State v. Martin

544 P.3d 820
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMarch 15, 2024
Docket124607
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 544 P.3d 820 (State v. Martin) 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. Martin, 544 P.3d 820 (kan 2024).

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

No. 124,607

STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee,

v.

MILES LOREN MARTIN, Appellant.

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT

1. The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and section 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights prohibit a court from imposing multiple punishments under different statutes for the same conduct in the same proceeding when the Legislature did not intend multiple punishments.

2. When a defendant brings a double jeopardy challenge based on multiple punishments imposed in one case, courts conduct a two-part test to determine whether the convictions giving rise to those punishments are for the same offense. First, courts consider whether the convictions arose from unitary conduct. Second, courts consider whether by statutory definition there are two crimes or only one. In cases involving convictions under different statutes, this second part of the analysis requires courts to apply what has been called the "same-elements test." Under that test, courts consider if each statute requires proof of an element not necessary to prove the other offense.

1 3. In K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b), the Kansas Legislature has identified a specific circumstance in which it did not intend multiple punishments. Under the statute, a defendant cannot be convicted of (and thus punished for) both the crime charged and a lesser included crime arising from the same conduct in the same prosecution.

4. To be a lesser included crime under K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b)(2), a crime must be a "lesser" crime than the crime charged—meaning it carries a lesser penalty. And that "lesser" crime must also be "included" in the crime charged—meaning all elements of the lesser crime must be identical to some elements of the crime charged.

5. Possession of methamphetamine is not a lesser included crime of no drug-tax stamp under K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b)(2) because the former carries a greater penalty than the latter.

6. The crime of failing to affix a drug-tax stamp is not a lesser included crime of possession of methamphetamine under K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b)(2) because not all elements of the former are identical to some elements of the latter.

7. Under a Fifth Amendment double jeopardy analysis, the same-elements test is a rule of statutory construction, and the rule should not be controlling where there is a clear indication of contrary legislative intent. In determining whether there is contrary legislative intent, courts consider factors such as the language, structure, and legislative history of the statutes as well as the social evil each statute seeks to address.

2 8. Based on the targeted conduct and objectives of the statutory offenses of possession of methamphetamine and failure to affix a drug-tax stamp, as well as the language and structure of the relevant statutes, the Legislature intended to impose multiple punishments under the different statutes.

9. A warrantless search is presumptively unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and section 15 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights unless the search falls within a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. Those recognized exceptions are: consent; search incident to a lawful arrest; stop and frisk; probable cause plus exigent circumstances; the emergency doctrine; inventory searches; plain view or feel; and administrative searches of closely regulated businesses.

10. Incident to a lawful arrest, an arresting officer may search the arrestee's person and the area within the arrestee's immediate control, including personal property immediately associated with the person of the arrestee.

11. A warrantless search preceding an arrest is a valid search incident to arrest if (1) a legitimate basis for the arrest existed before the search, and (2) the arrest followed shortly after the search.

12. When reviewing a district court's ruling denying a pretrial motion to suppress, an appellate court may consider both the evidence presented at the suppression hearing and the evidence adduced at trial.

3 Review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion filed March 17, 2023. Appeal from Geary District Court; COURTNEY D. BOEHM and RYAN W. ROSAUER, judges. Opinion filed March 15, 2024. Oral argument held November 14, 2023. Judgment of the Court of Appeals affirming the district court is affirmed. Judgment of the district court is affirmed.

Patrick H. Dunn, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause, and Bryan W. Cox, of the same office, was on the brief for appellant.

Kristafer Ailslieger, deputy solicitor general, argued the cause, and Tony Cruz, assistant county attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were on the brief for appellee.

The opinion of the court was delivered by

WALL, J.: This appeal raises two constitutional challenges: one implicating the Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Kansas Constitutions and the other implicating the government's search and seizure authority under the Fourth Amendment.

The Double Jeopardy Clauses of the United States and Kansas Constitutions protect our citizens from twice being placed in jeopardy of losing their liberty for the same offense. Among other applications, these constitutional safeguards can protect a citizen from multiple punishments under different statutes for the same conduct, unless the Legislature intended to impose multiple punishments under the circumstances. We often refer to this application of the Double Jeopardy Clause as a "multiplicity" challenge.

The Legislature enacted K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109 to identify some situations in which it does not intend to impose multiple punishments for the same conduct. Most relevant to this appeal, the statute provides that a defendant cannot be convicted of (and thus punished for) both a charged crime and a lesser included crime. K.S.A. 2019 Supp.

4 21-5109(b). The statute defines a "lesser included crime" to include "a crime where all elements of the lesser crime are identical to some of the elements of the crime charged." (Emphasis added.) K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b)(2).

Miles Loren Martin was convicted of two offenses—possession of methampheta- mine and possession of a controlled substance with no drug-tax stamp—after a police officer found him in possession of 17.51 grams of methamphetamine during a traffic stop. Martin argues his convictions violate K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b)(2), thus placing him in double jeopardy, because all elements of possession of methamphetamine are the same as some elements of no drug-tax stamp.

However, to be a lesser included crime under K.S.A. 2019 Supp. 21-5109(b)(2), a crime must be a "lesser" crime than the crime charged—meaning it carries a lesser penalty.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
544 P.3d 820, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-martin-kan-2024.