The Kansas Supreme Court today upheld the conviction of Dyron M. King in connection with the shooting of Deputy Scott Wood in Kansas City, Kansas.
Deputy Wood was shot multiple times and was pistol-whipped while stopping at a convenience store on Shawnee Drive on his way home from work March 4, 2015.
Three armed men entered the store, robbed it and shot Deputy Wood simultaneously with a semiautomatic handgun and a revolver. He was wounded in the jaw, left and right shoulder, left chest and right side of the neck, according to court documents.
Deputy Wood recovered and testified.
Using surveillance tapes, fingerprints, footprints, cell phone GPS records and other evidence, the investigators connected the armed men with four other holdups, some in Missouri and one in Kansas at the Family Dollar on Quindaro.
King’s appeal stated there was not enough evidence to convict him. The Supreme Court today held that there was sufficient evidence that a rational fact-finder could conclude King was one of the robbers.
King’s Nike boot-style shoes that had another victim’s blood on them were recovered. The shoes were seen on stores’ surveillance tapes. Blood in a revolver‘s cylinder pin housing found in King’s room matched Deputy Wood’s, according to the court documents. King’s DNA also was found on gloves used in the robberies.
King also argued that there was not a conspiracy; however, the court found there was sufficient evidence to convict him of it.
Also, King contended there was reversible error by the prosecutor in phrases that were used in the closing arguments. The Supreme Court found that there were three instances of prosecutorial error involving the closing statements, but the court decided the error was harmless.
King also argued he should have been tried separately from another defendant in the case. The Supreme Court said, however, that the defendant should have asked for a separate trial at the time of the trial, not when making a motion for a new trial.
King was convicted of attempted capital murder, three counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, and two counts of criminal possession of a firearm. King was acquitted of one count of aggravated robbery and one count of criminal threat.
King received a hard-25 life sentence for attempted capital murder and 449 consecutive months’ imprisonment for the other convictions.
To view today’s decision, visit http://www.kscourts.org/Cases-and-Opinions/opinions/SupCt/2018/20180601/116146.pdf.
