State v. Tran

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Six, J.:

This is a criminal evidence case. The primary issue concerns the admission of evidence of gang characteristics and gang association through both expert and lay testimony. Secondary issues concern the trial court’s: (1) failure to instruct on the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter; (2) certification of the minor defendant for prosecution as an adult; and (3) imposing the maximum sentence.

Hieu D. Tran (Hieu) was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder (K.S.A. 21-3402). Our jurisdiction is based upon a transfer from the Court…