State v. Saleem

977 P.2d 921, 267 Kan. 100, 1999 Kan. LEXIS 233
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedApril 16, 1999
Docket80,265
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 977 P.2d 921 (State v. Saleem) 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. Saleem, 977 P.2d 921, 267 Kan. 100, 1999 Kan. LEXIS 233 (kan 1999).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Larson, j.;

Rah-Maan Saleem appeals his conviction of premeditated first-degree murder, K.S.A. 21-3401, an off-grid person felony, in the shooting death of Richard Todd Schmidt.

Our jurisdiction is under K.S.A. 22-3601(b)(1), for a sentence of life imprisonment.

Saleem contends (1) there was insufficient evidence to support a finding of premeditation, (2) he was denied his right to confront and cross-examine witnesses against him, (3) there was erroneous admission of a videotaped interview of a witness, (4) there was juror misconduct, (5) the court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal, and (6) the court erred in failing to instruct the jury on the duty to retreat.

We will consider each issue but hold none require reversal.

Facts

Where insufficient evidence is alleged, it is necessary to set forth sufficiently detailed facts to show the events and how they were viewed by the parties involved, although our summaries do not show all of the evidence presented.

Saleem, also known as Rock, went to his sister Rahneisha’s house in Topeka, where a party began with people drinking and listening to music. Todd Schmidt, also known as the T-man or Todd, was also at the party.

Sometime around 1 a.m., Saleem and Schmidt were talking and an argument began over who had known a third party the longest. They stepped outside. A shoving and pushing match took place. After Saleem fell, he pulled out his gun and shot Schmidt four times at close range, which resulted in his death. Saleem ran from the scene.

[102]*102After being charged with first-degree premeditated murder, the defense theory was that Schmidt asked Saleem to “come outside,” Schmidt hit Saleem with a liquor bottle, Saleem fell and saw Schmidt coming toward him with the bottle, and Saleem pulled out his gun and shot Schmidt in self-defense.

Arnett Rice was Rahneisha’s roommate. She testified that while leaving with Pete Hill to get some cigarettes she saw Saleem and Schmidt on the front porch talking to each other in a “normal tone.” Rice saw “they [Saleem and Schmidt] was pushing each other.” Rice testified that shortly thereafter, Saleem fired four shots directly at Schmidt at rapid succession. Rice saw nothing in Schmidt’s hand and never saw Schmidt try to strike Saleem. She and Hill saw Saleem run away from the scene.

Rice testified there was little time between the pushing and the shooting. The only comments she heard was when they were arguing over who had known Hill the longest. Rice admitted to drinking the day Schmidt was killed and to passing out at the police station.

Pete Hill testified that Schmidt came with him to Rahneisha’s house where he and Schmidt shared a bottle of liquor. When leaving with Rice to get some cigarettes, he saw Schmidt and Saleem yelling at each other and then saw “Rah-maan [Saleem push] Todd first” with “both hands.”

Hill testified that Schmidt then pushed Saleem harder and Saleem fell down. Saleem sprung up with a revolver and fired off three shots directly at Schmidt. Schmidt was holding a bottle of Schnapps, but he did not see Schmidt “make any threatening gestures” towards Saleem. Hill said the gun was “less than inches” away from Schmidt’s body when it was discharged. Hill testified that Rice ran toward the pair, yelling at them to stop. He got in his car and left.

Saleem testified to being at his sister’s house drinking earlier in the evening. Sometime after midnight, and after receiving a drink from Schmidt’s bottle, he was told that [Schmidt] “was talking shit on me, that’s what they said, said he was going to fuck me up.“ Saleem testified that Schmidt asked him to come outside, where they got into an argument and Schmidt started hitting him on the [103]*103head with a bottle. Saleem remembers pushing and being pushed by Schmidt and being hit and made to stumble back. Saleem pulled his gun and shot Schmidt as Schmidt came after him with the bottle. He could not remember how many times he shot because Schmidt continued to attack him.

After the shooting, Saleem ran to his mother’s house and then left. On cross-examination, Saleem testified he felt “disrespected” when “[Schmidt] hit me with the bottle.“ He admitted to “feeling good,” but said he did not go to the porch to enter into a confrontation with Schmidt. He did not know where he shot Schmidt and only remembered firing the gun twice. He testified that he did not intend to kill Schmidt and did not know Schmidt had died until later that morning. He admitted to knowing that guns were dangerous, and when asked whether Schmidt was trying to kill him, he responded, ”1 wouldn’t say kill me but was trying to hurt me; that’s what I thought, yeah.“

The Shawnee County Coroner, Dr. Erik Mitchell, testified death occurred from the shots in Schmidt’s chest, with soot and stippling of the skin around the holes, showing the gun had been discharged at close range. Two shots entered the left shoulder and two entered the chest.

Marlin Taylor, who attended the party, testified but was unable to remember much of the evening’s activities. The trial court allowed him to be declared a hostile witness. Defendant’s counsel objected that this would preclude effective cross-examination. Eventually, a videotape of Taylor’s interview by a police officer was admitted into evidence. It contained a statement of prior criminal activity prejudicial to Saleem that was heard by the jury. There was information concerning gang membership on the videotape that defendant desired to use to substantiate his claim of self-defense. The trial court was concerned because it appeared Taylor was sufficiently irresponsive on the stand so that effective cross-examination would be unlikely.

The jury was instructed as to the crime of first-degree murder and the lesser included offenses of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and involuntary manslaughter. Several self-de[104]*104fense instructions were given. Instruction No. 4 stated that premeditation means “to have thought over the matter beforehand.”

Saleem was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without chance of parole eligibility for 25 years.

There was sufficient evidence to establish premeditation.

Saleem first argues there was insufficient evidence to justify the jury’s finding of premeditated first-degree murder.

When confronted with a sufficiency of the evidence argument, we look to our standard of review, which is “ ‘whether, after review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the appellate court is convinced that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” State v. White, 263 Kan. 283, 293, 950 P.2d 1316 (1997). We look only to evidence in favor of the verdict to determine if the essential elements of a charge are sustained. State v. Patterson, 243 Kan. 262, Syl. ¶ 1, 755 P.2d 551 (1988).

In State v. Rice, 261 Kan.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. McLinn
Supreme Court of Kansas, 2018
State v. Carr
331 P.3d 544 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Sharkey
322 P.3d 325 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. Williams
286 P.3d 195 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2012)
State v. Astorga
284 P.3d 279 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2012)
State v. Deal
269 P.3d 1282 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2012)
State v. Hall
257 P.3d 272 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2011)
State v. Fulton
256 P.3d 838 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2011)
State v. Trussell
213 P.3d 1052 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2009)
State v. Deal
206 P.3d 529 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2009)
State v. Henson
197 P.3d 456 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2008)
State v. Moore
194 P.3d 18 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2008)
State v. Birth
158 P.3d 345 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2007)
State v. Lawrence
135 P.3d 1211 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2006)
State v. Blanchette
134 P.3d 19 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2006)
Sperry v. McKune
445 F.3d 1268 (Tenth Circuit, 2006)
State v. Davis
130 P.3d 69 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2006)
State v. Henderson
129 P.3d 646 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2006)
State v. Meeks
88 P.3d 789 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2004)
State v. Martis
83 P.3d 1216 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
977 P.2d 921, 267 Kan. 100, 1999 Kan. LEXIS 233, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-saleem-kan-1999.