State v. Murphy

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NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION

No. 114,390

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS

STATE OF KANSAS,
Appellee,

v.

TYRONE MURPHY,
Appellant.


MEMORANDUM OPINION

Appeal from Wyandotte District Court; J. DEXTER BURDETTE, judge. Opinion filed October 28,
2016. Appeal dismissed.

Rick Kittel, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant.

Kristiane N. Bryant, assistant district attorney, Jerome A. Gorman, district attorney, and Derek
Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee.

Before MALONE, C.J., SCHROEDER, J., and WALKER, S.J.

Per Curiam: Tyrone Murphy appeals his sentence following his convictions of
one count of second-degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery. The only issue
Murphy raises is that the district court erred by denying his motion for a downward
departure sentence. Specifically, Murphy argues that the district court did not adequately
consider and rule upon the mitigating factors supporting the departure motion and did not
issue findings of fact and conclusions of law as required by statute. We dismiss Murphy's
appeal for lack of jurisdiction.

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On April 9, 2014, the vehicle Murphy was driving was stopped by a police
officer. Murphy fled in his vehicle when the officer asked him to step out of the vehicle
because he smelled marijuana coming from the car. Murphy ran a red light a short
distance from the location of the stop and struck a minivan that was driven by Jacqueline
Ramirez and occupied by her three children. Ramirez' daughter, Jasmine Rodriguez, died
as a result of the collision. Another child, Jesus de Guadalupe Rodriguez, suffered severe
injuries, including massive head trauma. Ramirez suffered a broken back and other spinal
injuries.

An investigation revealed that at the time of the collision Murphy had
marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol in his system. The police discovered cocaine in the car,
and other evidence indicated that Murphy had consumed marijuana shortly before the
collision.

The State initially charged Murphy with one count of first-degree murder,
three counts of aggravated battery, one count of eluding a police officer, one count of
possession of cocaine, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia. Murphy
ultimately pled no contest to one count of intentional second-degree murder and two
counts of aggravated battery. The plea agreement left sentencing open to argument.

Prior to sentencing, Murphy filed a motion for a durational and/or a dispositional
departure. The motion included the following grounds for departure: (1) Murphy's
actions were not typical of intentional second-degree murder and aggravated battery
because he did not intend to hurt anyone; (2) he had accepted responsibility through his
plea and saved the victims the trauma of a trial; (3) he had no criminal history and posed
little threat to public safety; (4) his "impaired mental and emotional state diminished his
capacity for judgment at the time of the offense and contributed to his decision to flee in
a panic, trying to reach his home rather than encounter the officer alone on the street at
night"; (5) he was extremely remorseful and a long prison sentence would not prevent or
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deter future criminal conduct; (6) more lenient sentences had been imposed in similar
cases in the Kansas City area; and (7) Murphy fled from the officer because he feared for
his life and his flight was "consistent with a well-known flight reaction" of individuals
who are frightened. Murphy also argued that his sentences should run concurrently.

The district court held a sentencing hearing on May 29, 2015. At the hearing,
Murphy renewed his arguments for a downward durational or dispositional departure.
The State argued that there was not a substantial and compelling reason to impose a
departure sentence. Instead, the State requested that the district court impose the
aggravated sentence for each count and run the sentences consecutively. After hearing the
arguments, the district court addressed Murphy's departure motion as follows:

"I've been on the bench a number of years and these are the type of cases that I
dread the most. I've read everything submitted to me by both sides and I certainly listened
during the plea and then the beginning of this case, all the motions and arguments, et
cetera, and here we are. It always—I say always—frequently the defendant at this
juncture I get to hear from the support system that he had, the years that he did all sorts of
good things and what a asset to his church, his family, his community he has been and yet
here we are and especially under these circumstances.
"The defendant is not a black hearted villain by any stretch of the imagination,
but he's certainly no saint either. I understand in moments like these why the family of
the accused and certainly the family of the victims need and want forum to express their
emotions, their hopes, their biases, their prejudices, and what they think should be justice
and what is fair and impartial.
"Fleeing and eluding, I mean, basically that's what we're talking about here, it
never ceases to amaze me in these types of cases the deflection from the defendant's
actions to the police or the authorities, you know, why did you have this policy in effect?
Why did you chase him for x amount of time, x amount of miles? What you should have
done was stand back, let him go, diffuse the situation. You know, I understand people
who argue that, but the bottom line is, and this is what this sentencing is all about, is
responsibility and the actions of the defendant. And that's, frankly, what we are here and
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about here today, the actions of Tyrone Murphy on the date in question. Choice—
choices.
"You know, the defendant was under the influence of I believe cocaine,
marijuana, and possibly alcohol at the time of this stop. Now, how many other times had
he been behind the wheel of a car in our community under the same influence and he just
wasn't caught or he didn't hurt anybody or he didn't run a stop sign, he wasn't stopped by
the authorities? But the person driving that car is not the person described by family and
friends. But even so, we've got an individual who has made choices.
"I mean, let's understand, you made the choice of cocaine, marijuana, alcohol.
You made the choice of taking a photograph of himself under the influence, abusing
drugs before he got behind the wheel of that car. Now, it's always been my understanding
and I'm—I'm old school and I'll tell you that, driving is a privilege and when you take the
wheel of a car on our streets, it's not just you, it's the community that you have to worry
about. He chose to get behind the wheel of the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. He
chose to drive that vehicle on our streets and then when he was stopped by the police
officer, he chose to flee.
"You know, the forensic opinion posited by the defense is certainly less than
substantive and compelling in this Court's opinion. When confronted under the same
situation, then what was on his mind at the time he choose to flee, he was in fear of the
police officers and he chose the—while—because [sic] he was fearful, he chose to flee
and that's a normal reaction. Well, I mean, how—every time you see a police officer in
your rearview mirror, am, I speeding? Well, what have I done? Are they after me? I
mean, sure, that's a normal reaction.
"If he made the choice to get out of the car, take his medicine at the time, we
wouldn't be here. That's obvious to everybody. If he had chosen not to partake of the
drugs and the alcohol, we would not be here. If he hadn't made the choice to flee we
would not be here. He made the worst decision of his life—hopefully it'll be the worst
decision of his life to flee at a high rate of speed on our streets and in our community.
The fleeing and eluding from the authorities is probably the most inherently dangerous
action we've got currently today and I fail to find the emphasis focused on the defendant's
actions. Well, that's what I'm doing here today. I'm focusing on the defendant's actions.
"You posit four to five reasons of mitigation, why I should take pity, show mercy
on the defendant. I can tell you the threshold is substantial and compelling and the
aggravating factors in this case overshadow immensely the mitigating factors that are
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argued on behalf of the defendant. But I do—and I do understand your argument. The
acceptance of responsibility, you know, I've heard him say sorry, I—so many times here
today, I don't know that I ever heard him say that before today. He did get a break
initially from felony murder down to second degree intentional.
"This is the problem that I have and I—there's no formula that I can use and
there's no trick. There's no solution. I mean, there are people who are permanently
disabled by the actions of the defendant. They will never—he can't—can he give that
back to them? No. But—and the most important and the most frustrating thing is can he
give them their daughter? No, he cannot. What would she have become? What was her
potential? Would she have been someone famous? Would she have found a cure for
cancer? I don't know. Would she have just gotten a job, got married, had a family of her
own and been a good parent? That to me is the true hero. I—I am affected somewhat, but
the law is clear in these cases and the law in this case says that the defendant should pay
for the consequences of his actions.
"Your motion for a dispositional and/or departure—durational or dispositional
departure is denied for the reasons I've already articulated."

The district court imposed the aggravated sentences of 165 months' imprisonment
for second-degree murder and consecutive sentences of 43 months' imprisonment for
each of the two aggravated battery convictions for a controlling sentence of 251 months'
imprisonment. Murphy timely appealed his sentence.

On appeal, Murphy claims the district court misinterpreted the sentencing statute
and failed to adequately consider and rule upon the mitigating factors he offered in
support of a departure sentence. Murphy also contends that the district court failed to
make legally required findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding whether he
should receive a downward departure sentence.

The State responds that this court lacks jurisdiction to hear Murphy's appeal
because he received the presumptive sentence under the sentencing guidelines. The State
also argues that the district court discussed Murphy's arguments for a departure sentence
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at the sentencing hearing. Finally, the State argues that the district court is not required to
make findings of fact and conclusions of law on the record when it denies a departure
motion and imposes the presumptive sentence.

We will first address our jurisdiction to hear Murphy's appeal. Whether
jurisdiction exists is a question of law over which an appellate court's scope of review is
unlimited. State v. Looney, 299 Kan. 903, 906, 327 P.3d 425 (2014).

K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6820(c)(1) provides that an appellate court lacks
jurisdiction to review a sentence for a felony conviction when that sentence is within the
presumptive guidelines sentence for the offense. See State v. Sprung, 294 Kan. 300, 317,
277 P.3d 1100 (2012) (applying K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6820[c]'s predecessor statute
K.S.A. 21-4721[c][1]). This lack of appellate jurisdiction also applies when a motion to
depart is denied and the presumptive sentence is imposed. See State v. Grebe, 46 Kan.
App. 2d 741, 745, 264 P.3d 511 (2011), rev. denied 294 Kan. 945 (2012). Finally, the
imposition of consecutive presumptive sentences does not constitute a departure sentence
and is not appealable. See State v. Jacobs, 293 Kan. 465, 466, 263 P.3d 790 (2011).

There is an exception to the rule that an appellate court lacks jurisdiction to review
a presumptive sentence when the record indicates that the district court did not
understand its sentencing authority. See State v. Warren, 297 Kan. 881, 885, 304 P.3d
1288 (2013) (defendant allowed to appeal presumptive sentence because district court
misunderstood its authority to impose departure sentence based on the amount of
marijuana); State v. Cisneros, 42 Kan. App. 2d 376, 379, 212 P.3d 246 (2009) (defendant
allowed to appeal presumptive sentence because district court misunderstood its authority
to modify sentence at probation revocation). Murphy argues that the district court's
statement that "I—I am affected somewhat, but the law is clear in these cases and the law
in this case says that the defendant should pay for the consequences of his actions" shows
that the district court misinterpreted the applicable statute governing departure sentences.
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The exception to the jurisdictional rule found in Warren and Cisneros is not
applicable to Murphy's case. At the sentencing hearing, the judge addressed the departure
motion and specifically: (1) stated that there were four or five reasons that Murphy
argued justified a departure; (2) stated that the applicable standard was substantial and
compelling; (3) discussed the factors, including the facts of the crime, the harm caused to
the victim, and Murphy's acceptance of responsibility; (4) stated that the aggravating
factors in the case immensely overshadowed the mitigating factors; and (5) denied the
motion "for the reasons I've already articulated." These statements clearly show that the
district court understood it had the authority to grant Murphy's motion and impose a
departure sentence.

Murphy also argues that the district court did not issue findings of fact and
conclusions of law in denying his departure motion as required by K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-
6817(a)(2). Statutory interpretation is a question of law over which appellate courts have
unlimited review. State v. Eddy, 299 Kan. 29, 32, 321 P.3d 12 (2014).

Murphy is correct that K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6817(a)(2) requires the district court
to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law and to enter an appropriate order at the
conclusion of a hearing on a departure motion or within 21 days of the hearing. However,
our Supreme Court has held that this statute does not require the district court to make
findings of fact and conclusions of law when it denies a departure motion and imposes
the presumptive sentence. State v. Koehn, 266 Kan. 10, 15-16, 966 P.2d 63 (1998)
(applying K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6817[a][2]'s predecessor statute K.S.A. 21-4718[a][2]).

In sum, Murphy's attempt to appeal his presumptive sentence is prohibited by
K.S.A. 2015 Supp. 21-6820(c)(1). The district court clearly understood its authority to
grant Murphy's motion for a departure sentence had it wanted to do so. The district court
was not required to issue findings of fact and conclusions of law when it denied the
departure motion and imposed a presumptive sentence. As a result, this court lacks
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jurisdiction to consider Murphy's appeal from the denial of his motion for a departure
sentence. See Grebe, 46 Kan. App. 2d at 745.

Appeal dismissed.