State v. Dean

511 450 P.3d 819 (Kan. 2019)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Montreal Rambo, a member of the Crips gang, was shot in the leg while he was standing outside a restaurant. Rambo's leg had to be amputated and from then on he used a wheelchair. The word on the street was that a member of the Bloods gang named Gary, also known as 'Bird,' had shot Rambo. About a month later, Ross, Gary's girlfriend, went out to a bar with her cousin, Ashley Thomas. Thomas was in a relationship with D, a Crip known as 'Crush Tre' or 'C-3.' Many Crips were at the bar, including Rambo and D, who were close friends. After the bar closed Ross and Thomas went to a large party in the garage of a building. The party had about 100 attendees. Ross spotted Gary and brought him a drink. She recalled that Gary was easy to find in a crowd because he was tall. Gary told her to leave because the Crips were coming, but she stayed. Thomas kept using Ross' phone to call someone-who turned out to be D. D and Landrum, a Crip known as 'Tall Can,' walked into the party together. Gary told a Bloods member next to him, 'There go Crush Tre and Tall Can.' When D and Landrum got close to Gary, shots were fired. Gary was hit four times and later died. Another burst of shots sprayed the crowd from the same direction, injuring Thomas and three others. As D ran away, a Folk Tru Boy gang member named Davorious Holloman shot back at him. Generally, the Bloods wear red and the Crips wear blue. But Ross, along with several other witnesses, saw D walk into the crowd wearing a red outfit. One witness testified that D was wearing a plaid shirt when he first arrived but was wearing a red shirt when he approached Gary. She recalled that Gary took a 'fighting position' but was not holding a gun. She said D shot Gary from a few feet away. Ballistic evidence revealed that three guns were fired at the party that night. D and Landrum fired toward Gary, and Holloman shot back while they fled. No guns were found at the scene. Holloman's gun was obtained in a separate case, and it matched some of the shell casings found at the scene. The bullets recovered from the victims did not come from Holloman's gun. D was charged him with premeditated murder for killing Gary; four counts of aggravated battery for shooting the bystanders; and one count of criminal possession of a firearm. D was convicted and appealed in part claiming there was insufficient evidence of premeditation. P claims there was ample evidence of premeditation-D changed into a red shirt, ambushed Gary, and shot him at close range to avenge Rambo.