Asked how she knew, she said, "because I was told.". During this phase, Robinson's counsel asked panel members whether certain case-specific facts, including violence against women, BDS & M activity, adultery, gruesome photographs, and other case-specific evidence anticipated at trial would render them incapable of serving as impartial jurors. After all, [p]roduction of a true original of an email or social networking page is not necessarily possible because both are always electronic. Pannozzo, Uploading Guilt: Adding A Virtual Records Exception to the Federal Rules of Evidence, 44 Conn. L.Rev. 20301a. Robinson said he needed referrals of Caucasian women because the program already had AfricanAmerican participants and needed racial balance. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968). The prosecutor provided a more detailed proffer of Shields' testimony, but the district judge ruled that it was not proper rebuttal to the defense's evidence of Robinson's contact visits. K.S.A. She testified on his behalf when he was convicted of fraud in Johnson County in 1986. Judge Anderson's ruling is fairly supported by the record. While I agree with the majority that the prosecutor's closing comments were improper and that the misconduct does not warrant a reversal in this case, my concerns go beyond those expressed by the majority. She told a friend she was moving to Kansas City to be with an older married man who had offered her a job doing secretarial work and illustrating BDS&M manuscripts. Once again, unbeknownst to Trouten's family, Robinson had made arrangements for several letters to be mailed from Mexico in May 2000. In questionnaire responses, Juror 229 also shared her belief that a wrongly imposed death sentence could be corrected on appeal or through clemency. Some people believe that Robinson is the first bonafide Internet serial killer. The record simply contains no evidence describing how it came to pass that Robinson obtained physical control over baby Tiffany. 60455, and Judge Anderson did not err in admitting the testimony under this statutory provision. 2250 (2006) of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. denied 133 S.Ct. Robinson built a family of his own. As the investigation progressed, prosecutors approached Judge McClain for search warrants. However, he explained the methodology is still useful in excluding individuals or including them among a group of people that share similar hair characteristics. However, we have emphasized that [n]egative media coverage by itself is insufficient to establish actual prejudice. Carr, 300 Kan. 1, Syl. There were no smoking-gun reports, such as confessions of defendant, results of lie detector testing, or defendant's offer to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. Under nearly identical facts, Kansas courts have found no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash set out for collection at the edge of defendant's property in close proximity to the curb, even if located within the curtilage. Detective Layman testified that law enforcement seized State's Exhibits 19NNRR and 19TTXX from inside a brown briefcase during the search of Robinson's storage locker in Olathe. I truly thought he would probably leave me for her." The murders of Trouten and Lewicka each constituted parts of the common scheme or course of conduct that included the murders of Stasi, Sheila and Debbie Faith, and Bonner. Moreover, during the July 25 evidentiary hearing, Stettler admitted he could complete his work and advise the defense within 3 to 4 weeksleaving adequate time before trial. Admission of Other Crimes or Civil Wrongs Evidence. 213439 lacks such clear retroactive language. ', She said she considered the offer, but if she had taken him up on it, she added Id be dead. However, he suggests the applicants' boilerplate statement that search warrants would not effectively advance the goals of the investigation was insufficient and invalidates the wiretap order. 213421. She became so upset that the family arranged special contact visits, with the approval of sheriffs department personnel, while Robinson was in jail awaiting trial. On March 25, 2000, the Overland Park Police Department took a missing person's report regarding Trouten and transferred it to the Lenexa Police Department, which had jurisdiction. The State concedes the error. Robinson argues the Kansas Death Penalty Act, including K.S.A. The district judge overruled the objection, finding the comment within the scope of the evidence. On the morning of June 2, 2000, law enforcement secured a warrant to search Robinson's Olathe residence and his Olathe storage unit. MICHAEL J. MALONE, Senior Judge, assigned.1. In reviewing challenges to jury instructions in the penalty phase of a capital trial, we have employed the following standard of review: In considering a [preserved] claim that a jury instruction in the penalty phase of a capital trial prevented the jury from giving proper consideration to mitigating evidence, our standard of review is whether there is a reasonable likelihood that the jury has applied the challenged instruction in a way that prevents the consideration of constitutionally relevant evidence. Boyde v. California, 494 U.S. 370, 380, 110 S.Ct. But this argument also ignores context and relies on an unacknowledged and incorrect premise that the jurors asked to construe the phrases in this capital murder trial were aware of and confused by their use in other contexts. Robinson again cites Jackson, 107 Ohio St.3d 53, where the Ohio Supreme Court held that the trial judge should have informed jurors the victim was a 3yearold child, which would have elicited more informed responses to abstract questions regarding their impartiality. Nor is it evidence he intended to offer a precise, legal definition of the term in his questioning. I want you both to thoroughly explore the attitudes of the jury under Witherspoon. Authorities then discovered human remains of five women. MOUNT VERNON The following is a list of the latest Knox County property transfers from the Knox County Auditors Office from April 1 through April 30, 2023. Young opined that any number of these blows could have been fatal. The district judge instructed the jury that arguments of counsel were not to be considered as evidence and that the jury was to decide defendant's sentence by weighing aggravating circumstances against mitigating circumstances. 300 Kan. at 49. a. No. 284 Kan. at 572. Robinson contends that the district judge erred in denying his motion for mistrial founded on Juror 147's alleged misconduct regarding his use of the Bible. Robinson advances two arguments challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his capital murder convictions. at 2769 (Breyer, J., dissenting). They also found a list of e-mail addresses and passwords, including slavedancer@hotmail.com, written on a sheet of legal paper, along with e-mails confirming Robinson's registration of the slavedancer address on several e-mail servers. His arguments illustrate that the language in the complaint could have been more specific and precise. Booth testified that this genetic profile occurs in only 1 in 6 billion people. 104004101SAC, 2010 WL 2653423, at *3 (D.Kan.2010) (unpublished opinion) (trash placed at the end of the driveway as if awaiting regular pickup not within curtilage). However, the venue instruction was incomplete, inaccurate, and confusing. The bar facing the defendant wishing to prove presumed prejudice from pretrial publicity is extremely high. United States v. McVeigh, 153 F.3d 1166, 1182 (10th Cir.1998), disapproved on other grounds by Hooks v. Ward, 184 F.3d 1206 (10th Cir.1999). The State offered sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that Robinson took Trouten by deception and held her with the specific intent to inflict bodily injury. In reversing the order granting a mistrial, the First Circuit found the district court had employed a legally incorrect presumption that curative instructions would be inadequate after the jury had embarked upon deliberations. Robinson again challenges the ruling on Juror 39 (challenged above as one who would automatically vote for death), claiming she leaned toward a death sentence upon conviction. As with other victims, family members received suspicious correspondence after Lewicka disappeared. From this evidence, one could reasonably infer that Robinson had disposed of Stasi's body in a manner that prevented law enforcement from discovering the corpus delicti. Generally, a statute will operate only prospectively unless the legislature indicates by clear language that it is intended to operate retroactively. 158 (1932); see State v. Anthony, 257 Kan. 1003, 1018, 898 P.2d 1109 (1995) (An essential element of the Sixth Amendment's protection of the right to counsel is that a defendant must be afforded a reasonable opportunity to secure counsel of his or her choosing.). McHenry, 276 Kan. at 525 (noting that ill will has been found in cases where the prosecutor expressed indifference to a court's rulings or engaged in repeated acts of misconduct). In questionnaire responses, Juror 298 said life imprisonment might be preferable if the person is really remorseful and can be rehabilitated. Juror 298 did not foreclose the possibility of a life sentence absent such evidence, however. With this standard in mind, we turn to the analysis of each challenge. Robinson argues Judge Anderson erroneously denied his motion to strike Juror 271 because the juror could not envision any mitigating circumstances justifying a life sentence. See Venters v. Sellers, 293 Kan. 87, 93, 261 P.3d 538 (2011). Later, Juror 69 confirmed he would lean toward a death sentence based on facts in this case but would consider any mitigation. District Attorney Paul Morrison testified that the DNA testing was handled exclusively by the KCMO Lab and he did not give Stettler the 46 reports from the JOCO Lab because they pertained to hair analysis, tire track impression work, and latent print examinations, not DNA testing. The fact of this relationship was corroborated by other evidence at trial, including several e-mails in which they discussed BDS & M; a slave contract signed by Trouten, purportedly governing the terms of their master/slave relationship; and a videotape of the two engaging in BDS & M sex. Cunningham interviewed two staff members at KDOC who had supervised Robinson, and both confirmed he was an exceptional worker. 2518(1)(c) (2012). Courts have characterized this burden of proof as minimal or slight. Robinson had reserved this room for 7 nights under his company's name, Specialty Publications. Robinson claims Judge Anderson applied a more lenient standard to the State's challenges for cause, in violation of his due process rights. Robinson asked Ibarra to have his mother mail several letters from a resort when she returned to Mexico. However, Stettler wanted to review the supporting data and requested the same. 696 F.2d at 955. Moreover, in follow-up questioning from the State, Juror 63 confirmed that, notwithstanding his personal views, he would consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances in arriving at a sentencing decision. [YOUNG]: Are you asking what was the position of the hand? Robinson believes the proper remedy is to reverse one capital conviction and resentence him on the other, reasoning that these convictions might have prejudiced the jury against defendant by creating the impression of more criminal activity on his part than in fact may have been present. To the contrary, we have consistently held that the remedy for multiplicitous convictions in unit of prosecution cases is the reversal of all but one conviction based upon a single unit of prosecution. Cunningham also had no serious concerns about Robinson's history of manipulating women inside prison, particularly Bonner. 366 U.S. at 72728. The fifth and seventh factors were not relevant to the analysis, and the fourth factor was inconclusive at best. 261 Kan. at 113. Robinson said he was in the publication business and needed a corporate apartment for female employees he trained from across the country. Robinsons name surfaced early in the investigation. His operations were interrupted when he was convicted of a nonperson felony and incarcerated at the Western Missouri Correctional Center in Cameron, Missouri. John Edward Robinson and one of his victims, Lisa Stasi. at 772; see United States v. Waters, 786 F.Supp. Nor could he provide a precise date of death but said the decomposition was consistent with the State's theory that they had been murdered 6 years earlier. 214624(e) unconstitutional. More importantly, whether the trial court characterized the DPDU's exit as a discharge or a withdrawal is a factual distinction without a legal difference. Here, the legislature has defined capital murder to include the killing of more than one person in two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or course of conduct. K.S.A. The ruling is fairly supported by the record and consistent with the WittWitherspoon framework. However, after the State explained the presumption of innocence and burden of proof, Juror 69 identified impartiality as the most important trait of a juror and confirmed he could set aside any preconceived opinions and remain fair and impartial. Robinson's argument does not rise above the level of speculation. Wissel said he had called Robinson's business, Equi II. [Citations omitted. He wasnt a faithful husband. Did you ever receive a complaint about F10? We disagree. 6. Juror 202 also said he believed in defendant's right to be presumed innocent. Morgan does not require that the questions at issue be asked. 153 F.3d at 1208. See State v. Whitaker, 255 Kan. 118, 134, 872 P.2d 278 (1994) (argument beyond evidence improper). State v. Kesselring, 279 Kan. 671, 682, 112 P.3d 175 (2005).The court treat[s] the question of whether a case presents a multiple acts issue as one of law over which [it has] unlimited review. State v. King, 299 Kan. 372, 379, 323 P.3d 1277 (2014). See Armstrong, 299 Kan. at 442. Robinson later said the birth mother had decided not to place the child for adoption. Death shall be presumed to have occurred in the county where the body of the victim is found.. Robinson also employed fraud and deceit to ensure Debbie's disability benefits would continue. Thomas' Withdrawal and Second Motion for Continuance. There were also two pencil drawings displayed in the spare bedroom signed John 2000 and the initials JR underneath. Robinson cannot artificially disassociate the preenactment murders from the postenactment murders of the principal victims that constituted parts of defendant's common scheme or course of conduct. Robinson next challenges the admission of State's Exhibits 13 to 16, which were e-mails sent to and from Trouten's friend, Tammi Taylor. [Prosecutor]: Was this the house in Texas? See Goss v. Nelson, 439 F.3d 621, 627 (10th Cir.2006) (jurors qualified where they can set aside personal opinions and decide on evidence). "We were like a second home. We also regard it as significant that Robinson made no effort to voir dire the jurors on this subject prior to the start of the penalty phase, further undermining his appellate challenge. I bet you the Troutens wouldn't agree with that. See State v. Cosby, 293 Kan. 121, 137, 262 P.3d 285 (2011) (prosecutor's rhetorical question whether jury had heard any evidence to contradict the State's position constituted only a general question about the absence of evidence to rebut the State's witnesses, especially given district judge's instruction on burden of proof); McKinney, 272 Kan. at 347 (prosecutors may make inferences from the balance or lack of evidence presented at trial; comment suggesting that defendant failed to prove State's witness was lying was proper argument on lack of evidence where jury instructed properly on burden of proof). Given the similarity between the two cases, Carr offers compelling support for Judge Anderson's rulings. Ross confirms that the written request LCSD executed satisfied the requirements of K.S.A. See, e.g., United States v. Collins, 920 F.2d 619, 626 (10th Cir.1990) (district court may deny a defendant's counsel of choice where attorney unable to provide competent representation). Also, as Judge Anderson explained, conflicts and other matters giving rise to the withdrawal of counsel are not unforeseeable, casting further doubt on the reasonableness of defense counsels' reliance on this division of labor. Yet, researchers have uncovered convincing evidence that, in the past three decades, innocent people have been executed, as well as striking evidence that the death penalty has been wrongly imposed. Several yards beyond this sign, there was a Speed Limit 20 sign. He doesn't care anything about anybody but himself. 222401a. Robinson executed a lease for Box 182 under Bonner's name on January 1, 1994. The timeline of events on March 1 implicated Robinson in Trouten's disappearance. Would you agree that that's his lure of choice? (Emphasis added.). 20302. To understand the nuances of the challenge, a summary of the procedural facts and background is in order. The defense did not express any design or plan to introduce the subject deliberately during the guilt phase. Murder by abuse requires both elements. Nancy began working as the on-site office manager at Santa Barbara Estates in 1997., Robinsons wife Nancy testified that she met Robinson in 1963 in Oak Park, Illinois. Glines met Robinson while working for his wife. He was married to Nancy Robinson, and the couple had four children and lived in the Kansas City area. Morrison testified that Judge McClain said something to the effect that he knew the defendant as a, quote, con man or, quote, shyster, but characterized his comments as very brief and benign. 696 F.2d at 955. From their own observations, jurors may form opinions about a defendant. Booth found two hairs and two fragments in these swabs that were common to Trouten and not Robinson. A short time later, the jury returned a verdict of death on both capital murder counts. Since Marsh, we have clarified that Kansas' statutory scheme does not include a true evidentiary presumption in favor of a life sentence, but instead places the burden on the State at every turn in its attempt to secure a sentence of death. The district judge called each juror independently and inquired into the matter before allowing the parties to make their own inquiry. The remedy we chose was to construe it constitutionally. Instruction No. Lenexa police created a multijurisdictional task force that quickly focused its investigation on Robinson's activities. Juror 184 maintained no contact with the department after resigning from his volunteer position. 1698 (2015); see also United States v. Umana, 750 F.3d 320, 34243 (4th Cir.2014) (no error in denial of challenge of juror who would lean heavily toward death penalty upon conviction where she later agreed to consider both sentencing options and was not irrevocably committed to death sentence); Ramsey v. Bowersox, 149 F.3d 749, 758 (8th Cir.1998) (jurors who leaned toward death upon conviction not substantially impaired where capable of voting for either sentencing option); Gardner v. Norris, 949 F.Supp. Lenexa Police Detective Michael Bussell drove by Robinson's residence 50 to 60 times from March to June 2000, exploring the location, developing strategies for collecting Robinson's trash, and coordinating trash pulls on collection days. As defendant's expert, Dillehay, predicted, the process proved to be a highly effective tool for combating the impact of potentially prejudicial pretrial publicityone that yielded a qualified and impartial jury. The body of the message said Trouten and her dogs had left on the adventure of a lifetime. Remington responded a few minutes later, sharing that she had ended the relationship with her former BDS & M master. Remington received a reply from Trouten's Hotmail account, referring Remington to a new master at eruditemaster@email.com. Remington contacted this new master and began communicating with a man she came to know as Jim Turner. STATE of Kansas, Appellee/Cross-appellant, v. John E. ROBINSON, Sr., Appellant/Cross-appellee. The State presented persuasive forensic and circumstantial evidence that Robinson killed Lewicka at her apartment in Johnson County. at 2759 (Breyer, J., dissenting). In stark contrast, Morrison made the comment at issue here in the context of rehabilitating the State's evidence. In the back of the locker, officers saw three barrels. In reviewing presumed prejudice claims, we apply a mixed standard of review, examining the trial court's findings of fact for substantial competent evidence and the ultimate legal conclusion drawn from the factswhether to presume prejudicede novo. Longoria, 301 Kan. at 506. The couple had a whirlwind romance, and married several months after they met. Appx. With respect to deterrence, decades of studies have been unable to establish reliable statistical evidence to prove one way or the other whether capital punishment deters potential killers. Well, didn't you know that he was a suspect back in the mid '80s in the disappearance of a woman and little girl? See Kleypas, 272 Kan. at 970 (trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a recall or inquiry where juror quoted Biblical passage during penalty phase deliberations). 20301a requires judges of the district court to exercise their powers within the territorial boundaries of their judicial districts. We reversed the district court, stating: The risk need not be contemporaneous with the homicide, but it must occur in the course of committing the charged murder. Robinson had also rekindled his relationship with Aleisha Cox earlier in 1999. On January 8, Stasi dropped Tiffany off at Klingensmith's home and told her she had met a man named John Osborne, who was going to help her get a job and finish her GED. Thus, Dillehay said such questions produce a lack of response variance sought in reliable questionnaires. See Carr, 300 Kan. at 75 (reviewing courts properly resistant to second-guessing impartiality where trial judge's appraisal influenced by demeanor and other factors not apparent from the transcript); Skilling v. United States, 561 U.S. 358, 38687, 130 S.Ct. Thompson parked across the street from Martinez' house; and when Martinez and Wornkey arrived home, Thompson watched as Gleason approached Wornkey's Jeep and shot and killed Wornkey, wounding Martinez. See In re Estate of Farr, 274 Kan. 51, 68, 49 P.3d 415 (2002) ( It is the factfinder's function to determine the weight and credibility of the witnesses. Robinson was devastated by the loss of his brother and shattered by the false accusations lodged by his mother. Here, the application and affidavit did just that, establishing law enforcement's need for a wiretap and confirming that it was not an option of first resort. The amendment was a legislative response to Sodders designed to allow law enforcement officers of any jurisdiction within Johnson County or Sedgwick County to exercise their powers as law enforcement officers in any area within the respective county when executing a search warrant. Vrabel, 301 Kan. at 807; see State v. Mendez, 275 Kan. 412, 419, 66 P.3d 811 (2003) (1994 legislative amendment clearly authorize[s] city police officers in Johnson County to execute search warrants countywide). In hopes of avoiding criminal prosecution, Robinson prepared four sham affidavits, all purportedly authored by vendors claiming the invoices were genuine. As Robinson had requested, she brought her own sex toys along for the trip. denied 296 Kan. 1136 (2013); see State v. Dale, 293 Kan. 660, 663, 267 P.3d 743 (2011) (best evidence rule applies only when evidence offered to prove content of a writing).