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Kerns v. State6/25/1996
Appellant James William Kerns appeals his conviction and sentence for first degree murder. His appeal challenges jury selection, witness immunity, failure to disclose evidence, hearsay, and various prosecutorial actions during trial.
We affirm.
ISSUES
Kerns presents these issues:
1. Did the trial court deny the Appellant his constitutional right to a fair and impartial jury when it abused its discretion during the jury selection process by requiring the Appellant to use a peremptory challenge on a biased jury member?
2. Did the prosecutor improperly grant immunity from prosecution to a material witness against the Appellant?
3. Was Appellant denied his constitutional right to confront a material witness against him?
4. Did prosecutorial misconduct deny Appellant a fair trial as guaranteed by the due process clauses of the United States and Wyoming Constitutions?
5. Did the trial court err when it admitted, over objection, the hearsay testimony of Officer Raitz?
6. Was the cumulative effect of the errors discussed above such that the Appellant was denied his right to a fair trial and substantial justice?
The State summarizes the issues as:
Whether appellant was denied his right to a fair trial?
FACTS
On September 5, 1993, two fishermen discovered the body of Jose Henriquez 500 yards from the Sacajawea Campground near Big Piney. He had been beaten and stabbed once in the chest. Henriquez had last been seen on August 22, 1993, at the Silver Spur Bar in Big Piney. Henriquez, a Mexican national working for a company named Ranko in Sublette County, was reported missing by his employer on August 23, 1993.
After discovery of the body, the area was searched and witnesses were interviewed without result. Almost seven months later, on March 11, 1994, Casper resident Debar Green contacted the Sublette County Sheriff's Department and reported that she had information on a murder in Big Piney. In an interview by Division of Criminal Investigation agents in Casper, Green stated that her recently estranged boyfriend, James Kerns, told her he had killed a Mexican in Big Piney. Henriquez had approached Kerns in the Silver Spur Bar to buy drugs. Kerns saw that Henriquez had a substantial amount of cash, went home and took his roommate's knife and drove Henriquez to the mountains where he stabbed, kicked and robbed him.
At the time of the murder, Kerns had been living in Big Piney with Kenneth Lord. Lord, who has felony convictions for burglary, kidnapping, forcible rape with a knife, drug violations and aggravated assault, made numerous statements to the police during the course of their investigation. Eventually, under what the State characterizes as an agreement with the prosecutor not to exercise his discretion to prosecute, Lord testified that Kerns confessed to robbing and killing Henriquez with Lord's knife.
Witnesses placed Kerns in the Silver Spur Bar the night Henriquez disappeared and experts testified that dog hair found on Henriquez' pants and in Kerns' vehicle were similar in some respects. Although Lord testified that Kerns' dog was with Kerns the night he killed Henriquez, the State did not take hairs from the dog for comparison.
Kerns introduced alibi evidence in his defense to the charge. Kerns and several witnesses testified that the day before the murder (Saturday), Kerns left Big Piney, moved to Casper and began work the following Monday. Kerns denied any involvement in the murder and robbery of Henriquez. The jury returned a
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