Opinion ID: 2637974
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: criminal possession of a firearm conviction

Text: The State presented evidence and argued that the defendant possessed the firearm on three separate occasions on July 7, 1998: (1) When he and his brother were shooting at cans; (2) when defendant shot his brother; and (3) when defendant retrieved the gun after the deputy asked where it was. The State argued either occasion (1) or (3) could be used to find defendant guilty of Count II (criminal possession of a firearm). Defendant had different defenses to each. As to the can shooting incident, defendant denied this had occurred and that the officer who testified that defendant told him of this incident was mistaken. As to the retrieval of the gun, defendant testified he was acting under orders of the deputy. Further, these two incidents occurred at different times and places. While giving jury instructions, the trial court did instruct the jury that they were to consider possible multiple acts when rendering their verdict. However, the court did not give an instruction requiring that the jurors reach a unanimous decision as to the underlying incident of possession, even though the court was concerned about possible juror confusion. The parties agree that failure to give a unanimity instruction is reversible error. This result is in accordance with our recent case of State v. Hill, 271 Kan. 929, Syl. ¶ 3, 26 P.3d 1267 (2001), wherein we held: In a criminal case involving convictions for rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child, and aggravated indecent solicitation of a child, the record is reviewed and it is held: (a) A two-step harmless error analysis is applied to the defendant's contention that a unanimity instruction should have been given in a multiple acts case. In applying a two-step harmless error analysis, the first step is to decide whether there is a possibility of jury confusion from the record or if evidence showed either legally or factually separate incidents. Incidents are legally separate when the defendant presents different defenses to separate sets of facts or when the court's instructions are ambiguous but tend to shift the legal theory from a single incident to two separate incidents. Incidents are factually separate when independent criminal acts have occurred at different times or when a later criminal act is motivated by `a fresh impulse.' When jury confusion is not shown under the first step, the second step is to determine if the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt with respect to all acts. The two incidents involved legally and factually separate incidents. Further, there was a possibility of juror confusion as shown by the trial court's comments. The parties are correct that reversible error occurred when no unanimity instruction was given in this multiple acts count. The judgment is affirmed in part and reversed in part. The case is remanded for further proceedings as to Count II, criminal possession of a firearm.