Date: 08-20-2024

Case Style:

State of Kansas v. Zachary Christian Arnold

Case Number: 125,443

Judge: Daniel Cahill

Court: District Court, Wyandotte County, Kansas

Plaintiff's Attorney: Wyandotte County Kansas District Attorney's Office

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Kansas City, Kansas involuntary manslaughter criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant.

In October 2019, Kansas City police officers were dispatched to a house based on a report that Chris Arnold, the defendant's father, had been shot and killed during an argument between the two men. (This opinion uses Zachary's and Chris' first names for purposes of clarity.) Zachary was eventually charged with second-degree murder for Chris' death.

Early in the case, Zachary filed a motion seeking immunity from prosecution under K.S.A. 21-5231(a), claiming he had acted in self-defense when he shot Chris-the motion that is the subject of this appeal. The district court held a hearing on this motion concurrently with Zachary's preliminary hearing. Zachary testified, as did a detective from the Kansas City Police Department. The parties also submitted several exhibits, including an audio recording of the 911 call Zachary made after Chris had been shot, Chris' autopsy report, a video of Zachary's interview at the police station, and photographs of the scene, though none of these exhibits are part of the appellate record.

Zachary testified that the argument with his father stemmed from a recent incident between Zachary, who is a musician, and his music producer. Chris had become friends with the producer and had introduced him to Zachary, who signed with the producer's company. Zachary was scheduled to perform in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2019. But that night, the producer told Zachary that he would be unable to perform due to "a series of mishaps." Zachary initially thought the entire performance had been canceled. But he later saw "live streams from the venue of other artists," as well as other information that caused him to question the producer's statements.

Zachary discussed the situation with Chris, who volunteered to talk with the producer. Sometime later, the producer invited Zachary to the recording studio. Zachary spent an evening at the studio and believed the misunderstanding was resolved.

The next day, Zachary updated Chris on what had happened. Chris, who was a captain with the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Department, had just gotten home from an off-duty shift as a security guard. Chris was wearing a "soft uniform," which included a holster with his service firearm.

The conversation began amicably but escalated. Zachary asked Chris what he had said to the producer, and Chris said that he had told the producer "to make it sound like [Chris] had nothing to do with this" and "not to say anything to [Zachary]." Zachary was confused because he knew that Chris planned to talk to the producer; Zachary asked Chris why he would act like he had nothing to do with it.

At this point, according to Zachary, Chris "put his hand on his firearm and began stroking it with his right hand"-"mainly with the thumb and his forefingers" over the holster. Zachary testified that this gesture caused him to fear for his life. He stated that "multiple times in the past, during other arguments," Chris had pulled out a gun and pointed it "straight at" Zachary, forcing him to retreat to another room. Zachary explained that he did not call the police after these previous incidents because he did not believe it would have done any good; the police would not believe him because he had been in trouble before, and he had tried to call the police on Chris in the past, but they did not believe him after Chris told them he was with the sheriff's department. Zachary said that he had a complex relationship with his father. He described Chris as his confidante, but the two men also argued a lot; Zachary had been sent to a juvenile facility before because of physical altercations with Chris. Zachary explained that he believed the only reason Chris had not shot him in past arguments was because Chris had to retrieve his firearm from another room first-a protection that was not present during this conversation.

Zachary testified that after the first time Chris put his hand on his gun during their argument, Zachary had asked him to put the gun away. In response, Chris "[stuck] his arms up on the threshold of the kitchen." Zachary said that over the course of the argument, it would go "back-and-forth": Chris would drop his hands from the doorframe and begin "re-stroking" his gun, Zachary would ask Chris to take his hand off his gun, Chris would put his hands back on the door frame for a bit, and then Chris would drop his hands again. Chris' body language concerned Zachary because Chris was "acting . . . very cold and [Zachary] wasn't able to read him very well." Zachary said he was frightened because he could not tell what Chris' "true intentions" were.

At some point, the argument became physical. Zachary was about 10 feet from Chris, and Chris had his right hand on his gun in the holster. Zachary saw Chris "move[] his left hand over to the holster" across his body. Zachary took two steps toward Chris, and Chris took a few steps back. Zachary said that he interpreted Chris' actions as "typical . . . for somebody who's trained to draw a firearm. They distance themselves, put their left hand on their holster, their right hand on their gun, begin to disengage the [lock], and pull." Zachary then "charged" Chris and covered his hands over the holster.

Zachary's testimony provided conflicting explanations for why he charged at his father. During his direct examination, he explained that he feared if the gun were to come out of the holster, Chris would shoot him. On cross-examination, however, Zachary testified that when he put his hands over Chris', Chris was trying to keep the gun in the holster.

As the struggle continued, Zachary disengaged the holster safety mechanism. He explained that he did this because he did not believe that he could keep the gun in the holster any longer. Zachary said "the gun just came straight out and was pointed straight at [him]." Zachary, who was 2 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier than Chris, said he tried to turn the gun away from him. Then "all of the sudden," Zachary heard a "pop," and Chris dropped to the floor. Zachary called 911 after Chris was shot. Chris died from a gunshot wound to the face.

Zachary testified that he loved and cared about his father, and he did not intend to shoot Chris or hurt him that night. But Zachary explained that he charged at Chris and tried taking control of the gun because he feared for his life. Zachary also testified that he had been diagnosed with several mental illnesses, including auditory hallucinations, paranoid schizophrenia, Asperger's syndrome, and ADHD. But he did not think these conditions affected what had occurred the night of Chris' death.

The police detective who was dispatched to the scene and interviewed Zachary also testified at the hearing. The detective explained that Zachary told him during the interview that his father's behavior was "kind of odd"; he also noted that Zachary told him that while he and Chris struggled over the gun, Chris tried to keep his gun in the holster while Zachary tried to get the gun out of the holster. But he stated that Zachary's explanation during the interview was confusing.

The detective testified that during the interview, he thought that Zachary "seemed very articulate at times for having been through what he had been through," though some of Zachary's behaviors were "odd." For example, Zachary spoke about Chris as though he were still alive, talking about the things they would do together when Chris retired. Zachary told the detective that he had been diagnosed with several mental health disorders, but the detective did not know whether Zachary's behavior that night was consistent with those diagnoses.

The detective also testified about the nature of Chris' gunshot wound. The autopsy report stated that the bullet entered near the left side of the bridge of Chris' nose and lodged just under his right ear-a trajectory traveling left to right and slightly downward. And Chris' wound had stippling, which are burn marks from the gunpowder that comes out of the barrel after the gun is shot, which typically result from a shot fired within a two-foot range. The detective noted that he thought "[i]t would be odd for a firearm to be above the person and fired in a downward angle during a struggle."

The district court ultimately denied Zachary's request for self-defense immunity in a written ruling. While the court disagreed with the State's assertion that Zachary had been the initial aggressor in the altercation, it found that the evidence presented provided probable cause to believe Zachary was not justified in his use of force.

In particular, the court did not find certain aspects of Zachary's explanation to be credible. The court questioned Zachary's testimony about Chris pointing guns at him during past arguments because Zachary had not previously told anyone about these events and his descriptions about when these occurred were vague. The court also found that the autopsy report's description of the gunshot wound conflicted with Zachary's testimony. It noted that the trajectory of the bullet could cause a "reasonable person [to] entertain a belief that the gun was not discharged in the course of the struggle described by [Zachary]." Thus, "based on the evidence at the hearing, without any deference to the State, and considering the totality of the circumstances," the district court concluded that "there exists probable cause that [Zachary] was not justified in his use of deadly force."

The State's case against Zachary proceeded to trial. A jury found that the State had not shown that Zachary had committed second-degree murder, but the jury did find him guilty of the lesser-included offense of involuntary manslaughter. Zachary was sentenced to 32 months' imprisonment (which he had nearly completed due to his pretrial detention) and 24 months' postrelease supervision. He appeals, asserting that he was entitled to immunity from prosecution since he acted in self-defense.

Outcome: Affirmed.

State v. Arnold, 125,443 (Kan. App. Aug 30, 2024)

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