Summary
The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed Terry Ray Hayes's convictions for premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated assault. The court held that the evidence did not support a voluntary manslaughter jury instruction. Applying Alleyne v. United States and State v. Soto, the court vacated Hayes's hard 50 sentence because the sentencing judge, rather than a jury, found the aggravating factor, and remanded for resentencing.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the evidence required an instruction on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense of first-degree murder.
- Whether the district court's judicial finding of an aggravating factor under Kansas's hard 50 sentencing scheme violated Hayes's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial under Alleyne v. United States.
- Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the aggravating factor that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
- Whether imposing an aggravated grid-box sentence for aggravated assault without submitting aggravating factors to a jury violated the Constitution.
Holdings
- The district court properly denied the requested voluntary manslaughter instruction because the record contained no actual evidence, or reasonable inference from actual evidence, that Hayes acted after a sudden emotional reaction or legally sufficient provocation.
- The judicial determination of the aggravating factor that subjected Hayes to a hard 50 sentence violated his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial.
- The evidence was sufficient for a rational factfinder to find beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.
- The aggravated grid-box sentence did not violate the Constitution because Kansas precedent had rejected that argument, and the court declined to depart from those precedents.
Key quotations
“A slow burn is not heat of passion.” (866)
“Following Soto, we conclude Hayes’ sentence was imposed in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial.” (868)
“Convictions affirmed, hard 50 sentence vacated, and remanded for resentencing.” (869)
Factual background
After Hayes's marriage ended, he engaged in repeated communications with Tiffani Hayes, threatened her, and expressed anger about the breakup. He arranged for Tiffani to come to his residence to retrieve property and had previously threatened to kill her. When Tiffani arrived with coworkers, Hayes chased her as she attempted to flee and shot her in the back of the head, then pointed the gun at a coworker. A jury convicted Hayes of premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated assault.
Procedural history
The State charged Hayes with premeditated first-degree murder and aggravated assault. A jury convicted him of both offenses. The district court imposed a hard 50 life sentence for murder and a consecutive 13-month sentence for aggravated assault. Hayes timely appealed, challenging the refusal to give a voluntary manslaughter instruction and the constitutionality of the sentencing procedure.
Remand instructions
The hard 50 sentence was vacated, and the case was remanded for resentencing. The convictions and the aggravated-assault sentence were affirmed.