State v. Taylor

574 P.2d 210, 223 Kan. 261, 1977 Kan. LEXIS 409
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedDecember 10, 1977
DocketNo. 48,856
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 574 P.2d 210 (State v. Taylor) 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. Taylor, 574 P.2d 210, 223 Kan. 261, 1977 Kan. LEXIS 409 (kan 1977).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Miller, J.:

This is a direct appeal by Silas Taylor, Jr., following his conviction by a jury of aggravated robbery in violation of K.S.A. 21-3427. The basis for the only error claimed lies in the prosecutor’s cross-examination of the defendant.

The state’s evidence was that the defendant and another man, Julius Richardson, came to a used car lot in Topeka on May 10, 1976. Taylor and Richardson came together, and together they looked at several cars. Taylor then went into the office and engaged Lloyd Ferguson, a salesman, in conversation. Ferguson knew the defendant, but he was not acquainted with Richardson. Richardson soon entered, pulled a handgun, and robbed Ferguson of some five hundred dollars. Richardson then ran out the door, closely followed by Taylor; both men jumped in a waiting automobile, driven by a third man, and made their escape.

Taylor testified on direct examination that he went to the used car lot by himself. He was not with Richardson, and did not know him. Taylor was in the office, talking to Ferguson, when Richardson entered, pulled a gun, and robbed Ferguson. Richardson then turned to Taylor and asked, “You got any money?” Taylor replied, “I ain’t got no money.” Richardson then told Taylor to “Go,” and Taylor left. He did not get into a waiting car, but left the scene on foot. He was scared and he ran. He was not with Richardson, neither came nor left with him, and had nothing to do with the robbery.

Taylor’s cross-examination proceeded as follows:

[262]*262“Q. What your testimony, is, then, that you are a witness to a robbery, just an innocent bystander. Is that correct?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Did you report it to the police?
“A. No, sir.
“Q. Why?
“A. Scared.
“Q. An attempted robbery was pulled on you too; wasn’t it?
“A. Oh, yes, sir.
“Q. . . . Why were you scared?
“A. Just scared.
“Q. Of what?
“A. I don’t know.
. “Q. Did you see anybody on your way out the door on the car lot?
“A. There was a couple of people in the car lot.
“Q. Did you see them?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. Did you warn them that there was a robbery going on?
“A. No, sir.
“Q. Didn’t tell anybody; did you?
“A. No, sir.
“Q. First time today you’ve told anybody that you saw a robbery going on; isn’t it?
“[Defense counsel:] Object to that, Your Honor.
“THE COURT: The question, the first time he told anybody. Is that the objection?
“[Defense counsel:] Yes, Your Honor.
“THE COURT: Well, you can ask the question—
“Q. Is this the first time today you’ve told anybody that question — that answer about the robbery?
“A. Yes, sir.”

Defense counsel moved for a mistrial, contending that the state had cross-examined the defendant about his pretrial silence in violation of the rules laid down in Doyle v. Ohio, 426 U.S. 610, 49 L.Ed.2d 91, 96 S.Ct. 2240 (1976) and United States v. Hale, 422 U.S. 171, 45 L.Ed.2d 99, 95 S.Ct. 2133 (1975). In overruling the motion the trial court said:

“It’s very clear from the testimony that this is not a situation when the defendant was immediately arrested or at the site arrested, and any comment he would have made would have had to have been in an arrest or custody situation. The testimony is that he contends that he was an almost victim of the crime himself; he just happened to be present; that immediately upon leaving, his testimony was there were two people whereas other testimony was that there were three. In addition, there was a period of some 17 days . . . before he was [263]*263arrested. In that period of time, he went over and talked to one of the other witnesses, Scofield, and was irritated because Scofield had implicated him and apparently didn’t say that he was an almost victim. There were various opportunities that he could have talked to other people about his exact role anytime or could have called the police or could have reported himself the victim; and it does not infringe on his right to remain silent because these are just things before he was under arrest or in custody. So the motion will be overruled.”

In Hale, supra, the defendant was cross-examined about his failure to offer exculpatory information to the police at the time of his arrest. Noting that he was in custody and had been given the Miranda warnings, the Supreme Court said:

“. . . [W]e hold that under the circumstances of this case it was prejudicial error for the trial court to permit cross-examination of respondent concerning his silence during police interrogation . . . .” (p. 181.) (Emphasis supplied.)

Doyle, supra, involved similar facts. The defendant there had been cross-examined about his failure to tell his story to the arresting officer. The court held:

“. . . [T]he use for impeachment purposes of petitioners’ silence, at the time of arrest and after receiving Miranda warnings, violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. . . .” (p. 619.)

We followed Doyle in State v. Mims, 220 Kan. 726, 556 P.2d 387, where we said:

“We interpret the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Doyle to settle the question so as to make it constitutionally impermissible for a state prosecutor to impeach a defendant’s exculpatory story told for the first time at the trial by cross-examining him as to his post-arrest silence after receiving the warnings required by Miranda . . . .” (p. 730.)

The rule was further discussed and applied in State v. Heath, 222 Kan. 50, 563 P.2d 418; State v. Clark, 223 Kan. 83, 574 P.2d 174; and State v. Jordan, 223 Kan. 197, 574 P.2d 194.

Defendant calls our attention to People v. Sheperd, 37 Colo. App. 336, 551 P.2d 210 (1976). The facts of that case, however, distinguish it from the case at hand. Sheperd was charged with forcible rape; the defense was consent.

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Related

State v. Haddock
897 P.2d 152 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1995)
State v. Searles
793 P.2d 724 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
574 P.2d 210, 223 Kan. 261, 1977 Kan. LEXIS 409, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-taylor-kan-1977.