State v. Paulson

1

NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 108,795

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellee,

v.

MICHAEL ANDREW PAULSON,
Appellant.


MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Saline District Court; RENE S. YOUNG, judge. Opinion filed October 23, 2015.
Affirmed.

Richard Ney, of Ney & Adams, of Wichita, for appellant.

Christina Trocheck, assistant county attorney, Ellen Mitchell, county attorney, and Derek
Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before SCHROEDER, P.J., ATCHESON and BRUNS, JJ.

ATCHESON, J.: Defendant Michael Andrew Paulson suspected his wife Valerie of
having an affair. As they were in the process of separating—Paulson had begun moving
out of their home—he stabbed Valerie to death and in the same incident seriously
wounded their sister-in-law. A Saline County District Court jury convicted Paulson of
second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder at the conclusion of a 2-week
trial. On appeal, Paulson has claimed an array of defects in the trial. Although Paulson
received something less than a perfect trial, the actual deficiencies did not deprive him of
a fair trial. We, therefore, affirm the convictions. See State v. Cruz, 297 Kan. 1048, 1075,
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307 P.3d 199 (2013) ("As we have recognized for decades, '[a] defendant is entitled to a
fair trial but not a perfect one[.]'") (quoting State v. Bly, 215 Kan. 168, 178, 523 P.2d 397
[1974]).

Paulson also challenges the district court's postconviction orders requiring him to
reimburse about $8,200 in attorney fees for the appointed lawyer who represented him
through the preliminary hearing and to pay about $18,000 in restitution to the Kansas
Crime Victims Fund, his sister-in-law. Paulson has not shown those orders to be
improper. So we affirm them, as well.

The parties are familiar with the lengthy pretrial proceedings and the extensive
trial evidence generated in this case. We see little purpose in cataloguing that history
simply for the sake of doing so. We extract some factual circumstances for context and
then add pertinent facts as we discuss each of the points Paulson has raised on appeal.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Paulson has never disputed that he killed Valerie and seriously injured Jessie
Putman, his sister-in-law. The State charged Paulson with intentional first-degree murder
for killing Valerie and attempted intentional first-degree murder for the injuries to
Putman. The incident took place on July 6, 2010, meaning the substantive criminal law in
effect then governs rather than the revised criminal code that went into effect the
following year.

At trial, the case focused on Paulson's state of mind and whether he possessed the
requisite criminal purpose or intent to be found guilty. Both the State and Paulson
presented testimony from mental health experts for the jurors' consideration. The district
court instructed the jurors only on intentional second-degree murder and attempted
intentional second-degree murder as lesser included offenses—a decision Paulson has
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challenged on appeal. The district court also instructed the jurors they could find Paulson
not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect or unqualifiedly not guilty. As we noted,
the jurors convicted Paulson of the lesser offenses. The district court imposed sentences
of 165 months for the killing of Valerie and 61 months for the attack on Putman to be
served consecutively, yielding a controlling 226-month term of incarceration followed by
postrelease supervision.

Valerie and Paulson had been married for 20 years and had two sons, Austin and
Nathan, who were 14 and 10 years old when their father killed their mother. Valerie had a
daughter, Kyrsten, from an earlier marriage. Paulson had adopted Kyrsten, and she
referred to him as her father. Valerie home-schooled the children and did not have
outside employment. Paulson worked as a field representative for a private company, a
job requiring him to travel frequently.

The trial evidence showed that in 2007 or 2008, Valerie had an affair with a man
who had worked with Paulson. She accumulated roughly $50,000 in credit card debt
during that time. The couple separated briefly then, sought marriage counseling, and
reconciled. Paulson took control of the family finances. They sold their home in
Lindsborg and purchased a smaller, less expensive house in a nearby community. The
marital friction continued.

Paulson suspected Valerie was having another affair. The State's theory of the case
had Paulson, armed with a knife, going to the family home to kill Valerie when she
returned—a premeditated murder. The prosecutor suggested Paulson's motive lay, at least
in part, in the family's deep-seated, conservative religious views in which divorce was
anathema. Paulson's explanation at trial had him returning to the family home and hiding
upstairs to discover information Valerie might reveal either confirming or refuting his
suspicion about the new affair. Paulson did not testify. For the most part, the jurors heard
his version of the attack through his out-of-court conversations with the psychologist who
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testified at trial as a key part of the defense case. According to that account, Paulson
overheard a conversation between Valerie and Putman and a cell phone call between
Valerie and her putative lover that in his mind confirmed the affair. But he never
described the details of the conversation or of the phone call. Paulson said upon
confirming the affair, he lost control, stormed down the stairs, apparently picked up a
knife in the kitchen, and attacked Valerie and Putman. As the psychologist recounted
Paulson's version, everything appeared to him in "flashes" and he did not have a
recollection of stabbing either Valerie or Putman.

Putman testified that she and Valerie arrived at the house in the early evening.
Valerie immediately noticed that in some of the family photographs Paulson had pasted
pictures of her ex-husband or the man with whom she had earlier had an affair over his
own face. Putman looked around to see if Paulson was there but didn't find him. Putman
said she and Valerie began straightening up the house and cleaning the kitchen.
According to Putman, Valerie spoke briefly about the man with whom Paulson suspected
she was then involved. But Putman said the conversation did not relate to the nature of
the relationship. Valerie told her the man was going to pay for her divorce. Putman told
the jurors she stepped away and did not hear what Valerie said to the man during the cell
phone call.

Putman testified she went out the back door to make a call on her cell phone. As
she looked back inside, she saw Paulson run from the dining room, through the kitchen,
and toward the back bedroom. Putman testified she did not see Paulson pick up anything
as he ran toward the bedroom. She then heard Valerie screaming, "Stop, no, Andy, oh
[G]od, no, stop." Putman testified she immediately tried to call 911, but the call didn't go
through. So she went back inside, encountering Paulson in the kitchen. Paulson
immediately stabbed Putman in the abdomen. Putman fled into the backyard. Paulson
followed. He continued to stab her in the chest until the two fell into the yard. He then
stabbed her in the back. But, as they struggled, Paulson stopped the attack and went back
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into the house. Putman then succeeded in calling 911 on her phone. As she pleaded for
help, Paulson returned, grabbed her cell phone, and began stabbing her again. Putman
asked him why he attacked her, and Paulson replied: "[Y]ou're the reason we're getting
divorced, you're the reason she is leaving me." She told Paulson that she had never done
anything to him. At that point, Paulson stopped and went into the house again. Putman
made it to her car and drove away. Putman testified she was struggling to breathe and
remain conscious, so she pulled into the parking lot of a building supply store and cried
out for help. As store employees called for an ambulance, Putman told an off-duty law
enforcement officer at the store that Paulson had stabbed her. Putman was hospitalized
for multiple stab wounds to her arms and torso.

When law enforcement officers arrived at the home, Paulson had already fled.
They found Valerie's body in the bathtub of the downstairs bathroom. A forensic
pathologist later identified 18 stab wounds, including 6 to Valerie's chest, 7 to the right
side of her torso, and defensive injuries to hands and arms.

After driving away from the home, Paulson called Kyrsten. She described him as
crying very hard and sounding "out of it." He told Kyrsten he had killed Valerie and
intended to visit his parents to say goodbye to them. Paulson then asked to speak to
Austin and Nathan and told Austin that Valerie and Putnam were dead. As Paulson talked
to his sons, Kyrsten called 911 and then tried to reach the family's minister.

The morning after the attack, Paulson was arrested at a café in Bennington, a little
town just over 25 miles away. An officer who participated in the arrest testified that
Paulson said his wife was having an affair and was going to take his children. But
Paulson did not otherwise say anything about the attack on Valerie and Putman. The
officer described Paulson as calm and cooperative.


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LEGAL ANALYSIS

Failure to Instruct on Voluntary Manslaughter

Paulson contends the district court erred in not instructing the jurors they could
consider voluntary manslaughter and attempted voluntary manslaughter as lesser
included offenses. A district court is obligated to instruct on a lesser offense if a jury
reasonably could return such a verdict, looking at the evidence in a light favoring the
defendant. K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 22-3414(3); State v. Simmons, 295 Kan. 171, 176-77, 283
P.3d 212 (2012). We examine the district court's failure to give a jury instruction through
a sequential analysis using the following steps: (1) reviewability considering
preservation of the issue at trial and jurisdiction; (2) legal appropriateness of the
instruction; (3) factual support in the evidence for the instruction; and (4) harmlessness of
any actual error. State v. Brown, 300 Kan. 542, 554-55, 331 P.3d 781 (2014); State v.
Plummer, 295 Kan. 156, Syl. ¶ 1, 283 P.3d 202 (2012).

Tracking those requirements, Paulson plainly preserved the issue for appellate
review. His lawyer requested jury instructions on voluntary manslaughter and attempted
voluntary manslaughter based on heat of passion. The propriety of the instructions was
argued at length to the district court. And Paulson's lawyer objected to the district court's
ultimate determination not to give the instructions.

At the time Paulson killed Valerie and injured Putman, the crime of voluntary
manslaughter included "the intentional killing of a human being committed . . . [u]pon a
sudden quarrel or in the heat of passion." K.S.A. 21-3403(a). And the crime amounted to
a lesser degree of intentional first-degree murder. State v. Gallegos, 286 Kan. 869, 873-
75, 190 P.3d 226 (2008). The Kansas Supreme Court has also recognized attempted heat-
of-passion voluntary manslaughter to be a valid crime consistent with the elements of the
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completed offense outlined in K.S.A. 21-3403. State v. Gutierrez, 285 Kan. 332, 344, 172
P.3d 18 (2007). The requested instructions, therefore, were legally appropriate.

Factual appropriateness is another matter, and Paulson's argument falters there.
Heat of passion requires an emotional stimulus of such magnitude to prompt an ordinary
person to kill spontaneously and, thus, without premeditation or specific intent. State v.
Bailey, 256 Kan. 872, 886, 889 P.2d 738 (1995) (The stimulus must cause "'an ordinary
man to lose control of his actions and his reason.'"); State v. McClanahan, 254 Kan. 104,
114, 865 P.2d 1021 (1993) (heat of passion entails "'any intense or vehement emotional
excitement of the kind prompting violent and aggressive action'"). The furor effectively
mitigates the calculation and evil-mindedness required for murder with a hot-blooded
loss of reason and control—a mental state the law finds less blameworthy. But the
requisite stimulus must be sudden and extreme. Tribulations, annoyances, and vexations
don't clear that formidable barrier. The mental disintegration required for heat of passion
goes beyond mere upset or anger. The measure is an objective one, considering what
would unhinge "an ordinary person." State v. Follin, 263 Kan. 28, Syl. ¶ 2, 947 P.2d 8
(1997). So a defendant's particular susceptibility to even extreme emotional distress in
some circumstances would not be a consideration in gauging the appropriateness of an
instruction on voluntary manslaughter. 263 Kan. at 33-34.

To warrant a jury instruction on a lesser offense, a defendant must point to record
evidence that, if believed, would permit jurors to return a guilty verdict on that offense.
State v. Hill, 290 Kan. 339, 355-56, 228 P.3d 1027 (2010). The parties and the district
court have characterized the question as whether there was sufficient "legal provocation"
to justify an instruction on heat-of-passion voluntary manslaughter.

In framing the issue that way, the parties and the district court have, in our view,
incorrectly treated it as bearing on the legal appropriateness of the instruction rather than
on factual appropriateness. A legally inappropriate instruction would lack relevance to
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the contested issues in a case under any factual scenario. For example, compulsion is not
a defense to murder. K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 21-5206(a). So even if the evidence indicated
such coercion, no instruction should be given because it would be legally inappropriate.
Here, however, an instruction on voluntary manslaughter would be legally appropriate as
a lesser degree of criminal homicide. The question is whether the facts—what has been
characterized as the "legal provocation"—would justify the instruction. If the evidence
does not rise to that level, then the instruction would be factually inappropriate. In this
case, the pigeonhole makes no real difference to the analysis of appropriateness.

Based on the record evidence, an instruction on voluntary manslaughter was
factually inappropriate because the circumstances immediately preceding Paulson's attack
on Valerie and Putman did not entail the sort of exceptional stimuli required. Paulson did
not identify particular statements in the conversation between Valerie and Putman that
would satisfy that standard. Putman's version of the conversation did not. Paulson
likewise could recount nothing specific from the telephone call between Valerie and the
man with whom he suspected she was having an affair. At best, the evidence simply
showed that in some undefined, generic way those discussions confirmed for Paulson that
Valerie had been seeing someone else. The information may have been disappointing,
disturbing, and even distressing to Paulson. But that is not the test. Oral confirmation of a
suspected adulterous relationship, without something more, does not induce in a
reasonable person a complete loss of control accompanied by vehement emotion keying
the unchecked urge to kill so as to mitigate a murderous attack. And that is the test.

The parties have pointed us to no factually comparable Kansas cases. But modern
case authority commonly finds no mitigation in those circumstances. People v. Chevalier,
131 Ill. 2d 66, 75-76, 544 N.E.2d 942 (1989) (rejecting argument "that a confession of
adultery by a spouse is legally adequate provocation" for voluntary manslaughter);
Commonwealth v. Mercado, 452 Mass. 662, 671-73, 896 N.E.2d 1262 (2008) (oral
confirmation of suspected affair not "'sudden discovery'" and, thus, insufficient to
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mitigate murder); State v. Terrion, No. 25368, 2011 WL 3300692, at *3-4 (Ohio App.
2011); State v. Cooley, 342 S.C. 63, 68, 536 S.E.2d 666 (2000); see LaFave, 2 Subst.
Crim. Law § 15.2(b)(6) (2d ed. 2003) ("[A] sudden confession of adultery by a wife . . .
has sometimes been held to constitute a provocation[.]"). That view, however, is not
universal. Villella v. State, 833 So. 2d 192, 196-97 (Fla. Dist. App. 2002) (wife's
confirmation of affair to husband, who had suspected adulterous relationship, properly
considered as evidence mitigating murder charge).

Paulson argues State v. Johnson, 290 Kan. 1038, 236 P.3d 517 (2010), as
analogous authority. But the analogy is, at best, strained. In that case, Johnson suspected
his common-law wife of having an affair with another man. Their relationship had been
rocky for some time. A coworker suggested to Johnson that his suspicion was correct.
Johnson left work early, returned home, and killed his wife with a shotgun. He turned
himself in to the police. In Johnson's version of the shooting, he was contemplating
suicide. He and his wife talked about their deteriorating relationship and the likelihood
they would separate. They agreed to meet with his therapist that evening. Then, according
to Johnson, his wife stated she needed "'closure'" and confirmed she had been involved
with another man. 290 Kan. at 1040. Johnson said he told his wife he didn't want to hear
any more. But she identified her lover and began to describe the details of their
assignations. According to Johnson, everything went black. Then, in response to a noise
at the front door, he opened his eyes, looked around, and saw his wife lying dead on the
floor with a shotgun wound to her chest.

The State charged Johnson with premeditated first-degree murder. At trial, the
district court instructed the jurors on voluntary manslaughter based on heat of passion but
specifically declined to instruct on a sudden quarrel. The jury convicted Johnson as
charged, and his sole point on appeal was the failure to instruct on sudden quarrel as an
alternative basis for voluntary manslaughter. The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed for two
reasons. The district court correctly concluded that, even on Johnson's version of the
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events, there was no evidence of a sudden quarrel. 290 Kan. at 1048. Moreover, the
instruction defining what constitutes heat of passion was broad enough to encompass a
spontaneous, vehement argument, so the omission of language specifically mentioning a
sudden quarrel would not have been prejudicial. 290 Kan. at 1048.

Paulson invites us to see in Johnson authority for the proposition that confirmation
of an adulterous affair is sufficient emotional stimulus to require instructing a jury on
heat-of-passion voluntary manslaughter. We decline the invitation. The issue was not
before the court in Johnson, and nothing in the decision even implicitly endorses what
Paulson would have us draw from it. The Johnson court merely assumed (without
deciding) that a jury instruction on heat-of-passion voluntary manslaughter was legally
and factually proper. See 290 Kan. at 1044-48. Given that assumption and the content of
the instruction, Johnson had identified no prejudice in omitting language on sudden
quarrel. More significantly, Johnson is distinguishable on the material facts. Not only did
Johnson's wife confirm his suspicion about her affair, she started recounting intimate
details of the relationship despite his plea that she not. According to Johnson, that's when
he spun out of control. Paulson presented no comparable evidence and could not recall
any specifics of the conversations he overheard between Valerie and her paramour or
Putman.

Paulson also cites three cases from other states to support his claim for a voluntary
manslaughter instruction. But those cases do not help him appreciably. In Commonwealth
v. Schnopps, 383 Mass. 178, 417 N.E.2d 1213 (1981), the Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court reversed Schnopps' murder conviction in the shooting of his estranged
wife and found the trial judge erred in failing to instruct on voluntary manslaughter given
the provocative statements she made to Schnopps immediately before her death. The
marriage was foundering. Schnopps' wife had moved out of the house. Schnopps asked
her to come over so they could discuss their deteriorating relationship. He later said he
sought to persuade his wife to reconcile. The discussion, however, escalated into an
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argument. According to Schnopps, his wife declared she wanted a divorce in which she
intended to get custody of their children and to take all of their possessions leaving him
with nothing. Again, according to Schnopps, she then pointed to her pubic area and said,
"'You will never touch this again, because I have got something bigger and better for it.'"
383 Mass. at 180. Schnopps contended "his mind went blank." 383 Mass. At 180. He
then grabbed a pistol he had purchased the day before and shot both his wife and himself.
At trial, Schnopps submitted he first learned of his wife's adulterous relationship during
the argument. Circumstantial evidence indicated Schnopps, at the very least, suspected an
affair well before then. As we have indicated, the Massachusetts courts recognize that "a
sudden admission of adultery" may be "sufficient evidence of provocation" to warrant an
instruction on heat-of-passion voluntary manslaughter. 383 Mass. at 181. Considering
that standard in light of the trial record, the court held that the jurors should have been
instructed on voluntary manslaughter and allowed to resolve the apparent conflict
between Schnopps' testimony of suddenly revealed adultery and the circumstantial
evidence indicating otherwise. 383 Mass. at 181-82.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has since described its decision in
Schnopps as a "narrow" one based on its facts. Commonwealth v. Dustin, 391 Mass. 481,
487, 462 N.E.2d 108 (1984). Even under the legal rule recognized in Massachusetts,
Paulson offered no evidence supporting a sudden revelation of adultery. He contends
something that was said, though he apparently couldn't recount what, confirmed his
suspicion Valerie was having an affair. The evidence was undisputed that Paulson
suspected the affair before he entered the house. So in that regard, the record would not
have warranted giving a voluntary manslaughter instruction under the Massachusetts
standard. Moreover, whatever the information imparted to Paulson, it lacked the
incendiary character of the statements Schnopps ascribed to his wife.

In Haley v. State, 123 Miss. 87, 85 So. 129 (1920), Haley fatally shot Melvin 2
days after his wife told him she had a sexual relationship with Melvin and a day after she
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said Melvin had been boasting around town about carrying on with Haley's adult
daughter from a previous marriage. Haley argued temporary insanity attributable to how
he reacted to the revelations given his already high-strung nature. The jurors rejected the
State's pitch for murder and Haley's pitch for insanity—they convicted on voluntary
manslaughter. On appeal, the court found the dual disclosures Haley's wife made to him
sufficient to support the verdict based on heat of passion. The court also held the lapse of
time between the revelations and the shooting posed a question for the jurors in
considering whether there had been a cooling off period dissipating the loss of control
required for voluntary manslaughter. 123 Miss. at 104-07. In Haley, the emotional
stimulus was greater than what Paulson could demonstrate, particularly in light of social
mores a century ago.

Even more readily distinguishable is Bays v. The State, 50 Tex. Crim. 548, 552, 99
S.W. 561 (1907), in which Bays' wife told him that McLeroy, his brother-in-law, "had
come to her bed and threatened to cut her throat if she did not submit" and that so
threatened, she did. Bays then went to the house where McLeroy was staying and fatally
shot him. Earlier that day, Bays' grandmother suggested to him that something seemed
wrong between his wife and McLeroy, but she offered no further explanation. The
appellate court held that the jury should have been instructed on voluntary manslaughter
and reversed Bays' conviction for murder. 50 Tex. Crim. At 552. The emotional stimulus
was the admission of Bays' wife that his brother-in-law had recently raped her.

To reiterate, we find the trial evidence taken favorably to Paulson did not factually
support a jury instruction on heat-of-passion voluntary manslaughter. The record does not
portray the sort of overwhelming emotional stimulus that would both cause an ordinary
person to lose any sense of control and precipitate a concomitant homicidal rage or fury.

The district court, however, declined to instruct on voluntary manslaughter on the
notion that "mere words" cannot, as a matter of law, sufficiently enflame the emotions to
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mitigate an otherwise intentional killing. The Kansas appellate courts have said a
sufficient emotional stimulus must go beyond "mere words or gestures." State v. Brown,
285 Kan. 261, 301, 173 P.3d 612 (2007); McClanahan, 254 Kan. at 114. But that is really
a shorthand version of the actual rule: "Mere words or gestures, however offensive, do
not constitute legally sufficient provocation for a finding of voluntary manslaughter."
State v. Hayes, 299 Kan. 861, 866, 327 P.3d 414 (2014); State v. Guebara, 236 Kan. 791,
797, 696 P.2d 381 (1985) (stating rule using phrase "however insulting"). The standard,
thus, excludes words that amount to insults or epithets rather than verbal descriptions of
factual circumstances that could induce heat of passion. See Mercado, 452 Mass. at 671
(words may be sufficient emotional stimulus when they "convey inflammatory
information to the defendant"); 2 Subst. Crim. Law § 15.2(b)(6) (noting trend in caselaw
recognizing that words conveying information of a fact that would constitute provocation
supporting manslaughter may themselves be sufficient). Thus, one spouse's graphic
description of sexual encounters with a lover conveyed to the other spouse, though "mere
words," would entail the sort of circumstance likely creating a jury question on voluntary
manslaughter, especially if the communication were revelatory rather than confirmatory
and were conveyed in a taunting or provocative manner. 2 Subst. Crim. Law § 15.2(b)(6).
Although the district court misconstrued Kansas law applicable to voluntary
manslaughter, it reached the correct result given the trial evidence. We may affirm that
result based on another legally sufficient reason. State v. Garcia-Barron, 50 Kan. App. 2d
500, 506-07, 329 P.3d 1247 (2014).

State's Closing Argument

Paulson alleges the prosecutor made numerous improper statements to the jurors
during closing argument. Although the prosecutor did overstep in arguing the case, the
district court sustained objections to some of the comments, substantially mitigating
potential prejudice. As we explain, the problems with the argument were not so severe
they deprived Paulson of a fair trial.
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Kansas courts use a well-recognized, two-step test for measuring the impropriety
of closing arguments in criminal cases:

"'First, the appellate court must decide whether the comments fall outside the wide
latitude afforded a prosecutor in discussing the evidence and the law. Second, if the
prosecutor has exceeded those bounds, the appellate court must determine whether the
improper comments constitute plain error; that is, whether the statements prejudiced the
jury to the extent the defendant was denied a fair trial. State v. McReynolds, 288 Kan.
318, 323, 202 P.3d 658 (2009) (outlining mode of analysis); see State v. King, 288 Kan.
333, 351, 204 P.3d 585 (2009) (noting considerable range permitted advocates, including
prosecutor, in arguing their causes in jury summations).'" State v. Franco, 49 Kan. App.
2d 924, 938, 319 P.3d 551 (2014) (quoting State v. Schreiner, 46 Kan. App. 2d 778, 793-
94, 264 P.3d 1033 [2011], rev. denied 296 Kan. 1135 [2013]).

If the argument falls outside what is proper, the courts then look at three factors to
assess the degree of prejudice:

"'(1) whether the misconduct was gross and flagrant; (2) whether the misconduct showed
ill will on the prosecutor's part; and (3) whether the evidence was of such a direct and
overwhelming nature that the misconduct would likely have had little weight in the minds
of jurors. None of these three factors is individually controlling. Moreover, the third
factor may not override the first two factors unless the harmless error tests of both K.S.A.
60-261 [refusal to grant new trial is inconsistent with substantial justice] and Chapman v.
California, 386 U.S. 18, [22-24,] 17 L. Ed. 2d 705, 87 S. Ct. 824 (1967) [conclusion
beyond a reasonable doubt that the error . . . changed the result of the trial], have been
met. [Citations omitted.]'" State v. McReynolds, 288 Kan. 318, 323, 202 P.3d 658 (2009).

The Kansas Supreme Court has recently reiterated this test. See State v. Barber, 302 Kan.
367, 378-79, 353 P.3d 1108 (2015); State v. De La Torre, 300 Kan. 591, 608, 331 P.3d
815 (2014).

15

•Paulson complains that the prosecutor argued Valerie denied having an affair
perhaps because she feared him. Paulson contends there was no evidence to support the
idea that the denial was the result of fear. During the State's closing argument, Paulson
objected to this statement, and the district court sustained the objection. There was some
evidence, including testimony from Kyrsten, that Paulson had become angry with and
verbally abusive of Valerie in the past when confronting her about marital infidelity.

For purposes of analyzing the issue, we assume without deciding that the
prosecutor's suggestion of fearfulness ventured from the realm of permissible inference
into the realm of unsupported speculation. The argument doesn't appear gross or flagrant
or the product of ill will. The prosecutor did not repeat the inference. Nor was the point
wholly divorced from the evidence. The district court's ruling sustaining the objection
avoided material prejudice to Paulson. See State v. Williams, 299 Kan. 509, 560, 324
P.3d 1078 (2014) ("appellate courts presume that the jury followed the [district] court's
admonition").

•Paulson contends the prosecutor impermissibly characterized a document taken
from his computer as reflecting his personal views rather than as a lesson prepared for a
church Bible study class. The 1-page typed document entitled "Personal Victory – Living
by Principle" was admitted as part of the State's case. Written in the first person singular,
the document describes briefly the role of God, religion, and the church in various
matters including marriage. The document, in part, states: "Divorce is not an option,
unless she cheats, and then remarriage is not an option—better work it out!" It adds: "If
she leaves in wickedness, maybe God will kill her." The evidence indicated the document
was prepared long before Valerie's death.

The evidence showed Paulson to have been very active in his church. Consistent
with the church's tenets, Paulson was portrayed as believing divorce to be sinful. One of
the State's themes cast Paulson as having resorted to murder as a way out of his marriage
16

to Valerie. And the prosecutor argued "Personal Victory – Living by Principle" supported
that motive. See State v. Carapezza, 286 Kan. 992, 999, 191 P.3d 256 (2008) (The State
may present evidence establishing motive, even though motive is not an element of the
charged crime.). The defense, however, described the document as an outline for a Bible
class and nothing more.

The document itself might fairly be characterized as ambiguous in that respect. It
could be a personal statement of religious belief. It could be a lesson plan. Or it easily
might be a combination, especially on the notion that Paulson would draw on his personal
religious views in shaping the content of a Bible lesson he intended to teach. Regardless
of the way the parties sought to label the document, Paulson apparently composed it on
his computer and then retained it.

Paulson objected to the prosecutor's argument as lacking a factual foundation. The
district court did not directly rule on the objection but told the jurors to disregard
statements of counsel unsupported in the evidence, reiterating part of one of the written
instructions.

Under the circumstances, we do not see the argument as going beyond a fair
inference from the evidence. After all, Paulson wrote in it the first person, thus indicating
a direct personal connection to the content. And while that might have been nothing more
than a rhetorical device, a reader could reasonably conclude otherwise. The prosecutor
properly could point out as much to the jurors. Even if the argument overstepped the
evidence, the prosecutor's point was to show a possible motive, and that motive, in turn,
primarily supported the element of premeditation necessary to convict Paulson of
intentional first-degree murder. That is, Paulson plotted, however briefly, to kill his wife
because he couldn't divorce her. But the jury acquitted Paulson of first-degree murder. So
if there were any unfair prejudice, it must have been minimal.

17

•In her closing argument, the prosecutor pointed out the evidence showed Paulson
spent much of the night before his attack on Valerie and Putman praying. The prosecutor
then asked rhetorically if Paulson were praying for God to kill his wife. Paulson objected
to the comment, and the district court sustained the objection. There was trial evidence,
albeit disputed, that Paulson had told Valerie he had prayed that God kill her. We assume
the argument to be improper, though grounded in the record, given its rather
inflammatory tenor. Cf. State v. Gammill, 2 Kan. App. 2d 627, 631, 585 P.2d 1074 (1978)
(referring to defendant as "an animal" in closing argument "definitely improper"). The
comment was barbed and sarcastic and should garner no plaudits for professional or
dignified argument. But it functioned more as an oratorical roman candle than a deceptive
twisting of the facts or the law in a way that would have materially misled the jurors. In
sustaining the objection, the district court substantially neutralized whatever improper
negative effect the comment might have had.

•The prosecutor told the jurors they could use their "common sense" to conclude
that Paulson stabbed Valerie after he attacked Putman because dried blood found on the
knife blade contained predominately Valerie's DNA. Given Paulson's actions during the
attack, as Putman described them, the argument presumably supports premeditation and
an intent to kill. Paulson first went after Valerie in the house and then assaulted Putman
outside. He then went back inside, returned to continue stabbing Putman, and again
returned to the house. From that sequence and the blood on the knife, the prosecutor
essentially asked the jurors to infer Paulson must have stabbed Valerie again after going
back into the house.

Paulson contends the prosecutor's appeal to common sense is wholly unfounded
because the conclusion basically contradicts testimony the State's expert witness on blood
evidence gave during a pretrial motions hearing. According to Paulson, the prosecutor
knew the argument to be without a reasonable factual basis, making it improper.

18

Unfortunately, the evidentiary record isn't nearly as tidy as our summary of the
issue might suggest.

At the pretrial hearing, James Newman, a forensic scientist from the Kansas
Bureau of Investigation, testified regarding DNA analysis of blood found on the knife
Paulson used to kill Valerie and wound Putman. Newman briefly described his expertise
as forensic biology and DNA analysis. As the hearing unfolded, Newman went on to say
he has training and field experience in determining how blood may have been deposited
on objects or spread at crime scenes.

In this case, Newman examined blood and other physical evidence at Putman's
home the day after the incident. Newman later took a swab or sample from a blood smear
on the blade of the knife and compared the DNA it contained to known DNA from
Valerie and Putman. Newman identified only Valerie's DNA in the sample from the
knife. He could not find Putman's DNA. We gather Newman submitted a written report
before trial that included those findings.

At the hearing, Newman testified that he could not say only Valerie's blood was on
the knife blade. Putman's blood could have been somewhere on the blade he didn't
sample. Also, if the sample were upwards of 90 percent Valerie's blood, Putman's blood
probably would not be detectable in a DNA analysis, according to Newman. In response
to questioning from Paulson, Newman testified that he could not say to a reasonable
degree of professional certainty that Valerie was the last person stabbed with the knife
based on the absence of Putman's DNA in the sample. Newman testified that considering
physical evidence—such as the amount of blood at the crime scene, the depth of the
wounds to the victims, and other factors—he could offer possible or probable scenarios
about who was last stabbed.

19

Paulson asked the district court to enter an order precluding Newman from
testifying as to blood pattern evidence or who might have been stabbed last, since his
report did not include those topics and his testimony failed to establish sufficient
foundation for an expert opinion. The district court ruled that Newman's trial testimony
would be confined to the topics addressed in the report. In ruling on the permissible scope
of Newman's testimony, the district court also agreed the lawyers could argue to the jury
based on reasonable inferences drawn from the evidence—essentially a legal truism. But
the district court did not elaborate on how that might limit their approach to the blood
evidence.

In light of the hearing record, the prosecutor's argument to the jurors
impermissibly suggested common sense could guide them to conclude from the blood
evidence that Paulson stabbed Valerie both before and after he stabbed Putman.
Newman's hearing testimony established two bases rendering the argument improper.
First, the absence of discernible amounts of Putman's DNA in the blood sample from the
knife blade doesn't scientifically support that conclusion. The jurors' common sense can't
be substituted for what is scientifically correct. And on this matter, Newman's expert
assessment of what the blood evidence establishes is uncontroverted. Second, Newman's
pretrial testimony shows that assessing the blood evidence to determine whether Valerie
or Putman was the last stabbed demands a skilled analysis integrating all kinds of factual
variables. It seems to be far from commonsensical. Moreover, no expert either at the
pretrial hearing or at trial suggested determining the order in which multiple victims
might have been stabbed requires only common sense.

This isn't a case in which qualified experts have offered conflicting conclusions
drawn from the same evidence, leaving the jurors to fashion a credibility determination.
In that situation, a lawyer properly could argue the jurors use their common sense in
gauging the experts' relative credibility. But the lawyer could not tell the jurors to
disregard the expert testimony and to use their common sense to come to their own
20

conclusions about what the evidence shows. For example, it would be improper for a
plaintiff's lawyer in all but the most unusual medical malpractice case to tell the jurors
they should be guided by their common sense in finding the defendant physician
negligent. The prosecutor marched quite away down that path—too far, as we see it.

We turn to the question of prejudice. Paulson's lawyer lodged a timely objection to
the argument. The district court told the jurors to disregard arguments not supported in
the evidence, an admonition that didn't really deal with the nature of the problem. It's not
that the prosecutor's argument misstated a factual predicate—like telling the jurors the
surgeon left a sponge in the patient, when the evidence showed all of the sponges had
been accounted for. It didn't. The problem lay in telling the jurors they ought to draw
particular conclusions from the facts using their common sense when they couldn't
because the conclusions demanded specialized skill and training, i.e., expertise regular
folks just don't have. In addition, the prosecutor continued the argument even after the
district court's admonition.

But we cannot say the argument was truly "gross and flagrant" or was indicative of
especially "ill will." The district court's ruling at the pretrial hearing didn't directly
address the argument at all, let alone preclude it. Even the district court's comment in
response to Paulson's objection during the argument didn't actually amount to a ruling. It
was advice to the jurors that in context added up to a non sequitur. The prosecutor didn't
offer the "last-stabbed" argument as refrain throughout her presentation to the jurors or as
a predominate theme woven into the State's case. The prosecutor briefly made the point
among many others in a long, sometimes contentious trial. Nonetheless, the argument
appears to have been a calculated one rather than an improvisation made in the flow of
unscripted drama common to litigation. On balance, those circumstances dampen
considerably any compelling characterization of the argument as gross and flagrant or
malevolent.

21

Finally, we are not prepared to say this confined (though improper) argument
carried such importance or impact in the scope of the overall case as to sway the jurors to
convict. That really is the essence of the third criterion in assessing the prejudice of an
impermissible component of a prosecutor's closing argument.

Although the argument speaks to the specific intent to kill, as Paulson says, the
principal point goes more to premeditation. To that extent, the jurors obviously were
unswayed, since they acquitted Paulson of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree
murder. Other evidence weighs against the argument. For example, in Putman's account
of Paulson's attack, he abruptly stopped stabbing her when she told him she had done
nothing to hurt him. Paulson then went back inside the house, leaving Putman plainly still
alive in the backyard. That suggests dissipation of an intent to kill. So Paulson may have
returned to the house to confirm what he had done to Valerie and, seeing her dead, fled.
The verdicts are fully consistent with such an interpretation of the evidence—an
interpretation contrary to the prosecutor's improper argument.

During the trial, key evidence on Paulson's state of mind, broadly encompassing
both premeditation and intent to kill, came from the expert psychologists the State and
the defense presented. We have scarcely mentioned that testimony because Paulson has
raised no issue on appeal directly bearing on that evidence. Both psychologists had
impressive credentials and considerable experience in making forensic evaluations. They
provided respective cornerstones of the State's case for conviction as charged and the
defense case for mitigation or acquittal. And their dueling presentations offered the jurors
a classic battle of the experts. Considered against that background, the prosecutor's
argument inviting the jurors to speculate about the blood on the knife would have had
little, if any, significance.

That also underscores a related point in assessing the impact of the argument. The
jurors heard about 2 weeks of evidence in what was a thoroughly and capably tried case.
22

They had all kinds of testimony and hundreds of exhibits to evaluate. This particular
argument was a passing pitch to draw an inference that the jurors lacked the expertise to
make and that didn't necessarily square up with some of the evidence, notably Putman's
eyewitness account. The verdicts do square up more with the evidence and less with the
prosecutor's brief, improper argument. Accordingly, we find no reversible error.

Evidence of Paulson's Religious Beliefs

Paulson contends the district court erred in admitting evidence of his religious
tenets and those of the church he attended, particularly bearing on marriage and divorce,
because the information was irrelevant or, if relevant, unduly prejudicial. The point plays
out along the same lines as Paulson's challenge to the prosecutor's comments in closing
argument. Paulson says the "Personal Victory – Living by Principle" document should
not have been admitted. And, he says, testimony from Kyrsten about his religiously based
views regarding men as heads of households and women as caretakers to their husbands
and children was irrelevant. Paulson contends the evidence unfairly depicted him "as a
religious extremist" in front of the jurors. As we have indicated, the State offers a motive
for Paulson's killing of Valerie rooted in his inability to obtain a divorce or then remarry
without violating the religious doctrines of his church.

As a general matter, relevant evidence should be admitted at trial. K.S.A. 60-
407(f). A district court, however, may exclude relevant evidence if its potential for
unfairly prejudicing the jurors outstrips its probative value. State v. Huddleston, 298 Kan.
941, 961-62, 318 P.3d 140 (2014).

A district court's decision to admit or exclude evidence will be reviewed on appeal
either as a matter of law without deference if the ruling is based on materiality or as an
abuse of discretion if it is based on probativeness. State v. Boleyn, 297 Kan. 610, Syl. ¶ 1,
303 P.3d 680 (2013); see also State v. Berriozabal, 291 Kan. 568, 586, 243 P.3d 352
23

(2010) (An appellate court reviews de novo a contested determination of materiality.);
Wendt v. University of Kansas Med. Center, 274 Kan. 966, 975, 59 P.3d 325 (2002) (A
decision to admit or exclude a particular piece of evidence that is otherwise material
largely rests in the trial court's sound discretion.). The Kansas Supreme Court has
succinctly laid out the general rule this way:

"When reviewing a district court's decision concerning the admission of
evidence, an appellate court first determines whether the evidence is relevant. All
relevant evidence is admissible unless statutorily prohibited. Evidence is relevant if it has
any tendency in reason to prove any material fact. Accordingly, there are two elements of
relevancy: a materiality element and a probative element. Materiality addresses whether
a fact has a legitimate and effective bearing on the decision of the case and is in dispute.
Evidence is probative if it has any tendency in reason to prove a fact. An appellate court
reviews a district court's determination that evidence is probative for abuse of discretion
whereas the district court's decision regarding materiality is reviewed de novo." Boleyn,
297 Kan. 610, Syl. ¶ 1.

A district court abuses that discretion if it rules in a way no reasonable judicial officer
would under the circumstances, if it ignores controlling facts or relies on unproven
factual representations, or if it acts outside the legal framework appropriate to the issue.
See Northern Natural Gas Co. v. ONEOK Field Services Co., 296 Kan. 906, 935, 296
P.3d 1106, cert. denied 134 S. Ct. 162 (2013); State v. Ward, 292 Kan. 541, Syl. ¶ 3, 256
P.3d 801 (2011), cert. denied 132 S. Ct. 1594 (2012).

As we have pointed out, motive is relevant in a criminal prosecution. And the
State, therefore, may offer otherwise admissible evidence to prove motive. Carapezza,
286 Kan. at 999. Here, the evidence showed that Paulson was concerned about the
position his church took on divorce and how his fellow congregants might react were he
to divorce Valerie. So the State wasn't simply conjuring up a strange motive as a device
to introduce otherwise irrelevant, though highly prejudicial, evidence. In short, the
24

evidence bore on a legitimate theory of motive for Paulson's killing of Valerie with
Putman as an unfortunate secondary victim.

Paulson cites State v. Leitner, 272 Kan. 398, 34 P.3d 42 (2001), and Dawson v.
Delaware, 503 U.S. 159, 112 S. Ct. 1093, 117 L. Ed. 2d 309 (1992), on which Leitner
relies, as support for the inadmissibility of his religious beliefs about marriage and
divorce. But they don't advance his position. In Leitner, the court held that the district
court impermissibly allowed the prosecutor to cross-examine Leitner about her
membership in a Wiccan church—what the decision characterized as a pagan religion—
because it had no bearing on the charge against her. 272 Kan. at 414-15. Leitner had shot
and killed her ex-husband. She testified he physically abused her during and after their
marriage. And she said she shot him while he was beating her. The prosecutor raised
Leitner's affiliation with Wicca to suggest her ex-husband had abused her because he
didn't want her involved in witchcraft. The court dismissed the theory as "ludicrous,"
especially since the reasons for the beatings were immaterial. 272 Kan. at 415. The court
rather unsurprisingly recognized that the State could not gratuitously explore a
defendant's religious beliefs in a criminal prosecution but no absolute barrier precluded
the introduction of such evidence if it were otherwise relevant to a disputed issue. 272
Kan. at 414.

The Dawson decision similarly determined that the government violated a criminal
defendant's right of association protected in the First Amendment to the United States
Constitution by introducing evidence of his membership in a white supremacist
organization when that information had nothing to do with the contested issues. 503 U.S.
at 167. But the Court also made clear that notwithstanding the constitutional protections
for associational rights, evidence of a defendant's membership in particular organizations
could be admitted if otherwise relevant. 503 U.S. at 165.

25

Here, Paulson's religious views and those of his church on marriage and divorce
were relevant. Although many theologians and practicing Christians might consider those
views to be unappealingly conservative or rigid, they are not so unorthodox as to spark
impermissible prejudice against Paulson among the jurors. Paulson far overstates the case
to suggest those views paint him as a "religious extremist." More to the point, the
evidence had relevance that exceeded any potentially improper prejudice.

As we explained in discussing the prosecutor's closing argument, the evidence
tended to establish a motive that necessarily entailed premeditation. On the State's theory,
Paulson considered those religious tenets, among other things, and concluded killing
Valerie offered an option preferable to divorcing her. That's a thought process adding up
to premeditation. But the jury acquitted Paulson of intentional first-degree murder. So we
fail to see material prejudice to him, even if the evidence were improperly admitted.
Paulson has failed to demonstrate a sound basis for reversing his convictions on this
score.

Valerie's Out-of-Court Declarations

Paulson contends the district court erroneously permitted various witnesses to
testify at trial to things Valerie said to them about the state of her marriage and her
perception of how he treated her. Paulson would classify those statements as inadmissible
hearsay. One key statement fell within a recognized statutory exception to the hearsay
rule. In light of the extraordinarily broad common-law exception to the hearsay rule the
Kansas Supreme Court has recognized for evidence of "marital discord," we must also
say the bulk of the other statements were admissible. Even if the evidence were
erroneously admitted, it did not deprive Paulson of a fair trial.

26

This issue at hand turns on the admissibility of proffered evidence and is governed
by the same standards as Paulson's challenge to the State's use of evidence concerning his
religious beliefs.

Hearsay is generally considered unreliable and, therefore, inadmissible because
the person making the statement—the declarant—does not appear in court. See K.S.A.
2014 Supp. 60-460. The declarant, therefore, avoids the principal mechanisms for
measuring the candor and reliability of a witness: (1) the taking of an oath to tell the
truth; (2) the rigor of cross-examination to test the statements; and (3) the factfinder's
opportunity to gauge demeanor. See State v. Becker, 290 Kan. 842, 846, 235 P.3d 424
(2010); United States v. Owens, 789 F.2d 750, 756 (9th Cir. 1986), rev'd on other
grounds 484 U.S. 554, 108 S. Ct. 838, 98 L. Ed. 2d 951 (1988); Garza v. Delta Tau Delta
Fraternity Nat., 948 So. 2d 84, 90 (La. 2006). Hearsay exceptions allowing out-of-court
statements to be admitted for their truth commonly substitute other indicators of
reliability based on circumstances related to the statement itself. See, e.g., Clark v. City of
Los Angeles, 650 F.2d 1033, 1037 (9th Cir. 1981) ("The basis for the business record
exception is that accuracy is assured because the maker of the record relies on the record
in the ordinary course of business activities.").

Paulson sought to exclude testimony from Putman as to what Valerie said
immediately after he dropped her off at Putman's house the day before the attacks.
Paulson, Valerie, and their sons had driven back from Augusta to Saline County. Putman
testified that Valerie was crying and otherwise visibly upset as she came inside. Putman
asked what was wrong. According to Putman, Valerie said Paulson cussed her, accused
her of having an affair, suggested she should kill herself, and told her he had prayed God
would kill her because she did not deserve to live. Paulson contends Putman's testimony
amounted to inadmissible hearsay.

27

The testimony actually consists of two potential levels of hearsay. There is what
Paulson ostensibly said to Valerie and, in turn, what Valerie told Putman. Each level
must satisfy an exception to the general rule excluding hearsay statements offered to
prove the truth of the matters represented in the statements. Nobody disputes the
exception for Paulson's purported statements to Valerie. When offered by the State, they
plainly are admissions of an opposing party and, therefore, excepted from the hearsay
rule under K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-460(g). Moreover, Paulson's purported statements
arguably were not offered for the truth of the statements, e.g., that God should, in fact,
kill Valerie, but as evidence of his state of mind shortly before the homicide. We needn't
explore that aspect of the hearsay problem further.

The district court found Valerie's statement to Putman satisfied the hearsay
exceptions in K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-460(d) for excited utterances and for declarations of
an unavailable witness made in circumstances suggestive of honesty and veracity. The
statement needed to fit within one or the other of those exceptions.

As set forth in K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-460(d)(1) and (2), an out-of-court statement
that "narrates, describes or explains" an "event or condition" may be admitted if the
declarant made the statement while "under the stress of a nervous excitement caused by
such perception" of the event or condition. See State v. Boldridge, 274 Kan. 795, 804-05,
57 P.3d 8 (2002). In other words, the hearsay exception applies to an out-of-court
statement of a person describing an especially stressful situation so long as the person
remains under that stress even if the situation itself has concluded. The notion behind the
exception is that a person demonstrably in the grip of "nervous excitement" or stress
hasn't the wherewithal to deliberately fabricate about the circumstances causing that
excitement or stress. So a person in that frame of mind making a statement about those
circumstances may be considered truthful and to that extent reliable. See State v. Brown,
285 Kan. 261, 295, 173 P.3d 612 (2007); Boldridge, 274 Kan. at 805-06; Haggins v.
28

Warden, Fort Pillow State Farm, 715 F.2d 1050, 1057-58 (6th Cir. 1983) (extended
discussion of rationale for excited-utterance hearsay exception).

According to Putman, Valerie was obviously upset and distressed when she was
dropped off. What had unraveled her were Paulson's recent statements that could fairly be
considered vicious—statements the district court necessarily found sufficiently
disquieting to induce a nervous excitement in Valerie. Valerie's declaration to Putman, in
turn, described those statements.

Paulson counters that Valerie's declaration to Putman couldn't have been reliable.
For example, he points out the couple's sons didn't hear such statements during the car
trip. But they were asleep at least some of the time. Paulson notes that Valerie told her
brother 2 weeks earlier about a "praying-for-God-to-kill-you" statement Paulson had
supposedly made. But that could mean Paulson said something to that effect more than
once.

As to the statement Valerie made to Putman, the district court applied the
appropriate legal criteria and understood the pertinent facts. We are not prepared to say
no other district court judge would have ruled the same way. The district court did not
abuse its discretion in finding the excited-utterance hearsay exception in K.S.A. 2014
Supp. 60-460(d)(2) applicable.

We briefly consider the hearsay exception in K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-460(d)(3) for
statements by an unavailable witness. Valerie, of course, was unavailable. K.S.A. 60-
459(g)(3) (witness unavailable if at time of trial he or she is dead). The exception requires
the out-of-court statement to have been made: (1) shortly after the declarant perceived
the matter; (2) while the declarant's recollection was clear; (3) in good faith before the
litigation had begun; and (4) with no incentive on the part of the declarant to falsify or
distort. K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-460(d)(3). Here, again, Paulson suggests the evidence the
29

district court considered in ruling on the hearsay exception indicated Valerie wasn't
necessarily acting in good faith and might have had an incentive to recount her
interactions with him falsely. In some general sense, the deteriorating marriage could be
considered as a possible reason for either Valerie or Paulson to be less than candid in
discussing their relationship at that time. But Paulson relies on what we have already
discussed as specific information casting doubt on the truthfulness of Valerie's statement.
That information was insufficient to bar admission of Valerie's statement under K.S.A.
2014 Supp. 60-460(d)(3). We find no abuse of discretion in the district court's alternative
ruling applying that hearsay exception.

In resolving this sort of preliminary or gatekeeper issue pertaining to the
admissibility of testimony or documents, the district court looks at the evidence the
parties have presented on that issue itself—often in a hearing before trial or outside the
presence of the jury. The evidence need not exclusively favor the party offering the
testimony or documents, and the district court may weigh conflicting evidence in
determining if the criteria for admission or, as in this case, for a hearsay exception have
been met. See K.S.A. 60-408; State v. Pittman, 199 Kan. 591, 596, 433 P.2d 550 (1967)
(In making a preliminary determination as to the admissibility of a criminal defendant's
confession to police, the district court was permitted to resolve conflicting evidence about
threats the officers purportedly made to induce the inculpatory statement.); see also
Bourjaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171, 175-76, 107 S. Ct. 2775, 97 L. Ed. 2d 144
(1987) (under F.R.E. 104, comparable to K.S.A. 60-408, proponent of evidence must
establish preliminary requirements for admissibility by preponderance standard).
Notwithstanding any preliminary ruling of a district court admitting evidence, the
opponent may dispute the weight and credibility of that evidence in front of the jury.
K.S.A. 60-408. Paulson took full advantage of that prerogative.

We turn to the district court's decision to admit Valerie's out-of-court statements to
friends and family about the state of her marriage to Paulson and about how he treated
30

her. For context, we highly summarize the sort of testimony the jurors heard. Putman
testified that Valerie said: (1) she was scared Paulson would find out about her spending;
(2) Paulson told her that he did not love her and had moved out of the bedroom; (3) there
was tension in the house; and (4) she did not want to be in the house when Paulson was
there. Kyrsten testified Valerie told her Paulson was controlling, treated her like one of
his employees, and never acted as if she were an equal. One of Valerie's friends testified
that Valerie related various arguments she had with Paulson about money, described the
marriage as difficult, and confided she wanted to end the relationship. Three other
witnesses testified to similar statements Valerie had made at various times.

Over Paulson's objection, the district court allowed the testimony, reasoning that it
both was relevant to Valerie's state of mind and fit within the "marital discord" doctrine.
The first reason provides an unsatisfactory basis for the ruling. Although the testimony
would have been relevant to establishing Valerie's state of mind, her state of mind had no
relevance to any disputed, material issue in the case. The State had to prove Paulson
attacked Valerie and Putman with an intent to kill to convict him of second-degree
murder and attempted second-degree murder and, additionally, with premeditation to
convict him of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. Valerie's state of
mind or perception of her marital relationship and of Paulson's general attitude toward
her had no bearing on those substantive legal issues. So that rationale didn't support the
district court's ruling.

The marital discord doctrine is a fuzzy common-law concept allowing evidence
that a marriage has been marked by more than ordinary contentiousness—something in
the realm of unilateral or mutual bellicosity—if that would be relevant to a disputed,
material issue in a given case. The State often invokes the doctrine in prosecuting one
spouse for the violent death of the other spouse to help prove identity and premeditation
by showing extreme marital discord as a motive for the crime. See State v. Thompkins,
271 Kan. 324, 335-36, 21 P.3d 997 (2001); State v. Taylor, 234 Kan. 401, 408, 673 P.2d
31

1140 (1983) ("The rule in Kansas is that in a case of marital homicide, evidence of a
discordant marital relationship . . . is competent as bearing on the defendant's motive and
intent."). The doctrine persists. See State v. Harner, No. 110,605, 2015 WL 4879012, at
*14-15 (Kan. App. 2015) (unpublished opinion).

The swath of evidence allowed under the doctrine is remarkably wide. Evidence of
past physical injuries to the deceased spouse has been admitted. Witnesses may testify to
arguments between the spouses and what they may have yelled at each other—not to
prove the truth of the matters asserted but the nature of the discord. Out-of-court
statements of the deceased spouse to third parties about disharmony in the marriage have
been permitted. State v. Drach, 268 Kan. 636, 649, 1 P.3d 864 (2000) (discussing types
of evidence admissible under doctrine).

At least since State v. Gunby, 282 Kan. 39, 55-57, 144 P.3d 647 (2006), evidence
of marital discord involving other crimes or civil wrongs of the defendant must conform
to the requirements of K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-455. Here, the evidence did not implicate
K.S.A. 2014 Supp. 60-455, and Paulson does not argue otherwise.

Marital discord evidence may be allowed even if it would otherwise be
inadmissible as hearsay. Drach, 268 Kan. at 649; State v. Cheeks, 258 Kan. 581, 588, 908
P.2d 175 (1995). The testimony Paulson challenges appears to fall in that category.
Unless Valerie's statements were offered for the truth of the matters asserted, i.e., how
Paulson treated her and what he had said to her, they haven't any relevance, since her
opinion or assessment of the marriage did not itself tend to show discord. Just why a
common-law hearsay exception should flourish when the rules of evidence have been
codified presents an unanswered riddle. But it is not for us to answer that riddle.

The quantity and repetitiveness of the evidence, largely Valerie's characterizations
of the marriage and Paulson's behavior toward her, seems noteworthy. But the district
32

court's decision to allow the evidence conforms to the doctrine as outlined in Drach, 268
Kan. at 649, and elsewhere. We, therefore, find no error.

Even if we were mistaken, Paulson cannot demonstrate prejudice to a degree
depriving him of a fair trial in the sense there might reasonably have been a different
outcome if the evidence had been excluded. State v. Greene, 299 Kan. 1087, 1095, 329
P.3d 450 (2014). First, there was other admissible evidence of the deteriorating marriage,
including Paulson's move from the marital residence and his (clearly admissible)
statements to third parties. Paulson's defense was built around the notion that he
suspected Valerie was having an affair after her earlier adulterous relationship had
financially and emotionally upended the marriage—a significant indicator of marital
disharmony. And, as we have noted, the jury acquitted Paulson of premeditated, first-
degree murder—the charge to which the proof of motive and the marital-discord evidence
most directly related. The acquittal on the most serious charges also suggests the jury did
not convict out of an impermissible aversion to Paulson because he treated Valerie poorly
during their marriage.

Paulson has failed to establish a ground for relief based on the admission of
Valerie's out-of-court statements.

Paulson's Jailhouse Statements

The State offered as evidence and the district court admitted recordings of
conversations Paulson had with Kyrsten, his parents, and others while he was in jail after
his arrest and before trial. The district court also admitted several letters Paulson wrote
during that time. Paulson made many of the statements shortly after he killed Valerie and
injured Putman, but some of them were months later. The district court ruled the
statements relevant to Paulson's intent and state of mind. Paulson counters that the jurors
may have been confused by the statements insofar as they either reflected what he was
33

thinking at the time he made them rather than during the attack or contained ambiguous
remarks that might or might not be inculpatory.

We again review the district court's decision under the standards governing the
rulings on the admission of proffered evidence. For purposes of that review, we need not
catalogue the statements. We offer a couple of examples. While in jail, Paulson asked
several family members if any "creeps" attended Valerie's funeral or if any men in
attendance were unexpectedly attentive. At trial, Kyrsten testified Paulson left almost
$15,000 in cash at her house the day of Valerie's death and offered the cryptic comment
that he would discuss his plans for the money later. When Kyrsten spoke with Paulson in
jail, he indicated she pay for Valerie's funeral with the money. During one conversation,
Kyrsten asked Paulson if he planned "it," meaning the attack, and he responded simply
that they were being recorded.

Paulson essentially argues for a rule that would admit statements of defendants
made after the alleged criminal conduct only if the statements are patently inculpatory or
otherwise clearly indicative of a guilty mind. The rules of evidence are not so restrictive.
Evidence need only have some tendency to make a material, disputed proposition more or
less likely true to be admissible. K.S.A. 60-401(b); State v. Smith, 299 Kan. 962, 969, 327
P.3d 441 (2014).

Paulson cites State v. Cathey, 241 Kan. 715, 730, 741 P.2d 738 (1987),
disapproved on other grounds State v. Schoonover, 281 Kan. 453, 133 P.3d 48 (2006), as
supporting his argument. But it doesn't. In that case, the Kansas Supreme Court found a
jury instruction on flight as circumstantial evidence of guilt to be prejudicial because it
impermissibly highlighted a particular piece of the State's case over other trial evidence.
241 Kan. at 730-31. Paulson isn't claiming an instructional error. He contends the
evidence wasn't sufficiently relevant. The Cathey court observed that evidence of
consciousness of guilt is admissible and pointed to flight, concealment, and providing
34

false information as examples. 241 Kan. at 730. A defendant's efforts to cover up a crime
or to evade capture are at least suggestive of guilt on the theory an innocent person
wouldn't engage in that sort of conduct. But that proposition doesn't mean other conduct
or statements of a defendant after the crime should be treated as inadmissible, although
Paulson's argument appears to suggest as much. The State may admit a defendant's
statements having some direct or circumstantial bearing on intent and motive regardless
of when they are made. Although Paulson's statements were not confessions and their
inculpatory character may have been dependent upon interpretation or their context with
other evidence, those characteristics go to the weight jurors might give them and not their
admissibility. See United States v. Bruguier, 161 F.3d 1145, 1152 (8th Cir. 1998); People
v. Boss, No. 267013, 2007 WL 2189055, at *2 (Mich. App. 2007) (unpublished opinion);
State v. Perez, 177 N.J. 540, 553, 832 A.2d 303 (2003).

Paulson also relies on State v. Harkness, 252 Kan. 510, 528-30, 847 P.2d 1191
(1993), but that reliance is similarly misplaced. In that case, Harkness was charged with a
series of sex offenses and argued he was not guilty because he was legally insane as the
result of his unmedicated schizophrenia. Early in the case, Harkness was found
incompetent for trial and was committed to Larned State Hospital; he remained there
until medication and other treatment brought his illness under control. A jury rejected his
insanity defense. On appeal, Harkness argued the district court erred in refusing to admit
a series of letters he had written while at the state hospital several months after the
crimes. Harkness contended the letters should have been allowed not for their content but
to show his mental condition—that is, as demonstrative of the rationality and orderliness
of his thought processes and the improvement in those processes over the course of his
hospitalization. The district court rejected them because the case turned on Harkness'
mental condition at the time of the offenses. The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed and
pointed out that had the letters been admitted for that purpose, the jurors would have been
required to make a psychological evaluation of them, something they lacked the expertise
to do. 252 Kan. at 530. So the letters simply would have invited unguided speculation.
35

Here, the State introduced Paulson's jailhouse statements and letters precisely for
their content. On the State's theory of the case, the factual information Paulson conveyed
in the communications bore on his motive and intent—his state of mind—when he
attacked Valerie and Putman. That's a purpose entirely different from the use Harkness
intended to make of his letters. The State wasn't offering Paulson's communications to
show he was thinking rationally during his pretrial detention and, therefore, must have
been thinking rationally at the time of the attack.

We find no basis for reversing the convictions because of the admission at trial of
Paulson's written and oral communications from jail.

Suppression of Paulson's Statement to Law Enforcement

Paulson has appealed the denial of his motion to suppress a statement he made to
Deputy Timothy S. Allen of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department the morning after
he attacked Valerie and Putman. He argues he did not waive his Miranda rights and the
statement was also involuntary under the circumstances. The Fifth and Fourteenth
Amendments to the United States Constitution preclude a state from using as evidence a
criminal defendant's involuntary statements or custodial statements given without
Miranda warnings. Kansas v. Ventris, 556 U.S. 586, 590, 129 S. Ct. 1841, 173 L. Ed. 2d
801 (2009) (involuntary statements); Harris v. New York, 401 U.S. 222, 223-25, 91 S. Ct.
643, 28 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1971) (Miranda violation bars State's use of defendant's statement in
case-in-chief); State v. Schultz, 289 Kan. 334, 342-43, 212 P.3d 150 (2009) (involuntary
statements).

The district court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress several
months before trial. As we earlier indicated, Paulson drove away from the house after
attacking Valerie and Putman. Later that evening or the next morning, Paulson drove his
pickup off the road near Bennington and managed to slip or jump into a pond or creek, so
36

his clothes were wet. Shortly after 6 a.m. the next morning, Paulson approached a house
in a rural area near the road. He asked a teenager there to contact the police. At the
suppression hearing, the young man described Paulson as "dazed and confused." The
young man had used all the minutes on his cell phone and thought he could not call the
police. Because Paulson seemed in need of help, the young man drove him to a café in
Bennington, the nearest community. At the hearing, the young man testified he did not
recall Paulson saying much of anything during the short ride.

After the two arrived at the café, someone contacted the police. The hearing record
isn't clear about who did. As Deputy Allen drove up in a patrol car, the young man left.
Allen testified that he saw Paulson sitting in a booth drinking a cup of coffee. Allen
approached Paulson, told him to keep his hands on the table, and apparently indicated he
could finish his coffee. At that point, Allen knew only that Paulson was a suspect in a
stabbing death in Saline County. Allen awaited the arrival of Ottawa County Sheriff
Keith Coleman before doing anything else.

When Coleman entered the café, he and Allen asked Paulson to step outside. Both
officers described Paulson as polite and cooperative. They noticed his clothing was wet.

In the parking lot, Coleman read Paulson the Miranda warnings from a printed
card he carries while on duty. Paulson does not claim Coleman misread or omitted some
portion of the required warnings. After reading the warnings, Coleman asked Paulson if
he understood his rights. According to Coleman, Paulson nodded his head affirmatively
once or twice. Allen testified Paulson nodded his head. They agree Paulson never
responded orally to that question. And Coleman never asked Paulson if he wished to give
up those rights or if he wished to speak with the officers. Coleman handcuffed Paulson
and seated him in Allen's patrol car. Coleman had no other communication with Paulson.

37

On the way to the Ottawa County jail—about an 11-minute ride—Allen asked
Paulson, "[H]ow [did] all of this [get] started?" According to Allen, Paulson responded,
"She was cheating on him and was going to take the kids." Allen testified he did not ask
Paulson more questions or otherwise attempt to elicit any details about what happened in
Saline County. Allen said his job was simply to transport Paulson to the jail and hold him
for Saline County authorities. The suppression hearing transcript isn't entirely clear on the
chronology of the communication between Allen and Paulson. At some point, they also
had a conversation about a photograph of three children Paulson had in his wallet. Allen
testified Paulson was insistent that his children get the photograph. Allen tried to find out
where Paulson's truck might be. Paulson couldn't give him a precise location and simply
said it was in a cornfield as he pointed to the northeast.

At the hearing, Allen testified Paulson did not appear to be drunk or under the
influence of drugs. Paulson responded coherently and appropriately to what was said to
him. He did not indicate he was injured or in pain. And he did not cry, scream, or exhibit
any other extreme emotional behavior or distress. At the jail, Paulson said he was cold.
He was permitted to change out of his clothes and into a jail uniform.

Paulson did not testify at the suppression hearing. The district court took the
motion under advisement and on March 14, 2012, made a detailed bench ruling as part of
a longer pretrial hearing. The district court found: (1) Paulson understood the Miranda
warnings and acknowledged them by nodding his head; (2) neither Coleman nor Allen
coerced Paulson or otherwise misled or took advantage of him; and (3) Paulson was in
command of his faculties at the café and during the ride to the jail. The district court
concluded Paulson's statements were freely and voluntarily given, the law enforcement
officers informed Paulson of his Miranda rights, and Paulson effected a waiver of those
rights by acknowledging them and then speaking with Allen.

38

In reviewing a district judge's ruling on a motion to suppress, an appellate court
applies a bifurcated standard. The appellate court accepts the factual findings of the
district judge if they are supported by competent evidence having some substance. The
appellate court exercises unrestricted review of the legal conclusions based upon those
findings, including the ultimate ruling on the motion. State v. Garcia, 297 Kan. 182, 186,
301 P.3d 658 (2013); State v. Woolverton, 284 Kan. 59, 70, 159 P.3d 985 (2007). The
prosecution bears the burden of proving the admissibility of the statements by a
preponderance of the evidence. Garcia, 297 Kan. at 188; State v. Shumway, 30 Kan. App.
2d 836, 842, 50 P.3d 89, rev. denied 274 Kan. 1117 (2002).

The ultimate issue here is whether Paulson's Miranda waiver and his statements
were the product of his free and independent will, i.e., did he act voluntarily? See State v.
Gilliland, 294 Kan. 519, Syl. ¶¶ 3, 4, 276 P.3d 165 (2012); State v. Stone, 291 Kan. 13,
21, 237 P.3d 1229 (2010); State v. Mattox, 280 Kan. 473, Syl. ¶ 3, 124 P.3d 6 (2005).
The district court must examine the totality of the circumstances surrounding the waiver
and the statements. Garcia, 297 Kan. at 188. Among the factors to be considered in
assessing voluntariness are: "(1) the accused's mental condition; (2) the duration and
manner of the interrogation; (3) the ability of the accused on request to communicate with
the outside world; (4) the accused's age, intellect, and background; (5) the fairness of the
officers in conducting the interrogation; and (6) the accused's fluency with the English
language." Gilliland, 294 Kan. 519, Syl. ¶ 3; see Stone, 291 Kan. at 21. The district court
reviewed and applied those factors.

As to voluntariness, we need not rehash all that has been laid out in the record and
again here. Although some testimony suggested Paulson was less than fully engaged—
dazed and confused—as he sought to contact the police the morning of July 7, 2010, the
district court's findings that he understood what was going on after he arrived at the café
and Allen showed up have ample factual support in the record. The testimony from Allen
and Coleman about their interaction with Paulson was undisputed. They perceived him to
39

be rational, coherent, and free of any impairment or duress. To the extent there might
have been some difference between Paulson's mental acuity when he contacted the young
man and how the officers described him later, we may fairly conclude that Paulson
focused and gathered himself as he sat in the café drinking coffee in anticipation of the
police arriving.

Coleman and Allen treated Paulson fairly. Apart from the single, rather generic
question Allen put to Paulson during the brief ride to the jail, neither officer attempted to
interview or interrogate him. This was not one of those situations in which law
enforcement officers try to mentally or physically coerce suspects, trick them, or
deliberately deplete their resistance to extract confessions. See Stone, 291 Kan. at 32-33.
Nothing about Paulson's age, intellectual capacity, or background rendered him
especially susceptible to being manipulated or easily confused. We find the district
court's factual findings on voluntariness appropriate and discern no legal error in the
conclusion that Paulson freely and voluntarily spoke to Coleman and Allen.

That leaves Paulson's more narrow point regarding the legal sufficiency of his
acknowledgement and waiver of his Miranda rights based on a nod of his head rather
than something more formal or at least more verbal. Both Paulson and the State cite
North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 99 S. Ct. 1755, 60 L. Ed. 2d 286 (1979), as
authority. Paulson also notes the Kansas Supreme Court has elaborated on Butler in State
v. Kirtdoll, 281 Kan. 1138, 1146, 136 P.3d 417 (2006). Those cases do not assist Paulson.
In Butler, 441 U.S. at 373, the Court rejected a rule that would require "[a]n express
written or oral statement of waiver" of the right to remain silent or the right to consult
with a lawyer. The Court recognized that a "defendant's silence, coupled with an
understanding of his rights and a course of conduct indicating waiver" could be sufficient
to waive those protections. 441 U.S. at 373. The Kirtdoll decision applied the principles
of Butler to find a waiver in that case. 281 Kan. at 1146-47.

40

Here, Paulson was fully informed of his Miranda rights. That's undisputed. He
acknowledged his understanding of those rights. That's the nod of his head. A nod is a
gesture commonly understood to convey an affirmative expression or understanding in
contrast to a shake of the head. Under the facts, there is no reason to presume something
different from Paulson's action.

When Paulson answered Allen's question during the ride to the jail, he engaged in
conduct evincing a waiver. He just as easily could have refused to answer or asked for a
lawyer. The circumstances were not particularly overbearing, and Allen had done nothing
to physically or psychologically intimidate Paulson. To the contrary, Allen allowed
Paulson to sit at the café and finish his coffee before taking him into custody. So nothing
undermines the obvious inference to be drawn from the situation—Paulson chose to
answer Allen's question rather than assert his constitutional right to refuse.

The requirement for Miranda warnings aims to lessen the often highly
disconcerting and overwhelming atmosphere cultivated in a police interrogation room in
which multiple officers may question a suspect in almost unrelenting shifts or may
deploy psychological gambits designed to break resistance and loosen tongues. See State
v. Fernandez-Torres, 50 Kan. App. 2d 1069, 1086-87, 337 P.3d 691 (2014). In those
circumstances, silence followed by an inculpatory statement likely would not be enough
to establish a waiver. But Paulson was not subjected to those sorts of conditions. His
conduct can be reasonably viewed as indicative of a waiver.

Cumulative Error

Finally, as to the convictions, Paulson contends the cumulative impact of the
ostensible trial errors deprived him of a fair trial. Appellate courts will weigh the
collective effect of trial errors and may grant relief if the overall result of the miscues
deprives the defendant of a fair hearing even when each, considered alone, could be
41

dismissed as harmless. State v. Smith-Parker, 301 Kan. 132, 167-68, 340 P.3d 485
(2014). We do not belabor this point. Any potential errors were confined to the State's
closing argument. Having carefully reviewed the prosecutor's improper arguments to the
jurors and the district court's responses to the defense objections, we find insufficient
cumulative prejudice to Paulson to say he was deprived of a fair trial.

District Court's Imposition of BIDS Fees and Restitution

Paulson contends he should not be assessed attorney fees for the appointed lawyer
who represented him through the preliminary hearing. The district court ordered Paulson
to pay about $8,200 to the Board of Indigents' Defense Services for the lawyer's work.
Some background is necessary to outline this unusual dispute and to show why the
district court correctly imposed the reimbursement.

Putman filed a civil tort action against Paulson to recover damages for her injuries.
In that case, another district court judge entered an order of prejudgment attachment of
Paulson's assets, effectively freezing those assets and preventing Paulson from using
them to hire a lawyer to represent him in this case. Paulson, therefore, was considered
indigent and entitled to representation by an appointed lawyer paid through BIDS. The
district court approved Paulson's application for appointed counsel.

At some point the district court judge assigned to the civil case withdrew the
prejudgment attachment. As a result, Paulson could afford to hire a lawyer in this case
and did so. Putman's civil action against Paulson was eventually settled. After the
convictions in this case, the district court ordered that Paulson reimburse BIDS for the
amount the agency paid the appointed lawyer. See K.S.A. 22-4513.

In challenging the reimbursement order on appeal, Paulson contends the
prejudgment attachment of his assets entered in the civil case was illegal. But he has not
42

presented an order or ruling from the district court judge in the civil case to that effect. So
Paulson is making a collateral attack in this case on the prejudgment attachment entered
in the civil case. We are not disposed to rule on the efficacy of a district court judge's
pretrial order in another case involving at least one different party long after that case has
been settled, apparently without a ruling on the issue by either the district court judge or
an appellate court.

Alternatively, Paulson says the district court failed to conduct an adequate hearing
to determine whether he reasonably could be expected to pay the BIDS reimbursement.
As provided in K.S.A. 22-4513(b), the district court "shall take account of the financial
resources of the defendant and the nature of the burden that payment of such sum will
impose." See State v. Robinson, 281 Kan. 538, 546, 132 P.3d 934 (2006) ("[T]he
sentencing court, at the time of initial assessment, must consider the financial resources
of the defendant and the nature of the burden that payment will impose explicitly, stating
on the record how those factors have been weighed in the court's decision.")

By the time Paulson was sentenced, he had depleted his assets. The district court
found that Paulson had been gainfully employed and suffered from no debilitating mental
illness or substance abuse, so he could expect to be employed in the future. The district
court noted that Paulson apparently would have no significant financial obligations upon
his release from prison. Accordingly, the district court found the BIDS fees properly
should be assessed to him. On appeal, Paulson counters that those considerations are
insufficient, since he will not get out of prison for about 18 years and his employment
prospects as a convicted felon in his mid-50s will be limited.

The district court adequately considered the circumstances facing Paulson and
reached a conclusion fairly within those circumstances. Under K.S.A. 22-4513(b), a
district court may later modify a BIDS reimbursement order if the financial obligation
creates "manifest hardship on the defendant." Paulson's position really is more of a
43

premature pitch for a hardship modification. Paulson has presented no legally sufficient
reasons for reversing the district court's order he reimburse BIDS for the services of his
appointed lawyer.

Finally, Paulson contends the district court erred in ordering that he pay just over
$18,000 in restitution to the Kansas Crime Victims Fund for compensation it granted
Putman for economic losses she incurred as a result of the attack. Again, some
background is in order, although many of the details remain sketchy in the appellate
record.

The State operates the Fund to provide compensation to qualifying crime victims.
A victim must submit an application to the Fund's governing board and may receive up to
$25,000 for economic harm resulting from a crime. See K.S.A. 74-7301 et seq. Putman
received compensation from the Fund while her civil action for damages was pending
against Paulson. As we indicated, she ultimately received a payment from Paulson in
settlement of that action, although the amount is not apparent from the record.

Upon Paulson's conviction in this case, Putman was entitled to an order requiring
Paulson to pay restitution to her as part of his sentence. See K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 21-
4603d(b)(1). In fashioning restitution, the district court should aim for an adequate make-
whole remedy serving to compensate the victim fairly, on the one hand, and to help
rehabilitate and deter the defendant, on the other. See K.S.A. 2010 Supp. 21-4603d(b)(1)
(restitution "shall include . . . damage or loss caused by the defendant's crime"); State v.
Hinckley, 13 Kan. App. 2d 417, 419, 777 P.2d 857 (1989). The Kansas appellate courts
have recognized that a third party compensating a crime victim for losses may be entitled
restitution to the extent of that compensation. See State v. Beechum, 251 Kan. 194, 203,
833 P.2d 988 (1992); State v. Schmitter, No. 101,524, 2010 WL 445915, at * 1 (Kan.
App.) (unpublished opinion), rev. denied 290 Kan. 1102 (2010). The third party
44

effectively occupies the victim's statutory position as the recipient of any restitution
payments. By virtue of the payments to Putman, the Fund stepped into that position.

So a crime victim may receive restitution in a criminal case and may be granted
compensation from the Fund. Those are separate statutory mechanisms to financially
assist crime victims. Those mechanisms sometimes overlap, as they did here.

Apart from those statutory devices, a crime victim may sue a perpetrator civilly for
damages—Paulson's attack on Putman would have been a civil wrong for the intentional
tort of battery among other possible causes of action. A civil tort action would be a
common-law mechanism for recovery. Those suits are comparatively rare because
wrongdoers also charged criminally seldom have sufficient assets to make civil litigation
against them worthwhile and most intentional acts aren't covered under standard
insurance policies.

Under K.S.A. 74-7312, the Fund has a right to recoup compensation it has paid to
a crime victim if the victim recovers money through another source, including the
perpetrator of the crime. The statute specifically provides "the [S]tate shall be
subrogated" to the victim's right to recover economic losses from other sources. K.S.A.
74-7312. The Fund's right extends to damages the victim receives in a civil action against
the perpetrator and to restitution a defendant is ordered to pay in a criminal case.

With that background, we turn to the specific argument Paulson says extinguishes
his obligation to pay restitution to the Fund. According to Paulson, the settlement
agreement Putman signed in her civil action against him included a broad release of
liability covering virtually any person or any entity that might claim through her.
Sweeping releases are commonplace in negotiated settlements of civil suits. Paulson says
the settlement, then, extends to the Fund. (The settlement agreement is not in the record
45

on appeal. The journal entry of dismissal of Putman's civil action is, but it does not
contain the terms of the settlement or any release.)

Paulson relies on what he characterizes as "general principles of insurance law" to
the effect that a wrongdoer obtaining a general release from an injured party in good faith
and without knowledge of any benefits that party has received under an insurance policy
has no additional liability to the insurer. That is, the release cuts off the insurer's right to
either direct reimbursement from the wrongdoer or subrogation. Paulson cites 16 Couch
on Insurance § 224:117 (3d ed. 2005), and American Automobile Ins. Co. v. Clark, 122
Kan. 445, 449-50, 252 P. 215 (1927), for the principle. In turn, based on that principle,
Paulson submits that the settlement and release in the civil action extinguished the Fund's
right to recover from him for any payment it made to Putman. We disagree.

The Clark decision contains the legal proposition Paulson ascribes to it but cites
no supporting authority for the idea. We suppose without deciding that Clark actually
reflects modern insurance law in Kansas. We have found no other Kansas appellate
decision citing Clark for that proposition. Paulson has pointed to none and has given us
no other Kansas authority for the rule. But the rule appears to be inapplicable if the
wrongdoer is aware of an insurer's subrogation rights when settling a civil action with the
injured party. See City of New York Ins. Co. v. Tice, 159 Kan. 176, 182, 152 P.2d 836
(1944), overruled on other grounds Ellis Canning Co. v. International Harvester Co.,
174 Kan. 357, Syl. ¶ 3, 255 P.2d 658 (1953). Because of our resolution of the issue, we
need not undertake an exegesis of Kansas insurance law or even define the current law on
the point Paulson asserts. Our discussion in that respect is more dabbling than definitive
and should be taken that way.

The success of Paulson's argument depends upon treating the Fund as a private
insurance carrier to which the "general principles" of insurance law apply. Paulson,
however, never explains why that should be true. The Fund is not an insurance
46

underwriter issuing policies to individuals covering them against designated perils in
exchange for the payment of a premium presumably calculated on some actuarial basis.
Nor does the Fund even operate like an insurer. Rather, the Fund functions more as a
state-sponsored charitable organization: It considers applications for compensation from
crime victims only after a financial loss but has no connection to or relationship with
those individuals beforehand. We fail to see a good reason insurance law should regulate
the interplay among the Fund, crime victims, and criminal defendants.

Moreover, the insurance principles on which Paulson relies—whatever they may
say—are really a species of the common law of contracts. Those common-law doctrines
cannot supersede or negate statutory rules. See Stanley v. Sullivan, 300 Kan. 1015, Syl.
¶ 1, 336 P.3d 870 (2014); Jackson v. Lee, 193 Kan. 40, 43-44, 392 P.2d 92 (1964). The
statutory right of the Fund to recover compensation paid a crime victim does not include
the specific common-law principle of insurance law Paulson cites. Nor does the statutory
scheme regulating the Fund expressly incorporate general insurance law.

Paulson cites Herron v. Gabby's Goodies, 29 Kan. App. 2d 42, 44-45, 24 P.3d 747
(2001), as "at least implicitly support[ing]" his position on the Fund's right to restitution.
But after outlining the facts in Herron, Paulson fails to explain the implication, and we
don't see it. In that case, the Fund paid compensation to Herron, who later obtained a civil
recovery from the criminal wrongdoer. But Herron had not given notice of the civil
action to the Fund, as required by K.S.A. 74-7312. When the Fund asserted its statutory
subrogation right to part of the civil recovery for the compensation it had paid, Herron
argued that the amount should be reduced by a reasonable attorney fee, since he had
retained a private lawyer who successfully sued the wrongdoer. The court held that
Herron's right to a reduction for attorney fees was governed by K.S.A. 74-7312(b) and
the statute required proper notice of any civil action be given the Fund. Because Herron
failed to strictly comply with the notice requirements, he could not claim a reduction for
attorney fees either statutorily or in equity. 29 Kan. App. 2d at 43-45.
47

The Herron decision seems to be inapposite here except on the most general level,
since it deals with the legal relationship between the Fund and a crime victim receiving
compensation. In turn, the decision extends to the Fund a right to recover the full amount
of any compensation paid a crime victim if the crime victim fails to give notice of a civil
suit against the wrongdoer. We fail to see how that rule would extinguish the Fund's legal
right to restitution from the wrongdoer for its payment to the crime victim. Again, at a
general level, Herron could be read to say the Fund's statutory right to recover
compensation paid a crime victim will be fully enforced to the exclusion of the common
law, including equity doctrines. That would undercut Paulson's argument for applying
insurance law principles. While we don't necessarily endorse reading Herron so
expansively, we find nothing in the decision aiding Paulson.

Accordingly, Paulson had not advanced a sound reason for extinguishing the
Fund's legal right to restitution in this case.

Although Putman may have received a double recovery for at least part of her
economic loss—assuming the civil settlement included compensation for financial
harm—Paulson has not argued for a setoff or some other adjustment of the restitution
amount. We do not consider whether such an accommodation might be appropriate.

CONCLUSION

We have studied the points Paulson has raised in his thorough briefing on appeal
and the State's detailed response. We have carefully surveyed the exhaustive appellate
record. Our labors have disclosed no grounds to find Paulson received less than a fair trial
or to suggest the jury's verdicts should be considered infirm. Paulson has offered no
arguments undercutting the district court's orders on either BIDS reimbursement or
restitution.

48

Affirmed.