Opinion ID: 2630955
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence to support the kidnapping and felony-murder convictions

Text: Becker argues on appeal that he was convicted of aiding and abetting Gordon and Graham in the kidnappings and attempted kidnapping, but that the State failed to provide sufficient evidence to support a finding that he had the necessary intent to kidnap the five victims. Because kidnapping is a specific-intent crime, the State was required to prove that he had the same specific intent as the principals. A review of the evidence before the jury reveals that ample evidence existed showing that Becker acted as both a principal and as an aider and abettor of the various kidnappings of which he was convicted. When examining the sufficiency of the evidence in a criminal case, the standard of review is whether, after reviewing all the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, the appellate court is convinced that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Gant, 288 Kan. 76, 83, 201 P.3d 673 (2009). In order to obtain a conviction for kidnapping, the State must prove specific intent. See, e.g., State v. Wiggett, 273 Kan. 438, Syl. ¶ 8, 44 P.3d 381 (2002). For a defendant to be convicted of a specific-intent crime on an aiding and abetting theory, that defendant must have the same specific intent to commit the crime as the principal. State v. Overstreet, 288 Kan. 1, 13, 200 P.3d 427 (2009). As Becker was charged and as the jury was instructed, the State had to prove not only that Becker had the general intent to take or confine a person by force, threat, or deception, but also that he had the specific intent to inflict bodily injury or to terrorize the victim or another. See K.S.A. 21-3420(c). The State was also required to prove that he intentionally aided or abetted another to commit the crime with the intent to promote or to assist in the commission of the crime. K.S.A. 21-3205(1); PIK Crim.3d 54.05. A conviction of even the gravest offense may be sustained by circumstantial evidence. State v. Scaife, 286 Kan. 614, 618-19, 186 P.3d 755 (2008). Specific intent may be shown by acts, circumstances, and reasonable inferences deducible therefrom; it need not be shown by direct proof. State v. Johnson, 258 Kan. 61, 67, 899 P.2d 1050 (1995); State v. Harper, 235 Kan. 825, 828, 685 P.2d 850 (1984) (intent underlying entry into a building is rarely susceptible of direct proof; it is usually inferred from the surrounding facts and circumstances). The State argued that Becker was guilty of kidnapping Dupree, Rantz, and Stephens under a theory of aiding and abetting. This was not a case in which the defendant was sitting passively in the car waiting to drive the other perpetrators away; Becker was actively and violently engaged in the same enterprises as Gordon and Graham. When the three went to the home of Rantz and Watkins, all three forced their way into the house, all three engaged in threatening Rantz, and Becker urged Graham to shoot Rantz. At Gordon's house, Rantz, Dupree, and Stephens were all sent to a back bedroom by Gordon, Graham, and Becker. There was abundant testimony that all three of the men took part in beating and threatening Ashe and forcing him to stay on the couch. There was also abundant testimony that Becker stood guard over Ashe while Gordon and Graham went to the bedroom, threatened the captives there with the gun, and took their cell phones. A jury could easily conclude that Becker acted in concert with Gordon and Graham to carry out the kidnapping of Dupree, Stephens, and Richardson. In fact, it would have taken a remarkable leap of logic for a jury to conclude that Becker did not intend to participate fully in all of the criminal acts, up to and including the shooting. Becker also contends that insufficient evidence supported a claim that the kidnappings of Stephens and Dupree and the attempted kidnapping of Richardson were carried out with the intent to terrorize or to inflict bodily injury on Ashe or Richardson. The three victims in the bedroom were kept there and deprived of their cell phones while first Ashe and then Richardson were threatened and beaten. A jury could reasonably conclude that the purpose of isolating them was to prevent them from aiding Ashe and Richardson, to prevent them from calling for help for Ashe and Richardson, and to reduce the likelihood that they would witness the harm and threats inflicted on Ashe and Richardson. Finally, Becker maintains that no separate harm was done to Ashe and Richardson while they were held captive beyond the terror and threats used to keep them restrained. Becker argues that the same terror could not be used as the means of restraint and the objective of the kidnapping. In the case of Ashe, however, there were not only threats and the showing of a gun and handsaws, there was also repeated violent beating in the course of interrogating him about the missing safe. In the case of Richardson, there was both the physical restraint demonstrated by the three men tackling him and pushing him onto the couch and the terror intended by holding a gun to his head while asking him about the safe. Although the elements of forcible restraint and intent to terrorize and do harm overlapped, they were not redundant, and different facts could be used to demonstrate different elements of the offenses. Because the State offered more than adequate evidence supporting the kidnapping convictions, Becker's challenge to the felony-murder conviction based on the sufficiency of the evidence also fails.