State v. Timley

875 P.2d 242, 255 Kan. 286, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 82
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMay 27, 1994
Docket68,697
StatusPublished
Cited by173 cases

This text of 875 P.2d 242 (State v. Timley) 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. Timley, 875 P.2d 242, 255 Kan. 286, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 82 (kan 1994).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the defendant, Irvin Timley, from his conviction of three counts of rape and four, counts of aggravated criminal sodomy stemming from three separate in *288 cidents involving three victims. Timley was charged in two separate complaints, and the cases were consolidated for trial. The Habitual Criminal Act was imposed, and Timley was sentenced to consecutive sentences of 45 years to life on each count.

Timley raises a number of issues. He alleges error in the instructions, violation of his right to a speedy trial, gender discrimination in striking two males by peremptory challenge, failure to cross-endorse witnesses, timeliness of notice to impose the Habitual Criminal Act, sufficiency of the evidence, and failure to exclude a juror who knew the trial judge.

There was no dispute at trial that sexual contact occurred between Timley and each of the victims. Timley admitted to penetration sufficient to support each of the charges. Timley’s defense was that the alleged victims consented to the sexual activity. Timley contended that each alleged victim approached him and agreed that he would supply her with drugs and she would give him whatever sexual activity he wanted. He admitted to choking each victim and making threats, but he insisted that the choking was intended to be mutually stimulating and was only to enhance the sexual feeling. Each victim, on the other hand, testified that she never consented to sexual activity with Timley, nor did she consent to the choking. L.H. contended that she did not voluntarily get into Timley’s car, but was knocked unconscious and awoke in the back seat of his car to discover that he was engaging in sexual activity with her. D.A. and T.S. each insisted that she accepted a ride from Timley and that rather than taking her where she requested, he began choking her and forced her into the back seat of his car to engage in sexual activity without her consent.

I. INSTRUCTIONS

Timley contends the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could find him guilty if it found that the sexual act was perpetrated by use of force or fear. He suggests that the instructions given by the trial court were improper because he may have been deprived of a unanimous verdict. He maintains that some members may have found that a victim was overcome by force while other members may have found that that victim was over *289 come by fear and that if this did occur, the jury verdict would not be unanimous. Timley argues:

“The only way to assure jury unanimity in a multiple acts case is to require that either the state elect the particular criminal act upon which it will rely for conviction, or that the trial court instruct the jury that they must all agree that the same underlying criminal act has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Timley notes that his defense was that the sex was consensual and therefore the manner of perpetration is critical.

Timley cites without discussion or analysis State v. Kitchen, 110 Wash. 2d 403, 756 P.2d 105 (1988), for the proposition that the jury must agree that the same underlying criminal act has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In Kitchen, the appeals of several defendants were consolidated. The defendants had been charged with sex offenses, but the dates of the offenses had not been pinpointed. Rather, each victim had testified that on more than one occasion the defendant had engaged in activity which could support a finding of guilt. The court noted the rule that “[w]hen the prosecution presents evidence of several acts that could form the basis of one count charged, either the State must tell the jury which act to rely on in its deliberations or the court must instruct the jury to agree on a specific criminal act.” 110 Wash. 2d at 409.

Timley characterizes his case as a “multiple acts” case. What he ignores is the distinction made by the Kitchen court between alternative means cases and multiple acts cases. That court stated:

“In an alternative means ease, where a single offense may be committed in more than one way, there must be jury unanimity as to guilt for the single crime charged. Unanimity is not required, however, as to the means by which the crime was committed so long as substantial evidence supports each alternative means. [Citations omitted.] In reviewing an alternative means case, the court must determine whether a rational trier of fact could have found each means of committing the crime proved beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citations omitted.]
“In multiple acts cases, on the other hand, several acts are alleged and any one of them could constitute the crime charged. In these cases, the jury must be unanimous as to which act or incident constitutes the crime. To ensure jury unanimity in multiple acts cases, we require that either the State elect the particular criminal act upon which it will rely for conviction, or that the trial court instruct the jury that all of them must agree that the same underlying criminal *290 act has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citations omitted.]” 110 Wash. 2d at 410. (Emphasis in original.)

This court has also recognized and discussed the alternative means rule. The rule is stated in State v. Grissom, 251 Kan. 851, Syl. ¶ 7, 840 P.2d 1142 (1992):

“If an accused is charged in one count of an information with both premeditated murder and felony murder, it matters not whether some members of the jury arrive at a verdict of guilt based on proof of premeditation while others arrive at a verdict of guilt by reason of the killer’s malignant purpose. Furthermore, die State is not required to elect between premeditated and felony murder because K.S.A. 21-3401 established die single offense of murder in the first degree and only provides alternative methods of proving the crime.”

In his appellate brief, Timley s counsel readily points out that there was evidence from which the jury could determine that each sexual act was the result either of force, based on Timley’s choking the victims, or of fear, based on the threats Timley made to the victims. There was sufficient evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, that a rational factfinder could have found Timley guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the crimes of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy either by the means of force or by the means of fear. There was no error in including both alternative means in one instruction to the juiy.

II. SPEEDY TRIAL

Timley next contends that his statutory right to speedy trial was violated. He maintains that he was incarcerated for 130 days on case No. 91 CR 2101 and for 94 days on case No. 92 CR 17, both of which are in excess of the 90-day limit set forth in K.S.A.

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

Related

State v. Grubb
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
State v. Mulloy
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2020
State v. Sasser
Supreme Court of Kansas, 2017
State v. Boyd
2015 Ohio 5116 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2015)
State of Arizona v. Penny Ann West
362 P.3d 1049 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 2015)
State v. Thomas
353 P.3d 1134 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Reed
352 P.3d 1043 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Bolze-Sann
352 P.3d 511 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. McClelland
347 P.3d 211 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Brammer
343 P.3d 75 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2015)
State v. Jeffrey
2013 Ohio 504 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
State v. Colston
235 P.3d 1234 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2010)
State v. Allen
232 P.3d 861 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2010)
State v. Elnicki
228 P.3d 1087 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2010)
State v. Fry
2010 Ohio 1017 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010)
State v. Dixon
209 P.3d 675 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2009)
State v. Dean
208 P.3d 343 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2009)
State v. Baatrup
193 P.3d 472 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2008)
State v. Whitaker
175 P.3d 136 (Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, 2007)
State v. Stevens
172 P.3d 570 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
875 P.2d 242, 255 Kan. 286, 1994 Kan. LEXIS 82, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-timley-kan-1994.