Opinion ID: 1444222
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Imposition of Hard 40 Sentence

Text: During the sentencing hearing, Perry's counsel requested that Perry again be evaluated to determine his competency prior to being sentenced. Perry's counsel asserted to the judge that he had doubts as to Perry's competency but provided no evidence that Perry's competency had changed since Larned State Security Hospital found Perry competent to stand trial. The trial judge denied the request for a continuance and a determination of competency. The judge stated that he had not observed any changes in Perry during or after the trial. There was no evidence that Perry's competency had changed since last being evaluated at Larned. In light of the judge's ruling, Perry then sought to continue the sentencing hearing. Perry's attorney offered no explanation for why he could not proceed nor why he required a continuance. The trial judge denied the request for a continuance and sentenced the defendant. Perry now asserts that the trial judge erred in not granting his request for a continuance and ordering a determination of his competency. The State's request to run sentences consecutively requires the sentencing judge to permit a defendant to present evidence in mitigation of his or her sentence. See K.S.A. 21-4637. Perry asserts he was not allowed to present evidence of mitigation. However, the record shows that the trial judge did permit Perry to present evidence of mitigation. Perry argued to the judge that his lack of capacity at the time of the crimes warranted mitigation. Perry was offered an opportunity by the sentencing judge to present further evidence of mitigation. Perry declined to do so. Neither Perry nor his counsel informed the district judge of a need for additional time to obtain mitigating evidence. On appeal, Perry does not indicate additional mitigating factors he could have presented below. This claim has no merit. We note that Perry's counsel admitted to the sentencing judge that there was no evidence that Perry was not competent or any evidence to support Perry's claim that his competency status had changed since his last evaluation at Larned. Under the circumstances, the trial court's decision not to order a competency evaluation or grant a continuance was not error. Three days prior to sentencing, the State filed a motion requesting that the court impose a life sentence for count one, the first-degree murder conviction, with parole eligibility after serving 40 years and that the sentences imposed for counts two, three, and four be consecutive to count one. In support of its motion, the State cited K.S.A. 21-4716, K.S.A. 21-4718, and K.S.A. 21-4608 and asserted that Perry's stomping on his deceased victim's head was excessively brutal. The State also pointed out that the victims had not provoked Perry and that the viciousness of Perry's attacks warranted protecting the community as long as statutorily permissible. Perry argues that the fact he placed more than one person in risk of death cannot be considered in imposing the hard 40 because he was not given notice that factor would be relied upon by the State in its motion. Perry cites State v. Gideon, 257 Kan. 591, 600-01, 894 P.2d 850 (1995), for the proposition that the State must give notice of the aggravating circumstances upon which it will rely in seeking a 40-year sentence. Even though the State's notice did not list this factor, this argument fails for several reasons. The Gideon court interpreted a statute that was replaced by the Kansas death penalty statute in 1994. Today, K.S.A. 21-4635 governs whether a 40-year sentence may be imposed. It provides, in relevant part, that if a defendant is convicted of murder in the first degree based upon the finding of premeditated murder, the court shall determine whether the defendant shall be required to serve a mandatory term of imprisonment of 40 years or sentenced as otherwise provided by law. (Emphasis added.) The State no longer is required to notify a defendant of its intention to seek a 40-year sentence. The responsibility for determining the imposition of a 40-year sentence originates with the sentencing judge, not the State. In reaching a decision, the judge is directed to consider the aggravating factors and mitigating factors set out in K.S.A. 21-4636 and K.S.A. 21-4637. Aggravating circumstances include a finding that the defendant committed the crimes in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner. K.S.A. 21-4636(f). Perry also asserts that the imposition of a life sentence without the possibility of parole for 40 years is unsupported by evidence. Perry points out there is no evidence that the murder victim suffered prior to the shooting because the evidence indicated that the victim was shot once in the head and it was only after death occurred that he crushed her skull. He argues that the physical abuse to Dana did not occur prior to the victim's death. See State v. Cook, 259 Kan. 370, Syl. ¶ 8, 913 P.2d 97 (1996). When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged for establishing the existence of an aggravating circumstance in a hard 40 sentence proceeding, the standard of review is whether, after a review of all the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational factfinder could have found the existence of the aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Reed, 256 Kan. 547, 564, 886 P.2d 854 (1994). For purposes of determining the existence of aggravating factors regarding whether a murder was committed in a heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner, the term heinous means extremely wicked or shockingly evil; atrocious means outrageously wicked and vile; and cruel means pitiless or designed to inflict a high degree of pain, or utter indifference to, or enjoyment of the suffering of others. State v. Alford, 257 Kan. 830, 838, 896 P.2d 1059 (1995). The aggravating circumstance that a murder was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner is established when the perpetrator inflicts serious mental anguish or serious physical abuse before the victim's death; mental anguish includes the victim's uncertainty as to his or her ultimate fate. State v. Gideon, 257 Kan. at 612. In State v. Alford , the sufficiency of the evidence was challenged by a defendant convicted of first-degree murder. The record in Alford indicated that Alford shot his victim twice, chased her and forced her into a restaurant kitchen, shot her again, and dragged her back into the kitchen and tried to shoot her again. The gun then jammed, causing it to click several times before he was able to shoot his victim two more times, killing her. This court determined that these facts constituted substantial competent evidence supporting the determination the crime was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner. 257 Kan. at 838. In this case, the evidence that the crime was committed in a heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner was that Perry forced one of his victims to witness the shooting death of her sister and he waved the gun around in front of his victims before shooting them. This evidence was sufficient to support the finding that the crimes were committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner. However, there is additional evidence to sustain the imposition of the hard 40 sentence. In addition to the murder conviction, the defendant was convicted of a crime in which he inflicted serious physical abuse on another. For purposes of determining whether to impose a 40-year sentence without parole for a first-degree murder conviction, the facts surrounding Perry's convictions for crimes against the other two victims are relevant. See K.S.A. 21-4636(b); Gideon, 257 Kan. at 614. We agree that K.S.A. 21-4635(b) prohibits the State from introducing aggravating evidence during the sentencing hearing without first informing the defendant. This is to allow the defendant the opportunity to rebut such evidence. However, there was no evidence admitted at the sentencing hearing. The judge relied on the evidence admitted at trial. Perry was well aware of that evidence and had ample opportunity to rebut that evidence at the sentencing hearing; therefore, this argument also fails. Perry's final argument against imposition of a 40-year sentence is that the trial court erred in determining there were no mitigating factors. On appeal, Perry claims there was substantial evidence that he was psychotic at the time of the offenses. This defense was raised during the trial, and the jury determined beyond a reasonable doubt that Perry was cognizant of his actions and that the murder was premeditated. The trial court's determination that Perry's mental state was not a mitigating factor was not error. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.