Opinion ID: 2612858
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: prior criminal acts

Text: The State's theory of the case was that the defendant committed this murder in order to provide authorities with information about it so as to gain favorable treatment on drug charges which were pending against him at the time of the offense. The State sought to introduce evidence of the drug case at trial. The defendant sought prior to trial to exclude such evidence. The court ruled in favor of the State, finding that the evidence was admissible under K.S.A. 60-455 because it was relevant to the motive, intent, preparation, and plan of the current offense; the motive, intent, preparation, and plan were substantial issues which were controverted and evidence of Peckham's drug charges was material and probative as to these issues; and the probative value of the evidence outweighed the risk of undue prejudice. The jury was instructed as follows: Evidence has been admitted tending to prove that the defendant committed crimes other than the present crime charged. This evidence may be considered solely for the purpose of proving the defendant's motive, intent, preparation and/or plan. The defendant contends that admitting evidence of the results of his drug case was error because [t]he fact that those charges were ultimately resolved against the Appellant is not evidence of the Appellant's intent and because such evidence was prejudicial. Detective John Heinrichs of the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department testified that Peckham contacted him on July 2, 1991, regarding [d]ismissal of a heroin case that was filed against him and proposing to turn in a major marijuana dealer, an individual who was bringing hundred pounds of marijuana into the Wichita area, and he would also turn over the individual who actually owned the heroin that we got out of his residence to us if we would dismiss the heroin charge. Heinrichs further testified that he told Peckham he could not deal with him because he had an attorney representing him and that no deal was struck [b]ecause we didn't believe him and [b]ecause we knew that it was a lie. Heinrichs also recalled that the heroin case went on to trial and that after the first day-and-a-half of trial, Peckham absconded and did not return for the remainder of the trial. Heinrichs related that a marijuana charge was filed after July 15, 1991, against Peckham as well. Robert Jobe, a special agent with the FBI assigned to Wichita, testified that he met with Peckham, Peckham's (former) counsel, and an assistant U.S. Attorney on July 10 or 11, 1991, regarding a proposal in which Peckham would furnish the identity of an individual and the location of a nuclear power plant which the unidentified individual had planned to bomb or blow up and in exchange, Peckham requested, among other things, dismissal of marijuana charges which had not yet been filed against him but the filing of which was imminent. Ultimately the proposal was not accepted because it was ... my assessment and everyone involved's assessment that it was a fabrication, false information. Robert Sterner, a prosecuting attorney of Calloway County, Missouri, testified that he met with Peckham and several others on December 19, 1991, in Calloway County. The purpose of the meeting was to obtain information from Peckham about a 1981 murder, and in exchange Peckham wanted Sterner to put in a good word with Sedgwick County authorities concerning a criminal prosecution Peckham was facing. Sterner testified that he called the Sedgwick County prosecutor's office to request a continuance of Peckham's trial in order to alleviate the time constraint that a trial would place on Peckham's assistance to Calloway County. Sterner related that Peckham expected Sterner to request leniency for him on the condition that the murder case was solved. Although an agreement was signed, Sterner stated that he never requested leniency in connection with Peckham's pending cases, which included one count of possession of marijuana and one count of possession of a controlled substance, because the information Peckham provided did not match with other information the people investigating the 1981 murder had. The evidence admitted here, concerning Peckham's drug charges which were pending at the time of this offense, was properly admissible under K.S.A. 60-455. K.S.A. 60-455 states: Subject to K.S.A. 60-447 evidence that a person committed a crime or civil wrong on a specified occasion, is inadmissible to prove his or her disposition to commit crime or civil wrong as the basis for an inference that the person committed another crime or civil wrong on another specified occasion but, subject to K.S.A. 60-445 and 60-448 such evidence is admissible when relevant to prove some other material fact including motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident. This court has stated: In ruling upon the admissibility of evidence of a prior crime or civil wrong under K.S.A. 60-455, the trial court must: (1) determine it is relevant to prove one of the facts specified in the statute; (2) determine the fact is a disputed material fact; and (3) balance the probative value of the prior crime or civil wrong evidence against its tendency to prejudice the jury. State v. Grissom, 251 Kan. 851, Syl. ¶ 28, 840 P.2d 1142 (1992). Appellate review of the admission of prior crimes evidence under K.S.A. 60-455 is limited to whether the trial court abused its discretion or whether the trial court admitted clearly irrelevant evidence. State v. Clements, 252 Kan. 86, Syl. ¶ 2, 843 P.2d 679 (1992). The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of Peckham's drug charges. Peckham does not argue on appeal that evidence of his drug charges was irrelevant or did not concern a disputed material fact. He only argues, The State's whole theory is that to avoid a trial, the Appellant committed certain acts. The results of the trial are therefore clearly inadmissible and prejudicial. The trial court clearly found that all three prongs of the test for admissibility under K.S.A. 60-455 were satisfied, and the defendant has failed to show that this determination was an abuse of discretion. The trial court did not err in admitting this evidence.