Opinion ID: 2630897
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Step 1Is This A Multiple Acts Case?

Text: The threshold question in a multiple acts analysis is whether the defendant's conduct is part of one act or represents multiple acts which are separate and distinct from each other. There is no single test for whether conduct constitutes one act or separate and distinct multiple acts. Rather, the courts must look to the facts and the theory of the crime as argued to determine whether a jury verdict implicates unanimity issues. State v. Allen, 290 Kan. ___, Syl. ¶¶ 1, 2, 232 P.3d 861 (2010). Whether a case is a multiple acts case is a question of law over which this court has unlimited review. Voyles, 284 Kan. 239, Syl. ¶ 1, 160 P.3d 794. This court has determined that acts are multiple acts if they are factually separate and distinct. Further, `[i]ncidents are factually separate when independent criminal acts have occurred at different times or when a later criminal act is motivated by a fresh impulse.' State v. Kesselring, 279 Kan. 671, 683, 112 P.3d 175 (2005) (quoting State v. Hill, 271 Kan. 929, 939, 26 P.3d 1267 [2001]). In addition, this court has identified other factors for determining if there is unitary conduct in a multiple acts case. These factors include: (1) whether the acts occur at or near the same time; (2) whether the acts occur at the same location; (3) whether there is a causal relationship between the acts, in particular whether there was an intervening event; and (4) whether there is a fresh impulse motivating some of the conduct. State v. Schoonover, 281 Kan. 453, 507, 133 P.3d 48 (2006). We will apply this analysis to determine whether any of Colston's convictions involved multiple acts.