Court Opinion

ID: 9787422
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 00:16:22.649161+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:55.772279
License: Public Domain

Allegrucci, J.,
concurring: I concur because in my view the majority opinion in State v. Robbins, 272 Kan. 158, 32 P.3d 171 (2001), expresses the correct rationale in resolving the issue of multiplicity. State v. Fike, 243 Kan. 365, 757 P.2d 724 (1988), is relevant and controlling in the present case.
' Here, the majority opinion does not mention Fike; however, that omission does not deter the dissent from vilifying our decision in Fike. The dissent argues that “bodily harm is not an element of rape although it is an element of aggravated kidnapping,” and further, that it is not necessary for the State to prove the rape or sodomy to prove aggravated kidnapping. I disagree.
As noted in Robbins, the State had to prove, and the jury had to find, that the defendant committed a rape or sodomy to find him guilty of aggravated kidnapping. That is true because rape or sodomy is “bodily harm.” The trial court instructed the jury to that effect. The State conceded in its closing argument that the only difference between simple kidnapping and aggravated kidnapping is the sexual assault. The State told the jury that if it did not find that a sexual assault occurred, then the crime was simply kidnapping.
Notwithstanding the dissent, the ultimate question is whether the defendant is being punished twice for one crime. The dissent talks about the elements test; however, the test is whether the State is carving two charges out of one criminal act. Here, the State must prove that the defendant caused bodily harm, and to do that it must prove that he raped or sodomized the victim. If the State fails to prove either, then there is no “bodily harm” and no aggravated kidnapping. Whether the crimes charged are multiplicitous or one is included in the other, the defendant can only be convicted and punished for one.
In my view, the majority opinion in Robbins correctly resolves the issue of multiplicity, and for that reason I concur.
*149Abbott, J., joins in the foregoing concurring opinion.