State v. Searles

793 P.2d 724, 246 Kan. 567, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 121
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 25, 1990
Docket63,196
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 793 P.2d 724 (State v. Searles) 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. Searles, 793 P.2d 724, 246 Kan. 567, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 121 (kan 1990).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Six, J.:

The defendant, Jimmy Jack Searles, appeals from his convictions of felony murder, K.S.A. 21-3401, and attempted rape, K.S.A. 21-3301; K.S.A. 21-3502.

The issues for our review are whether

(1) the trial court improperly allowed the State to comment on Searles’ exercise of his privilege against self-incrimination;

(2) the trial court erred in allowing the prosecution to introduce K.S.A. 60-455 evidence arising from two prior crimes charged against Searles, one of which resulted in an acquittal and the other in a mistrial with no retrial;

(3) the trial court erred in giving a PIK Crim. 2d 52.06 limiting instruction on the K.S.A. 60-455 evidence which stated that evidence had been admitted tending to prove that Searles committed other crimes; and

(4) the trial court erred in admitting the blood analysis testimony of the State’s experts.

We find no error and affirm.

FACTS

The decomposed body of Roxanne G., the mother of three young children, was found beside a county road outside of Par[569]*569sons, Kansas, ten days after her disappearance. An autopsy revealed that Roxanne had died from a blow to the head.

The night she disappeared, Roxanne spent the evening with her neighbor, Midge. They decided to go to Joe’s Club to be with Midge’s husband. Midge’s eldest daughter, Sheila, babysat at Roxanne’s home with her younger siblings and Roxanne’s children. A short time after Roxanne arrived at the club, Jimmy Jack Searles, the defendant, approached her and asked her to dance. After the dance, Roxanne returned to sit with Midge. Roxanne wanted to dance again. Midge suggested that Roxanne ask Searles to dance. Roxanne and Searles had danced several times when Roxanne told Midge that she was leaving with Searles to go to another bar, the Midnight Factory. Midge cautioned Roxanne against leaving with a man she had just met, but Roxanne responded that she would be all right because she would know a hundred people at the Midnight Factory.

Midge noticed it was 11:43 p.m. when Roxanne left with Searles. When Midge arrived home, she noticed Roxanne’s car parked where Roxanne had left it. Midge immediately went over to Roxanne’s apartment. She told Sheila that Roxanne had gone to the Midnight Factory and would be home later.

A couple of hours later, Midge was awakened by Sheila. Roxanne still had not returned home and her three-week-old baby was crying. Midge returned to Roxanne’s apartment with Sheila to find some formula for the baby and then went back to bed. Sheila woke her mother a second time at 7:00 in the morning to tell her that Roxanne had not returned. Roxanne’s brother and his wife came over a few hours later. The police were called later that evening.

The case was initially investigated as a missing persons report. Searles was interviewed by the police. His pickup truck was taken into custody with his consent. Searles told the police that he had gone to Joe’s Club at 7:00 that evening, met and danced with Roxanne, and left with her at approximately 11:05 p.m. Instead of going directly to the Midnight Factory, Searles took Roxanne to a friend’s house. The friend, Jim Lane, confirmed that Searles and a woman introduced as Roxanne came to his house late that night. According to Lane, Searles arrived shortly after midnight to talk to him about a combine they owned together and left [570]*570approximately an hour later. Searles stated that after they left Lane’s house, he decided he did not want to go dancing. He said he dropped Roxanne off at the Midnight Factory before returning home to his wife.

The Midnight Factory was under surveillance that night. A special agent for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) was working on an undercover investigation at the club. She was inside to observe and to attempt to purchase narcotics. She was at the club until 1:45 a.m. but did not see Roxanne. None of the officers stationed in various places outside saw Roxanne dropped off at the Midnight Factory by Searles. However, the officers testified that the club was very busy and many vehicles, including pickup trucks similar to the one Searles drove, pulled into the parking lot that night. They did not notice anyone being dropped off outside the club, although such a drop-off would have been unusual enough that they thought they would have remembered it.

Ten days later, the body of a deceased female was found in a weed-filled ditch about fifteen feet from a gravel road in Labette County. The body did not appear to have been moved. It was decayed and had been damaged by animals. The body was propped up with the buttocks partly in the air and appeared to have been in that position for some time. According to the county coroner, who had been summoned to the scene, he had to use a flashlight to see the body. He saw no garments on the body, with the exception of a piece of an undergarment that appeared to be ripped on one thigh. The sheriff, however, testified that a shirt was found on the body in the vicinity of the neck.

In the coroner’s opinion, a violent sexual act had occurred, as well as a murder. This opinion was based upon the fact that the deceased was a young female with her clothing removed and upon the position of the body. The coroner said that, based on his experience, even when a body remains exposed for prolonged periods of time “the articles of clothing do not simply come off, do not become removed spontaneously.”

Dr. William Eckert, a forensic pathologist from Wichita, viewed the scene. The body was taken to Wichita for an autopsy. Dr. Eckert determined the body was Roxanne’s by a comparison of the teeth with Roxanne’s dental records.

[571]*571The examination of the body was limited due to the advanced state of decomposition and the damage done to the body by animals. It was not possible to perform medical tests to see if there was semen or sperm in the vagina or rectum. However, Dr. Eckert was able to determine the cause of death to be a skull fracture caused by a blunt instrument. Dr. Eckert observed that there was a curve to the fracture which would suggest that the object used to make the fracture had a curve to it. Dr. Eckert also concluded that a lug wrench found in Searles’ truck could have made the curved indentation on the skull. Finally, he concluded that, although the exact time of death could not be determined, the state of decomposition of the body was consistent with the period of time Roxanne was last seen alive.

Shortly after the autopsy, Searles’ truck was searched a second time. During the initial search of the truck the officers had seized several tools, including a lug wrench and a section of rope and wire. The second search of the truck was conducted by a KBI agent who used luminal to search for blood on the truck. Luminal is a chemical that reacts with blood and is used on metal, fabric, and wood to help locate blood or blood residue.

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

Related

State of New Jersey v. J.M., Jr.
102 A.3d 1233 (New Jersey Superior Court App Division, 2014)
State v. Richard
333 P.3d 179 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
State v. King
323 P.3d 1277 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2014)
Commonwealth v. Barboza
921 N.E.2d 117 (Massachusetts Appeals Court, 2010)
State v. Garcia
169 P.3d 1069 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2007)
State v. Carter
57 P.3d 825 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2002)
State v. Higgenbotham
23 P.3d 874 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2001)
State v. Fulton
23 P.3d 167 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2001)
State v. Lane
940 P.2d 422 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1997)
State v. Aikins
932 P.2d 408 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1997)
State v. Likins
903 P.2d 764 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Swafford
897 P.2d 1027 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Lumbrera
891 P.2d 1096 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Maggard
829 P.2d 591 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 1992)
State v. Mason
827 P.2d 748 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1992)
Eatherton v. State
810 P.2d 93 (Wyoming Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Searles
793 P.2d 724 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1990)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
793 P.2d 724, 246 Kan. 567, 1990 Kan. LEXIS 121, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-searles-kan-1990.