Alvarez v. State


NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION No. 121,885 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS AARON MICHAEL ALVAREZ, Appellant, v. STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee. MEMORANDUM OPINION Appeal from Reno District Court; TIMOTHY J. CHAMBERS, judge. Opinion filed November 25, 2020. Affirmed. David L. Miller, of Ney, Adams & Miller, of Wichita, for appellant. Keith E. Schroeder, district attorney, and Derek Schmidt, attorney general, for appellee. Before POWELL, P.J., GREEN and STANDRIDGE, JJ. PER CURIAM: A jury convicted Aaron Michael Alvarez of second-degree intentional murder. The district court sentenced Alvarez to 186 months in prison. This court affirmed Alvarez' conviction and sentence on direct appeal. He timely filed a K.S.A. 60-1507 motion following his direct appeal. In his motion, Alvarez alleged various ineffective assistance of counsel claims by both trial counsel and appellate counsel. He also asserted a newly discovered evidence claim. Alternatively, Alvarez alleged that the State wrongly withheld this new evidence in the underlying criminal case in violation of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S. Ct. 1194, 10 L. Ed. 2d 215 (1963). The district court denied the motion following a full evidentiary hearing, and Alvarez 1 timely appealed the decision. Because we find substantial competent evidence supports the district court's decision to deny Alvarez' motion, we affirm. FACTS After a four-day jury trial, Alvarez was convicted of second-degree intentional murder in the stabbing death of Allen Frank. The district court imposed an aggravated sentence of 186 months' imprisonment. Chief Public Defender Sarah McKinnon represented Alvarez throughout his criminal proceedings. Alvarez appealed his conviction and sentencing. Korey Kaul, an attorney with the Kansas Appellate Defender Office, represented Alvarez on the direct appeal. A panel of this court affirmed his conviction and sentence. State v. Alvarez, No. 109,675, 2014 WL 5611618, at *12 (Kan. App. 2014) (unpublished opinion). The following facts are taken directly from the Court of Appeals opinion: "On November 23, 2011, Alvarez, Frank, Jessica Roberts, Lakisha Magee, and Anthony Liptow were at a local bar in Hutchinson. The group had been drinking alcohol all day. Alvarez was purportedly intoxicated and kicked out of the bar after becoming belligerent. The group subsequently left the bar in a vehicle driven by Liptow to take Alvarez back to a house rented by Daniel Montiel and Siomara Duran, where Alvarez and his girlfriend, Roberts, had begun staying in the basement a few days earlier. On the way, Alvarez and Roberts began arguing. The argument turned physical; Alvarez began hitting and choking Roberts seated behind him. Magee, who sat next to Roberts, dove in front of her and was also hit several times by Alvarez. "Liptow testified that Alvarez would not respond to his request to calm down. When the group arrived at the house, Liptow observed Alvarez get out of the vehicle and go up to the back door and begin banging on it. Liptow then observed Montiel come out of the house looking 'pretty [upset].' Liptow stated that after he observed Alvarez go inside the house, he ...

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