Opinion ID: 2584374
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Issue 4 Discussion: Multiple acts

Text: As we recently noted in State v. Allen, ___ Kan. ___, ___, 232 P.3d 861 (2010): There is no single test for whether conduct constitutes one act or separate and distinct multiple acts. A test that applies to kidnapping may not apply to possessing a controlled substance. In State v. Schoonover, 281 Kan. 453, 506-07, 133 P.3d 48 (2006), we noted incidents are factually separate when independent criminal acts have occurred: (1) at different times; (2) at different locations; (3) when there was an intervening event, as opposed to a causal relationship between the acts; or (4) when a later act is motivated by a fresh impulse. See Kesselring, 279 Kan. at 683, 112 P.3d 175. These factors are appropriate for our multiple acts analysis. Courts must look to the facts and the theory of the crime as argued to determine whether a jury verdict implicates unanimity issues. We will consider the criminal threat conviction separately from the rape conviction.
To convict Foster of criminal threat, the jury was instructed it had to find Foster threatened to commit violence with the intent to terrorize R.R. See K.S.A. 21-3419. The facts show Foster spent at least an hour, perhaps longer, terrorizing B.H. and R.R. He threatened to kill them to get them into the bedroom and to undress. After he forced R.R. into the closet, he threatened to kill her if she tried to leave. After killing B.H., Foster threatened to kill R.R. and her family if she told anyone. All threats were made at nearly the same time and at the same location. R.R. testified she was terrified throughout the ordeal. And while other criminal acts occurred between Foster's multiple threats, it is difficult to see how they break the causal relationship between all of Foster's threats or demonstrate fresh impulses to commit multiple crimes of criminal threat. Foster entered the apartment that morning carrying two knives. In conjunction with his words, he used the knives to gain R.R.'s compliance with his many demands, all of which constituted criminal acts. He preplanned his crimes by bringing the knives and buying boric acid. We find Foster was motivated by a broad and singular impulse to threaten and terrorize B.H. and R.R. The many threats were the result of a single impulse to terrorize the apartment's occupants. Because of this finding, no further analysis is required. See Schoonover, 281 Kan. at 506-507, 133 P.3d 48. A unanimity instruction was not necessary for the criminal threat charge.
Using the multiple acts factors for the rape conviction to determine whether the two incidents of vaginal penetration were part of one criminal act or multiple acts is more difficult. The jury was instructed that to convict on this charge, it must have been proven that (1) Foster and R.R. had sexual intercourse and (2) the act of sexual intercourse was committed without R.R.'s consent because she was overcome by force or fear. See K.S.A. 21-3502(a)(1)(A). R.R. testified she was raped twice, once before B.H. was killed and once after. Each occurred close in time to the other, and each occurred in the apartment, though in different rooms. The difficulty with this issue is determining whether Foster was motivated by a fresh impulse. There is evidence the murder was premeditated at least hours in advance. It is conceivable the first penetration was motivated, in part, by Foster's desire to terrorize B.H., but it just as easily could have been motivated by a separate impulse. The second penetration could have been motivated by yet another impulse. An additional consideration is whether an intervening murder makes two close-in-time vaginal penetrations the product of different criminal impulses despite their taking place during one episode. Ultimately, we believe the facts present two separate rapes. See State v. Zamora, 247 Kan. 684, 694, 803 P.2d 568 (1990) (separate acts of penetration constitute separate charges of rape). After the first penetration, Foster allowed R.R. to put her clothes back on but later ordered her to remove them again before the second penetration. In addition, the second penetration occurred after Foster attempted to force B.H. to drink boric acid, after he forced R.R. into the closet, and after he killed B.H. These are significant events in deciding Foster was not motivated by a single criminal impulse. To proceed under these facts, it was necessary either for the State to inform the jury which acts to rely on in its deliberations or for the court to instruct the jury to agree on the specific criminal act supporting the rape conviction. The failure to elect or instruct was error. See Voyles, 284 Kan. at 244-45, 160 P.3d 794. Accordingly, since a unanimity instruction was neither requested nor given, the proper standard for review to determine whether the error requires reversal or was harmless is the clearly erroneous standard articulated in K.S.A. 22-3414(3) and Voyles, 284 Kan. 239, Syl. ¶ 3, 160 P.3d 794. In this case, Foster made a general denial as his defense. He testified he was in Joplin, Missouri, 75 miles away, when the crimes occurred. R.R., the surviving victim, testified Foster was in Iola committing the crimes. There was a substantial amount of physical evidence supporting R.R.'s version, including B.H.'s blood on Foster's jean shorts, R.R.'s and Foster's DNA on a used condom found in Foster's jean shorts, and a fuel receipt placing Foster in Garnett, a town near Iola, shortly after the crimes were committed. The jury convicted Foster of every crime R.R. testified he committed, including first-degree murder, aggravated arson, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated criminal sodomy. If the unanimity instruction had been given on the rape charge, we find the result would have been the same. The jury still would have convicted Foster of rape. Foster attempts to exploit language in Voyles about inconsistent testimony from the victim, in which it was said: When a unanimity instruction was not requested or given but the defendant has made a general denial, error may be reversible when the trial is not merely a credibility contest between the victim and the defendant, e.g., due to inconsistent testimony from the victim. 284 Kan. 239, Syl. ¶ 5, 160 P.3d 794. Foster contends R.R. changed her story multiple times in statements to law enforcement because she failed to disclose the rape until her last police interview. Foster then asserts it was necessary for the jury to determine which of the victim's statements were credible and which acts constituted the charge of rape when there were more acts presented than were actually charged. But while it is true R.R. did not provide the rape details until her final statement to police, her trial testimony was consistent with that statement and there were never any significant contradictions. This cannot reasonably be characterized as changing her story multiple times about the acts supporting the rape conviction, as Foster now argues. In Voyles, the inconsistent statements at issue specifically dealt with the dates, times, locations, and other relevant details to the separate-but-distinct issue in the multiple acts analysis. Those details potentially demonstrated 20 different acts or offenses were committed when the defendant was charged with 8 crimes. See 284 Kan. at 244, 160 P.3d 794. That problem is not present in Foster's case. The only witness credibility choice for the jury was between (a) Foster saying he was in Joplin the entire time and did not commit the crimes or (b) R.R.'s testimony that Foster was in Iola and committed the crimes. The jury did not have to pick among contradicting accounts from differing victim's statements to piece together the elements of the offense charged in order to find Foster committed rape. R.R.'s statements about this were consistent, and Foster's argument is without merit.