Opinion ID: 2514259
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: On the evening of September 16, 1997, Michael Wilson and Julie Garrett stood behind a pickup truck in front of a drug house near the corner of 14th Street and Ridge in Kansas City, Kansas. Other people were either on the porch, in the house, or standing behind the pickup truck. Witnesses saw a van approach the area. Then, Wilson, a neighbor named Beulah Natividad, and another neighbor named Tommie McGaughy heard gunshots. Wilson testified that the gunfire came from the van. Wilson saw the driver point the gun through the open sliding door of the van. Wilson saw no one else in the van. He heard two shots, ducked down, and heard three or four more shots. He heard Garrett say, I'm hit. As Wilson walked toward Garrett, he saw the van turn right and then head south down 14th Street. Wilson identified Danny Dino Smith, the defendant, as the shooter. Natividad's house was caty-corner to the drug house. She was standing at her front door, with her back to the street, when she heard the shots. She turned around and saw a maroon van, but she could not see anyone in the van. Natividad heard about seven shots, but she could not tell where they were coming from. After the first three shots, she heard a blood curdling scream and a female scream Dino or Tino. After hearing more shots, Natividad said people were hollering, [G]et out of here and [G]et the van. She saw the van drive away. (The van did not speed away.) Natividad testified that she had the impression the shots came from inside the pickup truck. After the shots, Natividad saw a man walk from the truck, enter the house, and then leave carrying a brown paper bag. Tommy McGaughy testified that he was sleeping on the porch of a neighboring house when he heard a succession of two or three gunshots and then four or five more. He looked toward Ridge Street and saw a red minivan. McGaughy saw one person in the van, who could have been black or Hispanic. He said the driver raised his arm towards the passenger window and shot at McGaughy. McGaughy ran into the house. When he returned outside, he saw a woman lying face down in the street. When the police arrived, they found Garrett lying in the street. She died from a gunshot wound to the chest. The State charged Smith with the second-degree murder of Garrett. He made his first appearance and was released on bond. The State filed an amended information charging Smith with the first-degree murder of Garrett and the attempted first-degree murder of Wilson. Smith was then detained in the Wyandotte County jail. Wilson made a deal with the State to testify against Smith. However, at the preliminary hearing, Wilson changed his testimony and said the shooter was not Smith. He acknowledged that he had previously picked out Smith as Dino from a video or photographic line-up shortly after the shooting. Smith was bound over for trial. After the preliminary hearing, Wilson was arrested in two separate cocaine cases. He sent a note to his attorney and to the prosecutor saying he wanted to cooperate. Wilson said he had lied and that he wanted to make it right. He agreed to wear a wire and talked to Smith in the county jail. The district court excluded the recorded conversation. After the jury was selected, the district court was informed that Wilson would testify that he failed to identify Smith at the preliminary hearing because Smith's counsel had offered to pay him to change his testimony. The district court heard Wilson's testimony outside the presence of the jury. Wilson said that he had reached an agreement with defense counsel. He was to be paid to alter his testimony. Wilson's brother allegedly picked up at least part of the money from the defense counsel's office after the preliminary hearing. Based on Wilson's testimony about the payoff, the district court found that it had no choice but to declare a mistrial. Smith later obtained new counsel, and the trial resulting in his convictions was held in May 1999. Smith filed a denial of a speedy trial motion and a motion in limine to exclude his former defense counsel's alleged statements to Wilson. The district court denied both motions. Smith's former counsel invoked the Fifth Amendment and did not testify. At trial, Wilson returned to his first version of the shooting, identifying Smith as the shooter. Wilson explained that at the preliminary hearing, he had falsely denied Smith was the shooter because he had been paid by Smith's former defense attorney to change his testimony. Wilson also informed the jury of his initial deal with the State in exchange for his testimony identifying Smith as the shooter. He denied any further deals with the State. Smith was sentenced to a life term for second-degree murder and 340 months for attempted second-degree murder, to be served consecutively.