Crease v. State

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Abbott, J.:

The appellant, Kenneth Crease, appeals the denial of his K.S.A. 60-1507 motion in which he challenged his convictions, based upon an ex parte communication between the trial judge and at least one juror. The Court of Appeals affirmed the denial in an unpublished opinion filed August 7, 1992. We granted the petition for review.

The main issue is whether the trial judge’s ex parte communication with a juror is harmless error. Crease also claims there was insufficient evidence to support the district court’s finding that only one juror saw the…