Opinion ID: 2599107
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The State's Evidence and Argument

Text: In its opening statement during the penalty phase, the State informed the jury that it would prove Kleypas murdered C.W. in order to avoid arrest and prosecution. I will ask you to consider the confession of the defendant and remember he says he was sitting on the bed, [C.W.] is tied to the chair, the defendant stated that [C.W.] knew him, knew him as the guy who lived in the big green house and the defendant knew that if he let [C.W.] live that she could tell the police. So the defendant made a choice and he made a choice to avoid arrest and prosecution. In its closing statement, the State argued: The State in this case has proven three aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt. One of these is that the defendant committed the crime in order to avoid lawful arrest or prosecution. And you remember the evidence on this. The defendant going to the house of [C.W.] undisguised, going to the home of the neighbor who was sure to and, in fact, did recognize him. Remember the defendant's own words about being recognized. She knew me. I knew she knew me. She didn't recognize me personally but she recognized who I was. She made a comment to me about living in the house I live in. She only lived two houses down from me. These were the defendant's words about being recognized and he knew when he went there he would be recognized. He also knew that after he attempted to rape her that he got up and walked away he would be arrested and prosecuted. So he made a choice and he killed [C.W.] to avoid that. He sat there for several minutes as he told you when he made his choice. And his choice was to kill [C.W.] so that he would have a better chance of getting away. He started tying her up and then he told us he sat on the bed and thought about it. And he made that choice so that just a little bit longer he could prevent a lawful arrest and prosecution. 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 he 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. Kleypas did not object to these comments or address the aggravators in his opening or closing arguments during the penalty phase. Kleypas contends there are only two pieces of evidence offered by the State to support the avoid arrest aggravating factor: (1) The victim knew Kleypas and could identify him to police, and (2) Kleypas left the state after committing the crime. Kleypas, however, mischaracterizes the State's evidence. The State relied heavily on testimony of KBI Agent Williams which recalled Kleypas' confession during the ride in the patrol car back to Kansas. In it, Kleypas related the following events which occurred on the night of the murder. Kleypas, once inside the house, forced C.W. to her bedroom at knife point. He forced her to undress and attempted to have intercourse with her. When he failed to get an erection, he penetrated her with his fingers. He allowed her to dress. C.W. asked him to leave. She said if he would leave she would give him a head start before she called the police. He said she recognized him as the man who lived in the green house down the street. According to Agent Williams, Kleypas confessed that he tied C.W. to a chair and that she started to panic. Kleypas unplugged the phone. After he tied her, he sat on the bed for a period of time thinking about his next action. She got loose from her binding to the chair, and he tried to strangle her. He tried to suffocate her with the sock but was unsuccessful. Kleypas stated that he then stabbed her repeatedly in the chest.