State v. Johnson

Court of Appeals of Kansas

State v. Johnson

DecidedApril 13, 2018

Docket116709

StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Johnson (State v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals 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. Johnson, (kanctapp 2018).

Pincite

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 116,709

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee,

v.

JONATHAN PAUL JOHNSON, Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Johnson District Court; TIMOTHY P. MCCARTHY, judge. Opinion filed April 13, 2018. Affirmed.

Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Shawn E. Minihan, assistant district attorney, Stephen M. Howe, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before BRUNS, P.J., PIERRON and POWELL, JJ.

POWELL, J.: Jonathan Paul Johnson was convicted by a jury of his peers of three counts of misdemeanor stalking and one count of felony stalking. On appeal, Johnson claims that insufficient evidence supported his felony stalking conviction and that the district court improperly answered a question from the jury. After a thorough review, we find there was sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could have found Johnson guilty of felony stalking, and we affirm Johnson's convictions. As to Johnson's claim that the district court improperly answered a question from the jury, we find that Johnson's counsel invited any error and, therefore, this issue is not properly before us.

1 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In April 2015, the State initially charged Johnson with four counts of harassment by telephone based on voice messages and emails sent to his father in February and March of 2015. In July 2015, the State filed an amended complaint, amending the charges to misdemeanor stalking and adding two counts of felony criminal threat and one count of felony stalking. These charges were the result of Jonathan's continued actions towards his father through June 2015. In February 2016, the State filed a second amended complaint, dismissing one of the felony criminal threat charges, and at trial the district court dismissed the second felony criminal threat charge. The State proceeded to trial on four counts of misdemeanor stalking (Counts I-IV) and one count of felony stalking (Count VI).

Parenthetically, we note that Johnson does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him of the multiple counts of misdemeanor stalking. However, to understand the context of the case before the jury, we include in our discussion portions of the evidence before the jury on each of the counts because Johnson takes issue with the jury's finding that a reasonable person would be in fear for his or her safety, thus the context of Johnson's alleged pattern of stalking his father is necessary to resolve Johnson's insufficient evidence claim.

Count I: Misdemeanor Stalking

Johnson's actions towards his father from February 2-9, 2015, were charged as misdemeanor stalking in Count I. Johnson's father first reported his son's incessant emails, calls, and voicemails to the police in early 2015 because he felt Johnson was threatening him and because he "was concerned for [his] and [his son's] safety." Due to Johnson's repeated phone calls, his father unplugged his answering machine; however, the calls did not stop and Johnson's father was forced to unplug his home phone too.

2 Johnson testified that he did not remember calling his father in February or March 2015, but he did recognize that it was his voice on the answering machine messages and explained that he was frustrated with his father for not helping to support him financially while he attended the University of Kansas. Johnson said his behavior towards his father was caused by his stress due to his financial situation and that at the time he was experiencing stress, anxiety, inner turmoil, sadness, pain, and frustration. Johnson testified that he simply wanted support from his father, that it was frustrating when his father would not return his phone calls, and that he felt neglected, which made him feel angry.

Count II: Misdemeanor Stalking

Sometime in February 2015, Johnson's father spoke with Johnson's mother about their son's actions. Johnson's father testified that Johnson's mother "asked that I wait [to press charges] until she had a chance to talk to him because she thought she could stop him. And I was going out of town for two or three weeks." However, Johnson's mother was not successful in getting Johnson to stop, and the voicemails and emails continued while Johnson's father was out of town. Johnson's father testified that he did not want his son to get arrested or imprisoned, but he wanted the harassment to stop. He testified: "I was concerned for my safety and his safety due to the emails and voicemails he had left me."

In early March 2015, Johnson's father reported Johnson's actions to the Leawood Police Department. Johnson's father told the officer that because of Johnson's actions, "he was in fear of his safety" and his son's safety, and he "made it clear to [the officer] that he had a gun in the house just for his personal protection." At this meeting, Johnson's father provided the police with 11 emails that he received from his son on February 18, 2015, between 4:13 p.m. and 8:19 p.m. These emails, listed below with the corresponding time sent, included several troubling statements.

3 4:13 p.m.: "You think threats scare me? You think money causes me to be worse? You refuse to listen to doctors but choose to adhere to indoctrinated fallacies brought on by a child molester, your mother. You're a coward. You have not a clue on the pain that resonates within, pain that kills me. I smoke two packs of cigarettes a day for the past three years. These are variables of my life that you could be―could have altered when I was in counseling, meaning that you were never there for. Your arrogance to show zero empathy to your only son manifests within.

"I wake up every day not having a father. Instead I have a greedy soulless shell of a parent, one that puts more money and time into their toy trains and Asian cunts.

"You're unsympathetic to my situation. You think going to Hale Cook makes you a man. Have you been beat up by―beat by a teacher? Have you gone to inner-city middle schools? No. You're a privileged fake fat man that was placed in your successful environment, one that you couldn't even replicate to your only son.

"You choose to save your pennies instead of forcing the issue with the courts. What right-minded woman would want to be with you[?] I don't know how to get through to you. Would killing myself prove that all I wanted was a father to be there, one that respected me, one that didn't toy with my emotions, one that's there for me.

"When you go to the police, take this. Or move to Canada. Get as far away from me as possible because that shows love.

"PS, here's another article. You don't even understand the Chinese culture. My friend at KU is from China. I've immersed myself in the culture for three years. You just close your eyes and think you know the culture. You are a nigger. I hate you. I won't change, nigger. I'll just get worse. Fuck you. [Website link omitted.]" (Errors, punctuation, and capitalization from original omitted.)

5:44 p.m.: "The whole experience at KU has been ruined. I feel my mom's pain now, the pain of having a callous individual suck the living life out of another person. I look to my peers for understanding. . . .

". . . I sit here crying because my callous degenerative father can't see my pain; doesn't know how to relate. Can't change.

"I'm on the precipice of not giving a fuck. I've heard all the bullshit. I can't change you. I sit here and think now I'm going to change.

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