State v. McCray

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Lockett, J.;

Defendant appeals his conviction of first-degree felony murder, K.S.A. 21-3401(b). Defendant claims there was insufficient evidence to support the underlying felony in the felony-murder conviction, he was denied a fair trial by the prosecutor s closing argument, and the trial court erred in finding that a witness was unavailable.

Late in the evening on August 14, 1996, the victim, Onzie Branch, and three of his friends, Corey Johnson, Danny Thompson, and Sonny Smith, were parked in Johnson’s car outside Langston’s nightclub in Lawrence,…