State v. Maybin

2 P.3d 179, 27 Kan. App. 2d 189, 2000 Kan. App. LEXIS 119
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMarch 17, 2000
Docket80,134
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 2 P.3d 179 (State v. Maybin) 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. Maybin, 2 P.3d 179, 27 Kan. App. 2d 189, 2000 Kan. App. LEXIS 119 (kanctapp 2000).

Opinion

Gernon, J.:

William B. Maybin appeals his conviction for one count of aggravated robbery.

Maybin was identified as a passenger in an automobile and the perpetrator of a robbery in which he placed his hand over the *192 victim’s face, placed a gun to the victim’s head, and demanded money. The victim, Marvin Grayson, positively identified the driver, Lamont Anderson, Maybin, and the automobile. Maybin was charged, tried, and convicted of aggravated robbery.

At trial, Grayson and Anderson testified against Maybin. A clerk from a convenience store near the location of the robbery also testified that an individual in a car like Anderson’s purchased food items and a beer using a $20 bill at 10:27 p.m. on the night of the robbery. This testimony corroborated the presence of the items seized when Anderson’s car was searched.

In his defense, Maybin asserted that Grayson was mistaken because he was high on drugs and alcohol at the time of the incident. Maybin also argued that Anderson was induced to testify against him because of a favorable plea bargain. A jury convicted Maybin as charged, and he appeals his conviction.

LEG IRONS

Maybin first argues that his right to a fair trial was compromised because he was forced to appear before the jury with a leg restraint.

The trial court is ultimately responsible for assuring a fair trial to the accused. State v. Ninci, 262 Kan. 21, 54, 936 P.2d 1364 (1997). In reviewing a trial court’s decision to require the accused to be tried while wearing a leg restraint, an appellate court must determine whether the trial court abused its discretion. Ninci, 262 Kan. at 54. Judicial discretion is abused when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. State v. Rucker, 267 Kan. 816, 823, 987 P.2d 1080 (1999).

Maybin bears the burden of estabfishing a record that affirmatively shows that a prejudicial error occurred in his trial. Without such a record, this court must assume the trial court’s action was proper. Ninci, 262 Kan. at 53.

In Ninci, the Kansas Supreme Court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by permitting the defendant to wear a leg restraint during the trial. The Ninci court noted that the trial court had independently determined that the leg restraint was unobtrusive. The holding focused on the defendant’s failure to provide any evidence in the record that the jury knew he was wearing a leg *193 brace or that the leg brace was a restraint. Ninci, 262 Kan. at 53-54.

Here, Maybin presented no evidence that any of the jurors noticed the leg brace or knew it was a restraint. Maybin, however, relies on the holding in State v. Davidson, 264 Kan. 44, 954 P.2d 702 (1998). Davidson can be distinguished. In Davidson, the court held that the defendant was improperly prejudiced by the trial judge’s commentary on the purpose of the defendant’s leg brace. 264 Kan. at 52. The trial court had stated that the defendant was wearing a leg brace to prevent his escape. The Davidson court did not address the issue of whether the defendant had shown prejudice by the mere act of wearing the brace. Rather, that decision centered on the judge’s improper comment about the brace.

MAYBIN’S STATEMENTS

The admission of evidence is subject to the trial court’s discretion and will not be overturned unless the trial court abuses its discretion. State v. Lumley, 266 Kan. 939, 950, 976 P.2d 486 (1999). The defendant must show substantial prejudice before an appellate court will find an abuse of discretion. State v. Grissom, 251 Kan. 851, 931, 840 P.2d 1142 (1992).

At the preliminary hearing, Anderson testified that he did not see a gun during the robbery and that Grayson did not get in the car. At Maybin’s trial, however, Anderson’s testimony corroborated Grayson’s version of the robbery, including the use of a gun. The State questioned Anderson about his motive for providing conflicting testimony. Anderson testified, “Yes, he told me that I should take the CCW [carrying a concealed weapon] — two CCWs and he agreed to the strong-arm robbery. . . . And we would be able to— we should work together and get out of it like that.”

Maybin argues that the trial court improperly admitted Anderson’s testimony that Maybin had told him to fie about the involvement of a gun in the robbery. Maybin asserts two points of error for the admission of these statements. First, Maybin asserts that the statements were inadmissible hearsay. Second, Maybin claims that the State failed to disclose his statements to him in accordance with the discovery statute.

*194 Hearsay

Maybin argues that his statements to Anderson were hearsay and did not fall within K.S.A. 60-460(f) or (j) because there is no independent indicia of reliability. This argument fails for two reasons.

First, Maybin’s statement to Anderson is not hearsay. It was not offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. The State was not trying to prove that Maybin would plead to strong-arm robbery if Anderson would plead to the charges for carrying a concealed weapon. Instead, the State was attempting to show Anderson’s motive for lying at the preliminary hearing.

Second, even if Anderson’s testimony is considered to be hearsay, Maybin’s argument confuses the applicable law. K.S.A. 60-460(f) and (j) do not require an independent indicia of reliability as a prerequisite for admission.

K.S.A. 60-460 provides in pertinent part:

“Evidence of a statement which is made other than by a witness while testifying at the hearing, offered to prove the truth of the matter stated, is hearsay evidence and inadmissible except:
“(f) Confessions. In a criminal proceeding as against die accused, a previous statement by the accused relative to the offense charged, but only if die judge finds that die accused (1) when making the statement was conscious and was capable of understanding what the accused said and did and (2) was not induced to make the statement (A) under compulsion or by infliction or direats of infliction of suffering upon the accused or another, or by prolonged interrogation under such circumstances as to render the statement involuntary or (B) by direats or promises concerning action to be taken by a public official with reference to the crime, likely to cause die accused to make such a statement falsely, and made by a person whom the accused reasonably believed to have die power or audiority to execute die same.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2 P.3d 179, 27 Kan. App. 2d 189, 2000 Kan. App. LEXIS 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-maybin-kanctapp-2000.