Court tosses murder conviction of Wichita man who claimed self-defense in 2016 killing
The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday threw out the first-degree premeditated murder conviction of a Wichita man who claimed he killed another man in self-defense during a house party in the city’s Planeview neighborhood in 2016.
Casimiro Nunez, 64, was convicted at trial and sentenced to life in prison without parole eligibility for 50 years in 2019 for shooting 46-year-old Antonio Guzman. Nunez argued he shot Guzman three times in self-defense after Guzman entered his home to rob him and threatened him with a knife. Authorities found a discarded kitchen knife outside of the home and a box cutter near Guzman’s body after Nunez called 911 to report the killing and flagged down an officer headed to another call.
In a unanimous ruling, the state’s high court said the Sedgwick County District Court judge who presided over the trial erred when he refused to include an involuntary manslaughter option in the jury instructions. The Supreme Court said involuntary manslaughter was different than the lesser offenses of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter that jurors considered because it encompasses cases of “imperfect self-defense,” meaning the self-defense is lawful but the force used isn’t warranted.
In Kansas, involuntary manslaughter “requires a reasonable belief that the circumstances justified force, but the exercise of the force was excessive,” according to the ruling.
At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Nunez shot Guzman three times — on his left side, in the back, and on the left side of his head — including at least once when Guzman was already lying on the ground after another party-goer separated the men and Guzman had been knocked down.
“The jury might well have believed that Guzman attacked Nunez with a knife and Nunez overreacted by killing him,” Justice Eric Rosen wrote in the 21-page ruling.
“The error may have affected the outcome of the trial because the requested instruction could have focused the attention of the jury on the legitimacy of the initial self-defense, mitigated by the subsequent exertion of unnecessary force. We conclude the error was prejudicial and reverse the murder conviction, remanding the case for further appropriate proceedings.”
The court, however, rejected Nunez’s argument that the trial court erred when it refused to grant him immunity from prosecution for the homicide, saying based on the evidence the state’s case “was sufficient to proceed.”
Nunez is currently serving his sentence at the state prison in Ellsworth. In addition to the murder charge, Nunez was also convicted at trial of possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell after police found drugs in his bedroom dresser — a crime for which he received an 18-month sentence.
