Title: State v. Carr

State: kansas

Issuer: Kansas Supreme Court

Document:

1 
 
 
 
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS 
 
No. 90,198 
 
STATE OF KANSAS, 
Appellee, 
 
v. 
 
JONATHAN D. CARR, 
Appellant. 
 
 
SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 
 
1. 
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees an accused in 
all serious criminal prosecutions the right to trial by an impartial jury. This protection is 
incorporated into and made applicable to the states through the due process provision of 
the Fourteenth Amendment. The Kansas Constitution includes a similarly worded 
guarantee for its citizens in Section 10 of the Bill of Rights, which recognizes a 
defendant's right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district 
in which the offense is alleged to have been committed. We have analyzed the state 
constitutional provision in the same way as the federal constitutional provision. 
 
2. 
K.S.A. 22-2616(1) gives Kansans a vehicle to obtain a change of venue to prevent 
a local community's hostility or preconceived opinion on a defendant's guilt from 
hijacking his or her criminal trial.  
 
2 
 
 
 
3. 
Seven factors are considered relevant to evaluate whether the existence of 
presumed prejudice demands a change of venue:  (1) media interference with courtroom 
proceedings; (2) the magnitude and tone of the coverage; (3) the size and characteristics 
of the community in which the crime occurred; (4) the amount of time that elapsed 
between the crime and the trial; (5) the jury's verdict; (6) the impact of the crime on the 
community; and (7) the effect, if any, of a codefendant's publicized decision to plead 
guilty. 
 
4.  
On appeal, a claim of presumed prejudice is judged by a mixed standard of review. 
A district judge's findings of fact on the seven relevant factors considered in determining 
whether presumed prejudice demands a change of venue are examined to determine 
whether they are supported by substantial competent evidence in the record. The district 
court's weighing of the factors and ultimate legal conclusion on whether presumed 
prejudice has been established is reviewed de novo. 
 
5. 
In this case, the district judge did not err by refusing defendant's motions to 
transfer venue out of Sedgwick County on the basis of presumed prejudice.  
 
6.  
In reviewing for actual prejudice from refusal to change venue, an appellate court 
examines whether the district judge had a reasonable basis for concluding that the jurors 
selected could be impartial. The crucible for determination of actual prejudice is voir 
dire. The judge must review the media coverage and the substance of the jurors' 
statements at voir dire to determine whether a community-wide sentiment exists against 
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the defendant. Negative media coverage by itself is insufficient to establish actual 
prejudice. 
 
7.  
A district judge's decision on actual prejudice is reviewed under an abuse of 
discretion standard.  
 
8.  
In this case, all of defendant's jurors who had formed an opinion on guilt said 
during voir dire they could put their opinions aside. These voir dire responses gave the 
district judge a reasonable basis for ruling that no actual prejudice required a venue 
change. This case was not so extreme that the jurors' statements about their ability to be 
impartial cannot be credited. 
 
9.  
Under K.S.A. 22-2616(1), the burden is on the defendant to show prejudice in the 
community significant enough that there is a reasonable certainty he or she cannot obtain 
a fair trial without a venue change.  
 
10. 
Factors to be considered on whether a venue change is necessary under the Kansas 
statute include:  (1) the particular degree to which the publicity circulated throughout the 
community; (2) the degree to which the publicity or that of a like nature circulated to 
other areas to which venue could be changed; (3) the length of time which elapsed from 
the dissemination of the publicity to the date of trial; (4) the care exercised and the ease 
encountered in the selection of the jury; (5) the familiarity with the publicity complained 
of and its resultant effects, if any, upon the prospective jurors or the trial jurors; (6) the 
challenges exercised by the defendant in the selection of the jury, both peremptory and 
4 
 
 
 
for cause; (7) the connection of government officials with the release of the publicity; (8) 
the severity of the offense charged; and (9) the particular size of the area from which the 
venire is drawn. 
 
11. 
In this case, the district judge did not abuse his discretion by denying defendant's 
motions for change of venue under K.S.A. 22-2616(1).  
 
12. 
Although two or more defendants may be charged in the same complaint, 
information, or indictment if they are alleged to have participated in the same act or 
transaction or in the same series of acts or transactions constituting the charged crime or 
crimes, the court may order a separate trial for any one defendant when requested by the 
defendant or the prosecutor. The decision whether to sever a trial is one within the trial 
court's discretion. 
 
13. 
A single trial of multiple defendants may serve judicial economy and ensure 
consistent verdicts, but the right of a defendant to a fair trial must be the overriding 
consideration. Five factors are useful for an appellate court to consider in determining 
whether there is sufficient prejudice to mandate severance:  (1) whether the defendants 
have antagonistic defenses; (2) whether important evidence in favor of one of the 
defendants which would be admissible on a separate trial would not be allowed on a joint 
trial; (3) whether evidence incompetent as to one defendant and introducible against 
another would work prejudicially to the former with the jury; (4) whether the confession 
by one defendant, if introduced and proved, would be calculated to prejudice the jury 
against the other or others; and (5) whether one of the defendants who could give 
5 
 
 
 
evidence for the whole or some of the other defendants would become a competent and 
compellable witness on the separate trials of such other defendants. 
 
14. 
A party moving for severance has the burden to demonstrate actual prejudice to 
the district court judge, who has a continuing duty at all stages of a trial to grant 
severance if prejudice does appear.  
 
15. 
On appeal from a denial of severance, the party claiming error has the burden to 
establish a clear abuse of discretion by the trial judge. Once abuse of discretion is 
established, the party benefitting from the error bears the burden of demonstrating 
harmlessness.  
 
16. 
The district judge abused his discretion in this case by repeatedly refusing to sever 
the defendant's trial from that of his codefendant brother. However, because of the 
overwhelming independent evidence presented by the State, the judge's failure to sever 
the guilt phase of the trial was harmless error.  
 
17. 
An appellate court examines a district judge's denial of a mistrial for abuse of 
discretion. The party alleging abuse bears the burden of proving that his or her substantial 
rights to a fair trial were prejudiced. The first question is whether the district judge 
abused his or discretion when deciding whether there was a fundamental failure of the 
proceedings. If so, then the second question is whether the district judge abused his or her 
discretion in deciding whether the problematic conduct resulted in prejudice that could 
not be cured or mitigated through jury admonition or instruction, resulting in an injustice. 
6 
 
 
 
Although counsel for codefendant made remarks during opening statement that made 
antagonistic defenses and fundamental failure of proceedings inescapably clear, the 
district judge in this case did not abuse his discretion in denying a motion for mistrial. 
 
18.  
The district judge in this case did not abuse his discretion by denying defendant's 
motion to sever noncapital counts from capital counts. Similarity of punishment is not an 
indispensable attribute of crimes of same or similar character under K.S.A. 22-3202(1).  
 
19. 
K.S.A. 22-3410(2)(i) permits a district judge to remove a prospective juror for 
cause when his or her "state of mind with reference to the case or any of the parties" 
persuades the judge that there is doubt he or she can act impartially. A criminal defendant 
has the right to an impartial jury drawn from a venire that has not been tilted in favor of 
capital punishment by selective prosecutorial challenges for cause. But this right is 
balanced against the State's strong interest in seating jurors who are able to apply the 
sentence of capital punishment within the framework provided for by the federal 
Constitution and state law. 
 
20. 
In this case, the district judge's excuse of prospective juror M.W. for cause was 
fairly supported by the record and not an abuse of discretion under K.S.A. 22-3410(2)(i). 
Eleven other prospective jurors to whom defendant and his codefendant brother compare 
M.W. expressed a willingness to follow the law while M.W. did not.  
 
21. 
The same standard of review and legal framework applicable to a district judge's 
decision to excuse a prospective juror who cannot set aside his or her objection to the 
7 
 
 
 
death penalty applies equally to decisions not to excuse prospective jurors challenged for 
cause based on their inability to consider a sentence other than death. 
 
22. 
The district judge's refusal to excuse four prospective jurors for cause was fairly 
supported by the record and not an abuse of discretion under K.S.A. 22-3410(2)(i). These 
four prospective jurors expressed a willingness to consider and give effect to mitigating 
evidence.  
 
23. 
Section 7 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights provides that "no religious test 
or property qualification shall be required for any office of public trust." This section 
does not provide any greater limitation than already provided under K.S.A. 43-156, 
which provides that "[n]o person shall be excluded from service as a grand or petit juror 
in the district courts of Kansas on account of . . . religion . . . ."  
 
24. 
K.S.A. 43-156 is in some tension with K.S.A. 22-3410(2)(i)—which provides that 
a prospective juror may be challenged for cause as unqualified to serve when he or she is 
partial or biased—because K.S.A. 22-3410(2)(i) requires a prospective juror who can 
never participate in imposition of the death penalty to be excused for cause as partial, 
even though his or her scruples have a basis in a religious code. Jurors cannot be 
discriminated against on the basis of their religious belief or lack of belief, but they can 
be excluded from jury service when their belief or nonbelief makes it impossible for them 
to act in conformance with the signature requirement of that service:  impartiality under 
the rule of law.  
 
 
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25.  
In this case, the district judge did not violate Section 7 of the Kansas Constitution 
Bill of Rights or K.S.A. 43-156 when he excused prospective jurors for cause because 
they had said their religious beliefs would prevent them from behaving impartially. 
 
26. 
A district judge's handling of a challenge to a criminal defendant's peremptory 
strike under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S. Ct. 1712, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986), 
involves three steps, each subject to its own standard of review on appeal. Under the first 
step, the party challenging the strike must make a prima facie showing that the other 
party exercised a peremptory challenge on the basis of race. Appellate courts utilize 
plenary or unlimited review over this step. If a prima facie case is established, the burden 
shifts to the party exercising the strike to articulate a race-neutral reason for striking the 
prospective juror. This reason must be facially valid, but it does not need to be persuasive 
or plausible. The reason offered will be deemed race-neutral unless a discriminatory 
intent is inherent in the explanation. The opponent of the strike continues to bear the 
burden of persuasion. The scope of review on a district judge's ruling that the party 
attempting the strike has expressed racially neutral reasons is abuse of discretion. In the 
third step, the district judge determines whether the party opposing the strike has carried 
its burden of proving purposeful discrimination. This decision is reviewed under an abuse 
of discretion standard. 
 
27. 
The district judge erred in this case by granting the State's challenge under Batson 
v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S. Ct. 1712, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986), to the defendants' 
peremptory strikes of the eventual presiding juror by failing to perform the necessary 
three steps of analysis.  
 
9 
 
 
 
 
28.  
Each state is free to determine whether a district judge's good faith error in 
denying a criminal defendant's peremptory challenge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 
79, 106 S. Ct. 1712, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986), is subject to review for harmlessness. In 
Kansas, review for harmless error applies to such error, and the district judge's error in 
this case does not require reversal of all of defendant's convictions, standing alone.  
 
29. 
In this case, because defendants did not object to testimony from a felony-murder 
victim's neighbor and husband about the victim's out-of-court statements to them, any 
issue based on that testimony under the Confrontation Clause or Crawford v. Washington, 
541 U.S. 36, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004), was not preserved for appeal. 
Any error in admission of testimony from law enforcement witnesses about the victim's 
statements that was subject to defense objection based on the Confrontation Clause or 
Crawford was harmless because the testimony was largely repetitive of the testimony 
admitted without objection.  
 
30. 
When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, the standard 
of review is whether, after reviewing all the evidence in a light most favorable to the 
prosecution, the appellate court is convinced a rational factfinder could have found the 
defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A conviction for felony murder cannot stand 
without sufficient evidence of one of the enumerated inherently dangerous felonies listed 
in K.S.A. 21-3436.  
 
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31. 
Viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the evidence in this case 
was sufficient to convict defendant of felony murder, without impermissible inference 
stacking.   
 
32. 
Under State v. Todd, 299 Kan. 263, 323 P.3d 829, 840, (2014), and State v. 
Gleason, No. 97,296, 299 Kan. ___, ___ P.3d ___ (filed July 18, 2014), defendant was 
not entitled to lesser included instructions for felony murder because a subsequent 
statutory amendment abolishing any lesser included offenses for that crime can be 
applied to defendant without violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause or due process. 
 
33.  
In this case, the jury instructions on capital murder under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4) 
failed to state the elements of the crime because they relied on sex-crime instructions 
defining the underlying sex crime for a victim other than the victim of the capital murder. 
In addition, three of the four counts of capital murder under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(6) were 
multiplicitous with the first count. Under Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359, 51 S. Ct. 
532, 75 L. Ed. 1117 (1931), and Yates v. United States, 354 U.S. 298, 77 S. Ct. 1064, 1 L. 
Ed. 2d 1356 (1957), the combination of these errors requires reversal of three of the 
defendant's four convictions of capital murder. 
 
34. 
The defendant's appellate claim that a special unanimity instruction was required 
because of a multiple acts problem on the capital murders charged under K.S.A. 21-
3439(a)(4) is moot. 
 
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35. 
The defendant's appellate claim that he is entitled to reversal of his convictions for 
sex offenses on which capital charges under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4) were based is moot. 
 
36. 
In this case, the State's evidence against the defendant on aggravated burglary, 
viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to support a 
reasonable factfinder's verdict of guilty. 
 
37. 
Although it is possible to prosecute a male as a principal or an aider or abettor for 
causing a rape or attempted rape under Kansas law, the State did not succeed in charging 
those crimes here; and the defendant's convictions based on coerced victim-on-victim sex 
acts are void because the amended complaint failed to endow the district court with 
subject matter jurisdiction.  
 
38. 
The State's evidence against the defendant of a victim's digital penetration of 
herself, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, was sufficient to support a 
reasonable factfinder's guilty verdict on rape. 
 
39. 
In this case, the defendant's conviction for penile rape of a victim immediately 
after digital rape of the same victim rests on unitary conduct and must be reversed as 
multiplicitous.  
 
12 
 
 
 
40. 
In this case, abundant evidence supported the defendant's conviction as an aider 
and abettor of his codefendant's sex crimes. It is not necessary that an aider and abettor be 
contemporaneously aware that his or her principal is committing a crime that the aider 
and abettor has encouraged or facilitated. It also is not necessary that an aider and abettor 
be in the immediate vicinity of the principal and the victim during commission of the 
crime.  
 
41.  
The district judge in this case did not err by admitting evidence of the results of 
mitochondrial DNA testing of four hairs found at the crime scene, which narrowed the 
list of contributors to maternal relatives of the defendant. This was circumstantial 
evidence of the defendant's presence at the scene, even though more precise nuclear DNA 
analysis of one hair was admitted at trial.  
 
42. 
Under K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 21-5402(d), felony murder is not a lesser included 
offense of capital murder. Application of this statute to a defendant whose direct appeal 
was pending at the time the statute took effect does not violate the Ex Post Facto Clause 
or due process. 
 
43. 
It is an abuse of discretion for a district judge to automatically exclude expert 
testimony on the reliability of eyewitness identifications. However, on the entire record in 
this case, there is no reasonable probability the judge's error affected the outcome of the 
trial of the defendant. 
 
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44. 
A jury view is nonevidentiary and not a critical stage of a criminal prosecution 
requiring the presence of a criminal defendant; neither the defendant's statutory nor his 
constitutional right to be present at all critical stages of the proceedings against him was 
violated by the judge's failure to ensure his presence during the jury view in this case.  
 
45. 
A jury view may occur outside of the presence of a criminal defendant's counsel 
without violating the Sixth Amendment or K.S.A. 22-4503.  
 
46. 
Given the cautionary eyewitness identification instruction's inclusion of "any other 
circumstances that may have affected the accuracy of the . . . identification" as a catch-all 
factor the jury was permitted to consider, there was no error in the judge's omission of the 
defendant's requested language, "the race of the witness and the race of the person 
observed." Under the catch-all factor's broad language, counsel for the defense were free 
to argue any factor the evidence would support.  
 
47. 
In this case, the district judge committed error by giving both PIK Crim. 3d 54.05 
(Responsibility for Crimes of Another) and PIK Crim. 3d 54.06 (Responsibility for 
Crimes of Another—Crime Not Intended), when the defendant was charged with specific 
intent crimes demanding proof of premeditation. The error does not merit reversal as 
clear error because of the strength of the State's premeditation case. 
 
48. 
A jury instruction stating "[a] person who, either before or during its commission, 
intentionally aids, abets, advises, or counsels another to commit a crime with intent to 
14 
 
 
 
promote or assist in its commission is criminally responsible for the crime committed 
regardless of the extent of the person's participation, if any, in the actual commission of 
the crime" is adequate to communicate that the aider and abettor must personally possess 
the same specific intent as the principal. There was no error in this case attributable to the 
district judge's failure to tell the jury explicitly that the State must prove an aider and 
abettor's premeditation in order to convict him of capital murder or attempted first-degree 
premeditated murder.  
 
49. 
Omission of "by such person as a probable consequence of committing or 
attempting to commit the crime intended" from the end of PIK Crim. 3d 54.06 does not 
result in clear error because of a failure to communicate a need for causation and a 
measurement of probability.  
 
50. 
A prosecutor is permitted wide latitude in discussing the evidence. The 
prosecutor's first few dramatic sentences in her closing argument on this 58-count case 
did not exceed the wide latitude by inviting jurors to put themselves in the position of the 
victims.  
 
51. 
Cumulative error can require reversal of all of a criminal defendant's convictions 
even when one error standing alone does not. Cumulative error does not require reversal 
of all of the defendant's convictions in this case.  
 
52. 
The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires a jury to make 
an individualized capital sentencing determination. It does not categorically mandate 
15 
 
 
 
separate penalty phase proceedings for each codefendant in a death penalty case. The 
Eighth Amendment was violated in this capital case when the district judge refused to 
sever the penalty phase of the proceedings; because the codefendants' mitigation cases 
were at least partially antagonistic; because evidence admitted in the joint penalty phase 
may not have been admitted in a severed proceeding; and because mitigating evidence as 
to one codefendant was prone to be used by the jury as improper, nonstatutory 
aggravating evidence against the other. 
 
53. 
The standard of review and the ultimate question that must be answered with 
regard to whether error in the penalty phase of a capital trial was harmless is whether the 
court is able to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the error, viewed in the light of the 
record as a whole, had little, if any, likelihood of changing the jury's ultimate conclusion 
regarding the weight of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The test is not 
whether a death penalty sentence would have been imposed but for the error; instead the 
inquiry is whether the death verdict actually rendered in this trial was surely 
unattributable to the error. In this case, the judge committed reversible error by refusing 
to sever the penalty phase of the codefendants' trial.   
 
54. 
The State's compliance with K.S.A. 21-4624(a) provides a capital murder 
defendant with constitutionally sufficient notice of aggravating factors.   
 
55.  
K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 21-6624's aggravators—that the defendants knowingly or 
purposely killed or created a great risk of death to more than one person; that they 
committed the crime for themselves or for another for the purpose of receiving money or 
any other thing of monetary value; that they committed the crime in order to avoid or 
16 
 
 
 
prevent a lawful arrest or prosecution; and that they committed the crime in an especially 
heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner—are adequate to channel the jury's discretion in the 
penalty phase of a capital case.   
 
56. 
Due process requires a reasonably accurate and complete record of the trial 
proceeding in order to allow meaningful and effective appellate review. And, when a 
claim appears to have a substantial foundation based on the available record but the claim 
cannot be reviewed because of the incomplete or inaccurate transcript, the proper remedy 
is reversal. Still, a defendant does not have a constitutionally protected right to a totally 
accurate transcript of the criminal proceedings. A record that is incomplete but that 
involves no substantial or significant omissions does not require reversal. Appellants 
seeking reversal on the grounds that they are denied due process because of an inaccurate 
or incomplete transcript must make the best feasible showing possible that a complete 
and accurate transcript might have changed the outcome of the appeal. If no such 
showing is made, no relief is appropriate.   
 
57. 
K.S.A. 21-4624(c) provides for a relaxed evidentiary standard during the penalty 
phase of a capital proceeding:  
 
"In the sentencing proceeding, evidence may be presented concerning any matter 
that the court deems relevant to the question of sentence and shall include matters relating 
to any of the aggravating circumstances enumerated in K.S.A. 21-4625 and amendments 
thereto and any mitigating circumstances. Any such evidence which the court deems to 
have probative value may be received regardless of its admissibility under the rules of 
evidence, provided that the defendant is accorded a fair opportunity to rebut any hearsay 
statements. Only such evidence of aggravating circumstances as the state has made 
known to the defendant prior to the sentencing proceeding shall be admissible, and no 
17 
 
 
 
evidence secured in violation of the constitution of the United States or of the state of 
Kansas shall be admissible."  
 
58. 
K.S.A. 21-4624(c)'s relaxed evidentiary standard of admission is consistent with 
the United States Supreme Court's all relevant evidence doctrine, which demands that a 
capital sentencing jury have before it all possible relevant information about the 
individual defendant whose fate it must determine. It provides for an individualized 
inquiry and does not limit the discretion of the sentencer to consider relevant 
circumstances offered by the defendant. K.S.A. 21-4624(c) provides that only relevant 
evidence is to be admitted, thus assuring the evidence actually has probative value. 
Moreover, evidence secured in violation of the United States Constitution or the Kansas 
Constitution is inadmissible. The relaxed evidentiary standard is sufficient to protect the 
defendant's right to a fair trial and does not violate either the United States or Kansas 
Constitutions.   
 
59. 
The Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause and Crawford v. Washington, 541 
U.S. 36, 59, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004), apply in the penalty phase of a 
capital case and control over any contrary interpretation or application of K.S.A. 21-
4624(c).  
 
60. 
In order to be admissible in a penalty phase of a capital trial, mitigating evidence 
must be relevant to the defendant. The district judge in this case did not abuse his 
discretion by excluding general testimony about parole likelihood, including an 
explanation of the statutory rubric and statistics on past paroles of others.   
 
18 
 
 
 
 
61. 
Testimony about the impact of a defendant's execution must be probative on the 
material question of the defendant's character.  
 
62. 
A State expert's testimony about other experts' out-of-court agreement with him is 
subject to evaluation for admissibility under the Sixth Amendment, Crawford v. 
Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 59, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004), and K.S.A. 21-
4624(c).   
 
63. 
Rebuttal evidence is that which contradicts evidence introduced by an opposing 
party. It may tend to corroborate evidence of a party who first presented evidence on the 
particular issue, or it may refute or deny some affirmative fact which an opposing party 
has attempted to prove. It may be used to explain, repel, counteract, or disprove 
testimony or facts introduced by or on behalf of the adverse party. Such evidence 
includes not only testimony that contradicts the witnesses on the opposite side, but also 
corroborates previous testimony. There is no inflexible legal requirement that rebuttal or 
surrebuttal evidence be new. A district judge who excludes surrebuttal testimony because 
he or she believes it will not be new abuses his or her discretion.   
 
64. 
In the absence of a request, the trial court has no duty to inform the jury in a 
capital murder case of the term of imprisonment to which a defendant would be 
sentenced if death were not imposed. Where such an instruction is requested, the trial 
court must provide the jury with the alternative number of years that a defendant would 
be required to serve in prison if not sentenced to death. Additionally, where a defendant 
19 
 
 
 
has been found guilty of charges in addition to capital murder, the trial court upon request 
must provide the jury with the possible terms of imprisonment for each additional charge 
and advise the jury that the determination of whether such other sentences shall be served 
consecutive to or concurrent with each other and the sentence for the murder conviction 
is a matter committed to the sound discretion of the trial court.   
 
65. 
A district judge must instruct a penalty phase jury in a capital case not only that it 
need not be unanimous on the existence of a mitigating circumstance but also that a 
mitigating circumstance need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.   
 
66. 
It is inadvisable for an aggravating circumstances instruction in the penalty phase 
of a capital case to reference a generic crime rather than capital murder.  
 
67. 
An instruction to a jury in a penalty phase of a capital case that reads:   
"Mitigating circumstances are those which in fairness may be considered as extenuating 
or reducing the degree of moral culpability or blame or which justify a sentence of less 
than death, even though they do not justify or excuse the offense. In this proceeding, you 
may consider sympathy for a defendant. The appropriateness of exercising mercy can 
itself be a mitigating factor in determining whether the State has proved beyond a 
reasonable doubt that the death penalty should be imposed," is not erroneous because it 
equates mercy to a mitigating factor.    
 
68. 
The aggravating circumstances instruction for a penalty phase in a capital case 
must be corrected to be consistent with the verdict form designed to cover the situation 
20 
 
 
 
when the jury agrees unanimously on the existence of an aggravating circumstance but 
cannot agree unanimously on how it weighs against any mitigation.   
 
Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; PAUL W. CLARK, judge. Opinion filed July 25, 2014. 
Affirmed in part, reversed in part, sentence of death vacated, and case remanded.  
 
Sarah Ellen Johnson, of Capital Appellate Defender Office, argued the cause, and Rebecca E. 
Woodman and Meryl Carver-Allmond, of the same office, were with her on the briefs for appellant.   
 
David Lowden, chief assistant district attorney, argued the cause, and Debra S. Peterson, special 
prosecutor, Leslie A. Isherwood, assistant district attorney, Nola Tedesco Foulston, former district 
attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, were with him on the 
briefs for appellee. 
 
The opinion of the court was delivered by 
 
Per Curiam:  Defendant Jonathan D. Carr, and his brother, Reginald Dexter Carr, 
Jr., were jointly charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced for crimes committed in a series 
of incidents in December 2000 in Wichita. This is J. Carr's direct appeal from his 43 
convictions and four death sentences.  
 
Our opinion in codefendant R. Carr's direct appeal also is filed today. State v. 
Carr, No. 90,044, 299 Kan. ___, ___ P.3d ___. With the exception of the brief 
introduction to follow, this opinion will refer to the opinion in R. Carr's appeal as much 
as possible, rather than repeat facts, procedural history, or legal discussions and 
resolutions.  
 
The first incident giving rise to the charges in this case occurred on December 7 
and 8. Andrew Schreiber was the victim. The State charged J. Carr and R. Carr with one 
21 
 
 
 
count of kidnapping, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of aggravated battery, 
and one count of criminal damage to property. The jury acquitted J. Carr on all counts 
and convicted R. Carr on all counts. 
 
In the second incident on December 11, Linda Ann Walenta was the victim. The 
State charged J. Carr and R. Carr with one count of first-degree felony murder. The jury 
convicted both men.  
 
In the third incident on December 14 and 15, Heather M., Aaron S., Brad H., Jason 
B., and Holly G. were the victims of an invasion at the men's Birchwood Drive home that 
led to sex crimes, kidnappings, robberies, and, eventually, murder and attempted murder. 
The State charged J. Carr and R. Carr with eight alternative counts of capital murder, four 
based on a related sex crime under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4) and four based on multiple first-
degree premeditated murders under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(6); one count of attempted first-
degree murder; five counts of aggravated kidnapping; nine counts of aggravated robbery, 
eight of which were alternatives, four based on use of a dangerous weapon and four based 
on infliction of bodily harm; one count of aggravated burglary; 13 counts of rape, eight of 
which were based on coerced victim-on-victim sexual intercourse and one of which was 
based on a victim's coerced self-penetration; three counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, 
two of which were based on coerced victim-on-victim oral sex; seven counts of attempted 
rape, six of which were based on coerced victim-on-victim overt acts toward the 
perpetration of rape; one count of burglary; and one count of theft. The State also charged 
J. Carr and R. Carr with one count of cruelty to animals because of the killing of Holly 
G.'s dog. The jury convicted J. Carr and R. Carr on all of the charges arising out of the 
Birchwood incident. 
 
22 
 
 
 
In connection with the three incidents, the State also charged R. Carr alone with 
three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm. The jury convicted him on these three 
counts as well.  
 
After J. Carr's acquittal on the Schreiber incident and the defendants' convictions 
on all other charges, in a separate capital penalty proceeding, J. Carr and R. Carr were 
sentenced to death for each of the four capital murders committed on December 15. They 
each received a hard 20 life sentence for the Walenta felony murder. J. Carr received a 
controlling total of 492 months' imprisonment consecutive to the hard 20 life sentence, 
and R. Carr received a controlling total of 570 months' imprisonment consecutive to the 
hard 20 life sentence for the remaining non-death-eligible convictions. 
 
In his briefs, J. Carr raises 21 issues tied to the guilt phase of his prosecution and 
16 issues tied to the death penalty phase of his prosecution. In addition, because this is a 
death penalty case, this court is empowered to notice and discuss unassigned potential 
errors under K.S.A. 2013 Supp. 21-6619(b), which we do. J. Carr does not challenge the 
sentences he received for the Walenta felony murder; for the crimes in which Heather M., 
Aaron S., Brad H., Jason B., and Holly G. were the victims that were not eligible for the 
death penalty; or for the cruelty to animals conviction.  
 
Both sides sought many extensions of time to file briefs in this appeal and in R. 
Carr's separate appeal. In J. Carr's case, all of these extension requests were unopposed 
by the other side of the case. After completion of briefing, this court heard oral argument 
on December 17, 2013. 
 
After searching review of the record, careful examination of the parties' 
arguments, extensive independent legal research, and lengthy deliberations, we affirm 25 
of J. Carr's 43 convictions, including those for one count of capital murder of Heather M., 
23 
 
 
 
Aaron S., Brad H., and Jason B. under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(6) and for the felony murder of 
Walenta. We reverse the three remaining convictions for capital murder because of 
charging and multiplicity errors. We also reverse his convictions on Counts 25, 26, 29 
through 40, and 42 for coerced sex acts for similar reasons. We affirm the convictions 
based on Counts 2, 9 through 24, 27, 28, 41, and 43 through 55. 
 
We vacate J. Carr's death sentence for the remaining capital murder conviction, 
because the district judge refused to sever the defendants' penalty phase trials. We 
remand to the district court for further proceedings. 
 
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND FOR GUILT PHASE ISSUES 
 
The general factual and procedural background for the guilt phase issues in this 
case is set out in full in the R. Carr opinion. We need not repeat it or supplement it here. 
To the extent additional, issue-specific factual or procedural background is necessary to 
resolve any legal issue unique to J. Carr, it will be included in the discussion sections 
below. 
 
GUILT PHASE ISSUES AND SHORT ANSWERS 
 
We begin our discussion by setting out the questions we answer today on the guilt 
phase of J. Carr's trial. We have taken the liberty of reformulating certain questions to 
focus on their legally significant aspects or effects. We also have reordered questions 
raised by the defense and have inserted among them unassigned potential errors noted by 
us, because we believe this organization enhances clarity. We number the questions 
disposed of by our opinion in R. Carr's appeal 1 through 21, despite occasional 
intervening subheadings. We do not repeat our full discussion of these questions in this 
opinion; rather, we include only their short answers and references to the appropriate 
24 
 
 
 
sections of the R. Carr opinion that control the resolution of the similar issues raised or 
noticed in this appeal. We number the four additional questions not disposed of by our 
opinion in R. Carr's appeal J1 through J4. Our short answer to each question follows the 
question. We then discuss these four questions fully in individual sections of this opinion.  
 
Issues Disposed of by Opinion in R. Carr Appeal 
 
 
Issues Affecting All Incidents 
 
1. Did the district judge err in refusing to grant defense motions for change of 
venue? A majority of six of the court's members answers this question no for reasons 
explained in Section 1 of the R. Carr opinion, while one member of the court dissents and 
writes separately on this issue and its reversibility, standing alone.  
 
2. Did the district judge err in refusing to sever the guilt phase of defendants' trial? 
A majority of six members of the court answers this question yes for reasons explained in 
Section 2 of the R. Carr opinion, while one member of the court dissents and writes 
separately on this issue. A majority of four members of the court agrees that any error on 
this issue was not reversible standing alone for reasons explained in the R. Carr appeal, 
while three members of the court dissent, and one of them writes separately for the three 
on the reversibility question.  
 
3. Was it error for the State to pursue conviction of J. Carr for all counts arising 
out of the three December 2000 incidents in one prosecution? The court unanimously 
answers this question no for reasons explained in Section 3 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
4. Did the district judge err (a) by excusing prospective juror M.W., who opposed 
the death penalty, for cause, (b) by failing to excuse allegedly mitigation-impaired jury 
25 
 
 
 
panel members W.B., D.R., D.Ge., and H.Gu. for cause, or (c) by excusing prospective 
jurors K.J., M.G., H.D., C.R., D.H., and M.B., who expressed moral or religious 
reservations about the death penalty, for cause? The court unanimously agrees there was 
no error on any of these bases for reasons explained in Section 4 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
5. Did the district judge err by rejecting a defense challenge under Batson v. 
Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S. Ct 1712, 90 L. Ed. 2d 69 (1986), to the State's peremptory 
strike of juror and eventual foreperson W.B.? The court unanimously answers this 
question yes for reasons explained in Section 5 of the R. Carr opinion. A majority of four 
members of the court agrees that any error on this issue was not reversible standing alone 
for reasons explained in Section 5 of the R. Carr opinion, while three members of the 
court dissent, and one of them writes separately for the three on the reversibility question. 
 
 
Issue Specific to Walenta Incident 
 
6. Was the district judge's admission of statements by Walenta through law 
enforcement error under the Sixth Amendment and Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 
36, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004)? The court unanimously answers this 
question yes for reasons explained in Section 6 of the R. Carr opinion, but the court also 
unanimously agrees that this error was not reversible standing alone. 
 
 
Issues Specific to Quadruple Homicide and Other Birchwood Crimes 
 
7. Did faulty jury instructions on all four K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4) sex-crime-based 
capital murders and a multiplicity problem on three of four K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(6) 
multiple-death capital murders combine to require reversal of three of J. Carr's death-
eligible convictions? The court unanimously answers this question yes for reasons 
explained in Section 9 of the R. Carr opinion.  
26 
 
 
 
 
8. Was a special unanimity instruction required for Counts 1, 3, 5, and 7 because 
of multiple sex crimes underlying each count? The court declines to reach the merits of 
this issue for reasons explained in Section 10 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
9. Must sex crime convictions underlying capital murder Counts 1, 3, 5, and 7 be 
reversed because they were lesser included offenses of capital murder under K.S.A. 21-
3439 (a)(4)? The court declines to reach the merits of this issue for reasons explained in 
Section 11 of the R. Carr opinion. 
 
10. Was the State's evidence of aggravated burglary sufficient? The court 
unanimously answers this question yes for reasons explained in Section 12 of the R. Carr 
opinion.  
 
11. Did the State fail to correctly charge and the district judge fail to correctly 
instruct on coerced victim-on-victim rape and attempted rape, as those crimes are defined 
by Kansas statutes, rendering J. Carr's convictions on those offenses void for lack of 
subject matter jurisdiction? The court unanimously answers this question yes for reasons 
explained in Section 13 of the R. Carr opinion. 
 
12. Was the State's evidence of J. Carr's guilt as a principal on Count 41 for Holly 
G.'s digital self-penetration sufficient? A majority of four of the court's members answers 
this question yes for reasons explained in Section 14 of the R. Carr opinion, while three 
members of the court dissent, and one of them writes separately for the two of them on 
this issue and its reversibility.  
 
27 
 
 
 
13. Were Count 41 and Count 42 multiplicitous? The court unanimously answers 
this question yes and reverses J. Carr's conviction as a principal on Count 42 for reasons 
explained in Section 15 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
14. Was evidence of results from mitochondrial DNA testing of hairs found at the 
Birchwood home erroneously admitted? The court unanimously answers this question no 
for reasons explained in Section 19 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
15. Did the district judge err by failing to instruct on felony murder as a lesser 
included crime of capital murder? The court unanimously answers this question no for 
reasons explained in Section 21 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
 
Other Evidentiary Issues  
 
16. Did the district judge err by automatically excluding eyewitness identification 
expert testimony proffered by the defense? The court unanimously answers this question 
yes for reasons explained in Section 22 of the R. Carr opinion, but the court also 
unanimously agrees that any error on this issue was not reversible standing alone.  
 
17. Did the district judge err by permitting a jury view of locations referenced in 
evidence, in violation of the defendants' right to be present, right to assistance of counsel, 
and right to a public trial? The court unanimously answers this question no for reasons 
explained in Section 23 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
 
Other Instructional Issues 
 
18. Did the district judge err by failing to include language in the instruction on 
reliability of eyewitness identifications to ensure that jurors considered possible 
28 
 
 
 
infirmities in cross-racial identifications? The court unanimously answers this question 
no for reasons explained in Section 24 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
19. Was the instruction on aiding and abetting erroneous because (a) it permitted 
jurors to convict the defendants as aiders and abettors for reasonably foreseeable crimes 
of the other, regardless of whether the State proved the aider and abettor's premeditation, 
(b) it failed to communicate that the defendant aider and abettor had to possess the 
premeditated intent to kill in order to be convicted of capital murder, or (c) it omitted 
language from K.S.A. 21-3205(2)? The court unanimously answers the first question yes 
for reasons explained in Section 25 of the R. Carr opinion. The court unanimously 
answers the second question no for reasons explained in Section 25 of the R. Carr 
opinion. The court unanimously answers the third question no for reasons explained in 
Section 25 of the R. Carr opinion. The court unanimously agrees that the error on the first 
question was not reversible standing alone for reasons explained in Section 25 of the R. 
Carr opinion. 
 
 
Prosecutorial Misconduct 
 
20. Did one of the prosecutors commit reversible misconduct by telling jurors to 
place themselves in the position of the victims? The court unanimously answers this 
question no for reasons explained in Section 26 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
 
Cumulative Error 
 
21. Did cumulative error deny J. Carr a fair trial on his guilt? A majority of four of 
the court's members answers this question no for reasons explained in Section 27 of the 
R. Carr opinion, while three members of the court dissent, and one of them writes 
separately for them on this issue.  
29 
 
 
 
 
Issues Not Disposed of by Opinion in R. Carr Appeal 
 
J1. Did the district judge err by refusing to grant a mistrial when the opening 
statement by R. Carr's counsel implicated J. Carr and another unknown man as the 
perpetrators of the Birchwood crimes? A majority of four of the court's members answers 
this question no. Three members of the court would hold this to be error and include it 
among those considered under the cumulative error doctrine. 
 
J2. Did admission of Walenta's statements violate J. Carr's confrontation rights 
under Section 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights? The court declines to reach 
the merits of the Section 10 argument. 
 
J3. Did J. Carr's conviction on the Walenta felony murder depend upon 
impermissible inference stacking, meaning the State's evidence was insufficient? A 
majority of six members of the court answers this question no. One member of the court 
dissents and writes separately on this issue and its reversibility, standing alone. 
 
J4. Was the State's evidence of J. Carr's guilt as an aider and abettor of R. Carr's 
rape and aggravated criminal sodomy of Holly G. sufficient? The court unanimously 
answers this question yes. 
 
J1. REFUSAL TO GRANT MISTRIAL AFTER OPENING STATEMENTS 
 
This court rules today in the R. Carr appeal that District Judge Paul Clark erred by 
refusing to sever the defendants' guilt phase trials but that the error does not require 
reversal standing alone. See State v. Carr, 299 Kan. at ___ (slip op. at 125). These 
holdings apply equally to this appeal on behalf of J. Carr.  
30 
 
 
 
 
J. Carr has argued additional reasons peculiar to him why severance was 
required—that a joint trial limited his ability to introduce certain hearsay testimony 
through Tronda Adams, that it allowed R. Carr to act as a second prosecutor by 
introducing testimony from Stephanie Donley and a statement from Holly G. that were 
inculpatory of J. Carr, and that it permitted the jury to observe and be prejudiced by R. 
Carr's improper courtroom behavior. But these reasons, if meritorious, would only add 
weight to our holding that the failure to sever was error. They would not persuade us that 
reversal of all of J. Carr's convictions is required as a result of that error.  
 
We mention the severance issue in this context because it is distinct from but 
related to the unique challenge J. Carr makes on this appeal to Judge Clark's refusal to 
grant him a mistrial after opening statements. 
 
R. Carr's counsel told the jury during opening statement that his client merely 
stored property stolen from the Birchwood victims for J. Carr and another unknown, 
uncharged third man, suggesting that J. Carr and the third man were responsible for all of 
the charged Birchwood crimes. These remarks prompted an objection from counsel for J. 
Carr on the grounds that they were argumentative and unsupported by the  evidence. 
Judge Clark overruled the objection. 
 
This ruling by Judge Clark was correct. Counsel for R. Carr began his explanation 
of what happened on the night of December 14 and 15, 2000, with the phrase "the 
evidence will show." That phrase signals the purpose of opening statement; it provides an 
opportunity for counsel to outline a version of events that he or she expects the evidence 
to prove to the jury. State v. Kleypas, 272 Kan. 894, Syl. ¶ 23, 40 P.3d 139 (2001) 
(purpose of opening statement to assist jury in understanding expected evidence; 
attorneys given reasonable latitude to state facts expected to be proved). In addition, the 
31 
 
 
 
objection by J. Carr's counsel that the opening statement was unsupported by evidence 
was virtually impossible to sustain at that stage of the case, when all evidence was yet to 
be admitted.  
 
R. Carr's counsel continued to discuss the involvement of J. Carr and the third 
unknown man in the Birchwood crimes, finally observing that "the Birchwood address is 
replete with Jonathan Carr's DNA . . . . Ultimately, the DNA evidence will show that 
Jonathan Carr, not Reginald Carr, Jonathan Carr committed most, if not all of the crimes 
which are alleged in the complaint and that he did it with a third black male who still 
walks the streets of Wichita."  
 
At this point the State objected, and Judge Clark sustained the objection, saying, 
"It's an improper comment."  
 
During that day's lunch break, outside the presence of the jury, the State argued 
that the opening statement by counsel for R. Carr had violated rulings on motions in 
limine and that he should be sanctioned for misconduct. The prosecutor also asked the 
judge to instruct the jury to disregard the statement. J. Carr moved for a mistrial. The 
grounds his counsel advanced in support of the motion, although abbreviated, were 
exactly the same as those advanced in support of J. Carr's multiple motions for severance:  
The defenses of J. Carr and R. Carr were mutually and irreconcilably antagonistic. 
 
When examining an appellate claim arising out of denial of a mistrial, we review 
the district judge's decision for an abuse of discretion. State v. Waller, No. 106,102, 299 
Kan. __, __ P. 3d __ (filed June 6, 2014). "'[T]he party alleging the abuse bears the 
burden of proving that his or her substantial rights to a fair trial were prejudiced.' State v. 
Angelo, 287 Kan. 262, 283, Syl. ¶ 16, 197 P.3d 337 (2008) (citing State v. White, 284 
Kan. 333, 161 P.3d 208 [2007])." State v. Leaper, 291 Kan. 89, 96-97, 238 P.3d 266 
32 
 
 
 
(2010). We first ask whether the district judge abused his or her discretion when deciding 
whether there was a fundamental failure in the proceedings. If so, we then examine 
whether the district judge abused his or her discretion when deciding whether the 
problematic conduct resulted in prejudice that could not be cured or mitigated through 
jury admonition or instruction, resulting in an injustice. State v. Harris, 293 Kan. 798, 
814-15, 269 P.3d 820 (2012). 
 
Having already held that defense motions for severance of the guilt phase should 
have been granted, we also hold that Judge Clark abused his discretion by failing to 
recognize a fundamental failure in the proceedings when R. Carr's counsel made his 
remarks during opening statement. Those remarks made the irreconcilable antagonism of 
the codefendants' cases inescapably clear. However, also in line with the majority view 
on severance, we further hold that there was no abuse of discretion in refusing to grant a 
mistrial to cure that failure. 
At the time R. Carr's counsel wrapped up his opening statement, the jury was 
immediately told that his remarks were "improper." No evidence to support the third-
party theory of the case was ever introduced. And, ultimately, the jury received the usual 
instruction that statements of counsel are not evidence. Under these circumstances, we do 
not discern enough additional damage to J. Carr's case attributable to the opening 
statement by R. Carr's counsel—i.e., any damage beyond that J. Carr's case already was 
bound to suffer because of the denial of severance—to persuade us that all of his 
convictions must be reversed.  
 
33 
 
 
 
J2. CONFRONTATION RIGHTS UNDER SECTION 10 
OF KANSAS CONSTITUTION BILL OF RIGHTS 
 
Like R. Carr, J. Carr challenges the admission of Walenta's statements under the 
Sixth Amendment and the Confrontation Clause. We have fully discussed those 
arguments in Section 6 of the R. Carr opinion and need not revisit them here. J. Carr also 
invoked Section 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights in support of his position on 
this issue, and it is that invocation that prompts us to make a brief response in this 
opinion.  
 
We have not previously differentiated the rights of a defendant protected by the 
Sixth Amendment and those protected by Section 10. See State v. Brown, 285 Kan. 261, 
282, 173 P.3d 612 (2007). And we need not do so here. We leave the merits of any 
argument under Section 10 to the next case.  
 
J3. SUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE ON WALENTA FELONY MURDER 
 
J. Carr challenges the evidence supporting his conviction of Walenta's felony 
murder as insufficient, arguing that impermissible inference stacking was required in 
order for the jury to convict.  
 
Additional Factual and Procedural Background 
 
Count 51 in the amended complaint charged both defendants with first-degree 
felony murder of Walenta while committing or attempting to commit the inherently 
dangerous felony of aggravated robbery.  
 
34 
 
 
 
Summarized for ease of reference, the evidence showed Walenta was approached 
by a black male shortly after she pulled into her driveway about 9:40 p.m. on the evening 
of December 11, 2000. Walenta saw the man get out of a light-colored four-door car that 
had followed her and then parked near her house. The man indicated in some way that he 
needed assistance, and Walenta rolled down her driver's-side window a few inches to talk 
to him. As soon as she did so, the man stuck a black handgun into the car, holding it palm 
down and pointing it at her head. When she attempted to put her Yukon in reverse to get 
away, the man shot her three times. He then ran away and the light-colored car pulled 
away. Walenta said she was not sure whether the gunman had been left behind by 
whoever was driving the light-colored car.  
 
Later on the evening of December 11, about 11:15, J. Carr showed up at Adams' 
house. Adams testified in pertinent part:   
 
"Q. Do you remember what he was driving?  
 
"A. I think he was dropped off that night and his brother came back to pick him up.  
 
"Q. And so you are not sure of the vehicle?  
 
"A. The Camry, it would have been the [light-colored four-door] Camry.  
 
"Q. Okay. So when his brother returned, did you see him to the door?  
 
"A. No, I don't think so.  
 
"Q. Do you recall whether you saw the Camry the early morning hours of the 12th?  
 
"A. No, I don't, no."  
 
35 
 
 
 
Adams also testified that J. Carr had a black handgun with him on the same night, which 
he left with her. Late the next day he asked her to return the gun to him, scolded her for 
touching it too much, and then proceeded to clean it and every bullet in it thoroughly. 
Adams identified the black Lorcin at trial as the gun J. Carr had with him on the night of 
December 11, 2000.  
 
A few days later, after J. Carr and R. Carr had been arrested in the wake of the 
Birchwood crimes, Walenta picked two pictures out of a photo array as representative of 
the general appearance of the man who had shot her. One of those pictures was of R. 
Carr. She also said that the eyes of the man in the photo of R. Carr represented what she 
remembered of the gunman's eyes. She did not see anyone else at the scene of the 
shooting and was not able to pick any photo from an array containing a photo of J. Carr. 
 
Ballistics expert testimony established that the black handgun used in the shooting 
of Walenta was the same black Lorcin .380 used to shoot out Schreiber's tire and to 
murder the four friends from the Birchwood home. 
 
J. Carr was acquitted on the four charges arising out of the Schreiber incident and 
convicted on all charges against him arising out of the Walenta and Birchwood incidents.  
 
Evidence Sufficiency 
 
Our standard of review on sufficiency claims is often stated and familiar: 
 
 
"When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged in a criminal case, the 
standard of review is whether, after review of all the evidence, examined in the light most 
favorable to the prosecution, the appellate court is convinced a rational factfinder could 
have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. [Citations omitted.] While 
the State must sustain its burden of proof on each element of an offense charged, 
36 
 
 
 
circumstantial evidence and the logical inferences therefrom are sufficient to support a 
conviction of even the most serious crime. [Citations omitted.] If an appellate court holds 
that evidence to support a conviction is insufficient as a matter of law, the conviction 
must be reversed; and no retrial on the same crime is possible. See Burks v. United States, 
437 U.S. 1, 11, 98 S. Ct. 2141, 57 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1978) (double jeopardy precludes second 
trial once appellate court reverses for insufficient evidence); State v. Houck, 240 Kan. 
130, 135-36, 727 P.2d 460 (1986) (conviction reversed without remand, where evidence 
did not support conviction of offense charged)." State v. Scott, 285 Kan. 366, 372, 171 
P.3d 639 (2007). 
 
In addition, appellate courts do not reweigh evidence, resolve evidentiary conflicts, or 
make witness credibility determinations. State v. McCaslin, 291 Kan. 697, 710, 245 P.3d 
1030 (2011). 
 
We do not agree with J. Carr that his conviction of Walenta's felony murder 
required inference to be stacked upon inference. 
 
Walenta saw the gunman emerge from the passenger seat of the light-colored car, 
and she saw the car pull away from its parking place immediately after the shooting. A 
juror need only make one inference from these facts to arrive at a finding that there was 
another person driving the car that followed her. Adams testified that J. Carr was with his 
brother on the night of the crime. Adams' testimony on whether she ever saw J. Carr in 
the company of R. Carr on the night of December 11 is ambiguous; she may have seen 
them together, but she may not have. Regardless, she had many ways of knowing they 
had been together. Her testimony on that point was not ambiguous or unclear, and it 
placed J. Carr with R. Carr not long after Walenta was shot. This testimony did not 
require the jury to draw an inference at all. Adams' testimony on the car J. Carr and R. 
Carr would have been using was equally clear. The phrasing of the questions put to her 
gave her every opportunity to say that she was unsure; she did not. This testimony, again, 
37 
 
 
 
did not require any inference to be stacked on any other inference. Finally, J. Carr's 
possession of the black gun later identified as the Walenta murder weapon also was clear. 
He had it in his possession on December 11, 90 minutes after Walenta's shooting; he gave 
it to Adams; he took it back from her on December 12; he was unhappy that she had been 
handling it, and he cleaned it and the bullets it held—remarkably thoroughly. These were 
direct observations of Adams. No inference of any kind was required. 
 
What was required was the jury's willingness to be persuaded of J. Carr's guilt on 
circumstantial evidence. This is expressly allowed under Kansas law. See State v. 
Lowrance, 298 Kan. 274, Syl. ¶15, 312 P.3d 328 (2013) (even most serious of crimes 
may be proved by circumstantial evidence). Circumstantial proof is still proof. It is not 
equivalent to impermissible inference-stacking. It can rise to the level of beyond a 
reasonable doubt. 
 
Particularly when we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the 
prosecution, we conclude the evidence in this case was sufficient to convict J. Carr of 
Walenta's murder. This conclusion is reinforced by our recent decision in State v. 
McBroom, 299 Kan. __, ___, 325 P.3d 1174 (2014), in which we held that evidence of 
the defendant's participation in a string of burglaries with a friend could be relied upon by 
a jury to find he also participated in a burglary/homicide that was apparently committed 
by more than one person in the same general area and time frame. In this case, the 
evidence against J. Carr on the Birchwood incident would naturally have reinforced the 
evidence on the Walenta incident.  
 
J4. ACCOMPLICE CULPABILITY FOR CODEFENDANT'S SEX CRIMES 
 
J. Carr also challenges his conviction as an aider and abettor of R. Carr's rape and 
aggravated criminal sodomy of Holly G.  
38 
 
 
 
 
We fully discussed the mirror image of this challenge in our opinion on the R. 
Carr appeal, in Section 16. There we ruled that R. Carr could be found guilty as an aider 
and abettor of J. Carr's sex crimes against Holly G. and Heather M., even though R. Carr 
was out of the Birchwood home on a trip with a victim to one or more ATMs or in 
another room when the crimes occurred. The all-night joint enterprise of the Birchwood 
intruders was plainly and repeatedly demonstrated by the State's evidence, particularly 
Holly G.'s lengthy and detailed testimony. Under the standard of review recited in the 
previous section of this opinion, we have no hesitation in holding that the evidence J. 
Carr aided and abetted R. Carr's rape and aggravated criminal sodomy of Holly G. was 
sufficient. See State v. Pratt, 255 Kan. 767, 773, 876 P.2d 1390 (1994) (aider and abettor 
need not be physically present when crime committed; sufficient evidence to support 
defendant's attempted rape conviction).  
 
CONCLUSION FOR GUILT PHASE 
 
For the reasons set forth above and in the opinion filed today in R. Carr's appeal, 
State v. Carr, 299 Kan. ___, ___, ___ P.3d ___ (2014), we affirm J. Carr's capital murder 
conviction under Count 2. We reverse his three remaining capital murder convictions 
based on the alternative theories under K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4) and (a)(6).  
 
We affirm J. Carr's convictions on Counts 9 through 24. Because four pairs of 
these counts were charged in the alternative, this results in affirmance of 12 rather than 
16 convictions.  
 
The convictions based on Counts 25, 26, and 29 through 40 are void for lack of 
subject matter jurisdiction. We affirm the convictions based on Counts 27 and 28. We 
39 
 
 
 
affirm J. Carr's conviction on Count 41. We reverse his conviction on Count 42 because it 
is multiplicitous with Count 41. 
 
We affirm J. Carr's convictions on Counts 43 through 55.   
 
PENALTY PHASE 
 
The general factual and procedural background for the penalty phase issues in this 
case is set out in full in the R. Carr opinion. We need not repeat it or supplement it here. 
In addition, nearly all penalty phase legal issues raised by J. Carr are discussed as needed 
and disposed of in the R. Carr opinion. We therefore merely list them with accompanying 
short responses.  
 
P1. Did the district judge err in refusing to sever the penalty phase of defendants' 
trial? A majority of six members of the court answers this question yes for reasons 
explained in Section P1 of the R. Carr opinion and because of the family circumstances 
argument raised by J. Carr. The majority also relies on the prejudice to J. Carr flowing 
from R. Carr's visible handcuffs during the penalty phase. One member of the court 
dissents and writes separately on this issue. A majority of six members of the court agrees 
that this error requires J. Carr's remaining death sentence to be vacated, consistent with 
Section P1 of the R. Carr opinion. One member of the court dissents and writes 
separately on this issue. 
 
P2. Despite compliance with K.S.A. 21-4624(a), was it constitutional error to omit 
the four aggravating circumstances asserted by the State from the complaint? To provide 
guidance on remand, the court unanimously answers this question no for reasons 
explained in Section P2 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
40 
 
 
 
P3. Did the four aggravating circumstances asserted by the State adequately 
channel the jury's discretion in arriving at the sentence of death? To provide guidance on 
remand, the court unanimously answers this question yes for reasons explained in Section 
P3 of the R. Carr opinion. 
 
P4. Does the unavailability of a transcript of the jury view deprive J. Carr of a 
meaningful opportunity for appellate review of his death sentence? To provide guidance 
on remand, the court unanimously answers this question no for reasons explained in 
Section P4 of the R. Carr opinion.  
 
P5. Does K.S.A. 21-4624(c)'s allowance of testimonial hearsay (a) offend the 
heightened reliability standard applicable in death penalty cases, or (b) violate the 
Confrontation Clause of the United State Constitution and Crawford v. Washington, 541 
U.S. 36, 56, 124 S. Ct. 1354, 158 L. Ed. 2d 177 (2004)? To provide guidance on remand, 
the court unanimously answers the first question no for reasons explained in Section P5 
of the R. Carr opinion. To provide further guidance on remand, the Court unanimously 
answers the second question yes for reasons explained in Section P5 of the R. Carr 
opinion. 
 
P6. Did the district judge err in excluding mitigating evidence of (a) likelihood of 
parole, or (b) the anticipated impact of J. Carr's execution? To provide guidance on 
remand, the court unanimously answers the first question no for reasons explained in 
Section P6 of the R. Carr opinion. To provide further guidance on remand, in Section P6 
of the R. Carr opinion, the court discusses the standard that should govern consideration 
if the second question arises again.  
 
P7. Did the district judge err by permitting the State's rebuttal witness to testify 
that he had consulted other experts and that they agreed with his opinion? To provide 
41 
 
 
 
guidance on remand, in Section P7 of the R. Carr opinion, the court discusses the 
standard that should govern consideration if this question arises again. 
 
P8. Did the district judge err in denying an opportunity for surrebuttal testimony? 
For reasons explained in Section P8 of the R. Carr opinion, the court unanimously agrees 
that the district judge abused his discretion. The court declines to reach the issue of 
harmlessness because of the necessity of remand. 
 
P9. Must J. Carr's sentencing on his noncapital convictions have occurred before 
the penalty phase of his trial, and, if so, should the jury have been informed of the 
sentences he would serve if he were not sentenced to death? For reasons explained in 
Section P9 of the R. Carr opinion, the court declines to reach the merits of the first part of 
this question because it is moot and, to provide guidance on remand, unanimously 
answers the second part of the question no.  
 
P10. Did the district judge err in failing to instruct the jury that the existence of 
mitigating factors need not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt? To provide guidance 
on remand, for reasons explained in Section P10 of the R. Carr opinion, a majority of five 
members of the court answers this question yes. Two members of the court dissent, and 
one of them writes separately for the two on this issue.  
 
P11. Did the district judge err by failing to instruct jurors that "the crime" to be 
considered when evaluating aggravating circumstances was capital murder? In Section 
P11 of the R. Carr opinion, we discuss this issue to provide guidance on remand.  
 
P12. Was the jury instruction on the role of mercy clearly erroneous? To provide 
guidance on remand, for reasons explained in Section P12 of the R. Carr opinion, the 
court unanimously answers this question no.  
42 
 
 
 
 
P13. Did the wording of Instruction 10, when read with the verdict forms, misstate 
the law on the need for jury unanimity on mitigating factors not outweighing aggravating 
factors? To provide guidance on remand, for reasons explained in Section P13 of the R. 
Carr opinion, the court unanimously answers this question yes.  
 
P14. Must J. Carr's death sentence be vacated because a fact necessary to 
imposition of the penalty—his age of 18 or older at the time of the capital crimes—was 
not submitted to the jury or found beyond a reasonable doubt? For reasons explained in 
Section P14 of the R. Carr opinion, the court declines to reach the merits of this issue 
because the situation that prompted it is unlikely to arise again on remand.  
 
P15. Does K.S.A. 21-3205 authorize punishing an aider and abettor the same as a 
principal? In Section P16 of the R. Carr opinion, the court declines to reach the merits of 
this issue because the record on appeal does not demonstrate that R. Carr was convicted 
of capital murder as an aider and abettor. This is also true of J. Carr, and no further 
discussion of the issue is warranted in this opinion. 
 
P16. Is the death penalty an unconstitutionally disproportionate punishment as 
applied to aiders and abettors of capital murder under Section 9 of the Kansas 
Constitution Bill of Rights? In Section P17 of the R. Carr opinion, the court declines to 
reach the merits of this issue because the record on appeal does not demonstrate that R. 
Carr was convicted of capital murder as an aider and abettor. This is also true of J. Carr, 
and no further discussion of the issue is warranted in this opinion. 
 
P17. Was the penalty phase infected by prosecutorial misconduct? J. Carr argues 
that one prosecutor's multiple references to his unadjudicated criminal conduct and his 
jailhouse bragging about shooting the Birchwood victims and the crude reason for raping 
43 
 
 
 
one of the female victims were misconduct. Even though one such reference during 
closing argument was the subject of a successful objection and an order for the jury to 
disregard it, J. Carr argues the damage was incurable. Defense counsel's earlier objection 
suggesting that the prosecutor could not refer to such material without being able to 
"prove it up" had been overruled. This objection probably should have been sustained by 
Judge Clark. See State v. McCaslin, 291 Kan. 697, Syl. ¶ 12, 245 P.3d 1030 (2011) 
(prosecutor, once challenged, must demonstrate good faith basis for facts underlying 
questions, argument). For reasons explained in Section P18 of the R. Carr opinion, the 
court declines to reach the further merits of this issue because the situations that 
prompted it are unlikely to arise again on remand. 
 
P18. Do verdict forms such as those used in this case pose a threat of double 
jeopardy? For reasons explained in Section P19 of the R. Carr opinion, the court declines 
to reach the merits of this issue because it is unripe. 
 
P19. Does Kansas' execution protocol protect against unnecessary pain? For 
reasons explained in Section P20 of the R. Carr opinion, the court declines to reach the 
merits of this issue because it is unripe.  
 
CONCLUSION FOR PENALTY PHASE 
 
Because the district judge's failure to sever the penalty phase of defendants' trial 
violated J. Carr's Eighth Amendment right to an individualized sentencing determination 
and cannot be deemed harmless error, the death sentence for J. Carr's remaining K.S.A. 
21-3439(a)(6) conviction for the murders of Heather M., Aaron S., Brad H., and Jason B. 
is vacated. The case is remanded to the district court for further proceedings consistent 
with this opinion.   
 
44 
 
 
 
* * * 
 
BEIER, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part:  I respectfully dissent from two 
of the majority's rulings on the guilt phase of Jonathan Carr's trial:  cumulative error and 
sufficiency of evidence on Count 41. 
 
As discussed in my separate opinion in Reginald Carr's appeal, State v. Carr, 299 
Kan. __, ___ P.3d ___ (No. 90,044, this day decided) (Beier, J., concurring in part and 
dissenting in part), two of the district judge's errors—failure to sever the guilt phase of 
the defendants' trial and rejection of the reverse Batson peremptory challenge—may have 
been reversible standing alone. Even if the court is unwilling to go that far today, when 
these two errors are considered with the six other J. Carr errors upon which the court 
unanimously agrees—erroneous instructions on the sex-crime based capital murders, 
multiplicity of the multiple-homicide based capital murders, lack of subject matter 
jurisdiction for the victim-on-victim sex charges, automatic exclusion of expert testimony 
on the reliability of eyewitness identifications, erroneous instruction on eyewitness 
certainty, and erroneous instruction on aiding and abetting—and Judge Paul Clark's 
refusal to grant J. Carr's motion for mistrial after opening statements, reversal of all of J. 
Carr's convictions under the cumulative error doctrine is unavoidable. Despite weighty 
evidence, there was simply too much pervasive and interrelated error in the guilt phase of 
J. Carr's trial for me to be confident in the outcome.  
 
I also would hold, for the reasons stated in my separate opinion in the R. Carr 
appeal, that the evidence supporting Holly G.'s digital self-rape under Count 41 was 
insufficient to convict J. Carr as a principal. This would mean that Count 42 can stand, 
rather than being reversed as multiplicitous. 
 
LUCKERT, and JOHNSON, JJ., join the foregoing concurring and dissenting opinion.    
45 
 
 
 
 
* * * 
 
JOHNSON, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part:  I join the separate opinion 
authored by Justice Beier, but I write separately because I believe that the district court 
erred in refusing to change the venue of the trial and that this defendant's felony murder 
conviction should be reversed for want of sufficient evidence. 
 
The district court ignored statistically valid evidence that prejudice against the 
defendant was pervasive throughout Sedgwick County to the extent that one could not 
expect to find an unbiased jury pool in that community. My rationale in this case is the 
same as set forth in my separate opinion in codefendant Reginald Carr's opinion, which I 
adopt here by reference. See State v. Carr, 299 Kan. ___, ___, ___ P.3d ___ (2014) (No. 
90,044, this day decided) (Johnson, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). 
 
Specific to this case, however, I cannot find in the record sufficient competent 
evidence from which a rational jury could have found J. Carr guilty beyond a reasonable 
doubt of the felony murder of Linda Ann Walenta. Instead of basing its prosecution upon 
proven facts and the relevant inferences that could reasonably be drawn from those 
proven facts, the State relied on speculation as to what might have happened. Cf. State v. 
Spear, 297 Kan. 780, 791, 304 P.3d 1246 (2013) (quoting United States v. Spirk, 503 
F.3d 619, 623 [7th Cir. 2007]) (acknowledging that "many courts have observed that '[a] 
guess is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt'"). 
 
As with the change of venue issue, the sufficiency of the evidence issue involves 
the defendant's constitutionally guaranteed individual rights. The Due Process Clause of 
the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires the State to prove, 
beyond a reasonable doubt, each and every element necessary to constitute the crime 
46 
 
 
 
charged. State v. Gould, 271 Kan. 394, 411, 23 P.3d 801 (2001). While that right 
emanates from the "people's document," the constitution, its enforcement will not always 
be publicly applauded. Nevertheless, it is incumbent upon this court to make the State 
comply with its constitutional burden of proof, without regard to the popularity of the 
result.  
 
As the majority notes, the defense complains of impermissible "inference-
stacking." Slip op. at 33. This court has previously tried to explain that prohibition by 
stating that "inferences may be drawn only from facts established," that is, inferences 
may not rest upon another inference. State v. Williams, 229 Kan. 646, 649, 630 P.2d 694 
(1981). But here, the majority appears to focus on its notion of the difference between 
direct evidence and circumstantial evidence, which leads it to recite the familiar mantra 
that even the most serious crime may be proved by circumstantial evidence. Then, the 
majority declares that circumstantial proof is not the same as impermissible inference-
stacking. Slip op. at 37. 
 
Certainly, I cannot quibble with the notion that just because the State's case is 
based on circumstantial evidence does not mean that the State is relying on impermissible 
inference-stacking. But that statement does not answer the question presented here. We 
are looking at the quality of the evidence, rather than the type of evidence. To support a 
conviction, the evidence must be competent evidence, even if it is circumstantial in 
nature. In Williams, 229 Kan. at 648, we noted that "[c]onvictions based upon 
circumstantial evidence . . . can present a special challenge to the appellate court" when 
reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence because we only permit juries "to draw 
justifiable inferences from proven circumstances and established facts." Williams set 
forth an alternative explanation of the prohibited practice of inference-stacking by 
specifically placing it in the context of circumstantial evidence:  "'[W]here reliance is 
placed upon circumstantial evidence, the circumstances in question must themselves be 
47 
 
 
 
proved and cannot be inferred or presumed from other circumstances.'" 229 Kan. at 649 
(quoting 1 Wharton's Criminal Evidence § 91, pp. 150-51 [13th ed. 1972]). Here, to get 
to the circumstances that would support a reasonable inference that the defendant 
committed the crime of felony murder, one has to make presumptions and inferences 
from other circumstances.  
 
When reviewing whether the record contains substantial competent evidence, I 
find it helpful to first review what elements or claims the State was required to prove in 
order to obtain a constitutional conviction on the charged crime. As noted, the charged 
crime was felony murder, the definition of which is located in the first-degree murder 
statute and requires "the killing of a human being committed . . . in the commission of, 
attempt to commit, or flight from an inherently dangerous felony as defined in K.S.A. 21-
3436 and amendments thereto." K.S.A. 21-3401(b). In this case, the State alleged that the 
underlying felony was an attempt to commit aggravated robbery upon Walenta. "Robbery 
is the taking of property from the person or presence of another by force or by threat of 
bodily harm." K.S.A. 21-3426. That crime is an aggravated robbery if the robber is armed 
with a dangerous weapon or inflicts bodily harm upon a person during the robbery. "An 
attempt is any overt act toward the perpetration of a crime done by a person who intends 
to commit such crime but fails in the perpetration thereof or is prevented or intercepted in 
executing such crime." K.S.A. 21-3301(a).  
 
But the State did not allege that J. Carr killed Walenta or that he attempted to rob 
her. Rather, the State's felony-murder prosecution of J. Carr was based on the theory that 
he aided and abetted his brother, R. Carr, who was the person that killed Walenta while 
attempting to rob her. K.S.A. 21-3205(1) provides that "[a] person is criminally 
responsible for a crime committed by another if such person intentionally aids, abets, 
advises, hires, counsels or procures the other to commit the crime." (Emphasis added.) To 
be criminally responsible, a defendant must aid and abet the principal either before or 
48 
 
 
 
during the commission of the crime and, most importantly, the aider and abettor must 
possess the intent to promote or assist in the commission of the charged crime. PIK Crim. 
3d 54.05. Mere association with the principal who actually committed the crime or mere 
presence in the vicinity of the crime is insufficient to establish guilt as an aider and 
abettor. State v. Green, 237 Kan. 146, 149, 697 P.2d 1305 (1985); see Comment, PIK 
Crim. 3d 54.05. In other words, one is not criminally responsible for accidentally aiding 
and abetting the commission of a crime; the defendant has to know that the principal is 
going to commit the charged crime and possess the same criminal intent as the principal 
in order to be convicted of that crime as an aider and abettor.  
 
With the foregoing in mind, the prosecutor's theory of prosecution in this case 
required the State to prove to the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that J. Carr intentionally 
drove R. Carr to the site of the crime, with the intent to promote or assist R. Carr in 
taking property from Walenta by force or by threat of bodily injury while armed with the 
handgun that J. Carr may or may not have provided, and that during the armed robbery 
attempt, R. Carr killed Walenta.  
 
The obvious first hurdle for the prosecution was that it had absolutely no proof 
that R. Carr was attempting an aggravated robbery when he shot Walenta, rather than 
attempting a kidnapping or even murder. If his brother was not attempting an aggravated 
robbery, then J. Carr could not have been criminally responsible for felony murder based 
on aiding and abetting a nonexistent underlying felony. Nevertheless, I will continue the 
analysis as if R. Carr was attempting an aggravated robbery. 
 
At this point, it might be helpful to briefly discuss the difference between 
circumstantial evidence and direct evidence. The dictionary definition of "direct 
evidence" is particularly germane here because it also places the term in the context of an 
inference or presumption, to-wit:  "Evidence that is based on personal knowledge or 
49 
 
 
 
observation and that, if true, proves a fact without inference or presumption." Black's 
Law Dictionary 675 (10th ed. 2014). Ironically, the majority provides an excellent 
example of the difference.  
 
After describing Walenta's personal observation that the gunman emerged from 
the passenger seat of a light-colored car which pulled away from its parking place 
immediately after the shooting, the majority declares that "[a] juror need only make one 
inference from these facts to arrive at a finding that there was another person driving the 
car that followed her." Slip op. at 36. Walenta's statement of what she personally knew 
from her own observation was direct evidence of the following facts:  The gunman exited 
from the passenger side of a vehicle; the vehicle was light-colored; and the vehicle pulled 
away from its parking place immediately after the shooting. One need draw no inference 
or make any presumption for those facts to be established. But the conclusion that 
someone other than the gunman was the driver of the vehicle is circumstantial evidence. 
It is only proved by inferring or presuming from Walenta's direct testimony that if the 
gunman was the only person in the vehicle, it could not have pulled away without the 
gunman being in the vehicle.  
 
But, of course, the direct evidence from Walenta does not establish the elements of 
felony murder against J. Carr. The only other persons who were in a position to 
personally observe the crime and have personal knowledge of any fact that would not 
require an inference or presumption for proof are the gunman and vehicle driver, alleged 
to be R. Carr and J. Carr. Neither brother testified or gave a statement admitting that J. 
Carr drove the car to assist R. Carr in an armed robbery. Even the permissible inference 
from direct evidence that the majority points out—that someone other than the shooter 
was driving the car—is insufficient to prove the elements of felony murder outlined 
above. To get to the elements of the crime, one will need more circumstantial evidence 
from which to draw reasonable inferences.   
50 
 
 
 
 
In my view, a circumstance that was absolutely essential for the prosecution to 
establish to permit a rational jury to convict J. Carr of felony murder based upon the 
State's theory of prosecution was that J. Carr was driving the light-colored car that 
Walenta observed. But that circumstantial evidence—that J. Carr was driving the light-
colored car—was not established with proven facts. There was no witness that identified 
J. Carr as the vehicle driver. No witness even saw the driver to be able to provide a 
description that could be matched against J. Carr.  
 
The only way to establish that J. Carr was driving the car used in the crime is to 
presume that circumstance based upon other circumstantial evidence. For instance, 
Tronda Adam's testimony placing J. Carr with R. Carr not long after Walenta was shot is 
not direct evidence that they were together during the shooting. Contrary to the majority's 
characterization, that testimony was circumstantial because Adams did not personally 
observe the brothers commit the crime together. To be relevant to J. Carr's prosecution 
for felony murder, the jury had to infer that, if the brothers were together after the 
shooting, they must have been together during the shooting. Then, from the circumstance 
that the brothers were together during the shooting, the jury would need to infer that J. 
Carr was driving the light-colored car at the scene of the crime. From the circumstance 
that J. Carr was driving the vehicle at the scene of the crime, the jury would have to infer 
that he was doing so in order to knowingly promote or assist his brother in the 
commission of a crime. And because the State said so, the jury would need to infer or 
presume that the intended crime was aggravated robbery, rather than some other crime 
such as kidnapping. If that is not inference-stacking, I must confess that the concept must 
be incomprehensible to me. 
 
Likewise, the testimony describing the vehicle the brothers were using the day of 
the shooting required further presumptions and inference-stacking by the jury, 
51 
 
 
 
notwithstanding the majority's emphatic denial that it did. Adams did not see the brothers 
in the car together at the scene of the Walenta killing. Therefore, her testimony did not 
prove a fact that was relevant to the felony-murder elements without a further inference 
or presumption, i.e., it was not direct evidence. Pointedly, no witness provided 
information, such as a license tag number, from which the owner of the light-colored car 
at the crime scene could be determined. No one even described the make and model of 
the car carrying the gunman. All the jury could do with Adams' testimony was to 
speculate that the light-colored car observed by Walenta was the same car that Adams 
saw the brothers in at other times and further infer that the brothers were still together in 
that car at the crime scene, and further presume that the unseen driver of the light-colored 
car at the scene of the crime was J. Carr, who presumably was knowingly assisting his 
brother in committing an aggravated robbery.  
 
Likewise, Adams' testimony about the gun does nothing to boost the State's case. 
Her "direct observations" about what transpired with the weapon at times other than the 
shooting, provides absolutely no insight into the elements of the felony-murder charge, 
unless the jury simply guesses that J. Carr must have given the weapon to R. Carr and 
then presume that, in doing so, J. Carr knew that R. Carr was planning to use the weapon 
to commit an aggravated robbery. 
 
Even if one eschews the term "inference-stacking," I cannot find that the jury had 
sufficient proven circumstances and established facts to justify an inference that J. Carr 
aided and abetted the felony murder of Walenta. Without sufficient competent evidence 
to support a constitutionally valid conviction, this court has no choice but to reverse the 
conviction.  
 
Before concluding, however, I want to briefly discuss my worst nightmare, i.e., 
that our inference-stacking, guilt-by-association, character-propensity-reasoning decision 
52 
 
 
 
in State v. McBroom, 299 Kan. ___, 325 P.3d 1174 (2014), would be applied beyond its 
facts as establishing precedent for upholding convictions based upon insufficient 
evidence. The majority cites to McBroom to support its declaration that "the evidence 
against J. Carr on the Birchwood incident would naturally have reinforced the evidence 
on the Walenta incident." Slip op. at 37. Why do I find that reasoning faulty? Let me 
count the ways. 
 
First, I would find that it would be quite unnatural for the jury to use the evidence 
on one charge to reinforce or influence its decision on another charge, because the trial 
judge specifically told the jurors not to do that. PIK Crim. 3d 68.07, which the judge 
followed in jury instruction No. 3, instructs a jury as follows: 
 
"Each crime charged against the defendant is a separate and distinct offense. You 
must decide each charge separately on the evidence and law applicable to it, uninfluenced 
by your decision as to any other charge. The defendant may be convicted or acquitted on 
any or all of the offenses charged. Your finding as to each crime charged must be stated 
in a verdict form signed by the Presiding Juror." 
 
Second, as noted above, mere association with a principal actor is insufficient to 
establish criminal responsibility as an aider and abettor, even if the defendant is also 
merely present at the crime scene. Accordingly, guilty-by-association at another crime 
scene cannot comport with the constitutional requirement for the State to prove each and 
every element of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt. 
 
Third, we at least pay lip service to the notion that juries should not be permitted 
to convict a defendant based upon character propensity reasoning. See Comment, Other 
Misconduct Evidence: Rethinking Kansas Statutes Annotated Section 60-455, 49 Kan. L. 
Rev. 145, 146 (2000).  
 
53 
 
 
 
"In the criminal context, the State cannot present evidence that a defendant committed a 
specific bad act on another occasion solely to establish a bad character propensity as 
proof that the defendant must have committed the currently charged crime, i.e., defendant 
did bad before, therefore defendant must have done bad now." State v. Coburn, 32 Kan. 
App. 2d 657, 671-72, 87 P.3d 348 (Johnson, J., concurring), rev. denied 278 Kan. 848 
(2004).  
 
That is precisely the reasoning the majority is using; J. Carr did bad at the Birchwood 
incident so he must have done bad at the Walenta incident. 
 
Fourth, "[u]nder our theory of criminal jurisprudence in this nation, the defendant 
is clothed with a presumption of innocence until he is proven to be guilty beyond a 
reasonable doubt by the State." Williams, 229 Kan. at 663-64. Allowing the State to use 
evidence of one crime to "reinforce" its proof of another crime denigrates the defendant's 
presumption of innocence. In other words, presuming that a defendant did the charged 
crime because there is evidence that he committed another crime sounds more like bad 
people are clothed with a presumption of guilt. 
 
Fifth, as I noted above, the State is constitutionally required by the Fourteenth 
Amendment to prove each and every element necessary to constitute the charged crime 
beyond a reasonable doubt. Allowing the State's proof of the charged crime to rely on its 
having proved another crime reduces its constitutional burden of proof and violates the 
defendant's right to due process. 
 
Finally, it is no answer to say that the jury has spoken and an appellate court 
should not interfere with that decision. To the contrary, our failure to interfere when 
presented with a constitutional violation is an abdication of our role in the justice system. 
The jury is a factfinder; it is not charged with the responsibility (or authority) to decide 
constitutional questions. Where the jury's factfinding exceeds constitutional boundaries, 
54 
 
 
 
such as where it convicts a defendant for the charged crime based upon evidence that the 
defendant committed another crime, this court must rectify the violation.  
 
In sum, the defendant's conviction for felony murder was unsupported by 
substantial competent evidence and should be reversed. 
 
* * * 
 
BILES, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part:  I agree Jonathan Carr's 
sentencing must be reversed and remanded for new proceedings because the district court 
failed to sever the cases following the convictions. I write separately to note my 
disagreement with the majority's dicta in which it adopts a section in Reginald Carr's 
opinion entitled "P10. Burden of Proof on Mitigating Factors." Slip op. at 378. The 
majority holds J. Carr's sentence was imposed in violation of the Eighth Amendment to 
the United States Constitution because the district court failed to explicitly instruct the 
jury that mitigating circumstances need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. I 
disagree. 
 
As noted in more detail in my dissent in State v. Gleason, No. 97,296, 299 Kan. 
___, ___ P.3d ___ (filed July 18, 2014) (slip op. at 100), the majority's conclusion defies 
the United States Supreme Court's established Eighth Amendment jurisprudence and 
lacks any persuasive analysis articulating why the circumstances in this case justify a 
departure from that precedent. The issue for Eighth Amendment purposes is "whether 
there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a 
way that prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence." Boyde v. 
California, 494 U.S. 370, 380, 110 S. Ct. 1190, 108 L. Ed. 2d 316 (1990). The majority's 
conclusion is that a per se violation of the Eighth Amendment occurs if a jury instruction 
correctly states that the State bears the burden of proving aggravating circumstances 
55 
 
 
 
beyond a reasonable doubt but fails to affirmatively state that mitigation evidence need 
not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. 
 
But this alone cannot justify reversal under controlling Eighth Amendment 
precedent. See Kansas v. Marsh, 548 U.S. 163, 173, 126 S. Ct. 2516, 165 L. Ed. 2d 429 
(2006); Walton v. Arizona, 497 U.S. 639, 651, 110 S. Ct. 3047, 111 L. Ed. 2d 511 (1990), 
overruled on other grounds by Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584, 122 S. Ct. 2428, 153 L. Ed. 
2d 556 (2002); see also Smith v. Spisak, 558 U.S. 139, 130 S. Ct. 676, 175 L. Ed. 2d 595 
(2010) (instructions and jury forms at penalty phase did not violate Eighth Amendment 
by requiring jury unanimity as to existence of mitigating factors; instructions and forms 
did not explicitly advise jury mitigating circumstances need not be unanimously found). 
The next step must be to decide in the absence of the instruction whether there is a 
reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a way that 
prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence. The majority is wrong 
when it cuts the analysis short and concludes the failure to simply instruct the jury on 
mitigation forces an automatic reversal. Slip op. at 378.  
 
The Eighth Amendment does not compel our directive in State v. Kleypas, 272 
Kan. 894, 1078, 40 P.3d 139 (2001), cert. denied 537 U.S. 834 (2002), that any 
mitigating circumstance instruction must inform the jury that mitigating circumstances 
need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. See Marsh, 548 U.S. at 173 (holding 
Walton compelled conclusion Kansas capital sentencing scheme satisfied Eighth 
Amendment requirements because Kansas scheme was functionally identical to scheme 
found constitutional in Walton, except it provided benefit to defendants by placing no 
evidentiary burden on them). A finding that J. Carr's jury instructions did not conform to 
the Kleypas requirement is not an adequate basis for concluding J. Carr's federal Eighth 
Amendment rights were violated and reversal is required. 
 
56 
 
 
 
I dissent from that portion of the opinion.  
 
MORITZ, J., joins the dissenting portion of the foregoing concurring and dissenting 
opinion.   
 
* * * 
 
MORITZ, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part:  I write separately for several 
reasons, all of which are fully explained in the Reginald Carr appeal, State v. Carr, 299 
Kan. ___, ___ P.3d ___ (No. 90,044, this day decided). Rather than repeat that full 
explanation here, I will simply summarize those points on which I concur with and 
dissent from the majority opinion.  
 
First, I concur because while I agree with the majority's decision to affirm 
Jonathan Carr's convictions, including one capital murder conviction, I disagree with the 
majority's conclusion that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to sever the 
defendants' guilt phase trial. Even considering the joinder as error, however, I believe the 
majority properly finds any errors in the conviction phase harmless and Jonathan Carr's 
cumulative error argument unpersuasive. Therefore, I concur with the majority opinion 
affirming Jonathan Carr's convictions, including one capital murder conviction.  
 
Second, and more significantly, I dissent from the majority's decision to reverse 
and remand Jonathan Carr's death sentence. I would find the district court did not err in 
refusing to sever the defendants' penalty phase trial. But even considering a joinder error 
in the penalty phase, I would affirm the jury's imposition of the death penalty for 
Jonathan Carr. As more fully detailed in my concurring and dissenting opinion in 
Reginald Carr's appeal, 299 Kan. at ___, (slip op. at 410) (Moritz, J., concurring in part 
and dissenting in part), I am convinced the mitigating evidence simply pales in 
57 
 
 
 
comparison to the aggravating circumstances. I would hold beyond a reasonable doubt 
that the jury's decision to impose the death penalty was not attributable to any joinder 
error below.  
 
Additionally, I join that portion of Justice Biles' separate opinion dissenting from 
the majority's "alternative" holding that the district court erred in failing to instruct the 
jury that mitigating circumstances need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.  
 
Ultimately, I am convinced Jonathan Carr received a fair trial and the jury 
imposed a sentence of death because it understood that the horrendous circumstances 
called for that sentence. Because I would affirm Jonathan Carr's death sentence, I dissent.