Justia Constitutional Law Opinion Summaries

A jury convicted Defendant of two alternative counts of capital murder based on either the rape or the kidnapping of eight-year-old A.I., an alternative count of premeditated first-degree murder, and rape. The Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment with the exception of Defendant’s rape conviction, which the court reversed. The court held (1) there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s determination that Defendant premeditated A.I.’s killing; (2) prosecutorial error in closing argument did not require reversal; (3) the district court did not err in denying Defendant’s motion to suppress his confession; (4) there was no error in the omission of additional unanimity language in the jury instructions; and (5) because rape is an element of Defendant’s conviction for capital murder, he is punished for it to the extent the capital conviction stands. View "State v. Davis" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of distribution of methamphetamine. Defendant appealed, arguing that an audio recording of a nontestifying informant’s statements were improperly admitted into evidence because the informant’s statements were testimonial and thus violated Defendant’s right to confront witnesses under the Sixth Amendment and Crawford v. Washington. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that, under the circumstances, the informant’s statements were not testimonial in nature. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the informant’s statements qualified as testimonial, but the error in admitting the informant’s testimonial evidence was harmless. View "State v. Williams" on Justia Law

Adam Pener was the trustee and personal representative of a trust and estate that owned property condemned by the Kansas Department of Transportation for a highway improvement project. The district court found the damages from the taking were $295,702. Defendant appealed, arguing (1) the district court gave insufficient weight to the replacement value for a fence and to a comparable sale when it calculated the property’s value, and (2) the district court should have awarded him attorney fees and expenses. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the compensation award was supported by substantial evidence; and (2) the district court did not err in denying attorney fees and expenses. View "Pener v. King" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with driving under the influence and unlawful exhibition of speed. Defendant moved to suppress the evidence of his driving under the influence, arguing that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct the traffic stop. The district court denied the motion and convicted Defendant. The court of appeals reversed, concluding (1) Kan. Stat. Ann. 8-1565, which prohibits an unlawful “exhibition of speed or acceleration,” was unconstitutionally vague and indefinite, and the good faith exception was inapplicable; and (2) alternatively, the officer lacked reasonable suspicion to conduct a traffic stop. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the court of appeals’ decision that the district court erroneously denied the motion to suppress on the grounds that reasonable suspicion did not exist to conduct the traffic stop; (2) summarily vacated the court of appeals’ determination that section 8-1565 is unconstitutionally vague as applied to Defendant; and (3) reversed Defendant’s convictions and vacated his sentences and fines. View "State v. Sharp" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. The district court imposed a hard fifty sentence for first-degree murder under Kan. Stat. Ann. 21-4635 without fact-finding by the jury. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions but vacated his hard fifty sentence, holding that Defendant was sentenced in violation of the Sixth Amendment because the district court, rather than the jury, found the existence of aggravating factors by a preponderance of the evidence, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, in violation of Alleyne v. United States. Remanded for resentencing. View "State v. Mattox" on Justia Law

After a jury-waived trial, Defendant was convicted of criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The court of appeals affirmed. Defendant appealed, raising three arguments. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) with regarding to Defendant’s first and third issues, the court of appeals reached the correct conclusions; and (2) Defendant’s argument that his firearm should have been suppressed as evidence because it was obtained through an illegal search of his car was without merit because the search of Defendant’s car was legal under the exigent circumstances plus probable clause exception to the search warrant requirement. View "State v. Howard" on Justia Law

In 2010, Plaintiffs filed an action claiming that the State violated Kan. Const. art. VI, 6(b) by inequitably and inadequately funding K-12 public education. A three-judge panel determined that, through the School District Finance and Quality Performance Act (SDFQPA), the State had inequitably and inadequately funded education in violation of Article 6. On appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed the panel on equity but determined that the panel did not apply the correct standard in concluding that the State violated the adequacy component. On remand, the panel declared the financing under the SDFQPA and the subsequently enacted Classroom Learning Assuring Student Success Act (CLASS), which replaced the SDFQPA, to be constitutionally inadequate. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the panel correctly found that the financing system is constitutionally inadequate. As a remedy, the Court stayed the issuance of today’s mandate and ordered that, by June 30, 2017, the State must demonstrate that any K-12 public education financing system the legislature enacts is capable of meeting the adequacy requirements of Article 6. Otherwise, a lifting of the stay of today’s mandate will mean that the State’s education financing system is constitutionally invalid and therefore void. View "Gannon v. State" on Justia Law

The one-subject rule in Article 2, Section 16 of the Kansas Constitution provides that “[n]o bill shall contain more than one subject, except appropriation bills an bills for revision or codification of statutes.” At issue in this case was whether 2014 Senate Substitute for House Bill No. 2506 violates the one-subject rule. Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) argued that the bill violates the one-subject rule because it contains both appropriations and substantive general legislation. The district court dismissed the complaint, concluding that KNEA failed to state a claim as a matter of law because H.B. 2506 did not violate Article 2, Section 16. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) KNEA had standing to bring this lawsuit, and its claim is ripe; (2) Article 2, Section 16 does not forbid combining appropriations and general legislation into one bill, provided that all provisions of that bill address the same subject; and (3) H.B. 2506’s provisions relate to one subject. View "Kansas National Education Ass’n v. State" on Justia Law

Defendant was charged with possession of methamphetamine after the vehicle in which he was a passenger was detained for a traffic stop and a law enforcement officer conducted searches of Defendant and his effects, including a cigarette package in which methamphetamine was found. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the evidence was obtained during an unlawful warrantless search. The district court denied the motion. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that the final search of the cigarette package was consensual and sufficiently attenuated from an earlier unlawful pat-down of Defendant. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) under the totality of the circumstances of this case, the nature of Defendant’s unlawful seizure rendered his consent to the search of the cigarette package involuntary and, therefore, invalid; and (2) therefore, the district court erred in refusing to suppress the evidence seized from the cigarette package. View "State v. Cleverly" on Justia Law

The State sought to have Todd Ellison, a convicted sex offender, involuntarily committed under the Kansas Sexually Violent Predator Act. Under the Act, Ellison was entitled to a jury trial during which the State must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Ellison, however, waited in jail for more than four years without a trial. The district court concluded that the delay violated Ellison’s due process rights, dismissed the action, and ordered Ellison released. A court of appeals panel reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings to more fully address the due process issue. The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals and affirmed the order of release, holding (1) the district court did not err when it applied Barker v. Wingo to Ellison’s due process claim; and (2) the court of appeals panel erred when it concluded that the district court failed to render adequate factual findings and incorrectly based its release order solely on the length of delay. View "In re Care & Treatment of Ellison" on Justia Law