State v. Verser
Annotate this CaseAfter a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm in the shooting death of the mother of his child. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) if the district court’s failure to grant a mistrial was error, the error was invited because the district judge gave Defendant the option of having a mistrial declared and Defendant deliberately chose to continue the trial; (2) any error on the district judge’s part in failing to analyze evidence of a previous dispute between Defendant and the victim under Kan. Stat. Ann. 60-455 was harmless; (3) although the district judge’s oral instruction on reasonable doubt differed from his written instruction, reversal was not required; and (4) while it was error for the district judge to fail to read an answer to a jury question in open court with Defendant present, the error was harmless.
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