Opinion ID: 2549564
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Issue 2. Did the district court deprive Rogers of due process of law and his theory of defense by bifurcating theft into two crimes: (1) theft by obtaining and (2) theft by exerting control ?

Text: Rogers next argues that the district court deprived him of due process of law and his theory of defense by bifurcating theft into two crimes: (1) theft by obtaining and (2) theft by exerting control. This claim, as explained in his brief and as articulated during oral argument, essentially states that the district court's jury instructions, together with the State's closing arguments that interpreted those instructions, presented the jury with an inaccurate statement of the law of theft, the crime underlying his convictions for felony murder. Accordingly, he argues his convictions should be reversed and his case remanded for a new trial. The resolution of this issue is also controlled by Kunellis, where we held the same instructions and the State's remarks were not accurate statements of the law and required reversal and remand for new trial. 276 Kan. at 468. While we acknowledge Rogers does not expressly appeal his theft conviction, he does argues  in support of his claim that the felony-murder convictions cannot stand  that the crime of theft was incorrectly defined for the jury. A reversal of the theft conviction is required to serve the ends of justice. See State v. Coleman, 271 Kan. 733, 735, 26 P.3d 613 (2001). As in Kunellis, this case is reversed and remanded for retrial on the felony-murder and theft charges. As more fully explained there, the jury should be instructed on the obtaining unauthorized control definition of theft and should receive no instruction on exerting unauthorized control as an option. We note that Rogers' brief appears to admit he committed the elements comprising the crime of theft while denying that the two deaths resulted from his commission of, or flight from, that crime. Accordingly, as in Kunellis, the need for actual retrial on the theft charge may therefore practically have been eliminated. In any event, the jury should also be clearly instructed on the flight element of felony murder pursuant to K.S.A. 21-3401(b) so it may determine if the deaths occurred during the flight from the underlying felony. Rogers claims the district court committed additional error. This could now be disregarded because of our reversal and remand on previously noted grounds. We address it below, however, to supply guidance because it could arise in a retrial. See State v. Carter, 270 Kan. 426, 441, 14 P.3d 1138 (2000).