Opinion ID: 2588523
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: possibility of different verdict

Text: In its petition for review, the State does not argue that the jury instructions were correct; instead, it focuses on whether any error in the instructions was harmless. To resolve that issue, we must compare the erroneous instructions to the instructions the jury would have received had it been correctly instructed and determine if there was a real possibility the jury's verdict was affected by the error. See State v. Evans, 270 Kan. at 588. As previously discussed, the trial court instructed the jury based upon the manner the crimes were charged in the complaint, as alternatives. The jury should have been advised of the lesser included offenses and the verdict possibilities and then instructed: When there is a reasonable doubt as to which of two or more offenses defendant is guilty, [defendant] may be convicted of the lesser offense only. PIK Crim. 3d 68.09. In this case, the jury received this instruction with regard to battery as a lesser included offense of both aggravated battery charges and kidnapping as a lesser included offense of aggravated kidnapping. The trial court also utilized PIK Crim. 3d 68.07, the multiple counts verdict instruction, advising the jury that each crime was separate and distinct. There was no other instruction ordering the jury's deliberation. Winters argues that the instructions resulted in an erroneous reordering of the charges for the jury's consideration. In a Notice of Additional Authority pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 6.09 (2002 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 41), Winters cited this court's recent opinion in State v. Graham, 275 Kan. 831, 61 P.3d 662 (2003), for support of this argument. In Graham, the defendant was charged with attempted murder; the jury was instructed on attempted voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense. We held: Where there is evidence of mitigating circumstances of sudden quarrel or heat of passion justifying an instruction on voluntary manslaughter in a case where voluntary manslaughter is a lesser included offense, the failure to instruct the jury to consider such circumstances, consistent with PIK Crim. 3d 56.05B, in its determination of whether the defendant is guilty of second-degree murder, is always error and in most cases presents a case of clear error. 275 Kan. 831, Syl. ¶ 4. The issue of ordering the jury's deliberation, when in the context of voluntary manslaughter, arises because an intentional homicide is reduced from murder to voluntary manslaughter if it is committed upon a sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion. 275 Kan. 831, Syl. ¶ 3. Thus, PIK Crim. 3d 56.05B instructs: In determining whether the defendant is guilty of murder in the second degree, you should also consider the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter. The same analysis regarding the ordering of the jury's deliberations does not apply in this case. The jury was instructed to consider the crimes separately but in no particular order. We find no basis to conclude that discussing one of the crimes before the other would change the verdict in this case. The jury was instructed to consider the crimes separately and distinctly. Consequently, the verdict on one charge would not affect the verdict on the other charge. Thus, while the failure to instruct the jury that the severity level 7 aggravated battery was a lesser included offense of the severity level 4 aggravated battery was error, it was not clear error.