a lot of traffic coming and going from a house where “Mike” lived and she was concerned someone in the house was dealing narcotics.

After receiving these tips, officers checked their in-house information on Hensley and learned the following: in December 2004, Hensley visited a local inmate arrested for marijuana possession; in January 2005, officers executed a search warrant on an apartment across the hall from Hensley’s apartment and found his fingerprint on a baggie of marijuana; and in July 2005, an identified informant told police Hensley was his marijuana dealer in 2004. Officers also discovered that Hensley had a 1997 drug-related juvenile adjudication and that from 2003 to 2007 Hensley had several arrests related to domestic violence and one domestic violence conviction.

Armed with the tips, in-house information, and Hensley’s criminal history, an investigator applied for and received a search warrant for Hensley’s residence, person, and vehicle. As officers conducted pre-raid surveillance on Hensley’s home, they saw two men drive up in a van, park, enter, and quickly leave Hensley’s home. The officers followed the van and stopped it after the van’s driver [425]*425committed a traffic violation. A search of the van revealed eight baggies of marijuana.

As officers searched the van, other officers executed the search warrant on Hensley s residence. During the search, officers discovered 200 grams of marijuana in Hensley s freezer, a folding lock blade knife, a baggie of marijuana, a pipe, rolling papers, and a marijuana roach with blunts.

Based on the contraband discovered during the search of the van and Hensley’s home, the State charged Hensley with sale, delivery, or distribution of marijuana; possession of marijuana with intent to sell, deliver, or distribute; possession of marijuana with no tax stamp affixed; possession of drug paraphernalia; and criminal use of a weapon.

Hensley moved to suppress evidence discovered in the search of his home, arguing officers deliberately failed to disclose in the probable cause affidavit that Post had previously given false information to the police about Hensley and Hensley had previously secured a protection from abuse order against Post. The district court rejected this argument after the investigator who sought the warrant testified he was unaware Post had provided false information to police in the past. The district court also rejected Hensley’s argument that the warrant was unsupported by probable cause, concluding the affidavit showed Hensley had a “fairly longstanding involvement in the marijuana culture.”

On the morning of trial, the State filed a motion in limine seeking to prevent Hensley from soliciting testimony about his previous relationship with Post and arguing such testimony would not be probative. Hensley objected, suggesting Post had previously made false reports about his alleged illegal activities and that he intended to argue or “potentially argue” that Post had “planted” the marijuana found in his home.

Noting that evidence regarding the basis of a search warrant usually is irrelevant at trial, the district court deferred ruling on the motion and asked Hensley to proffer evidence regarding his and Post’s relationship prior to offering it to tire jury.

Before the court empanelled the jury, Hensley informed the court that Post had personally been served with a subpoena di[426]*426recting her to appear for trial but she had failed to appear. Hensley requested a pick-up order to secure Post for trial. The district court responded, “Well see if you can’t locate her and get her here. Well deal with that after we get the jury on their way here.”

After the court swore in the jury and recessed for lunch, Hensley requested tire court’s assistance in securing Post’s address from her court services officer in order to locate Post. The district court indicated that it did not believe the court should involve itself in securing a witness until the witness violated a subpoena, but the court directed Hensley’s counsel to check with court services to obtain Post’s address. After the lunch break, Hensley’s counsel informed the court she had obtained Post’s address from court services and had unsuccessfully attempted to locate her.

During a recess later that afternoon the judge announced on the record that he would accompany Hensley’s attorney to court services to seek assistance from Post’s probation officer in contacting Post. When tire judge and Hensley’s counsel returned to the courtroom, tire judge commented that Post’s probation officer had agreed to contact Post and direct her to appear the following morning.

But tire trial transcript from the following day contains no mention of Post or whether she appeared. Nor does the record contain any indication that Hensley sought a continuance, a pick-up order, or further assistance in locating Post. Instead, after tire State rested, Hensley rested his case without presenting any evidence.

The jury convicted Hensley of possession of marijuana, possession of marijuana with no tax stamp affixed, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The district court imposed a 20-month jail term and 12 months’ postrelease supervision but granted Hensley a 12-month probation period. Hensley timely appealed his convictions.

The Court of Appeals panel affirmed Hensley’s convictions, concluding the district court did not violate Hensley’s right to compulsory process because Hensley failed to proffer the materiality of Post’s testimony. Further, the panel concluded tire district court properly found tire search warrant was supported by probable cause. State v. Hensley, No. 102,055, 2010 WL 3211709, at *4-6 (Kan. App. 2010) (unpublished opinion). Finally, the panel found [427]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
313 P.3d 814, 298 Kan. 422, 2013 WL 6383039, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 1300, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hensley-kan-2013.