Opinion ID: 2520113
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 18

Heading: The defendant's January 11, 1999, arrest for driving under the influence was admissible independent of K.S.A. 60-455, both as relevant evidence tending to prove premeditation and as part of the res gestae of the crime.

Text: The videotaped interview also revealed the defendant's two prior crimes of DUI. For purposes of this section, the relevant DUI is the one that the defendant was convicted of on January 11, 1999. The defendant was convicted of both DUI and possession of marijuana on January 11, 1999, in Cloud County and was subsequently placed on probation. It is not clear from the record how the defendant violated the terms of his probation, but he was arrested for a probation violation on November 12, 1999, while in Clay County. The arrest for the probation violation is an integral part of the chain of events leading to the shooting on November 16, 1999. 1. The DUI charge was independently admissible as relevant evidence to prove premeditation. The defendant admitted that he hid from police because he did not want to go back to jail. The defendant's prior arrest for DUI was relevant in showing his state of mind on the day of the murder. The defendant testified about how some jailers can make things really rough and complained that there was not much one could do to pass the time while in jail. The defendant would have gotten at most a year in jail for his probation violation, but after only 3 days in custody, the defendant's dislike for confinement led him to escape. The defendant's arrest for DUI was relevant to show why he was determined not to return to jail, which tends to prove a premeditated intent to shoot any officer trying to arrest him and return him to jail. Therefore, it was not error to admit it into evidence. 2. Evidence of the defendant's prior crimes of driving under the influence was admissible as part of the res gestae of the crime. Res gestae deals with the admissibility of evidence of acts done as well as declarations made before, during, or after the occurrence of the principal event. These acts or declarations are admissible as part of the res gestae where those acts or declarations are so closely connected with the principal occurrence as to form in reality a part of the occurrence. [Citation omitted.] Res gestae includes those circumstances or acts which are automatic and undesigned incidents of the particular litigated act and which may be separated from the particular act by lapse of time but are illustrative of that act. It is the whole of the transaction under investigation or being litigated. [Citation omitted.] These acts or declarations may be admissible as part of the res gestae to show motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake. [Citation omitted.] Acts done or declarations made as part of the res gestae are not admitted into evidence without limitation but are governed by the procedural rules and rules of evidence set out in Article 4, chapter 60, of the Kansas Statutes Annotated. State v. Clark, 261 Kan. 460, 471, 931 P.2d 664 (1997). State v. Edwards, 264 Kan. 177, 200, 955 P.2d 1276 (1998). In State v. McCowan, 226 Kan. 752, 602 P.2d 1363, (1979) cert. denied 449 U.S. 844, the defendant shot and killed a police officer when the officer was attempting to arrest him for a parole violation on an unlawful possession of a firearm violation. The defendant's probation officer testified at trial about the defendant's previous conviction on the firearm charge. This court held that the probation officer's testimony was relevant to show the circumstances surrounding the attempted arrest of the defendant for probation violation which led to the victim's death. 226 Kan. at 767. In the present case, the DUI arrest is one step further removed but relevant to show the circumstances leading to the aggravated assault of Sheriff Caldwell and the murder of Deputy Kenney. Although the videotape did not make clear that the defendant's probation was based in part on the DUI charge, defense counsel later elicited this information from the defendant during his direct examination: Q. Before I start talking about your time there, the charges that you were arrested on, what were they? A. A DUI and a misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Q. So at the time that you are being held in Cloud County you were on misdemeanors? A. Yes. The defendant's convictions on January 11, 1999, of driving under the influence and possession of marijuana, was the first in a chain of events that led to the shooting on November 16, 1999. The conviction led to the defendant being placed on probation. The probation terms were violated, causing the defendant to be arrested. The defendant escaped from jail while being held due to the probation violation charge. Sheriff Caldwell and Deputy Kenney would not have been at the defendant's house were it not for his escape from jail. These facts show that the prior arrest that led to the probation violation was relevant as part of the res gestae to show why the police were at the defendant's house and to show the defendant's motive for the shooting.