State v. Hunt

894 P.2d 178, 257 Kan. 388, 1995 Kan. LEXIS 61
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 21, 1995
DocketNo. 70,479
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 894 P.2d 178 (State v. Hunt) 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. Hunt, 894 P.2d 178, 257 Kan. 388, 1995 Kan. LEXIS 61 (kan 1995).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the defendant, James L. Hunt, from his conviction for second-degree murder. He claims error concerning the self-defense instruction and the witness credibility instruction, in being sentenced as a habitual offender (third offense), in the failure to provide allocution, and in the imposition of a sentence of 45 years to life.

The victim, Nehemiah Martin, lived with his girlfriend and her children in the same apartment building as the defendant. Defendant and Martin were drinking companions.

Martin and the defendant had a serious altercation a week before the shooting, culminating in Martin striking the defendant at least 30 times with a clothes iron. The defendant was un[390]*390cooperative with police when they arrived, and the responding officer testified the defendant stated that he did not want to prosecute Martin and that they had fought about money. The defendant was intoxicated and bleeding profusely, and he had to be forcibly taken to the hospital for medical treatment. The defendant had 11 or 12 lacerations which required stitches.

The day after the beating, the defendant purchased a .25 caliber gun at a pawn shop.

A tenant who witnessed the iron beating testified Martin later told the tenant that he had taken the defendant’s money and that he beat the defendant with an iron because the defendant pulled a fork on him. Martin also told the tenant that if the defendant said anything to him he would do it again. The defendant told this tenant that he was going to let Martin feel the same pain he felt by shooting Martin in the head.

The day after the iron beating, Martin told the manager of the apartment building about the incident, stating that the defendant had been calling his girlfriend names and had tried to scratch him with fingernail clippers. The manager also spoke with the defendant, who threatened to shoot Martin to let him (Martin) know the same pain he (the defendant) felt. That evening the manager went to the defendant’s apartment and the defendant again said he was going to shoot Martin in the head. The next day the manager evicted the defendant for violating his lease. When the defendant was moving out the manager told him it was not worth it to shoot Martin, and the defendant replied that he had to do what he had to do. The manager warned Martin of the threat, who laughed it off.

On the day of the shooting, the defendant was drinking and smoking cigarettes in a friend’s car. He saw Martin on the street, approached him, and asked Martin why he had beaten him and taken his money. Martin pushed the defendant aside. The defendant then shot Martin two times.

The defendant was arrested at the scene. He made no attempt to flee or give aid to the victim. He walked across the street, lit a cigarette, and drank a beer while waiting for the police. He admitted to shooting Martin. One police officer testified the de[391]*391fendant stated, “I got who I wanted. I don’t want any more trouble.” After being Mirandized, the defendant gave a statement. He told of the beating by Martin a week earlier and indicated he thought Martin robbed him of $100 that night. The defendant stated he purchased a gun at a pawn shop to defend himself because he heard that Martin had a gun. The defendant told the police that he wanted to hurt Martin but did not want to kill him.

At trial, the defendant testified he shot Martin in self-defense. He testified he saw Martin coming down the street and approached Martin to ask why Martin had beaten him. Martin shoved the defendant. The defendant saw Martin throw something down. Martin turned and had his hand inside his pocket or inside his coat, which was partially zipped up. The defendant thought Martin was going to shoot him, so the defendant pulled out his gun and shot Martin two times. The defendant testified that he did not intend to kill Martin.

Martin was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting. One bullet entered the left chest and after passing through the lung and heart it lodged near the rib cage; thé other entered the left nostril and exited the right cheek.

The jury convicted the defendant of second-degree murder. He was sentenced pursuant to the Habitual Criminal Act to 45 years to life. He appeals.

I. “INITIAL AGGRESSOR” INSTRUCTION

The trial court instructed the jury on the defendant’s claim of self-defense, including the following instructions:'

INSTRUCTION 10
“A person is not permitted to provoke an attack on himself with the specific intention to use such attack as a justification for' inflicting bodily harm upon the person he provoked and then claim self-defense as a justification for inflicting bodily harm upon the person he provoked.”
INSTRUCTION 11
“A person who initially provokes the use of force against himself is not justified in the use of force to defend himself unless:
[392]*392“1. He has reasonable ground to believe that he is in present danger of death or great bodily harm, and he has used every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to other person; or
“2. He has in good faith withdrawn and indicates clearly to the other person that he desires to withdraw and stop the use of force, but the other person continues or resumes the use of force.”

These instructions were based on K.S.Á. 21-3214 and are consistent with the language of that statute and are taken from PIK Crim. 3d 54.21 and 54.22. There is no claim that the language of instructions 10 and 11 was erroneous. Rather, the defendant argues that the district court should not have given the instructions at all.

The defendant objected to these instructions, arguing that there was no evidence the defendant provoked an attack from Martin or anyone else. The court overruled the objection, reasoning that the evidence showed the defendant was the one who approached Martin; there was no evidence that Martin approached the defendant.

This court has stated:

“Juiy instructions are to be considered together and read as a whole without isolating any one instruction. If the instructions properly and fairly state the law as applied to the facts in die case, and if the jury could not reasonably have been misled by them, then the instructions do not constitute reversible error although they may be in some small way erroneous.” State v. Walker, 252 Kan. 279, 295, 845 P.2d 1 (1993).

The defendant acknowledges that an initial aggressor s right to use self-defense is limited. He argues the evidence is uncontroverted that the exchange between Martin and the defendant just before the shooting was brief. Martin owed the defendant money and had a week before the shooting brutally beaten the defendant. The defendant sought to talk to Martin when he saw Martin on the street. The defendant argues that at that point either the defendant shot Martin when he saw Martin go for what the defendant believed was a gun, or the defendant simply walked up to Martin and shot him in retaliation for the earlier heating. [393]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
894 P.2d 178, 257 Kan. 388, 1995 Kan. LEXIS 61, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hunt-kan-1995.