Opinion ID: 2599107
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alleged Misstatement of the Law Regarding the Aggravating Circumstance of Whether Kleypas Committed the Crime to Avoid or Prevent a Lawful Arrest or Prosecution

Text: Kleypas contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct by misstating the law regarding the aggravating circumstance of whether Kleypas committed the crime to avoid or prevent a lawful arrest or prosecution. Kleypas argues that the prosecutor improperly argued to the jury that certain evidence which occurred after the murder could be used to show that Kleypas committed the murder in order to avoid arrest and prosecution. In arguing that the evidence showed Kleypas committed the murder in order to avoid arrest and prosecution, the prosecutor highlighted evidence that Kleypas knew he would be prosecuted for the rape and that the victim could identify him. The prosecutor also noted that Kleypas started to tie the victim up but then thought better of it and killed the victim instead. Finally, the prosecutor stated: And the evidence of this is clear not only by the defendant's own actions and words and not only by what he did to [C.W.] that night but what he did afterwards. He loaded up his truck, taking evidence of the murder with him and fled town. He took off, he ran and he killed [C.W.] so that he could avoid arrest. There is no other conclusion that can be reached from this evidence. Evidence that Kleypas loaded up his truck and left town after killing the victim, while definite proof that Kleypas was trying to avoid arrest, does not by itself prove that he in fact killed the victim in order to avoid or prevent arrest for the prior crime of rape. This case is similar to a hard 40 case decided by this court in State v. Reed, 256 Kan. 547, 886 P.2d 854 (1994). Reed attempted to rape a woman and when the attempt failed, killed her and hid the body. The prosecutor in Reed argued that this established the aggravating circumstance of killing to avoid arrest. Reed claimed that this argument constituted prosecutorial misconduct. However, this court disagreed and noted: [T]he prosecutor in the above remarks did not identify the crime the defendant committed. While evidence may relate to the defendant's efforts to conceal his murder of the victim, the same circumstantial evidence also relates to his concealment of kidnapping or attempted rape of the victim and directly bears upon the aggravating circumstance of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution. 256 Kan. at 566. The same is true of the case at hand. While evidence that Kleypas left town after the murder does not, standing alone, show that he committed the murder to avoid arrest for rape, it is relevant to this fact. It shows that Kleypas attempted to avoid arrest for not only the murder but the rape and, thus raises the inference that Kleypas committed the murder as part of a plan, along with flight, to avoid arrest for the rape. Kleypas argues that our analysis in Reed should not apply in this case. First, he contends that the activity in Reed happened before the murder. This is patently incorrect. Reed's actions in hiding the body occurred postmurder, as did Kleypas' flight in this case. Second, Kleypas argues that our analysis in Reed should not apply because capital cases require a higher standard. Under any standard, however, the evidence is relevant and, thus, fair game for comment by the prosecution. Given these circumstances, the prosecutor's comment did not constitute misconduct. J. Alleged Misstatements of the Law Regarding Evidence to Support the Heinous, Atrocious, or Cruel Manner Aggravating Circumstance Kleypas argues that the prosecutor also committed misconduct in his argument to the jury by misstating the law regarding what evidence could be used to support the heinous, atrocious, or cruel manner aggravating circumstance. Kleypas contends that the prosecutor improperly told the jury that it could consider the circumstances of the rape in determining whether the murder was committed in a heinous, atrocious, and cruel manner in order to satisfy the aggravating circumstance. According to Kleypas, this was a misstatement of the law and constituted misconduct. The jury was instructed: Aggravating circumstances are those which increase the guilt or enormity of the offense or add to its injurious consequences which is above and beyond the elements of the crime itself. Kleypas' argument is that the attempted rape is not above and beyond the elements of the crime itself, as attempted rape is an element of the crime of capital murder. See K.S.A. 21-3439(a)(4). Therefore, according to Kleypas, it was improper for the prosecutor to argue that the rape could satisfy the aggravating circumstance. Kleypas' argument is devoid of merit. A review of the prosecutor's statements regarding the rape reveals that the prosecutor was not arguing that the fact of the rape itself fulfilled the aggravating circumstance but, rather, was arguing that the violent and brutal manner in which the rape was committed helped to make the killing heinous, atrocious, and cruel by causing serious physical abuse and mental anguish. Thus, the argument was not improper. K. Cumulative Prosecutorial Misconduct Kleypas' final arguments regarding prosecutorial misconduct are that the cumulative misconduct on the part of the prosecutor warrants reversal of the death sentence and that the misconduct was so grievous that he should not again be subject to the death penalty. We consider his first argument, but reject his second argument. Nothing in the record suggests misconduct so grievous as to support a conclusion that Kleypas should not again be subject to the death penalty. Because we are reversing the defendant's sentence due to other errors and remanding for a new sentencing hearing, we need not determine whether the cumulative prosecutorial misconduct would be so great as to also require reversal. However, we note that the instances of prosecutorial misconduct were numerous: The prosecutor made an improper and false insinuation that Kleypas would have access to alcohol in prison and, thus, have a trigger for his paraphilia. The prosecutor improperly cross-examined a defense expert in an attempt to inflame the passions of the jury. The prosecutor violated a motion in limine and improperly tried to insinuate to the jury that prison would be an easy life for the defendant. The prosecutor improperly misstated the law to the jury by implying that mitigating circumstances must excuse or justify the crime to be valid. The prosecutor also improperly urged the jury to disregard mitigating circumstances because they were not causally related to the crime, contrary to Kansas law. The prosecutor then improperly expressed his belief that Kleypas' experts were not believable and mischaracterized their testimony in a manner which made it seem that the experts were attempting to hide evidence from the jury. Finally, the prosecutor made up an imaginary script which purported to tell the jury what the victim was feeling as the crime occurred even though there was no evidence as to the victim's thoughts. Instead, the script was mere speculation on the part of the prosecutor, calculated to inflame the sympathy and passions of the jury. Many of the instances of prosecutorial misconduct appear to stem from a misunderstanding of the law regarding the imposition of the death penalty and cannot be characterized as intentional. Others, however, would be improper in any proceeding and can only be explained by the pressure put on the prosecutor to secure the death penalty in a high profile case. As pointed out in our discussion of our standard of review, it is difficult to judge the impact and consequences of the prosecutor's improper arguments in this case. It must be noted that the comments were just that, comments, rather than jury instructions or rulings made by the court. The jury was instructed that such arguments were not evidence. This does not mean, however, that they did not have any effect. While none of the instances of prosecutorial misconduct, taken in isolation, may have been so prejudicial to Kleypas so as to require us to reverse his sentence, the net cumulative effect of the prosecutorial misconduct might very well have provided an additional basis for reversal.