State v. Lax-Dudley

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedNovember 8, 2019
Docket119253
StatusUnpublished

This text of State v. Lax-Dudley (State v. Lax-Dudley) 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. Lax-Dudley, (kanctapp 2019).

Opinion

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 119,253

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee,

v.

JAMES RAYMOND LAX-DUDLEY, Appellant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Shawnee District Court; MARK S. BRAUN, judge. Opinion filed November 8, 2019. Convictions affirmed, sentence vacated, and case remanded with directions.

Korey A. Kaul, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Jodi Litfin, assistant solicitor general, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before MALONE, P.J., STANDRIDGE and WARNER, JJ.

PER CURIAM: James Lax-Dudley appeals following his convictions by a jury of aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, aggravated endangering of a child, and four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Lax-Dudley claims that (1) the prosecutor committed error during closing argument by shifting the burden of proof to him on his alibi defense and (2) his sentence was illegal given the improper classification of his prior 2008 federal bank robbery conviction as a person felony. We reject Lax-Dudley's prosecutorial error claim and affirm his convictions, but we remand for the district court to reevaluate the sentence.

1 FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On September 19, 2016, at 5:20 pm, Topeka Police Department (TPD) Patrol Officer Jason Oyler was dispatched to an attempted robbery call at Advance America. One of the Advance America employees, Davie Rivera, said he saw a man wearing a mask, black pants, and black hoodie approach the door with a gun and try to force it open. Rivera said he saw the man for a brief time as he was pulling down the ski mask and approaching the door. Another employee, Akil Buckley, said he also could see certain features of the man trying to rob the store because he pulled up his mask as he ran by the building. Buckley described the man as a black male with a full beard and a gun, who was wearing a black jacket with a white stripe.

At 6:29 p.m., Oyler was returning to the station when officers were dispatched to Family Dollar for a robbery. Elena Munoz was with her daughter and her 14-year-old grandson at the cash register in Family Dollar when the robber came inside. Elena ran out of the store, but her daughter and grandson stayed because the man pointed a gun at them. The cashier, Mickaela Escobar, told officers that a man entered the store, waived a gun around, demanded cash, took $300, and then left in a silver four-door Ford 500 with license plate 283 HHH.

The next day, TPD Detective Kent Biggs investigated a shoplifting at JCPenney. Biggs determined that there were three people involved: Tyrone Baggett, Melinda Schultz, and Semaj Jackson. Biggs interviewed Schultz at the police station about the JCPenney case but later began questioning her about the Family Dollar robbery because the vehicle in that robbery was like the car used at JCPenney. Biggs showed Schultz a picture from the Family Dollar's surveillance camera that showed a full body shot of the robber. Schultz seemed a bit surprised at first and then said that she knew the suspect. Schultz told Biggs that the suspect was "Tenzel's brother" and that he was at her house the day before, had borrowed a gun and some clothes from "O.G.," and then took

2 "O.G.'s" car. Biggs determined O.G. was Baggett. Biggs also knew Tenzel Dudley and obtained a photo of his brother, Lax-Dudley, which he showed to Schultz. Schultz stated that Lax-Dudley was the man in the surveillance photo from the Family Dollar.

Biggs then executed a search warrant at Baggett's house on Southeast Quincy Court to investigate the JCPenney shoplifting case, the Advance America attempted robbery, and the Family Dollar robbery. John Sanders, a TPD crime scene supervisor, helped execute the search warrant. Sanders stated that when he arrived at the house, there was a Ford 500 outside with tag number 283 HKH. Sanders also found two CO2 air pistols, a .50-caliber semiautomatic pistol, and a Nike Air athletic jacket.

TPD Detective Jason Deutsch worked the Family Dollar and Advance America cases, which he believed were connected because of the similar suspect description in each case. Biggs emailed Deutsch about what he learned while investigating the shoplifting case, and Deutsch came to suspect that Jackson and Lax-Dudley committed the robberies. Deutsch also learned that when Biggs searched Baggett's house, he found a black and white Nike jacket and two CO2 pistols. Based on this information, Deutsch created a photo array which was shown to Buckley on September 21, 2016. Buckley identified Lax-Dudley as the attempted robber at Advance America.

On September 22, 2016, Deutsch interviewed Lax-Dudley who at first stated that he was working at Denny's on the evening of September 19, 2016. But when Deutsch tried to confirm that information, he learned that Lax-Dudley did not start working at Denny's until September 20, 2016. When confronted with this fact, Lax-Dudley then told Deutsch that if he was not working at Denny's, he was at his dad's house.

On September 27, 2016, the State charged Lax-Dudley with aggravated robbery, attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated endangering of a child, and four counts of

3 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The State later amended the complaint to add a count of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

On February 20, 2017, Deutsch interviewed Jackson at the law enforcement center. Jackson told Deutsch that on September 19, 2016, he was with Lax-Dudley in Baggett's silver Ford or Toyota when they drove to Advance America and Lax-Dudley tried to rob it. Jackson stated that he tried to stop Lax-Dudley from trying to rob another place, but Lax-Dudley said he was not going back without any money, so they went to the Family Dollar and Lax-Dudley robbed it. Jackson stated that Lax-Dudley had a CO2 pistol, a mask, and was wearing a black and white Nike jacket that used to belong to him.

The district court held a jury trial on August 22-25, 2017. At trial, the State called Rivera, Buckley, and Brian Wiexelman, a customer who was in Advance America, to testify as to what occurred there on September 19, 2016. Each witness described the robber as a man carrying a pistol and wearing a mask, a black jacket, and black pants.

The State also called Elena, her grandson, and her daughter, who testified to the events at Family Dollar. Each witness testified that they were scared because a man wearing black clothing and a mask threatened to shoot them. Elena's grandson testified that the man shot the gun when he was talking to the cashier but the only thing that came out was air. Two Family Dollar employees, Escobar and Jamie Sutton, both testified to seeing a man wearing all black and a mask enter the store with a gun and demand money. Both Escobar and Sutton testified that they were scared and the man shot the gun. Escobar testified that when the man left, she jumped over the register to lock the door and shouted out the license plate of the robber's car for her coworker to write down.

Schultz testified that in September 2016 she lived at Baggett's house with her boyfriend, Jackson. Shultz stated that on September 19, 2016, she saw Lax-Dudley at Baggett's house around 3 p.m. and he and Baggett went into Baggett's bedroom for about

4 an hour. She testified that when they came out of the bedroom, Lax-Dudley was wearing a black and white Nike sweatshirt she had given to Jackson and that Jackson and Lax- Dudley got into Baggett's four-door silver Ford. Schultz stated that the two men left around 4:30 p.m. and returned around 7 p.m.

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State v. Lax-Dudley, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lax-dudley-kanctapp-2019.