Volume 232 — Kansas Reports

SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. CRIMINAL LAW — <italic>Acquittal Motion — Trial Court Determination.</italic> A trial judge in passing on a motion for judgment of acquittal must determine whether upon the evidence, giving full play to the right of the jury to determine credibility, weigh the evidence, and draw justifiable inferences of fact therefrom, a reasonable mind, or rational trier of facts, might fairly conclude guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. 2. APPEAL AND ERROR — <italic>Sufficiency of Evidence in Criminal</italic> <italic>Conviction — Appellate Review.</italic> When the sufficiency of evidence is questioned on appeal, the appellate court must be convinced that when the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational factfinder could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 3. CRIMINAL LAW — <italic>Pleadings — Test for Determining Whether</italic> <italic>Charges against Defendant Are Multiplicitous.</italic> It is the general rule that there is no merger and thus no multiplicity if each offense charged requires proof of a fact not required in proving the other. 4. SAME — <italic>Judicial Misconduct — New Trial — When Required.</italic> Allegations of judicial misconduct during trial must be decided on the particular facts and circumstances surrounding such alleged misconduct, and in order to warrant or require the granting of a new trial it must affirmatively appear that the conduct was of such a nature that it prejudiced the substantial rights of the complaining party. 5. JUDGES — <italic>Criminal Trial — Duty of Trial Judge.</italic> The purpose of a trial in a criminal case is to ascertain the truth or falsehood of the charges against the accused. It is a part of the duty of the trial judge to see that the full truth is developed by the evidence. 6. CRIMINAL LAW — <italic>Physical Evidence — Chain of Custody —</italic> <italic>Identification of Objects at Trial.</italic> Ordinarily, when objects of physical evidence have been kept in police custody, the chain of possession must be reasonably complete; but this rule may be relaxed when the object is positively identified at the trial, and it is established that the object remains unaltered. 7. SAME — <italic>Photographs — Admissibility as Evidence.</italic> Still photographs or motion pictures, if shown to be an accurate likeness of what they purport to represent, are admissible in evidence as aids to the trier of fact in arriving at an understanding of the evidence. This is a matter committed to the trial court's discretion. 8. SAME — <italic>Photographs — Identification at Trial by Witness Who</italic> <italic>Did Not Take Them.</italic> Photographs may be adequately identified as being true and accurate representations of what they purport to show by witnesses who did not take them, but who are familiar with the scene or objects shown. 9. SAME — <italic>Eyewitness Identification — Cautionary Jury</italic> <italic>Instruction — When Required.</italic> An instruction on eyewitness identification testimony is not required unless there is serious question about the reliability of the identification.<page_number>Page 308</page_number>