Summary
The Supreme Court of Kansas affirmed Charles R. Winston's convictions for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder arising from a gang-related shooting. The court addressed the admission of gang evidence, denial of severance and mistrial motions, and sufficiency of the evidence, concluding that no reversible error occurred.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion by admitting gang-affiliation and gang-activity evidence.
- Whether the trial court erred by denying Winston's motion to sever his trial from Tatum's.
- Whether the denial of a mistrial constituted reversible error.
- Whether sufficient evidence supported Winston's convictions for first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Holdings
- Gang-affiliation or gang-activity evidence is admissible when it is relevant to show motive for an otherwise inexplicable act, forms part of the events surrounding the charged crime, or shows witness bias, provided sufficient proof connects the affiliation or activity to the charged crime. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence against Winston.
- A pretrial motion in limine alone ordinarily does not preserve an evidentiary issue for appeal; a contemporaneous objection or continuing objection is required. Winston's trial objections sufficiently renewed his pretrial objection and preserved the gang-evidence issue.
- Severance under K.S.A. 22-3204 requires a showing of actual prejudice, not merely a possibility of prejudice. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Winston's motion to sever.
- The mistrial issue was abandoned because it was raised but not argued in the appellant's brief. To the extent the argument challenged the admission of gang evidence, the admission was reviewed for abuse of discretion and was not erroneous.
- The evidence was sufficient for a rational factfinder to find Winston guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Key quotations
“Sufficient predicate proof was shown that both Winston and Tatum were associated with the Hilltop gang and that their gang affiliation and activity was related to the crime charged.” (at 1129)
“This is contrary to the well-recognized requirement that severance requires a showing that actual prejudice will result.” (at 1131)
“Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State as we are required to do, we are convinced that a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty on both charges beyond a reasonable doubt.” (at 1137)
Factual background
Damon Walls, Kyea Kimbrough, and Terrell Williams went to a Kansas City, Kansas, residence to purchase marijuana when their vehicle was attacked by multiple shooters. Kimbrough was killed and Walls was wounded; Walls immediately identified the shooters as "Edie" and "Charlie" and later identified Tatum and Winston in photographic lineups. The State presented evidence of an earlier Oak Park Mall confrontation in which Winston and Tatum threatened Walls in the context of a conflict between rival gangs and evidence that the defendants were affiliated with the Hilltop gang.
Procedural history
Winston and codefendant Chatha Tatum were tried jointly before a jury. Winston was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder and received a life sentence plus a consecutive 165-month sentence. The Supreme Court of Kansas exercised jurisdiction under K.S.A. 22-3601(b)(1) and affirmed.