Opinion ID: 2607422
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Principals And Aiders Or Abettors

Text: The defendant requested that the trial court give the following instruction, which is quoted directly from State v. Thomas, 239 Kan. 457, 461, 720 P.2d 1059 (1986): A principal in a crime must be actually or constructively present, aiding and abetting the commission of the offense. It is not necessary that one do some act at the time in order to constitute him a principal, but he must encourage its commission by acts or gestures, either before or at the time of the commission of the offense, with full knowledge of the intent of the persons who commit the offense. He must do some act that is in furtherance of the offense. Relying upon the language in the Thomas case, the defendant argued to the trial court that an aid, counsel and abet Instruction is not available to the State as it applies under the felony murder rule. The defendant also requested an instruction limiting the applicability of the aiding and abetting instruction to the non-felony-murder counts. In Thomas, the defendant was convicted of felony murder and attempted aggravated robbery. Thomas filed a motion to correct his sentences to reflect that he was merely an aider and abettor in the crimes for which he was convicted in an attempt to become eligible for parole. This court affirmed the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion and discussed the relationship between a principal and an aider or abettor in a felony-murder situation, concluding: In felony-murder cases, the elements of malice, deliberation and premeditation which are required for murder in the first degree are deemed to be supplied by felonious conduct alone if a homicide results. To support a conviction for felony murder, all that is required is to prove that a felony was being committed, which felony was inherently dangerous to human life, and that the homicide which followed was a direct result of the commission of that felony. State v. Underwood, 228 Kan. 294, 302-03, 615 P.2d 153 (1980). In a felony-murder case, evidence of who the triggerman is is irrelevant and all participants are principals. State v. Myrick & Nelms, 228 Kan. at 416. Here all the participants in the attempted armed robbery of the pawnshop were equally guilty of the felony murder, regardless of who fired the fatal shot. Under the felony-murder rule, an armed principal in an aggravated robbery cannot be an aider and abettor. 239 Kan. at 461-62. In this case, the trial court denied the defendant's requested instructions on principals and aiders or abettors. Although the trial court did not give a specific reason for denying the defendant's request, the court concluded that the current instructions were sufficient and proper. The defendant argues that because the jury was not limited in its application of the aider and abettor instruction, the jury could have used such a theory to find him guilty of felony murder. The defendant claims that such a result is contrary to the Thomas decision. The defendant's interpretation of the Thomas decision is novel, but unpersuasive. The defendant contends that Thomas stands for the proposition that an aider and abettor cannot be convicted of felony murder. What Thomas stands for is that all participants, regardless of whether they could be classified as aiders or abettors or principals, are considered principals in the felony-murder context. In other words, the category of aiders and abettors is not eliminated from the felony-murder context, but is combined with principals. This interpretation is consistent with State v. Payton, 229 Kan. 106, Syl. ¶¶ 1, 2, 622 P.2d 651 (1981), in which this court held: All participants in a crime are equally guilty without regard to the extent of their participation. Any person who counsels, aids, or abets in the commission of any offense may be charged, tried, convicted, and punished in the same manner as if he were a principal. Based on the record in this case, the trial court did not err in refusing to give the requested instruction.