Opinion ID: 1224804
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: first- and second-degree murder instruction

Text: Jackson next argues that the court erred in instructing the jury on first- and second-degree murder. No party may assign as error the giving of an instruction unless he or she objects before the jury retires to consider its verdict, stating distinctly the matter to which he or she objects and the grounds for the objection, unless the instruction is clearly erroneous. K.S.A. 22-3414(3). The giving of an instruction is clearly erroneous only if the reviewing court reaches a firm conviction that absent the alleged error there was a real possibility the jury would have returned a different verdict. State v. DePriest, 258 Kan. 596, 605, 907 P.2d 868 (1995); State v. Crawford, 255 Kan. 47, Syl. ¶ 5, 872 P.2d 293 (1994). Jackson did not object to the giving of these instructions at trial; therefore, the clearly erroneous standard applies. First, Jackson contends the trial court incorrectly stated the elements of first-degree murder by including malice as an element of the crime. The court's instructions on each of the first-degree murder counts stated that to establish the charge, each of the following claims must be proved: 1. That the defendant intentionally killed [the victim]; and 2. That such killing was done maliciously, deliberately and with premeditation; and 3. That this act occurred on or about the 8th day of April 1994, in Shawnee County, Kansas. The trial court failed to note that effective July 1, 1993, the Kansas Legislature amended the first-degree murder statute by removing the word maliciously from the definition of first-degree murder. L. 1992, ch. 298, § 3. The trial court mistakenly used PIK Crim.2d 56.01 rather than PIK Crim.3d 56.01, which reflected the legislative change. Jackson claims the instruction given was improper and misled the jury because it contained the element of malice which was not a statutory element of the crime of first-degree murder on April 8, 1994. After reviewing all the instructions, we note that the jury was instructed that to establish a charge, each of the following claims must be proved. The court instructed the jury that for the defendant to be guilty of first-degree murder, second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter, the State had to prove intentional conduct and defined the terms intentional and deliberately and with premeditation in Instruction No. 15. The court defined the term maliciously as willfully doing a wrongful act without just cause or excuse. Under the circumstances, the court's inclusion of the word maliciously in the definition of first-degree murder did not change the elements of the offense. Even though the court's instruction did not conform to the statute applicable at the time of the murder, the error did not affect the rights of the defendant or misstate the law. Jackson next complains that the trial court instructed the jury that the elements of second-degree murder were (1) an intentional killing (2) not done upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion. This instruction follows PIK Crim.3d 56.03. Jackson argues that the instruction given was erroneous because K.S.A. 1993 Supp. 21-3402, which defined second-degree murder, contained no element precluding the existence of a sudden quarrel or heat of passion. Jackson asserts that by incorrectly instructing on second-degree murder, the jury was confused and misled to believe that the primary difference between first- and second-degree murder was not premeditation but whether the killing resulted from a sudden quarrel or heat of passion. He claims that this error could have resulted in the jury convicting him of first-degree murder even if premeditation was not proved. To support his argument, Jackson points to markings made on the court's instructions during jury deliberations. On instruction 5, defining the first-degree murder of Fabry, there was a T placed next to the element for intentional killing but no mark next to the elements of malice, deliberation, or premeditation. On Instruction No. 6, defining second-degree murder for the killing of Fabry there was another T placed next to the element alleging an intentional killing, but an F beside the element alleging that the killing was not done upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion. Jackson extrapolates from these markings that the jury believed that a sudden quarrel or heat of passion existed and, therefore, that a firstor second-degree murder conviction was improper. Jackson's argument based upon these markings is highly speculative. First, the markings were made only on the instructions dealing with Count I (Fabry) and not on the instructions dealing with the murders of Rutherford and Stratton. Second, Jackson somehow claims that these markings represent conclusions made by the jury, when they may merely represent notations made during the course of deliberations. The proper inquiry is not speculation as to what these marks may have meant, but whether the court's instructions given to the jury were clearly erroneous. The law is well settled that upon review of a challenged jury instruction, the instructions are to be considered together and read as a whole without isolating any one instruction. If the instructions properly and fairly state the law as applied to the facts in the case, and if the jury could not reasonably have been misled by them, then the instructions do not constitute reversible error, although they may be in some small way erroneous. State v. Johnson, 255 Kan. 252, Syl. ¶ 4, 874 P.2d 623 (1994). The jury was instructed on first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and voluntary manslaughter as to each of the three murders. The Notes to PIK Crim.3d 56.03 state that the element that the killing was not done in the heat of passion or upon a sudden quarrel should be added where there is evidence which requires an instruction on voluntary manslaughter. Apart from the inclusion of the element of malice in the first-degree murder instruction, the court's instructions conformed with PIK. The instructions as given fairly stated the law on first- and second-degree murder and were not clearly erroneous.