Opinion ID: 1195263
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: request for a read-back

Text: Miller argues that the trial court abused its discretion by unduly limiting the jury's request for a read-back of testimony. The State argues that Miller failed to object to the trial court's response and, therefore, the issue was not properly preserved for appeal. The State further argues that the trial court gave the jury the specific testimony that it had requested. In State v. Boyd, 257 Kan. 82, Syl. ¶ 2, 891 P.2d 358 (1995), we stated: A trial court may not ignore a jury's request submitted pursuant to K.S.A. 22-3420(3) but must respond in some meaningful manner or seek additional clarification or limitation of the request. It is only when the trial court makes no attempt to provide a meaningful response to an appropriate request or gives an erroneous response that the mandatory requirement of K.S.A. 22-3420(3) is breached. Once the trial court attempts to give an enlightening response to a jury's request or seeks additional clarification or limitation of the request, then any issue as to the sufficiency or propriety of the response is one of abuse of discretion by the trial court. During deliberations, the jury sent three requests to review the testimony. Miller failed to object to any of the jury's requests. Indeed, the record reflects that Miller agreed that the first two responses by the trial court were appropriate. In the first request, the jury asked for testimony of and/or police reports involving King, Wilson, and Wilson's wife, Tamera. No transcript existed at the time, and police reports were not part of the evidence presented at trial. The judge sent the jury a note asking it to focus its question. In the second request, the jury asked for the testimony of King, Wilson, and Tamera. Again, the judge asked the jury to be more specific and to request only the specific parts of the testimony that it needed because there was no transcript and the testimony would have to be read from the reporter's shorthand notes. In the third request, the jury specifically asked for the testimony of Wilson concerning the events at the crime scene. The judge had the court reporter read back portions of Wilson's testimony. None of Tamera's or King's testimony was read. The read-back was not objected to by Miller. Indeed, the trial court gave the jury what it had specifically asked for and nothing more. If the jury had wanted to hear a specific part of Tamera's testimony or a specific part of King's testimony, it could have so requested. The jury was apparently satisfied with the trial court's response as it did not request any more read-backs. It is not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to instruct the court reporter to read back the testimony that the jury specifically requested and nothing more. See State v. Juiliano, 268 Kan. 89, Syl. ¶ 2, 991 P.2d 408 (1999) (it is not an abuse of discretion for the trial court to limit the read-back of testimony to the direct examination when the jury did not specifically request testimony contained in the cross-examination); State v. Gilley, 5 Kan. App.2d 321, 323, 615 P.2d 827, rev. denied 228 Kan. 807 (1980) (when the trial judge provides the jury with the specific portions of testimony that it has requested, the judge has fulfilled the requirements of K.S.A. 22-3420[3]); see also State v. Myers, 255 Kan. 3, 8, 872 P.2d 236 (1994) (the trial court has the discretion to clarify and focus the jury's inquiry when it requests a read-back of testimony). Miller also argues in his brief that he should have been allowed to review the testimony before the trial court had it read back to the jury. This argument is without merit. Miller was present when the testimony was taken in court. Miller participated in all aspects of the trial. Miller is not entitled to review the read-back testimony before the trial court determines what portions will be read back to the jury. Miller retains the right to object, however, as the testimony is being read back and can do so at any time. In this case, Miller failed to make a single objection during the read-back and, therefore, has failed to preserve the issue for appeal. See Boyd, 257 Kan. at 89 (the defendant's failure to object to the read-back of testimony precludes any review of the read-back issue on appeal). Affirmed.