State v. Underwood

615 P.2d 153, 228 Kan. 294, 1980 Kan. LEXIS 327
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJuly 18, 1980
Docket51,401, 51,420
StatusPublished
Cited by65 cases

This text of 615 P.2d 153 (State v. Underwood) 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. Underwood, 615 P.2d 153, 228 Kan. 294, 1980 Kan. LEXIS 327 (kan 1980).

Opinions

[295]*295The opinion of the court was delivered by

Fromme, J.:

Curtis Leon Underwood appeals from a jury conviction of felony murder (K.S.A. 21-3401). The underlying felony which is being used to classify the homicide as a felony murder is unlawful possession of a firearm as defined in K.S.A. 21-4204(l)(b). This forms the basis for appeal No. 51,401 in this court.

In an attempt to erase the underlying or collateral felony the defendant filed two motions in a 1974 case in which he had been convicted of felony theft. He filed one motion to annul this conviction and a second motion to withdraw his plea of nolo contendere. Both motions were overruled. Defendant then perfected an appeal from the order denying these motions. This forms the basis for appeal No. 51,420 in this court.

The two appeals were consolidated and are now before this court for decision. We will consider the appeal in the 1974 case first. On August 2, 1974, when appellant Underwood was eighteen years old, he assisted Gus Hankins, Jr. in stealing a bicycle from the Wichita State University campus. Appellant testified that he was with Hankins and observed Hankins cut a security chain with bolt cutters. Hankins gave him the bolt cutters and rode off on the bicycle. Appellant put the bolt cutters in his pocket. An eyewitness, who later identified both appellant and Hankins, notified the police. The appellant and Hankins were arrested and charged with felony theft. Hankins was arrested in possession of the bicycle. Appellant had the bolt cutters in his pocket when he was arrested. The appellant entered a plea of nolo contendere to the charge of felony theft and was sentenced for a period of from one to ten years. He was placed on probation for a two year period. His probation was terminated when fully served in September, 1976.

The events leading to appellant’s conviction on the felony murder charge occurred on October 28,1978. Appellant and some friends were attending a card party at 2718 East 10th Street, Wichita, Kansas. While appellant was watching the game, one of the players, Earl Brewer, accused him of stealing a bag of marijuana. They exchanged angry words and eventually began fighting in the yard. During this altercation the bag of marijuana dropped to the ground. The fight stopped. A friend of Brewer came from the house carrying a shotgun and handed it to Brewer. [296]*296Brewer brandished the shotgun. The appellant and his friends entered their cars to leave. From the car appellant announced that he would return.

The appellant and his friends went to appellant’s home where he changed his clothes. The appellant changed from dress clothes and platform shoes to jeans and tennis shoes. Appellant also obtained a .32 caliber pistol. The pistol had recently been purchased by appellant with funds from his live-in girl friend, ostensibly, for her protection. Appellant gave the gun to his half-brother, Phil Marzett, for safekeeping before returning to the scene of the fight.

The appellant and his friends returned to the 10th Street address and Brewer was summoned to come outside the house. The fight was resumed. Friends of both men became embroiled in the fighting. One man was stabbed. A friend of Brewer emerged from the house with the shotgun. Brewer and appellant had been fighting on the ground. Brewer stood up and ran toward his friend with the shotgun. The appellant retrieved the pistol from Marzett and shot at Brewer. Four shots were fired by appellant. One bullet struck and killed Brewer. Appellant testified he fired the shots because he saw Brewer reaching for the shotgun; he feared for the safety of his friends and himself.

Shortly after the shooting appellant telephoned the police and arranged to turn himself in. Appellant was charged with the unlawful possession of a firearm and with felony murder. The firearm charge which formed the underlying felony for the felony murder charge was based on the fact that appellant had been convicted of the 1974 bicycle theft and had possession of a firearm.

Appellant filed a motion in the trial court seeking annulment of the 1974 bicycle theft conviction. He argued that his attorney, the prosecutor, and the judge had assured him that the 1974 conviction would be cleared and annulled as soon as he finished serving his two year probationary period. Appellant further contended he entered his plea and testified against Hankins because of this assurance.

After conducting an evidentiary hearing on the motion, the trial court refused to annul the 1974 conviction. The court found that although appellant may have been aware of the possibility of annulment, the sentencing court did not discuss annulment when [297]*297the plea was accepted and apparently no one explained that the annulment procedure was not automatic. The trial court, after examining the statutes providing for annulment and for ex-pungement, held the present statutes would not permit the annulment or expungement of appellant’s firearm violation in any event.

Appellant then filed the motion to withdraw his nolo contendere plea under K.S.A. 22-3210(7) “to correct manifest injustice.” Appellant asserted the plea was entered when he was eighteen years old, that he was not guilty of the charges, and that the plea was inadvertently made on the advice of unqualified counsel. Appellant alleged that neither the prosecutor nor the court complied with their agreements to dismiss the case on completion of probation, that probation was completed in September, 1976, but the case was neither dismissed nor expunged.

The trial court held:

“The defendant has served his period of probation and has been released by the court. The judgment has been completed, the order executed, and the defendant released by the court. Therefore, the court has no jurisdiction to carry out the provisions under K.S.A. 22-3210(7), as requested by the defendant.”

We will first consider the question of annulment. The statute in effect at the time of appellant’s conviction was K.S.A. 21-4616 and it provided:

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Bluebook (online)
615 P.2d 153, 228 Kan. 294, 1980 Kan. LEXIS 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-underwood-kan-1980.