State v. Thornton

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF KANSAS No. 120,028 STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. JAMES L. THORNTON, Appellant. SYLLABUS BY THE COURT An error admitting evidence obtained in violation of a defendant's Fourth Amendment rights is a constitutional error that can be declared harmless only when the party benefitting from the error proves beyond a reasonable doubt the error did not affect the trial's outcome in light of the entire record, i.e., when there is no reasonable possibility the error contributed to the verdict. Review of the judgment of the Court of Appeals in an unpublished opinion…