State v. Manzanares

866 P.2d 1083, 19 Kan. App. 2d 214, 1994 Kan. App. LEXIS 32
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 14, 1994
Docket68,809, 68,810, 68,811
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 866 P.2d 1083 (State v. Manzanares) 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. Manzanares, 866 P.2d 1083, 19 Kan. App. 2d 214, 1994 Kan. App. LEXIS 32 (kanctapp 1994).

Opinion

Lamar, J.:

Cruz Manzanares appeals his jury convictions of aggravated battery, reckless driving, and criminal damage to property. He also appeals his sentences on the above convictions as well as his sentence on his plea of guilty to the charge of making a terroristic threat. Manzanares also appeals the trial court’s denial of probation.

Manzanares raises four issues on appeal. He claims:

*216 (1) The district court failed to instruct on battery as a lesser included offense of aggravated battery.

(2) The crimes of aggravated battery and reckless driving were multiplicitous.

(3) The trial court erred by failing to give a cautionary instruction on the credibility of eyewitness identification testimony.

(4) The trial court violated his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination at the sentencing and in denying his motion for probation.

On November 5, 1989, Marie Manzanares filed for divorce from Manzanares, at which time Marie was granted a restraining order against her husband.

On November 18, 1989, Manzanares was to exercise visitation with the couple’s two children at 4:00 p.m. Manzanares, however, took the day off from work and went to the baby-sitter’s home to see the children. The children were not there because Marie had taken them to a different baby-sitter. Manzanares went next to Marie’s place of employment to inquire about the children and informed Marie he was able to spend the entire day with them. Manzanares pulled his car in behind Marie as she parked her car. Marie told Manzanares he could not see the children until 4:00 p.m. As a result of this information, a disagreement occurred concerning interpretation of the visitation language in the divorce papers. Manzanares then retrieved the divorce documents from his. van, and when he returned to Marie’s car, she rolled up her window, closed her door, and refused to have further discussion with him. Manzanares began to pound Marie’s car, and Marie drove off, intending to go to the police station.

Manzanares followed Marie in his van at speeds of 50 to 60 miles per hour and in close proximity to Marie’s vehicle. Both vehicles ran a red light at the intersection of Highways 54 and 83. Marie temporarily lost control of her car and narrowly missed the gas pumps at a service station. She testified she lost control at this juncture because Manzanares’ van struck the rear of her car. However, she regained control and resumed her attempt to reach the police station.

*217 The chase continued with Manzanares’ van striking the rear of Marie’s car as the vehicles approached the railroad tracks. Subsequently, Manzanares rammed the van into the side of Marie’s car, causing her car to leave the street and come to rest two to three feet from the doors of the city hall. Manzanares’ van came to rest after striking a telephone pole. Two eyewitnesses testified that Manzanares’ maneuver which caused Marie to leave the road appeared to be intentional.

Manzanares was convicted by a jury of aggravated battery and reckless driving stemming from the November 18 episode. He was sentenced to 4 to 10 years on the aggravated battery charge and 10 days in jail on the reckless driving charge, with the sentences to run concurrently.

On the evening of December 4, 1989, an unoccupied black Camaro belonging to Juan Perez was hit and damaged as it was parked on South Cain Street in Liberal, Kansas. An eyewitness testified that a male of Hispanic descent driving a van matching Manzanares’ backed into the Camaro and pushed it into the yard. Manzanares is American Indian. Manzanares’ daughter testified that he told her he had located the car belonging to Juan Perez and had wrecked it.

Manzanares, who was on bond for the November incident, was arrested for criminal damage to property, convicted by a jury on that charge, and sentenced to 1 to 3 years in prison, with the sentence to run consecutive to the sentence for aggravated battery.

Manzanares pled guilty to making a terroristic threat against Juan Perez. This incident occurred on December 17, 1989. He was sentenced to a term of 1 to 3 years. The sentence was ordered to run consecutive to the sentences for aggravated battery and criminal damage to property.

Manzanares’ application for probation and modification of sentence was denied in each case.

Manzanares first argues the district court erred in failing to instruct the jury on battery as a lesser included offense of aggravated battery. He claims the jury could have found he lacked the necessary intent to commit aggravated battery. We disagree.

“Battery” is defined as “the unlawful, intentional touching or application of force to the person of another, when done in a *218 rude, insolent or angry manner.” K.S.A. 21-3412. Aggravated battery is the unlawful touching or application of force to a person with intent to injure that person, and when done with a deadly weapon or in any manner whereby great bodily harm, disfigurement, dismemberment, or death can be inflicted. K.S.A. 21-3414(c).

The significant difference between the two offenses is that aggravated battery requires an intent to injure plus one of the enumerated alternative elements — in this case, the use of a deadly weapon — while battery merely requires the intentional application of force to another person when done in a rude, insolent, or angry manner. State v. Warbritton, 211 Kan. 506, 508, 506 P.2d 1152 (1973).

The court instructed the jury that to establish the charge of aggravated battery, the prosecution must prove that Manzanares intentionally touched or applied force to the person of Marie, that it was done with the intent to injure Marie, and that it was done with a deadly weapon. A “deadly weapon” was defined as “[a] weapon dangerous to life or likely to produce bodily injury from the use made of it or with which death may easily and readily be produced.” The court’s instructions did not include a lesser included offense of battery.

Under K.S.A. 21-3107(3), the court has an affirmative duty to instruct on all lesser included offenses supported by the evidence. Evidence supporting the instruction must be considered in the light most favorable to the defendant. The evidence may be weak and based only on the testimony of the defendant. The test is whether the evidence could, within reason, cause a jury to convict the defendant of the lesser charge. State v. Wagner, 248 Kan. 240, 245-46, 807 P.2d 139 (1991).

Manzanares contends the court should have instructed on the lesser included crime of battery because of testimony offered by the prosecution and the defense. He cites State v. Patterson, 243 Kan.

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Bluebook (online)
866 P.2d 1083, 19 Kan. App. 2d 214, 1994 Kan. App. LEXIS 32, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-manzanares-kanctapp-1994.