State v. Novotny

307 P.3d 1278, 297 Kan. 1174
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedSeptember 13, 2013
DocketNo. 102,891
StatusPublished
Cited by44 cases

This text of 307 P.3d 1278 (State v. Novotny) 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. Novotny, 307 P.3d 1278, 297 Kan. 1174 (kan 2013).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Moritz, J.:

Steven S. Novotny directly appeals his jury convictions of first-degree felony murder and aggravated battery. No-votny argues the district court erred in (1) denying his motion to suppress evidence seized during a search of his house; (2) denying his motion to suppress one victim’s identification of him as the shooter; and (3) improperly instructing the jury on aiding and abetting. Novotny further argues the prosecutor committed reversible misconduct during closing arguments and the cumulative effect of trial errors deprived him of a fair trial. Finally, he argues the district court violated his constitutional rights at sentencing. We affirm Novotny’s convictions and sentences.

Factual and Procedural Background

On April 25, 2007, as Xavier Worley and Desmond Adams stood on the front porch of Worley’s apartment, two men came around the comer of the building and walked past Worley and Adams, only to turn around and walk back. One of the two men said, “What’s up.” After Worley replied, “What’s up,” one of the men opened fire, shooting Worley three times and fatally striking LaQuishia Starr, Worley’s girlfriend, who was inside the apartment.

Officer Joshua Lewis of the Wichita Police Department accompanied Worley on his ambulance ride to the hospital. Worley told Lewis he did not know who shot him, but that he had seen the shooter earlier that day in the neighborhood. Worley described the shooter as a 5’9” tall light-skinned black man with cornrow braids.

Starr’s sister, Trashell Gasper, arrived at the hospital sometime after Worley emerged from surgery and asked Worley who shot [1176]*1176him. Worley could not speak following his surgeiy, but he wrote the word “Loco” on a piece of paper and indicated that his cousin, Lori Worley, knew Loco. On the same piece of paper, Gasper wrote a description Worley provided of Loco through nonverbal responses to Gasper’s questions about Loco’s appearance—Mexican, black hair, 5’8” to 5’10” tall and skinny, with long hair and braids. Gasper gave the written information to Detective Thomas Fatldn.

The next day, Detective Thomas Fatldn visited Worley in his hospital room. Worley was still unable to speak, but he communicated with Fatkin through nonverbal gestures and in writing. Worley described the shooter to Fatkin as a 5’7” tall, “mixed-male” man, weighing approximately 175 pounds with brown and black hair. Worley indicated the shooter’s name was Loco and that Wor-ley’s cousin, Lori Worley, previously dated a friend of Loco’s and had a child with that friend. Finally, Worley informed Fatldn that he had seen Loco in Worley’s neighborhood earlier on the day of the shooting.

Because of tips from Worley’s family that Novotny shot Starr, Fatldn showed Worley a single photo of Novotny, who police knew by the alias “Loco.” Fatkin asked Worley if the person in the photo was the same “Loco” who shot him. Worley wrote “not the same” on Novotny’s photo. Later that day, Fatldn returned to the hospital and showed Worley six more individual photos that did not include Novotny’s photo. Worley identified a man in one photo as Lesly Pruitt, the man he previously referred to as Loco’s friend and Lori Worley’s ex-boyfriend. But Worley informed Fatkin that none of the individuals in the photos was involved in the shooting.

A few days later, Worley regained his ability to speak and told Detective Robert Shea that one of the men involved in the shooting was light skinned and the other was dark skinned, but Worley did not know which man shot him. Shea showed Worley another photo lineup. This lineup included a photo of Desmond Adams, who earlier had told police he was with Worley during the shooting. After Worley denied recognizing anyone in the lineup, Shea informed Worley he had already spoken with Adams. Worley then [1177]*1177changed his story and admitted Adams was with him on the front porch immediately before the shooting.

After Shea asked Worley whether tips received by police identifying Loco as the shooter were true, Worley admitted Loco shot him. Shea then showed Worley a single photo of Novotny and asked Worley, “Is this Loco?” Worley said the photo “[It] looks like him.” Shea asked, “So that’s the guy that was there?” Worley replied, “Yes.” Even though Worley verified that he knew the man in the photo as Loco, he refused to sign the photo identifying No-votny as the shooter, citing fears of retaliation.

At trial, Worley testified he did not initially admit to police that Novotny shot him because “they could have came back after me or something like that” and he “wasn’t feeling comfortable with snitching on somebody.” Worley explained that for his family’s sake, he finally admitted Loco shot him. Further, Worley identified Novotny at trial as the man he knew as Loco.

Worley testified that on the night of the shooting, he and Desmond Adams were standing on Worley’s porch. Worley saw two men come around the corner and walk past before turning around and walking toward the porch. The man Worley knew as Loco and a second man approached Worley and Adams, and Loco said, “What’s up.” After Worley replied, “What’s up,” Loco shot him three times. Worley testified he knew Loco because his cousin, Lori Worley, had dated Loco’s friend several years ago. At trial, Worley could not recall whether he identified Loco’s friend as Lesly Pruitt when he spoke with Detective Fatkin, but he did recall identifying Loco as Lori Worley’s “baby daddy’s friend.” Worley further testified he had seen Loco at an apartment across the street on the day of the shooting. However, Worley said he could not identify the other man involved in the shooting because he wore a hooded sweatshirt.

Adams testified at trial that he saw two black males—one fighter skinned and one darker skinned—approach Worley before the shooting. Adams could not see either of the men’s faces, but he identified the darker-skinned black male, who was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, as the shooter. Adams also identified Novotny [1178]*1178as the man he knew as Loco, but he testified that Novotny was not the light-skinned black man involved in the shooting.

Brandi Williams lived across the street from Worley. Brandi testified that several people were visiting her home on the night of the shooting, including Novotny, whom she knew as Loco, and Brandi’s friend, Shannon Williams. At some point, Brandi and Shannon went to a local restaurant and, as they were leaving, Brandi saw Worley outside his apartment near some cars. When Brandi and Shannon returned several hours later there were police everywhere.

Shannon Williams testified that on the night of the shooting, Novotny, whom she knew as Loco, and several other men were sitting around a table at Brandi’s home, “drinking and getting high.” Shannon saw guns on the table and saw a few men holding guns, but she could not recall if Novotny was holding a gun. Shannon heard Novotny say he was upset because “his sister’s house got hit up by a drive-by.” According to Shannon, Novotny said “he wanted to do something about it” and “get back at” those responsible for the drive-by, but he did not specifically refer to the men across the street. Shannon also testified that “[Novotny] and a couple other people were talking about doing something,” and several of the men, including Novotny, were “getting hyped up” about die situation.

Law enforcement officers eventually searched Novotny’s residence pursuant to a search warrant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
307 P.3d 1278, 297 Kan. 1174, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-novotny-kan-2013.