State v. Hughes

191 P.3d 268, 286 Kan. 1010, 2008 Kan. LEXIS 455, 2008 WL 3876603
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedAugust 22, 2008
Docket95,256
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 191 P.3d 268 (State v. Hughes) 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. Hughes, 191 P.3d 268, 286 Kan. 1010, 2008 Kan. LEXIS 455, 2008 WL 3876603 (kan 2008).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Rosen, J.:

Jason Cole Hughes appeals his convictions for felony murder and aggravated burglary. Hughes contends the district court erroneously admitted evidence in violation of his constitutional rights and the rules of evidence. This court concludes that prejudicial error occurred in the course of the trial, and the case is remanded for retrial.

Hughes and Marcy Carapezza were charged as codefendants with the homicide of Mary Clark. They were tried separately, and both were convicted and have appealed their convictions. Because the facts are the same for both cases, we are not repeating all the facts in this opinion. For a detailed statement of the facts, see the [1013]*1013companion case of State v. Carapezza, No. 95,233, this day decided.

Clark was murdered in May 2004. In July 2004, Hughes testified before an inquisition into Clark’s death under a grant of immunity. He was later arrested and charged with first-degree premeditated murder or, in the alternative, felony murder; aggravated burglary; aggravated robbery; and misdemeanor theft. The State presented a theory that Hughes and his codefendants robbed and killed Clark to fuel their crack cocaine addictions. With no physical evidence connecting Hughes with the crime scene, the State relied on testimony from Mollie Paico, one of Hughes’ codefendants. Paico testified that she had seen Hughes standing over Clark with a hammer. The State also presented testimony from two of Carapezza’s cellmates, revealing that Carapezza admitted to participating in Clark’s robbery and murder. The State presented additional testimony from several of Plughes’ associates in the crack community, who testified about Hughes’, Carapezza’s, and Paico’s use of crack cocaine. In order to establish drug use as the motive for Clark’s murder, the State presented testimony from Dr. Eljom Don Nelson, an expert on drug addiction, regarding the use of crack cocaine, the effects of using crack cocaine, and the behaviors associated with addiction to crack cocaine.

Although the jury found Hughes guilty of felony murder and aggravated burglary, it acquitted him of aggravated robbery and misdemeanor theft. The district court sentenced Hughes to serve life in prison for felony murder and 32 months for aggravated burglary. The district court ordered the aggravated burglary sentence to run consecutive to Hughes’ life sentence. Hughes now appeals his convictions directly to this court pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3601(b)(1).

ANALYSIS

Hearsay Statements

Hughes asserts that the district court violated his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation by admitting Carapezza’s hearsay statements she made to police officers and her cellmates. The State subpoenaed Carapezza to testify at Hughes’ trial after she was con[1014]*1014victed of felony murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, and theft in Clark’s death. Carapezza appeared at trial outside the presence of the jury and invoked her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. In response, the State gave her use and derivative-use immunity, and the district court ordered Carapezza to testify. Carapezza still refused to testify, and the district court found her in direct contempt and ordered her to remain in the Lyon County jail until she testified or until the end of her life. She continued her refusal to testify until the jury had begun its deliberations, when she informed jail staff that she was willing to testify. Carapezza then told Hughes’ counsel that her testimony would aid Hughes. Upon receiving that information, the State withdrew its grant of immunity, and the district court withdrew both the order to testify and the contempt citation. Hughes’ counsel was given an opportunity to interview Carapezza regarding her possible testimony but apparently elected not to call Carapezza as a witness. The State likewise elected not to reopen its case to include Carapezza’s testimony.

The Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause requires that “[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right ... to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” When hearsay statements are testimonial, they may be admitted in accordance with the Confrontation Clause only if the declarant was unavailable at trial and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the declarant. Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 59, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177, 124 S. Ct. 1354 (2004); State v. Henderson, 284 Kan. 267, 277, 160 P.3d 776 (2007). Whether a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation has been violated is a question of law subject to de novo review. 284 Kan. at 276.

Hughes contends that Carapezza’s statements to police officers and her cellmates were testimonial. The Crawford Court defined testimonial statements to include “ ‘statements that were made under circumstances which would lead an objective witness reasonably to believe that the statement would be available for use at a later trial.’ [Citation omitted.]” Crawford, 541 U.S. at 52. Statements made by a witness to a police officer during an interview conducted as part of an investigation are testimonial. State v. [1015]*1015Lackey, 280 Kan. 190, 201, 120 P.3d 332 (2005), cert. denied 547 U.S. 1056 (2006). We have not, however, determined whether a codefendant’s confession to a cellmate or another accomplice is testimonial in nature.

Statements to police officers

Hughes first argues that the district court erred when it allowed Detective Schondelmaier to testily regarding statements that Carapezza made during an interview with him. Hughes specifically objects to the following portion of Detective Schondelmaier’s testimony:

“Q. [County Attorney:] Was that interview that you conducted, was that relative to the checks that had been discovered with her name as the payee?
“A. [Det. Schondelmaier:] Yes, the checks on Mary Clark’s account.
“Q. During that interview were you able to determine who she lived with?
“A. Who Marcy Carapezza lived with?
“Q. Yes, sir.
“A. Yes, at that time she said — she identified her boyfriend as being Jason Con-nor. I later found out that it was Jason Hughes.
“Q. And was the content of that interview relative to those bad checks?
“A. Primarily.
“Q. Did you speak with her at all concerning her knowledge of a Mollie Paico?
“A. Yes.
“Q. Did you question her as to whether she knew the whereabouts of Ms. Paico?
“A. Yes, I did.
“Q. Were you able to determine from that conversation where Ms Paico was?
“Q. I believed that she was in Wichita.”

Hughes correcdy asserts and the State concedes that Carapezza’s statements to Detective Schondelmaier were testimonial and admitted in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation.

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State v. Hughes
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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
191 P.3d 268, 286 Kan. 1010, 2008 Kan. LEXIS 455, 2008 WL 3876603, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hughes-kan-2008.