Opinion ID: 2572491
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Issue 2: Did the trial court abuse its discretion in denying defendant's request for a continuance?

Text: In the trial of a criminal case, the matter of a continuance is within the discretion of the trial court and its ruling will not be disturbed unless such discretion has been abused and the substantial rights of the defendant have been prejudiced. State v. Stallings, 262 Kan. 721, 726, 942 P.2d 11 (1997). Discretion is abused only when no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. State v. Bey, 270 Kan. 544, 546, 17 P.3d 322 (2001). The burden of proof is on the party alleging the discretion is abused. Bey, 270 Kan. at 546. Meeks' theory of defense was that he was at Club Uptown on Tuesday August 21, 2001, the night Green was murdered. Norma Harris, the club manager and owner, testified as a State rebuttal witness that the club was not open that night and its video system was not in place until the end of January 2002. She also provided summaries of liquor purchases in an attempt to corroborate her testimony that the club was not open that night. Meeks' attorney cross-examined Harris about the video system, business records, and evidence that people under 21 have been allowed into the club in the past. Although the record is not clear, it appears when counsel had earlier requested the videotape of that night from the club to confirm or deny Meeks' presence, he had not been informed that the system was not in place, but that the video tape had been taped over, leading him to conclude the club had been open. After Harris' testimony, Meeks' attorney therefore requested a continuance to look into this surprise information, get records, speak to police officers involved in these other cases I know about to establish that the cameras were [at the Club Uptown] on August 21st. The Court replied: Mr. D'Arcy, I'm going to deny that request. I think we're awfully far afield right now from what the issue in this case is. And whether we're going to litigate how much liquor she was buying at any particular time and whether or not there were cameras there or not is just too peripheral to the issues in this case I believe and so your request for a continuance would be denied. On appeal, Meeks claims that the failure to grant the continuance to allow him to seek support for his alibi deprived him of a fair trial. He argues that he did not know what Harris' testimony would be until the morning she actually testified. Meeks cites State v. Betts, 272 Kan. 369, 33 P.3d 575 (2001). In Betts, however, this court found no abuse of discretion in the trial court's denying a continuance to investigate allegedly exculpatory evidence. Betts requested a continuance to interview a detective who was alleged to have told the victim's family about weapons involved in the crime, hoping to use the information to rebut the State's contention that because Betts' uncle knew which weapons were used in the crime, he must have received the information from someone associated with the crime. 272 Kan. at 386-87. This court found that the materiality of the evidence was doubtful and that any investigation would necessarily be a fishing expedition to try to establish a link. 272 Kan. at 387. Although Meeks may not have been on notice that his alibi would be rebutted so strongly, he was able to cross-examine Harris. Additionally, if his alibi were true, Meeks certainly would have been able to subpoena club workers and patrons who were at the club on August 21, 2001,  especially Jason Meeks and a friend named Mike, whom his sister testified had accompanied them on an August weeknight  to bolster his alibi by testifying in his case in chief. Whether such witnesses could have been found and so testify, however, is in doubt when at least three eyewitnesses identified Meeks as fighting Green and then shooting him to death on Troup Street at the time he claimed to be in the club. Moreover, the defense still would have had to contend with the fact his first alibi, that he was at home with his mother, had already been shaken by her testimony. Meeks fails to meet his burden of proving abuse of discretion. We cannot say that no reasonable person would take the view adopted by the trial court. We therefore need not reach the issue of whether the district court's denial of the continuance prejudiced Meeks' substantial rights.