State v. Tague

298 P.3d 273, 296 Kan. 993, 2013 WL 1173926, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 232
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMarch 22, 2013
DocketNo. 104,176
StatusPublished
Cited by48 cases

This text of 298 P.3d 273 (State v. Tague) 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. Tague, 298 P.3d 273, 296 Kan. 993, 2013 WL 1173926, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 232 (kan 2013).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

LUCKERT, J.:

Defendant Misty D. Tague appeals her jury trial convictions for felony murder, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3401(b), and aggravated robbeiy, in violation of K.S.A. 21-3427. She raises five issues in her brief and a sixth issue in a letter of additional authority under Supreme Court Rule 6.09(b) (2012 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 49). The six issues are: (1) Did the trial judge err in excluding hearsay evidence relating to eyewitnesses who were unable to identify Tague in a photographic lineup? (2) Did the trial judge err in admitting Tague’s out-of-court incriminating statements made to her best friend? (3) Did the trial judge err in admitting [995]*995certain autopsy photographs at trial? (4) Did the trial judge abuse his discretion in not allowing defense counsel to cross-examine Ta-gue’s best friend, who was a witness for the State, regarding the friend’s involvement in drug sales? (5) Did the trial judge err by giving an aiding and abetting instruction to the juiy? and (6) Did the trial judge err in failing to give lesser included offense instructions?

We conclude the first, second, and sixth issues were not properly preserved or presented for review. Further, we hold that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in admitting the autopsy photographs or in excluding evidence regarding the witness’ involvement in drug sales. Finally, we conclude the trial judge did not err in giving the pattern jury instruction regarding aiding and abetting the commission of a crime. Consequently, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural Background

Tague’s convictions stem from events that took place at a motel room in Sedgwick County on October 25, 2007. Around 1:22 a.m., law enforcement received a 911 call placed by a woman indicating her boyfriend had been shot. When officers arrived at the motel room, there were two women, Starrie Cross and Alexis Green, and two men, Michael Davidson and Titus Franklin, present. Franklin had been shot and was lying on the floor, cradled in Green’s arms. According to Green, a white male and a white female knocked on the door and then pushed their way into tire motel room. The male perpetrator told the occupants to “get down” and demanded money. Shots were fired, and the perpetrators rifled through dresser drawers and gathered money and drugs from the room. When questioned at the scene, Green provided a physical description of the assailants. Later, officers showed photo lineups to Green, who identified Tague and Leslie “Countiy” Keith, Jr., as the perpetrators. Keith eventually confessed to committing the crimes and initially told officers that Tague was his accomplice in the motel room. But at trial, Keith changed his story and testified that another woman, named “Pepper,” was his partner in crime.

While interviewing Green at die crime scené, the 'law enforcement officers learned that just before the shooting a Hispanic male [996]*996identified by Green as “Javier” had knocked on the door and had been allowed to come into the motel room. He was there to participate in a drug transaction involving crack cocaine. Once inside, Javier told the others that two people were standing outside by the soda machine. Before Javier could leave, Tague and Keith entered the motel room. Green indicated that Javier was not involved in the robbery.

After Tague and Keith left, Green realized her boyfriend, Franklin, had been shot and called 911. Franklin was shot twice, once in the left thigh and once in the right hip/buttock, and his injuries proved to be fatal. At trial, a criminologist and firearms examiner testified that all the spent shell casings collected from the motel room were fired from the same gun, consistent with a 9 mm. weapon.

Tague’s best friend, Miranda Maupin, testified at trial for the State, over defense counsel’s objections, about statements Tague had made to her after the incident. According to Maupin, Tague told her that “Country” shot somebody, that he was “in a lot of trouble,” and that he had left town. Maupin testified that Tague was “freaking out for a long time.” Tague told Maupin that “nobody had to die, that she didn’t have anything to do with it, and that Country was . . . trying to prove he was hard and he didn’t have to do that and she was really sad.”

Testimony from other witnesses in the case indicated that Tague had told Maupin more details than Maupin had provided during her ■ trial testimony. During .a telephone conversation with a Sedgwick County Deputy Sheriff, Maupin told the deputy that Tague had admitted to being involved in a homicide with three other individuals—“Country,” Dominic Myers, and Tague’s brother, Travis Tague. The deputy relayed this information to the Wichita Police Department; which led Detective Thomas Fatldn to interview Maupin. During this interview, Maupin said that Tague had told her she . was with “Country” when the-murder and robbery took place. Travis and Myers went along but stayed in the van. Tague told Maupin that she and “Country” went into a motel room with guns pointed and the victim was shot by “Country” when the [997]*997victim reached for a gun. Maupin also told the detective the group used Myers’ work van as the getaway vehicle.

Keith, a/k/a “Country,” was the only witness for the defense. His original version of events—relayed during his interrogation by Detective F atkin—was consistent with the version Tague conveyed to Maupin. Keith acknowledged during his trial testimony that he had told Detective Fatkin that Tague, Travis, and Myers were involved in the crimes. But at trial, Keith claimed that he implicated those three individuals because he thought Tague told officers about Keith’s involvement in the crimes. Keith testified that “[i]f somebody was snitching on me I was taking them with me.” Keith said he had been motivated by revenge, but when he found out that Tague had not spoken to officers about him, he told his lawyer that he had committed the crimes not with Tague, but with a woman he only knew as “Pepper.” He claimed Tague knew about the crimes only because he told her about them. According to Keith, Pepper went to some dude and got a van to use in the crimes. Keith admitted that both he and Pepper had guns at the motel; he always carried a 9 mm. or .45 caliber gun, and Pepper carried a .380 caliber gun.

Detective Fatkin testified about his interrogation of Keith in the State’s rebuttal. Fatkin testified that Keith had described how he and Tague were armed with handguns, waited outside by the soda machine, and observed a Hispanic man enter the motel room before they pushed their way in. According to Keith’s statements to the detective, his gun was a 9 mm. and he thought Tague’s was a 9 mm. gun as well. Keith told Fatkin that when they entered the room, Tague pistol-whipped an older white male. This person turned out to be Davidson, who had a “knot on his head” after the robbery and shooting. Keith told Fatkin the robbery was planned by Myers and Travis, who had already been in the motel room to purchase crack cocaine. Keith shot Franklin when he saw him pull out a handgun.

A jury convicted Tague as charged. Subsequently, the sentencing court imposed a life sentence without possibility of parole for 20 years for the felony-murder conviction.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
298 P.3d 273, 296 Kan. 993, 2013 WL 1173926, 2013 Kan. LEXIS 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tague-kan-2013.