## Facts

- Charles Goodseal, a previously convicted felon, was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, aggravated robbery, and first-degree felony murder arising from a single episode in Wichita.
- At the first trial, the jury convicted Goodseal of unlawful possession of a firearm, acquitted him of aggravated robbery, and deadlocked on felony murder.
- The State retried only felony murder, limiting the predicate felony to unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
- On December 20, 1973, Goodseal drank with Carl Davis and a woman known as “Silky,” who carried a pistol and arranged a paid sexual encounter with James Warren Hunter.
- Silky asked Goodseal to intervene so she would not have to proceed with the encounter; the State’s evidence was that she provided Goodseal a gun to intimidate Hunter.
- Goodseal approached Hunter’s car at night and brandished the gun while confronting Hunter; during the confrontation, the gun discharged and killed Hunter.
- Goodseal claimed the shooting was accidental and that he believed the gun was unloaded and intended only to scare Hunter.
- The second jury convicted Goodseal of first-degree felony murder, and the court imposed a life sentence.

## Issues

1. Whether “any felony” under K.S.A. 21-3401 includes all felonies or only those inherently or foreseeably dangerous to human life.
2. Whether unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon can serve as the predicate felony for felony murder, and whether dangerousness may be evaluated with reference to the circumstances of commission.
3. Whether Kansas’s felony-murder rule, as applied, violates due process, equal protection, or the prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
4. Whether the trial court erred regarding: admission of photographs, instructions defining unlawful firearm possession (including “possession” and ownership), voluntariness of statements and delay in presentment, and refusal to instruct on lesser included offenses.

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court affirmed the felony-murder conviction and life sentence.
- The court held that K.S.A. 21-3401’s “any felony” is limited to felonies inherently or foreseeably dangerous to human life, and the homicide must be a direct causal result of committing that felony.
- The court held that unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon may qualify as the predicate felony when, considering the manner of commission, the possession is inherently or foreseeably dangerous to human life; on these facts, it did.
- The court rejected constitutional challenges to Kansas’s felony-murder rule.
- The court upheld the evidentiary rulings and jury instructions, found no due-process violation from presentment delay absent prejudice, and held no lesser-included-offense instruction was required on the evidence presented.

## Legal Principles

- For felony murder under K.S.A. 21-3401, “any felony” means a felony inherently or foreseeably dangerous to human life, and the death must be the direct causal result of committing that felony.
- In deciding whether a felony is inherently or foreseeably dangerous, courts may consider the nature of the felony and, where necessary, the circumstances of its commission.
- Unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon can support felony-murder liability when the circumstances show the possession created a foreseeable risk of death (including active use of the weapon to threaten).
- Under K.S.A. 21-4204(1)(b), prohibited possession is willful or knowing possession with intent to control the weapon’s use and management; ownership is not an element.
- Photographs of a decedent, including autopsy photographs, are admissible when relevant to disputed issues such as cause or manner of death or to assist expert testimony, even if graphic.
- Delay in taking an arrestee before a magistrate is not a due-process violation absent a showing of prejudice to a fair trial.
- A trial court must instruct on lesser included offenses only when evidence would reasonably support conviction of the lesser offense.

## Conclusion

Kansas construed felony murder to require an inherently or foreseeably dangerous predicate felony and a direct causal connection to the homicide, allowed dangerousness to be assessed with reference to the circumstances of commission, and affirmed that felon-in-possession may serve as the predicate when the defendant’s use of the firearm during the possession created a foreseeable risk of death.


State v. Goodseal, 220 Kan. 487, 553 P.2d 279 (Kan. 1976)